What is a Literature Review?

A literature review is a critical and comprehensive summary of published research on a specific

topic or research question. It involves searching for, reading, and evaluating existing literature (such as
books, journal articles, and other academic sources) related to a particular area of study.

The main purpose of a literature review is to provide a comprehensive overview of current

knowledge and understanding of a particular research area or topic. It typically begins with an introduction
that explains the research question or topic, followed by a review of relevant literature that helps to
establish the context and scope of the research. The literature review may also include a discussion of
theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and key concepts related to the research question.

A literature review can serve a number of important functions in research, including:

1. Defining the frontiers of their field

2. Enabling researchers to place their questions in perspective
3. Limiting the research question and clarify and define the concepts of the study
4. Learning which methodologies have proven useful and which seem less promising
5. Avoiding unintentional replication of previous studies
6. Placing researchers in a better position to interpret the significance of their own results
7. Gleaning ideas of others interested in a particular research question and determining the results
of similar or related studies
8. Identifying gaps in current knowledge and identifying areas for future research
9. Providing a foundation of existing research to support a new study or research project
10. Demonstrating the author's understanding of the research area and providing evidence of their
expertise
11. Identifying key debates, controversies, or challenges related to the research question or topic

Types of Sources

1. General reference tools tell the researchers where to look to locate other sources—such as
articles, books, reports, and other documents—that deal directly with the research question.
General reference tools are usually either indexes, which list the author, title, and place of
publication of articles and other materials, or abstracts, which give a brief summary or annotation
of various publications, as well as their author, title, and place of publication.
Examples: Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE), Resources in Education (RIE),
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), EBSCO, PsycINFO, PsycNET, ProQuest

2. Primary sources are publications in which researchers report the results of their studies directly
to the reader. Most primary sources in education are journals and reports. These journals and
reports are usually published monthly or quarterly, and the articles in them typically report on a
particular research study.
Examples: Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

3. Secondary sources refer to publications in which authors describe the work of others. The most
common secondary sources in education are textbooks, educational encyclopedias, research
reviews, and yearbooks.
Examples: Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Handbook of Research on Teaching, National
Society for the Study of Education Yearbooks, Review of Educational Research, Review of
Research in Education,

Researchers who seek information systematically on a given topic would refer first to one or more
general reference tools to locate primary and secondary sources of value. For a quick overview of the
problem at hand, secondary sources are probably the best bet. For detailed information about the
research that others have done, primary sources should be consulted.
Steps Involved in a Literature Search

The following steps are involved in a literature search:

1. Define the research problem as precisely as possible.

2. Look at relevant secondary sources (these can include research reviews).
3. Select and peruse one or two appropriate general reference works.
4. Formulate search terms (key words or phrases) pertinent to the problem or question of interest.
5. Search for relevant primary sources using appropriate general reference tools.
6. Obtain and read relevant primary sources, and note and summarize key points in the sources.

Information Necessary in a Literature Review

1. Problem: State it clearly.

2. Hypotheses or objectives: List them exactly as stated in the article.
3. Procedures: List the research methodology used, the number of subjects and how they were
selected, and the kind of instrument used. Make note of any unusual techniques employed.
4. Findings: List the major findings. Indicate whether the objectives of the study were attained and
whether the hypotheses were supported. Often the findings are summarized in a table.
5. Conclusions: Record or summarize the author’s conclusions. Note your disagreements with the
author and the reasons for such disagreement. Note strengths or weaknesses of the study that
make the results particularly applicable or limited with regard to your research question.

Writing the Literature Review Report

1. The introduction briefly describes the nature of the research problem and states the research
question. The researcher also explains in this section what led him or her to investigate the
question and why it is an important question to investigate.
2. The body of the review briefly reports what others have found or thought about the research
problem. Related studies are usually discussed together, grouped under subheadings (to make
the review easier to read). Major studies are described in more detail, while less important work
can be referred to in just a line or two. Often this is done by referring to several studies that
reported similar results in a single sentence.
3. The summary of the review ties together the main threads revealed in the literature reviewed and
presents a composite picture of what is—and is not— known or thought to date. Findings may be
tabulated to give readers some idea of how many other researchers have reported identical or
similar findings or have similar recommendations.
4. Any conclusions the researcher feels are justified based on the state of knowledge revealed in
the literature should be included. What does the literature suggest are appropriate courses of
action to take to try to solve the problem? And what are other important research questions that
should be examined?
5. A reference list (or bibliography) with full bibliographic data for all sources mentioned in the
review is essential.

Organizing the Related Literature

1. Begin reading the most recent studies in the field and then work backward through earlier
volumes.
2. Read the abstract or summary sections of a report first to determine whether it is relevant to the
question.
3. Before taking notes, skim the report quickly to find those sections that are related to the question.
4. Make notes on file cards, in a word-processing program, or in some format that can be accessed
easily or clustered with other notes on related research.
5. Write out a separate complete bibliographic reference for each work.
 6. To facilitate sorting and organizing, do not put more than one reference on each page, entry, or
card. It is not possible to arrange references alphabetically or in any other way unless they are
recorded singly.
7. Be sure to indicate which parts of the notes are direct quotations from the author and which are
your own paraphrases.
8. If you searched online databases, keep the search strategies (often called “search histories”) on
file.

