LITERATURE

REVIEW
BY
MARICEL B. RAGUINDIN
MA. FRANCES D. LANSANG
(GROUP 16 REPORTER)
What is a literature review?

Literature review is a compilation,

classification, and evaluation of what
other researchers have written on a
particular topic.

A literature review normally forms part of a

research thesis but it can also stand alone as a
self-contained review of writings on a subject.
The basic components of a literature review
include:
1. A description of the publication
2. A summary of the publication’s main points
3. An evaluation of the publication’s contribution to the
topic
4. Identification of critical gaps, points of disagreement,
or potentially flawed methodology or theoretical
approaches
5. Indicates potential directions for future research
What is the purpose of a literature review?
☑ Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its
scholarly context
☑Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for
your research
☑Position your work in relation to other researchers and
theorists
☑Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to
a debate
☑Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate
your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.
Steps of the Literature Review Process
1) Planning - identify the focus, type, scope and discipline of
the review you intend to write.
2) Reading and Research - collect and read current research on
your topic. Select only those sources that are most relevant to
your project.
3) Analyzing - summarize, synthesize, critique, and compare
your sources in order to assess the field of research as a whole.
4) Drafting - develop a thesis or claim to make about the
existing research and decide how to organize your material.
5) Revising - revise and finalize the structural, stylistic, and
grammatical issues of your paper.
The Literature Review Process
1. SELECT A TOPIC
☑ Select for a literature relevant to
your study
 Develop a list of keywords
 Develop a list of synonyms
for these keywords
 Open a scholarly data
database (Google Scholar,
PubMed, Science Direct)
 Use boolean operators
(AND, OR, NOT etc.)
 Identify the most
important publication
2. SEARCH AND CHOOSE THE LITERATURE
☑ Evaluate and select source
 Instead of reading
the full research,
read the abstract
 Look at the
bibliography of the
publication for
other relevant
resources
 Observe the
number of high
citation
3. ANALYZE AND INTERPRET THE LITERATURE

☑ Identify themes, debates and gaps

Take note of the connections of different
sources to easily organize your literature review.

Observe for the:

 Trends and patterns
 Themes
 Debates and contradictions
3. ANALYZE AND INTERPRET THE LITERATURE

☑ Organize by Outlining
 Chronological - from older to recent
publication
 Thematic - organized around several key
themes
 Methodological - compare the different
research methods being used across studies
 Theoretical - use to discuss opposing theories
or models
4. WRITE THE REVIEW

☑ Start writing the literature review

 Introduction
cite and present the study
 Main body
summarizes and synthesizes the sources to your study
 Conclusion
the function of your paper’s conclusion is to restate the
main argument. It reminds the reader of the
strengths of your main arguments and reiterates the
most important evidence supporting those arguments.
A LITERATURE REVIEW
 A literature review ensures that you are at least
familiar with the body of research in your field
before starting your own investigations.

 Writing a literature review also provides practice

in critical thinking. Once you have applied critical
thinking skills to the findings of past researchers,
you are in a better position to apply these same
skills to your own work.
Writing Literature Review
Writing your literature review takes time. You may need to
complete several drafts before your final copy. It is important
to have a good introduction that clearly tells the reader what
the literature will be about.

An introduction must tell the reader the following:

1. What you are going to cover in the review
2. The scope of your research
3. How the review ties in with your own research
topic.
INTRODUCTION
This is a good example of an introduction because it has a
topic sentence which indicates what will be covered and
also tells the reader the specific focus of the literature
review in the concluding sentence.
PARAGRAPHS

A paragraph is a group of connected

sentences that develop a single point,
argument or idea. Paragraphs need to link
to other paragraphs so that the themes,
arguments or ideas developed are part of a
coherent whole rather than separate bits.
A paragraph should include:
1. A main statement / idea that you are putting forward;
topic sentence
2. Evidence from research to support / argue your idea,
showing where the writers agree and / or disagree
3. Student analysis of the research literature where
appropriate
4. Summing up and linking to the next idea (paragraph).

In the literature review, you will need to show evidence

of integrating your readings into each paragraph and analysis
of the readings where necessary.
INTEGRATING ARGUMENTS IN PARAGRAPHS
1. Integration of multiple sources
To develop an integrated argument from multiple sources,
you need to link your arguments together. The model below is
a guide.


2. Integration of student analysis
It is important to integrate your analysis and interpretation
of the literature in your literature review. Read the following
paragraph and see how the arguments have been integrated
into the paragraph along with student analysis. Analysis is not
just student opinion, it needs to be supported by the literature.


DISCUSSION ARTICLE TEMPLATE
Verbs for Referencing

To incorporate quotations / references into a

literature review, you can use a variety of verbs. These
verbs are often used with prepositions, such as that, by,
on. It is poor writing to use the same ones all the time, and
says that, states that. Verbs also allow the writer to
indicate the degree to which they support the author of the
research, and an example of it includes claims that,
versus, argues that. The following verbs and prepositions
can be used to introduce references into your literature
review.
Characteristics of an Effective Literature Review
In addition to fulfilling the purposes outlined
above, an effective literature review provides a
critical overview of existing research by:

●Outlining important research trends.

●Assessing strengths and weaknesses (of individual
studies as well the existing research as a whole).
●Identifying potential gaps in knowledge.
●Establishing a need for current and/or future
research projects.
How to Conduct an Effective Literature Review Outline

• Find literature associated with the topic.

• Search and analyze the literature.
• Evaluate the paper before reading.
• Cite literature properly.
• Make a summary table of reviewed papers.
• Avoid plagiarism.
• Write a journal article based on literature review