Undergraduate Literature Review Guide
Undergraduate Literature Review Guide
Crafting a literature review as an undergraduate can be a daunting task. It's not just about
summarizing existing literature; it requires critical analysis, synthesis, and a deep understanding of
the subject matter. Many students find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of research
they need to sift through and the pressure to produce a coherent and insightful review.
The difficulty lies not only in finding relevant sources but also in weaving them together to form a
cohesive narrative that contributes meaningfully to the existing body of knowledge. Moreover,
there's the challenge of ensuring that your literature review is well-structured, logically organized,
and effectively communicates your insights.
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After all, not every U of W graduate will be as lucky as Harry Wright. Where to find databases: use
the tabs on this guide Find other databases in the Nursing Information Resources web page More on
the Medical Library web page. Your literature review should have a strong structure, and this is
where you need to think carefully about your argument. An identification of future directions for
research on the topic. 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. Some things to keep in mind as you begin your own research and writing are ways to
avoid the most common errors seen in the first attempt at a literature review. Read and analyze this
sample document for writing a literature review. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social
Science Research Imagination. You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach,
or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research. Essentially, your
goal in the literature review is to place your research study within the larger whole of what has been
studied in the past, while demonstrating to your reader that your work is original, innovative, and
adds to the larger whole. Must include a team of at least 2-3 and includes the critical appraisal of the
literature. You Might Also Like: very good, as the first writer of the thesis i will need ur advise. How
does Shakespeare use the play within a play to propel the action. As a note, general reference texts
on a theory or subject, or on a particular methodology, are NOT what you’re looking for. Reviewers
often cite a need for editing in this chapter of the dissertation when synthesis is truly the missing
element. Systematic reviews that involve the rigorous application of scientific strategies aimed at
limiting subjectivity and bias (i.e., systematic and random errors) can respond to this challenge.
Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review. Themes: what questions or concepts recur
across the literature. 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. Chinua
Achebe brings to life a culture no less complex than that of its European interlopers, detailing with a
clear and sympathetic eye the complex social structures, linguistic nuances, and religious rituals of a
society in crisis. Overall, you want to leave your reader feeling confident that you have what it takes
to get this research study completed in a timely fashion. For instance, you might explain that your
review includes only peer-reviewed articles and journals. Having said that, we realize that the
methodological rigour of any review — be it qualitative, quantitative or mixed — is a critical aspect
that should be considered seriously by prospective authors. You want the original studies these texts
refer to, and this applies to your entire dissertation, not just the literature review. Chronological The
simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. Access to more recent research
than any other consulting service. This post is based on our popular online course, Literature Review
Bootcamp. Formal Literature Review Template tru.ca Details File Format PDF Size: 113 KB
Download If you do not know anything about literature review writing, then you should download
this PDF. Types of reviews 1. Define your research question 2. Explain how you plan to go about
conducting your research.
Given this, it will be important to highlight those studies you find that use qualitative methods to
explore perceptions of such variables and how they relate to one another — especially
phenomenological studies. This leaves the reader to draw her own conclusions, rather than
developing a clear and original argument As I mentioned earlier, one of the main functions of the
literature review is to provide a clear rationale for your choice of methodological approach in your
study. A literature review surveys scholarly articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings and
other resources which are relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory and provides
context for a researcher’s own work. Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources
disagree. If so, should research be conducted to address this gap. Aims to identify nature and extent
of research; preliminary assessment of size and scope of available research on topic. This will
definitely be helpful in reducing the amount of time that you spend sifting through possible articles
to include in your chapter. Selecting studies, extracting data, and assessing risk of bias in a duplicate
manner using two independent reviewers to avoid random or systematic errors in the process.
Explain the specific purpose of the study and the research questions that the study will answer. Make
a list of keywords Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Here are a
couple of examples: The current trend in treatment for congestive heart failure combines surgery and
medicine. Literature reviews also provide a solid background for a research paper’s investigation.