Researching Using the World Wide Web

Using a Web browser, a researcher can find information on almost any topic with just a few clicks
of the mouse button. Some of the information on the Internet has been classified into indexes, which can
be easily searched by going from one category to another. In addition, several search engines are
available that are similar in many respects to those we used in our search of the ERIC database.

1. Indexes. Indexes group websites together under similar categories. The results of an index
search will be a list of websites related to the topic being searched. Indexes often provide an
excellent starting point for a review of the literature. This is especially true when a researcher
does not have a clear idea for a research question or topic to investigate. Browsing through an
index can be a profitable source of ideas.

2. Search Engines. If one wants more specific information, one should use a search engine (for
example, Google Scholar), because it will search all of the contents of a website. The search
results obtained are usually ranked in order of relevancy.

Evaluating Internet Sources

Determining the quality of a given print journal’s articles has traditionally focused on the following
criteria:
1. Reputation of the journal
2. Stringency of its editorial policies
3. Reporting of primary research, as opposed to feature articles synthesizing or summarizing bodies
of research for the lay audience
4. Use of blind reviews
5. Reputation of its reviewers
6. Its affiliation with distinguished learned societies
7. The presence or absence of advertising
8. Audience for which the journal is intended, scholarly versus the lay audience

Advantages of Searching the Internet in Literature Review

1. Currency: Many resources on the Internet are updated very rapidly; often they represent the very
latest information about a given topic.

2. Access to a wide variety of materials: Many resources, including works of art, manuscripts,
even entire library collections, can be reviewed at leisure using a personal computer.

3. Varied formats: Material can be sent over the Internet in different formats, including text, video,
sound, and animation.

4. Immediacy: The Internet is “open” 24 hours a day. Information can be viewed on one’s own
computer and can be examined as desired or saved to a hard drive or disk for later examination
and study.

Disadvantages of Searching the Internet in Literature Review

 1. Disorganization: Unfortunately, much of the information on the Internet is not well organized. It
employs few of the well-developed classification systems used by libraries and archives. This
disorganization makes it an absolute necessity for researchers to have good online searching
skills.

2. Time commitment: There is always a need to search continually for new and more complete
information. Doing a search on the Internet often (if not usually) can be quite time-consuming and
(regretfully) sometimes less productive than doing a search using more traditional sources.

3. Lack (sometimes) of credibility: Anyone can publish something on the Internet. As a result,
much of the material one finds there may have little, if any, credibility.

4. Uncertain reliability: It is so easy to publish information on the Internet that it often is difficult to
judge its worth. One of the most valuable aspects of a library collection is that most of its material
has been collected carefully. Librarians make it a point to identify and select important works that
will stand the test of time. Much of the information one finds on the Internet is ill-conceived or
trivial.

5. Ethical violations: Because material on the Internet is so easy to obtain, there is a greater
temptation for researchers to use the material without citation or permission. Copyright violation is
much more likely than with traditional material.

6. Undue reliance: The amount of information available on the Internet has grown so rapidly in the
last few years that some researchers may be misled to think they can find everything they need
on the Internet, thereby causing them to ignore other, more traditional sources of information.

Tips in Searching Using the Internet

1. Use the most specific keyword you can think of. Take some time to list several of the words that
are likely to appear on the kind of website you have in mind. Then pick the most unusual word
from your list.

2. Make it a multistep process. Don’t assume that you will find what you want on the first try. Review
the first couple of pages of your results. Look particularly at the sites that contain the kind of
information you want.

3. Narrow the field by using just your previous results. If the keywords you choose return too much
information, try a second search of just the results you obtained in your first search. This is
sometimes referred to as set searching.

4. Look for your keyword in the website title. Frequently, the best strategy is to look for your unique
keyword in the title of websites.

5. Find out if case counts. Check to find out if the search engine you are using pays any attention to
upper- and lowercase letters in your keywords.

6. Check your spelling. If you have used the best keywords that you can think of and the search
engine reports “No results found” (or something similar), check your spelling before you do
anything else.

7. Assess the credibility and reliability of Internet sources. One quick way to evaluate the accuracy
and objectivity of information published on the Internet is to check the URL or domain address
extension. Web addresses ending in .gov, .edu, and .org are sponsored, respectively, by the
federal government, higher education institutions, and nonprofit organizations. Although these
resources are not necessarily free of error and bias, compare them to URL extensions ending
in .com, which represent commercial vendors that often use website advertising to generate
revenue for profit. In addition, scan the site for the organization’s purpose statement as well as
the author’s credentials (and contact information), then judge for yourself.