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Literature review

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When you may write a literature review

• As an assignment

• For a report or thesis (e.g. for senior project)

• As a graduate student

• For a technical paper

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Purpose of a literature review

• To show that you have a good understanding of the background of your topic of research or investigation.

• Things to do:– Include all the areas of research relevant to your topic– Give a historical account of its development– Show that you know who has done the relevant work via

citations– Show the links between the various areas – correlations,

contradictions, ambiguities, gaps– Show the weaknesses of other work and techniques– Show how your work will form an original contribution

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Common difficulties

• The quantity of literature• Lack of literature (sometimes)• Getting started. Where do I look?• Knowing how broad or narrow to make your

review• Knowing which paper to discard and which to

keep• Having the discipline to re-read papers to gain

fresh understanding

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What makes a good review?

• A good review presents the facts and goes behind the facts

• It needs to– Show the issues that have been dealt with in the past

– Show the issues that need to be currently addressed

– Show the correlations, contradictions, ambiguities, and gaps that exist

– Give an analysis and commentary that makes it clear that you understand the issue

– Show that you are imposing your view on the issue

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The process of researching and writing a review

• Hints– Don’t worry about the volume of literature or that

your supervisor may have given you a few specialized papers to start you off

– Be systematic. Be focused and keep good records– Don’t rely solely on books and review articles.– Be cleverly selective– View the process of searching, extracting and

filing material as an iterative process

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The process - Types of sources

• Tertiary sources– Textbooks, original articles

• Secondary sources– Summaries of information, e.g. review articles

• Primary sources– Journal articles, theses, reports

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The process - Steps

1. Consult a librarian about searching techniques2. Be systematic about keeping records of the citations3. First stage of finding information: find a book4. Find some really good review articles5. Choose the papers that appear to be KEY papers6. Select and note the information you need from the KEY

papers7. Choose the topic headings for your review8. Sort your information into the various topic headings9. Select the FRINGE papers (less prominent authors)10. Re-read your original review papers11. Write up the review as a final stage

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2. Be systematic about keeping records of the citations

• Use a computer to keep records– Use a dedicated software to help you (e.g. aigaion)

• Keep copies of every key document

• Note down the full details of the citation

• Check out the book information about – Journal citations– Books

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4. Find some really good review articles

• You will need from one to four

• For a good review article you need to establish– The general overall sense of the topic– The areas that are relevant to your topic– Who are the most active researchers, and who are

the authorities– The papers that are regarded as the most important

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5. Choose the papers that appear to be KEY papers

• These are:– The most frequently cited papers in the review

articles– The most frequently cited authors in the review

articles– The titles that are the most relevant to your topic– The most recently dated– Get also older papers to show the development of

the topic

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6. Select and note the information you need from the KEY papers

– How does the topic fit into a broader view of the research area?

– Why is it an important topic?

– What is known about the topic?

– What is ambiguous, in dispute, unknown? Why?

• Also– Why do these gaps need to be filled?

– Which gaps do you propose to fill in your research?

– Why have you chosen them?

– How do you propose to do it?

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7. Choose the topic headings for your review

• Topics are not fixed

• Topics should be specific e.g.– Historical background– Standard techniques– Current technology

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Possible structure of review

• Title

• Abstract

• Introduction

• Sections appropriate to the subject

• Conclusions

• List of references

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Common mistakes

• Finish the review before you start to understand the issue

• Just giving an account of who did what and when

• Not telling a coherent story

• Not pointing out the gaps in the knowledge and any ambiguities. Not becoming involved

• Referencing errors

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Writing the introduction

• Clearly state the purpose of the study (the motivation)

• Allow readers to understand the background of the study without consulting the literature

• Indicate the authors that worked or are working in the area and describe their chief contribution

• Indicate correlations, contradictions and gaps in the knowledge (to make space for your work)

• Outline your contribution