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The intention of this resource is to provide you with enough information to produce a high quality reports and literature reviews. You may need to produce several small reports during the course of your undergraduate study as part of group coursework assignments. This guide along with other provide support.
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Writing a literature review: how to find good quality information for your project
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© Loughborough University 2009. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
Please note that this resource is accompanied by a text document and is part of five workshops on Key Skills for Engineering undergraduates.
The other workshops are:•Working in Groups – 90 - 120 minutes•Technical Report Writing - 90 minutes•Oral Presentations – 90 - 120 minutes•Preparing for Placement – 120 - 150 minutes.
Please note there is also an introductory document providing general instructions on the workshops.
Aims of the session
Participants will learn:
What a literature review is How to search for good quality information How to obtain full-text articles How to write up the literature review
Overview
Understanding a literature review Finding the literature Reading & Note taking Organising material Writing the literature review Citing & Referencing Checklist & Summary
A Literature Review
A critique of published work Shows work relevant to your project Not just a list Includes your comments Demonstrates your ability to source material Demonstrates your understanding Provides a background to your project
Preparing to search
Plan your search strategy ensure you understand the question / topic identify keywords consider limits e.g. date, language, document type
Select resource(s) quick search on the Library catalogue Use databases to search for journal articles
Objective: retrieve a manageable set of references
Topic
‘Health and safety issues on building sites, in particular relating to
occupational falls’
Explore your topic
Health and safety,building sites,
occupational falls
Types of fall
Types of site Regulations
construction
Health & Safety
HSE
highway
Cause of fall
from height slip and
fall
human error
faulty equipmentguidelineslaw
occupational health
accident prevention
Choosing your keywords
Consider synonyms e.g. costs / prices / finance
Consider alternative spellings e.g. organization / organisation
Note acronyms and abbreviations e.g. TQM / total quality management
Consider truncation / wildcard searching e.g contract* for contract, contracts, contracting etc.
Combining keywords
AND narrower search / fewer results e.g. construction AND costs
OR broader search / more results e.g. company OR firm
Doing the search
What sort of information is required? (journals, patents, etc)
Identify possible resources (databases, indexes)
Enter and refine your search terms (search technique)
Keeping records – email, save, print, bibliographic software.
How to find journal articles
Library catalogues only list titles of journals not what is inside them
To trace articles you will have to use databases
What is a database?
In this context a database is a journal index
Most often in electronic format Will indicate what journal material has
been published on your topic Contains references
Access to Electronic Information
Your Library may have a portal or search engine which allows simultaneous cross-searching of a number of different databases using the same search interface
You may have to access each database individually. Use help screens or tutorials to learn how to
get the best out of each interface
Hands-on practice
Your turn to try some searches
Evaluating results
Geographic coverage Standards, regulations, laws Quality of work Currency / accuracy Language Access
Finding full-text
Some databases or search engines provide links to full-text in PDF or HTML format
Where no link is present check availability on the Library catalogue
If no subscription is held consider using your inter-library loan service
Reading skills
identifying the questions which need to be answered actual reading
skimming - aims to find out if text is useful scanning - used when looking for specific information,
enables you to find keyword or phrases in text receptive - slower, paying attention to detail SQ3R - survey, question, read, recall, review
prioritising what is found recording pertinent information - note taking
Taking notes
No right or wrong method What works for you? Develop your own style
and stick to it Make a note of the bibliographic details Summarise – don’t copy out long passages Always use your own words Use quotation marks to indicate direct quotes
Organising Your Material
File material and notes in a logical way Index Cards Colour coding Mind Maps/ Spider diagrams Determine headings and sub headings
Writing Your Literature Review (i)
Don’t stare at a blank screen - write something!
Develop headings and sub headings A bit of writing is encouraging An interesting story that flows Determine departmental requirements Use of third person Active or Passive
Writing Your Literature Review (ii)
Length May be part of your introduction May be a stand alone chapter Spelling Grammar Punctuation Plagiarism
Citing
The purpose of a reference or citation is to describe a published item accurately and with sufficient detail to enable a reader to identify it and find it again.
No absolute rules but styles and conventions Main styles Harvard and Numeric Important to be consistent All information you didn’t know before you
read it needs to be cited
Bibliographic software
Software available for your desktop or via the web
Enables you to create and manage your own personal bibliographic database.
Either type the references in yourself, or import them from your database search results
Automatically formats references in a chosen style (e.g. Harvard) for use in a bibliography
Summary
Must be professional Allow time for proof reading Check your referencing Check for consistent layout Material from leaders in the field
GOOD LUCK!
This resource was created by Glynis Perkin and Stephanie McKeating of Loughborough University and released as an open educational resource through the Open Engineering Resources project of the HE Academy Engineering Subject Centre. The Open Engineering Resources project was funded by HEFCE and part of the JISC/HE Academy UKOER programme.
© 2010 Loughborough University
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
The name of Loughborough University, and the Loughborough University logo are the name and registered marks of Loughborough University. To the fullest extent permitted by law Loughborough University reserves all its rights in its name and marks which may not be used except with its written permission.
The JISC logo is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence. All reproductions must comply with the terms of that licence.
The HEA logo is owned by the Higher Education Academy Limited may be freely distributed and copied for educational purposes only, provided that appropriate acknowledgement is given to the Higher Education Academy as the copyright holder and original publisher.
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