The research team started with an exploratory review of background documents and research studies
to identify ways in which patient portals may contribute to health service delivery and patient
outcomes. Rather, the purpose here is to reflect upon gaps in the current body of literature and to
describe how and in what ways you anticipate your research will begin to fill in some or all of those
gaps. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and
related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature
search. Tip We've also compiled a few examples, templates, and sample outlines for you below. So, if
you find you are experiencing one of the following, it's time to put away the keyboard and read this
article. Here is a potential outline for your conclusion: Discuss why the study should be done. Any
time you feel confused in your dissertation process, the purpose statement is a great place to which
to return. It also ensures neither the research analysis was done before nor it is a replication study. A
word of advice is to save the writing of your abstract until the very end of your research proposal
preparation. At this point consider: Does your study extend current research. Introduction PDF How
to Write a Literature Review This handout will focus on defining what a literature review is, how to
organize and synthesize information, and what the different parts of a literature review are.
Transparent and reproducible in reporting details of time frame, search and methods to minimize
bias. What are the key concepts and how are they defined. The literature review is an iterative
process because you will do at least two of them: a preliminary search to learn what has been
published in your area and whether there is sufficient support in the literature for moving ahead with
your subject. Like any other academic text, your literature review should have an introduction, a
main body, and a conclusion. Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.
Further Readings Generative AI and Writing USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides Bibliography
A literature review surveys prior research published in books, scholarly articles, and any other sources
relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a description,
summary, and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem being
investigated. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.
There’s actually a fairly large range in terms of length for this chapter. 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. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates.
Selection Methods: Criteria you used to select (and perhaps exclude) sources in your literature
review. Cook, Kathleen E. and Elise Murowchick. “Do Literature Review Skills Transfer from One
Course to Another?” Psychology Learning and Teaching 13 (March 2014): 3-11; Fink, Arlene. First,
since the purpose statement has all of the elements required to understand the gist of what is being
studied, where (or with whom) it's being studied, and how it's being studied, all the major areas of
knowledge or theory present. In addition to keywords, you can make your search much more
focused and systematic by taking a moment to learn about the search filters available through the
search interface. They originated from criticisms of positivist systematic reviews which centre on
their “simplistic” underlying assumptions ( Oates, 2011 ). We also pride ourselves on our very
prompt and in-depth e-mail responses, 365 days per year. Many higher institutes and universities ask
students to write literature reviews in the final year. Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review:
Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination. It also ensures neither the research analysis was
done before nor it is a replication study. What are some strategies or tips I can use while writing my
lit review. If you rely too heavily on one source, you may miss important points that could be made
by other authors. 4. Plagiarism Plagiarism is when you use someone else’s words or ideas without
giving them credit. If you are in doubt about how to approach a literature review, always follow up
with your rubric, syllabus, professor or teaching assistant. Galvan, J. L. (2009). Writing Literature
Reviews: A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. A review organized in this
manner would shift between time periods within each section according to the point made. Simply
put, your task here is to present a synthesis of what’s been done (and found) within the empirical
research, so that you can clearly assess the current state of knowledge and identify potential research
gaps, which leads us to our third essential ingredient. 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. Research design and methods The objective of this section of
the research proposal is to convince the reader that your overall research design and methods of
analysis will enable you to solve the research problem you have identified and also enable you to
accurately and effectively interpret the results of your research. The literature review gives you a
chance to: 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. Thematic reviews are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the
progression of time, although the progression of time may still be incorporated into a thematic
review. We will explore these topics more in the next chapters. In many ways, the literature review is
the cornerstone chapter of your dissertation. A word of advice is to save the writing of your abstract
until the very end of your research proposal preparation. These filters can typically be used to seek
out articles within a specific publication timeframe. A literature review is a survey of scholarly
sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question.
Contemplate how Shakespeare manages to set up a prophecy, start a war, reverse the power
dynamics of Scotland, push his characters towards madness, and flip the power dynamics back again
— all in five short acts. A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what
kind of literature review you’d like to write. Such discussion in your literature review will be
important for clarifying how a qualitative phenomenological approach will be optimal in answering
your own specific research questions about how faculty make sense of and interpret workload factors
as influential on their job satisfaction and retention decisions. Please share few words with us by
writing your suggestions, feedbacks, and queries in the comment box.
