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Rely heavily on the guidelines your instructor has given you. A summary is a recap of the important
information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. If
there are conflicting studies, why do you think that is. Try to analyze the patterns, turning points, and
key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Essentially, this section should only be one
or two paragraphs in length. Make a list of keywords Start by creating a list of keywords related to
your research topic. Chronological The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic
over time. The literature review gives you a chance to: Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic
and scholarly context Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research Position
yourself in relation to other researchers and theorists Show how your dissertation addresses a gap or
contributes to a debate You might also have to write a literature review as a stand-alone assignment.
Their model follows the systematic data processing approach comprised of three steps, namely: (a)
literature search and screening; (b) data extraction and analysis; and (c) writing the literature review.
The search was performed using several terms and free text words, combining them in an appropriate
manner. Here is a potential outline for your conclusion: Discuss why the study should be done. You
cannot categorize the information provided by electronic sources, but here are some tips for using
them: 1) acknowledge that anyone can post information on the Internet, so the quality may vary, and
2) information posted on the web for general audiences may not be appropriate data for your Lit
Review (general audiences tend to need less detail and scholarly information). You can simply put
the word “review” in your search engine along with your other topic terms to find articles of this
type on the Internet or in an electronic database. What other sections you include in the body is up to
you. When you begin to write your literature review section, you'll be glad you dug deeper into how
the research was designed and constructed because it establishes a means for developing more
substantial analysis and interpretation of the research problem. Take notes that you can later
incorporate into the text of your literature review. Make a list of keywords Start by creating a list of
keywords related to your research question. It can provide a specific outline, and it can be used to
organize the idea. How is the topic of your research proposal related to the problem. There are
various approaches to organising the body of a literature review. It can include chronological,
thematic, methodological, and theoretical. Writing a literature review can also be beneficial in terms
of gaining a better understanding of the field you are studying. Or the review might focus on the
economic impact of whaling on a community. It provides an overview of current knowledge,
allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research. Literature
reviews are written occasionally in the humanities, but mostly in the sciences and social sciences; in
experiment and lab reports, they constitute a section of the paper. Literature reviews are set up
similarly to other academic texts, with an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. Does it
confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge. In other words, a research gap emerges
whenever there’s still some uncertainty regarding a certain topic or question. Depending on your
topic of study, their published findings can be a valuable source of knowledge. Please include what
you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.
Like any other academic text, your literature review should have an introduction, a main body, and a
conclusion. Keep in mind that UNC Libraries have research guides and to databases relevant to
many fields of study. As explained above, systematic reviews seek to identify causation. On the
other end of the spectrum, there might be a wealth of research regarding a certain topic within one
country (say the US), but very little research on that same topic in a different social context (say,
China). You dust off a novel and a book of poetry, settle down in your chair, and get ready to issue a
“thumbs up” or “thumbs down” as you leaf through the pages. “Literature review” done. Some
questions to ask: How are they organizing their ideas. We are a strong believer in academic integrity
and have a “zero tolerance policy” on plagiarism. However, sometimes it still takes time to make a
good template. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and
advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant. When writing a literature review, be sure to use
your own words and cite all of your sources properly to avoid plagiarism How to get started with
writing a literature review. Literature reviews serve as a guide to a particular topic: professionals can
use literature reviews to keep current on their field; scholars can determine credibility of the writer in
his or her field by analyzing the literature review. Use Caution When Paraphrasing When
paraphrasing a source that is not your own, be sure to represent the author's information or opinions
accurately and in your own words. A literature review is a document or section of a document that
collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also
called synthesis ). New York: Longman. Jones, Robert, Patrick Bizzaro, and Cynthia Selfe. 1997.
