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The literature review is a critical look at the

existing research that is significant to your


project.
You should evaluate what has already been
done,
Show the relationships between different
work, and
Show how it relates to your project.
It is not supposed to be just a summary of
other people's work.

Know what to do (before starting research):

Know where to start (starting):

Know what you have done (finishing):

Other:

to identify gaps in the literature

to carry on from where others have already reached, or


position your project relative to previous work
to identify information, methods and ideas that may be
relevant to your project (i.e. avoid reinventing the wheel)
to increase your breadth of knowledge of your area
to put your work into perspective
to identify opposing views
to identify other people working in the same fields

What do you already know in the area


concerned?
What are the existing theories?
Are there any inconsistencies or other
shortcomings?
What views need to be (further) tested?
What evidence is lacking, inconclusive,
contradictory or too limited?
Why study (further) the research problem?

Journal articles: these are good, especially for


up-to-date information. They are frequently
used in literature reviews because they offer a
relatively concise, up-to-date format for
research.
Depending on the publication, these
materials may be refereed or non-refereed
materials.

Books: remember that books tend to be less


up-to-date, as it takes longer for a book to
be published than for a journal article.

They are still likely to be useful for including


in your literature review as they offer a good
starting point from which to find more
detailed and up-to-date sources of
information.

Conference proceedings: these can be useful in


providing the latest research, or research that
has not been published.

They are also helpful in providing information


about people in different research areas, and so
can be helpful in tracking down other work by
the same researchers.

Government/corporate reports: many


government departments and corporations
commission or carry out research. Their
published findings can provide a useful
source of information, depending on your
field of study.

Theses and dissertations: these can be useful


sources of information. However there are
disadvantages:
they can be difficult to obtain since they are
not published, but are generally only
available from the library or interlibrary loan
the student who carried out the research may
not be an experienced researcher and
therefore you might have to treat their
findings with more caution than published
research.

Newspapers: since newspapers are generally


intended for a general (not specialised)
audience, the information they provide will be
of very limited use for your literature review.
Newspapers are more helpful as providers of
information about recent trends, discoveries
or changes,
Newspapers do not give unbiased opinions.

Internet: the fastest-growing source of


information is on the Internet.
bear in mind that anyone can post
information on the Internet so the quality
may not be reliable
the information you find may be intended for
a general audience and so not be suitable for
inclusion in your literature review
(information for a general audience is usually
less detailed)

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Specifying

formulating the problem

Searching

collecting the data from various sources

Collating

evaluating the results

Analyzing

interpretation of the results

Writing

presentation of results

Topic

What subject will the review cover

Type

of Review

Integrative, Theoretical, Methodological

Breadth

of Review

The range of subjects that are covered

Depth

of Review

The amount of detail that it goes into

Should be the easiest step, but


remember:
Doesnt need to be too specific
Has to be a subject covered in the literature

Be prepared to make (minor) alterations


to the scope of the review as it proceeds

Informal channels

Yourself, friends, colleagues, conferences

Primary channels (very important !!!)


Journals, Conference proceedings, Books, Review
articles (but remember, dont plagiarize)

Secondary sources
Bibliographies, abstract archives

Bad sources of information (dont use, or use


carefully)
Google (!!), wikipedia (!!!)

www.scirus.com

Critical analysis of available literature:


Practical (Is it going to be useful?)

Is it in a language you can read?


Is it from the area you are reviewing?
It is from a peer-reviewed Journal you respect?
Quality (Is it any good?)

Did the authors sample the population fairly?


Did they treat the errors consistently and well?

What does the data actually tell us?


How does it apply to the topic of the review?
What conclusions can you draw?
Are there any major disagreements between
different sources/studies?

Introduction

Define topic, & also parameters/terms

Body, where the review proceeds


Chronologically
Thematically
Methodologically

Conclusions
Include future questions to be answered

Dont confuse a literature review with an


annotated bibliography; discuss themes,
referencing many sources
simultaneously
Dont make a statement without a
reference (unless it is obvious or trivial)
Include a bibliography (!)

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