1.

Identifying the question:

Investigate and appraises material that has Been written on a particular topic.
Ca serve as a framework for ensuring study or piece of research, such as a thesis.
Raises questions and identify areas to be explored

2. Searching the literature:

Maximize the quality, scope and appropriateness of the literature you end up reviewing.
Commencing a search:

Determine key concepts and issues surrounding them.

Establish terminology so you can develop lists of key words and synonyms to use in your
search. Dictionaries will help you in defining terminology.
Encyclopedias and key articles will often introduce topics and provide lists of key
references.

Make sure you get a good range of the available literature that covers your area of study:

The age of material is important - start with the most recent sources and work backwards.
Use a variety of resources - books, journal articles, theses, conference papers and reports.
Search by keyword, subject, and also author.
Evaluate the information - is a journal refereed (peer-reviewed)? Is a source authoritative?
Develop good referencing skills
You can broaden your search by looking laterally for literature in related fields.

3. Critical reading:

Keep your purpose in mind when you read:

Don't let the arguments in the book distract you.
Before beginning to read, take a few moments to think about what it is you are expecting
from the article or chapter.
Skim the abstract, headings, conclusion, and the first sentence of each paragraph. Do you
need to read everything with equal attention? Can you see where the arguments are headed?

Critically reading the web based material:

Most material on the Internet is not peer reviewed (unlike many journal articles and most
scholarly books). You therefore need to read these writings critically and objectively.
 What do you know about the authors of the piece?
What is the perspective of the writer? (Think about the contexts of gender and culture)
Why does the site exist?
How old is the material?
is there reliable evidence to support the author's contentions?
Is the material correctly and fully referenced or linked to other online information?

Asking questions as u read:

Questions will help you concentrate and deal with the material in an active manner.
Your analytical skills will be sharpened and you will keep an objective outlook on your
material.

4. Structure of the Review:

There may be several different possible structures for your review. Making an outline or plan
is a good way to experiment with these different structures. Your review could be organized in
one of the following ways:

Chronological/historical
Conceptual
Methodological

References:

The University of Melbourne.