The Harcourt Brace Guide to Writing in the Disciplines. Here is a potential outline for your
conclusion: Discuss why the study should be done. Regardless of which structure you opt for, each
of the three components will make an appearance in some shape or form. Tip We've also compiled a
few examples, templates, and sample outlines for you below. It is often written as part of a thesis,
dissertation, or research paper, in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge. An
Introduction to Research Methods in Sociology by Valerie A. Your contribution is to organize the
concepts from the sources into a coherent argument or narrative that incorporates your views. Results
indicate that the majority of systematic reviews in this particular area suffer from important
methodological flaws and biases that impair their internal validity and limit their usefulness for
clinical and decision-making purposes. If the review is a stand-alone assignment for a course, the
conclusion should suggest any practical applications of the research as well as the implications and
possibilities for future research. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents
in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed. There’s a lot of ground to cover
and it can be challenging to figure out what’s important and what’s not. Systematic Approaches to a
Successful Literature Review. These are frequently used in Lit Reviews since they offer concise, up-
to-date information. Specifically discuss how you expect your study will advance existing
knowledge and how your study is unique. Lit reviews can take many different organizational patterns
depending on what you are trying to accomplish with the review. Publications Account settings
Browse Titles NCBI Bookshelf. Sometimes you may need to quote certain terminology that was
coined by the author, is not common knowledge, or taken directly from the study.
Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for
example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).
Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers.
However, since the focus of this research is on obesity in children, these will not be reviewed in
detail and will only be referred to as appropriate. Proceedings of the European Conference on
Information Systems; 2011. Evaluate sources. Identify themes, debates, and gaps. Reviews Tips for
Writing Literature Reviews Writing Literature Review: Useful Sites Citation Resources Other
Academic Writings What are Literature Reviews. Be selective Select only the most important points
in each source to highlight in the review. The goal of the Lit Review is not to list as many books,
papers, and reports as feasible. Body: Contains your discussion of sources and is organized either
chronologically, thematically, or methodologically (see below for more information on each). The
only difference here between a “chronological” and a “thematic” approach is what is emphasized the
most: the development of the harpoon or the harpoon technology.But more authentic thematic
reviews tend to break away from chronological order. Spending a lot of time revising is a wise idea,
because your main objective is to present the material, not the argument. Overall, your list of
citations should be a testament to the fact that you have done a sufficient level of preliminary
research to ensure that your project will complement, but not duplicate, previous research efforts.
This link opens in a new window Contact a Librarian Ask a Librarian Definition: A literature review
is a systematic examination and synthesis of existing scholarly research on a specific topic or subject.
Is contrary data considered or is certain pertinent information ignored to prove the author's point.
Depending on the methodology needed to achieve the purpose of the review, all types can be helpful
and appropriate to reach a specific goal (for examples, please see Table 1).These approaches can be
qualitative, quantitative, or have a mixed design depending on the phase of the review. The second
type of coverage consists of presenting materials that are representative of most other works in a
given field or area. What are the most important topics, subtopics, etc., that your review needs to
include. That’s why there is a literature review outline template. Make sure the sources you use are
credible, and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.
Share This Book Essay Guide Alex Essay Writing Tool Dissertation Guide Ask The Elephant The
structure of a literature review A literature review should be structured like any other essay: it should
have an introduction, a middle or main body, and a conclusion. Sampling methods Simple random
sampling Stratified sampling Cluster sampling Likert scales Reproducibility Statistics Null
hypothesis Statistical power Probability distribution Effect size Poisson distribution Research bias
Optimism bias Cognitive bias Implicit bias Hawthorne effect Anchoring bias Explicit bias A
literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related
to a specific topic or research question. As you’re doing your research, create an annotated
bibliography ( see our page on the this type of document ). Consequently, Sheppard and Williams
had to go back and add a new section to their literature review on individual resilience factors. For
more information, please see our handout on plagiarism. As with any scholarly research paper, you
must cite the sources you used in composing your research proposal. To this end, they conducted a
comprehensive search on multiple databases using highly sensitive search strategies without language
or publication-type restrictions to identify all rct s that are eligible for inclusion. Does the research
use established frameworks or take an innovative approach. Is it manageable? Begin writing down
terms that are related to your question. Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge.
