PRESENTING

WRITTEN REVIEW
OF LITERATURE
LESSON 6
Introduction
 This lesson puts together the elements of a written
literature review.
 It helps guides you in reading for or selecting a better
research problem or topic.
 Definitely, doing the review of related literature provides
you with findings and conclusions of past studies that are
related to your own research.
Preparing the written review of literature
1. The introduction briefly describes the nature of the problem.
2. The body of the review briefly reports what others have found or
thought about the research problem.
3. The summary of the review ties together the main ideas revealed
in the literature reviewed and presents a composite picture of what
is known or thought to date.
4. Any conclusions the researcher feels are justified based on the
state of knowledge revealed in the literature should be included.
5. A bibliography with full bibliographic data for all sources
mentioned in the review is essential.
Characteristics of a good literature
review
• Focused – it presents only ideas and reports on studies that are
closely related to the topic.
• Concise – the ideas should be presented economically.
• Logical – the flow within and among paragraphs should be smooth,
logical progression from one idea to the next.
• Developed – the ideas are fully and completely written.
• Integrative – it shows how ideas are related and how all reviewed
materials contribute to your topic.
• Current – it exhibits up-to-date information related to your study.
Activity: True or False
1. Literature review is concerned with adding new knowledge.
2. A bibliography is necessary in a literature review.
3. A good literature review uses clear lines of argument
4. Every researcher should not be knowledgeable and not
aware of ethical principles at work when doing research.
5. Researcher follow what referencing styles the school
prescribes.