In this post, we’ll unpack three essential ingredients that need to be woven into your literature
review to lay a rock-solid foundation for your study. And, create smaller subsections within your
major sections, providing brief introductory paragraphs to preview the section’s content for the
reader -Include phrasing that ties together the findings and conclusions from all of your sources into
a coherent narrative. -As part of this, be sure to use transitional phrasing in which you compare and
contrast the different studies you discuss. Background and significance The purpose of this section
is to explain the context of your proposal and to describe, in detail, why it is important to undertake
this research. The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation.
Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students. For example, what might
cultural anthropologists say about the continuing conflict in the Middle East. You will often see the
terms “the research,” “the scholarship,” and “the literature” used mostly interchangeably. Gather data
from many different, independent studies that look at the same research question and assess similar
outcome measures. Your finished chapter will be presented in clear and concise academic prose, so
that the focus remains on synthesis and analysis of research to prove the need for your proposed
study. A literature review surveys academic knowledge on a topic. 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. It is also helpful to use as a guide is the searches are not finding any useful results. You
Might Also Like: very good, as the first writer of the thesis i will need ur advise. If you have not yet
written one, it's time to write it. The following sections present these components in a suggested
template for you to follow in the preparation of your research proposal. The type of information you
choose to mention should relate directly to the review’s focus, whether it is thematic,
methodological, or chronological. University of Toronto Health Sciences Writing Centre. Again,
make sure you check with your instructor to confirm. You can emphasise the timeliness of the topic
(“many recent studies have focused on the problem of x”) or highlight a gap in the literature (“while
there has been much research on x, few researchers have taken y into consideration”). Be sure to use
terminology familiar to your audience; get rid of unnecessary jargon or slang. Once you have found
and read some relevant sources you can begin writing your literature review. ? Also check out This
post was produced as part of a research guide series by Avidnote which is a free web-based app that
helps you to write and organize your academic writing online. There is an increasing interest in the
visual aspects of social media. One of the most important benefits of writing a literature review is
that it can help you to identify gaps in the existing research. 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. Andreadis, Barth, Cochrane, and Greever (2007) discussed the
merging of the technical services departments at Kenyon College and Denison University in order to
improve operations. The most interesting literature reviews are often written as arguments (again, as
mentioned at the beginning of the page, this is discipline-specific and doesn’t work for all situations).
As such, reviewers may selectively ignore or limit the attention paid to certain studies in order to
make a point. In this blog post, we’ll give you a basic overview of how to write a literature review,
from brainstorming to editing. This includes the purpose of the study, who were the participants, how
was the study conducted, and then ultimately, what was found. Be sure that you start with your
General Field first before referring to your dissertation study.
Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. Through your
literature review, you’ll show what gaps exist in the current body of knowledge, and then your study
will then attempt to fill (or contribute towards filling) one of those gaps. In addition to page length
requirements, the literature review chapter also commonly has requirements in terms of the number
and types of sources included. If the same authors, books or articles keep appearing in your reading,
make sure to seek them out. To achieve this ambitious objective, the authors performed a bibliometric
analysis of medical informatics citations indexed in medline using publication trends, journal
frequencies, impact factors, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) term frequencies, and characteristics
of citations. Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree. 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. This will give you a better understanding of the author’s argument and what to focus on in
your own review. 2. Not critically evaluating the sources. Meta-analyses are regarded as powerful
tools for deriving meaningful conclusions. These studies were identified through a formal and
systematic search in four databases between 2003 and 2013. 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). Chapter V, “ The Literature
Review,” describes a variety of methods to help you organize the themes. A literature review is a
survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. While it is important to consider the methods that
other researchers have employed, it is equally important, if not more so, to consider what methods
have not been employed but could be. Victoria (BC): University of Victoria; 2017 Feb 27. Some
questions to ask: How are they organizing their ideas. Hamilton (1988) asked students to complete
sentences that required them to fill in pronouns that agreed with gender-neutral antecedents such as
“writer,” “pedestrian,” and “persons.” The students were asked to describe any image they had when
writing the sentence. In other words, a chronological review would have subsections for each vital
time period; a thematic review would have subtopics based upon factors that relate to the theme or
issue. Here are a few other sections you might want to consider: Current Situation: Information
necessary to understand the topic or focus of the literature review. Consequently, it is critical that the
research design and methods section is well-written, clear, and logically organized. For example, if
you are writing for academics or researchers who are familiar with the existing body of work on your
topic, you may only need to provide a traditional literature review that sums up what has been
previously published. For example, a review of the Internet’s impact on American presidential
politics could focus on the development of online political satire. The process may be subject to bias
that supports the researcher’s own work. This saves time when you want to redo, or modify, the
searches. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination. Using
comprehensive and exhaustive searching of the published and unpublished literature, searching
various databases, reports, and grey literature. A basic guide to writing a literature review Here are
the most common ones: 1. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own
reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. The subsections might include
how they are personified, how their proportions are exaggerated, and their behaviors misunderstood.
As mentioned previously, there are a number of existing guidelines for literature reviews.
Thinking interdisciplinarily about a research problem can be a rewarding exercise in applying new
ideas, theories, or concepts to an old problem. The specific goals were to investigate how outcomes
are produced and, most importantly, how variations in outcomes can be explained. A methodological
scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or the way in which these
documents are discussed. How does the structure of the play propel the action. What is the
significance of your proposed research. A literature review is an overview of the topic, an
explanation of how publications differ from one another, and an examination of how each
publication contributes to the. However, only include what is necessary for the reader to locate your
study within the larger scholarship about the research problem. In a research paper, you use the
literature as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute. In other words, your
discussion in those sections needs to start laying the foundation for the research gap. Contemplate
how Shakespeare manages to set up a prophecy, start a war, reverse the power dynamics of Scotland,
push his characters towards madness, and flip the power dynamics back again — all in five short
acts. To emphasize this point, I will say again that you need to focus on research articles that are
published in peer-reviewed journals when selecting your sources. Well, the research gap should serve
as the core justification for your study. When you are assigned a literature review, you should always
read the entire work before writing your review. In many ways, the literature review is the
cornerstone chapter of your dissertation. What type of literature review do you think this study is
and why. You’ve already developed this, obviously, in the course of identifying your topic and key
foundational elements. Victoria (BC): University of Victoria; 2017 Feb 27. What might your study
mean for future practitioners working in the field. If you rely too heavily on one source, you may
miss important points that could be made by other authors. 4. Plagiarism Plagiarism is when you use
someone else’s words or ideas without giving them credit. To summarize the evidence presented and
show its significance Rather than restating your thesis or purpose statement, explain what your
review tells you about the current state of the field If the review is an introduction to your own
research, the conclusion highlights gaps and indicates how previous research leads to your own
research project and chosen methodology. What theories have been used to explain, predict, or
understand their research problem. Rely heavily on the guidelines your instructor has given you. Is it
manageable? Begin writing down terms that are related to your question. The theoretical or
conceptual framework provides the basis for developing your research questions, as well as
interview questions in qualitative research. Use Quotes Sparingly Some short quotes are appropriate
if you want to emphasize a point, or if what an author stated cannot be easily paraphrased. A
literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area. It is often assigned as
part of the research process for a paper. There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social
media. EI-Sherbini and Chen (2011) used a questionnaire to learn about librarian and patron
behaviors and preferences when performing subject searches for non-Roman script materials. Last,
Bandara, Miskon, and Fielt (2011) proposed a structured, predefined and tool-supported method to
identify primary studies within a feasible scope, extract relevant content from identified articles,
synthesize and analyze the findings, and effectively write and present the results of the literature
review.