This lays a solid basis for the rest of your paper.
The main parts that need to exist include the introduction, main body, and conclusions.
Methodological If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of
research methods, you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different
approaches. This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if
applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge. Use the key words in
your question, as well as synonyms for those words, as terms in your search. For example, a
literature review that focuses on continuing research about the emergence of German economic
power after the fall of the Soviet Union. Try to analyze the patterns, turning points, and key debates
that have shaped the direction of the field. Describe the relationship of each work to the others
under consideration. Well, the research gap should serve as the core justification for your study.
Next, validity characterizes the degree to which the review process was conducted appropriately.
This will help to ensure that your review is well-rounded and comprehensive. Doing Your Literature
Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques. A reflection on how the current state of research
relates to your own research project. The conclusion reiterates the importance and significance of
your research proposal and it provides a brief summary of the entire proposed study. Inclusion and
exclusion criteria must be established to help researchers eliminate studies that are not aligned with
the research questions. In other words, you want to start laying a little breadcrumb trail in those
sections so that your discussion of the research gap is firmly rooted in the rest of the literature
review. The purpose of a literature review is to: -Demonstrate that you have an understanding of the
existing research on your topic; -Identify any gaps in this research; -Relate your topic to the broader
field of study; -Provide a theoretical framework for your research; -Identify any key researchers in
your field. How does the publication relate to other literature in the field. Umbrella reviews
generally adhere to the same principles and rigorous methodological guidelines used in systematic
reviews. Third, there are the perceptions, conclusions, opinion, and interpretations that are shared
informally among scholars that become part of the body of epistemological traditions within the
field. Present the rationale for the proposed research study. What are the common mistakes to avoid
when writing a literature review. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your
literature review. Finally, a Lit Review has its own set of in-text citations and a Works Cited list.
Within those one to three paragraphs, it is important to briefly answer the following questions: What
is the central research problem. Writing a literature review can be a daunting task, but with a little
guidance, it doesn’t have to be. Like any other academic text, your literature review should have an
introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. Consider Whether Your Sources are Current Some
disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. Malden, ma: Blackwell
Publishing Co; 2006. Rousseau D. M., Manning J., Denyer D. Evidence in management and
organizational science: Assembling the field’s full weight of scientific knowledge through syntheses.
Thus, while ambient sexism accounted for some of the masculine bias, sexist language amplified the
effect. (Source: Erika Falk and Jordan Mills, “Why Sexist Language Affects Persuasion: The Role of
Homophily, Intended Audience, and Offense,” Women and Language19:2). In the course, we walk
you through the full process of developing a literature review, step by step.
In other words, your theoretical framework should reveal some insights about what answers you
might expect to find to your research questions. Like any other academic text, your literature review
should have an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. It is important to keep track of your
sources with citations to avoid plagiarism. This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you
can use to teach your students about writing a literature review. However, particularly in the social
sciences, thinking about research problems from multiple vectors is a key strategy for finding new
solutions to a problem or gaining a new perspective. There are a few guidelines you should follow
during the writing stage as well. A flow diagram shows the number of studies identified, screened,
and included or excluded at each stage of study selection. When you have answers to these questions
you can begin searching for sources. What are the common mistakes to avoid when writing a
literature review. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain
word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. A literature review is a type of paper that
encompasses a critical summary and analysis of the most important writings on a particular topic.
Summarize and synthesize Remember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each
paragraph as well as throughout the review. It can include chronological, thematic, methodological,
and theoretical. Then, you can clarify whether the literature review is part of a bigger effort or if it is
a standalone piece in this section. Depending upon the aims and objectives of your study, you should
also discuss how your anticipated findings may impact future research. You can also consider the
disciplines and routes for future research here and blind spots and missing elements in existing
knowledge. Whether the search is comprehensive or not, whether it involves a methodical approach
for data extraction and synthesis or not, it is important that the review documents in an explicit and
transparent manner the steps and approach that were used in the process of its development.
