LibGuides: Literature review: How to write your literature review

Writing the introduction

So a literature review is a summary of previous research on a topic. Or sometimes literature reviews can be a subsection of another topic.

Examples of literature reviews as a sub-section include:
- A component in a larger research project or paper
- A chapter in a thesis or dissertation
- A mandatory section if you want to write and publish a scholarly journal article
- The analysis of existing research performed before a research proposal
- A component in the background or justification when applying for grant money
Or it can be a stand-alone bibliographic essay:
- A literature review assigned for class on its own, to understand and write up current research on a topic
- An analytical essay synthesizing an annotated bibliography into a formal paper
- A "review article" that you write to publish in a scholarly journal.

Researchers usually starts with doing a literature search by going through what's been written about the same subject.

How to start your literature search?

1- Develop a search strategy

- Define the topic and define your research question. What is the purpose of your research? What do you know about the topic? What is the scope? What is the date range e.g latest researches done in this topic or 10 years range?

- Before you start writing your research you have to develop a search strategy to help you find and locate the information you need.

- Start compiling your research keywords or phrases, including all the key concepts related to your research question or questions. It might be useful also to think about general terms and very specific terms for broadening and narrowing your research.

- It is useful to use subject dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, and thesaurus to help you find common terminologies of you research subject area.

- After you gather all the information and resources you need for your search start to evaluate the search results to determine whether you need to narrow or broaden your search or modify your search.

2- Identify information resources

Information can be in different types of formats, so it's very important to understand the significance to know what will best suit your information requirements. What type of resources you need for your research? Books, Reference materials, Journals, Conference papers, Dissertations, Internet,....etc.

Resources @ your library

The Literature Review by Diana Ridley
ISBN: 9781446201428
Publication Date: 2012-07-31
Lecturers - request an e-inspection copy of this text or contact your local SAGE representative to discuss your course needs.This second edition of Diana Ridley′s bestselling book provides a step-by-step guide to conducting a literature search and literature review, using cases and examples throughout to demonstrate best practice. Ridley outlines practical strategies for conducting a systematic search of the available literature, reading and note taking and writing up your literature review as part of an undergraduate research project, Masters dissertation or PhD thesis. New to this edition are: Examples drawn from a wide range of disciplines A new chapter on conducting systematic reviews Increased guidance on evaluating the quality of online sources and online literature Enhanced guidance in dealing with copyright and permissions issues. Visit the Companion Website for The Literature ReviewThis book also comes with a companion website containing a wide range of examples of successful literature reviews from various academic disciplines.SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, quizzes and videos on study success!
The Literature Review by Lawrence A. Machi; Brenda T. McEvoy
ISBN: 9781452240886
Publication Date: 2012-06-08
This new edition of the best-selling book offers graduate students in education and the social sciences a road map to developing and writing an effective literature review for a research project, thesis, or dissertation. Organized around a proven six-step model and incorporating technology into all of the steps, the book provides examples, strategies, and exercises that take students step by step through the entire process: Selecting a topic Searching the literature Developing arguments Surveying the literature Critiquing the literature Writing the literature review The second edition includes key vocabulary words, technology advice, and additional tips on when and how to write during the early stages--including the use of journals and memoranda--to make the literature review process a success.
Succeeding with Your Literature Review by Paul Oliver
ISBN: 9780335243686
Publication Date: 2012-02-01
"An excellent and accessible text that will help all students and scholars to develop a strong review and enable them to outline and analyse the key ideas for their study. The structure of the book is really well thought out and the chapters are written in a way which readers will find helpful and easy to understand. I would highly recommend this book to research students." Professor Mark Brundrett, Liverpool John Moores University, UK This step-by-step handbook provides comprehensive and practical guidance on the process of researching a range of relevant literature on a subject, as well as planning and writing a literature review. The book takes a student friendly approach to offer complete novices a simple review of a process which is often central to producing a research study. Succeeding with your Literature Review will enable you to: Design a literature review which is related to the main facets of a research project Conduct a logically-planned search for relevant literature Determine which literature is most suited to inclusion in your study Analyse the literature, drawing comparisons and connections where appropriate Appraise the strengths and weaknesses of relevant literature Write logically and rationally about the key features of literature Write a literature review in a sound academic style Understand how to relate a literature review to other elements of your study or dissertation Written by an author with extensive experience of supervising and examining undergraduate, Masters and doctoral dissertations, this book covers the latest trends, such as: RSS feeds, wikis, grey literature, blogs and forms of open access publishing. The book also includes examples of common pitfalls, good practice, key terms and questions to reinforce student learning and reflection. Succeeding with your Literature Review is relevant in all subject areas and is essential reading for third year undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Literature Reviews Made Easy by Paula Dawidowicz
ISBN: 9781617351914
Publication Date: 2010-10-01
This book is designed to help you achieve one specific goal. It's not designed to give you the philosophies of conducting research. It's not designed to give you a background in a specific academic discipline or a specific topic. It's not designed to give you theory. It's designed specifically to instruct you in the practicalities of the writing process used to create strong, thorough, and potentially bulletproof literature reviews. This book is the culmination of years of research experience. It's also the culmination of several years of teaching writing and critical thinking to doctoral students. Although it began as a tool for doctoral students, it has been expanded to be useful for everyone from senior high school students through doctoral candidates working on developing their first literature review or a larger literature review than they normally develop. It has been created for everyone from academics to new business entrepreneurs with good ideas who are trying to write their first reviews to support the new idea they're proposing.