Sheppard and Williams (2016) had not discovered these individual factors in their original literature
review on community and environmental resilience. A service of the National Library of Medicine,
National Institutes of Health. Evaluate sources. Identify themes, debates, and gaps. An annotated
Works Cited list, on the other hand, is just an alphabetized list of sources with summaries and
evaluations (annotations). London: Pearson. You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use
the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill Make a Gift Want to create or adapt books like this. Within those one to three
paragraphs, it is important to briefly answer the following questions: What is the central research
problem. Types of Literature Reviews What kinds of literature reviews are written. It can be helpful
to make an annotated bibliography, where you compile full citation information and write a
paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. One method is to interpret how or why specific
developments occurred. Should you summarize, synthesize, or critique your sources by discussing a
common theme or issue. You can choose the intellectual lineage you would like to be part of and
whose definitions matter most to your thinking (mostly humanities-specific, but this goes for
sciences as well). To make the paragraphs more obvious, use subheadings. A review organized in this
manner would shift between time periods within each section according to the point being made.
Literature reviews also provide a solid background for a research paper’s investigation. You can use
it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts. If you have found some
recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address
different aspects of the topic. Make sure your research question is not too broad or too narrow. In
other words, you do not want to delve into idle speculation. Clearly identify the key or most
relevant sources of research you intend to use and explain how they will contribute to your analysis
of the topic. Like any other academic text, your literature review should have an introduction, a
main body, and a conclusion. When you begin to write your literature review section, you'll be glad
you dug deeper into how the research was designed and constructed because it establishes a means
for developing more substantial analysis and interpretation of the research problem. It goes beyond
documentation and reflects decisions related to the selection of the sources, the search terms used,
the period of time covered, the articles selected in the search, and the application of backward and
forward searches ( vom Brocke et al., 2009 ). In short, the rigour of any review article is reflected by
the explicitness of its methods (i.e., transparency) and the soundness of the approach used. Or you
might highlight how there’s a fair deal of mixed findings and disagreement regarding a certain
matter. Spending a lot of time revising is a wise idea, because your main objective is to present the
material, not the argument. Then, you can clarify whether the literature review is part of a bigger
effort or if it is a standalone piece in this section. In other words, your theoretical framework should
reveal some insights about what answers you might expect to find to your research questions. Given
this, the purpose of a literature review is to: Place each work in the context of its contribution to
understanding the research problem being studied. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to
convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their
strengths and weaknesses are. The lit review is an important genre in many disciplines, not just
literature (i.e., the study of works of literature such as novels and plays). Take notes and cite your
sources As you read, you should also begin the writing process. The following provides a brief
description of the content of each: Introduction: Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature
review, such as the central theme or organizational pattern. Writing a Literature Review The basic
components of a literature review include: a description of the publication; a summary of the
publication's main points; a discussion of gaps in research. NOTE: Most often the literature review
will incorporate some combination of types. As such, reviewers may selectively ignore or limit the
attention paid to certain studies in order to make a point. Tip We've also compiled a few examples,
templates, and sample outlines for you below. London: SAGE Publications; 2006. Pawson R.,
Greenhalgh T., Harvey G., Walshe K. Realist review—a new method of systematic review designed
for complex policy interventions. For example, a review that examines literature supporting or
refuting an argument, assumption, or philosophical problem related to the research problem will also
need to include writing supported by sources that establish the history of these arguments in the
literature. In other words, a chronological review would have subsections for each vital time period.
A background study of the reviewed text always helps your case. You will often see the terms “the
research,” “the scholarship,” and “the literature” used mostly interchangeably. Well, the research gap
should serve as the core justification for your study. Different areas of your study may be divided
into subsections that focus on specific aspects of your topic. Literature reviews are designed to
provide an overview of sources you have used in researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to
your readers how your research fits within existing scholarship about the topic.