Literature Review

Find Relevant Literature

Focus your search:

Choose literature relevant to your research question.

Use online databases:

Use relevant databases, such as Google Scholar.

Snowballing:

Once you have one good article, work backward from its references and forward from references to it.

Analyze your articles

After identifying and locating the key articles, but before you begin writing, overview them and organize them.

Overview the articles:

Skim each article to determine the general purpose and content. (Focus your reading here on the abstract, introduction and first few paragraphs, and the conclusion of each article.) Tip: as you skim the articles, take notes (see below).

Categorize each useful article

Classify by topic and subtopic, and chronologically within each subtopic.

Take notes:

Decide on the format in which you will take notes as you read the articles

• word processor

• outliner

• concept mapping program (e.g., Freeplane)

• spreadsheet (e.g., Excel or Calc)

• note cards (either virtual or the "old-fashioned" way)

key concepts:

Determine the key concepts in the literature.

key terms:

Identify differences in how keys terms are defined (note differences across researchers).

key statistics:

Track data you may want to cite in the introduction to your review.

useful quotes:

Use a small number of quotes to illustrate key concepts, terms, and statistics.

(Be sure to note the page number so you can provide a complete citation in your review.)

landmark studies:

Identify landmark studies, which lead to subsequent studies in the same area.

lacunae:

Identify gaps in the literature, and explore why these might exist.

generalizations:

Search for generalizations that cut across articles; use these use to organize your review.

emphases, strengths & weaknesses:

Do not simply summarize the articles. Provide a critical analysis that makes sense of the collection of articles that you are reviewing. Critique the research methods and arguments used in the studies, and distinguish between assertions of opinion and evidence-based research findings.

Summarize the literature in table or concept map format

Galvan (2006) recommends building tables as a key way to help you overview, organize, and summarize your findings. Including one or more of such tables may help organize your literature review. However, each table must be accompanied by an analysis that summarizes, interprets and synthesizes the literature that identified in the table.

Examples of tables that may be relevant to your review:

• Definitions of key terms and concepts.

• Research methods.

• Summary of research results.

Synthesize the literature prior to writing your review

Using the notes that you have taken and summary tables, develop an outline of your final review. The following are the key steps as outlined by Galvan (2006: 71-79)

Purpose and voice

Before beginning to write, clarify the purpose of your paper and your intended audience. Here, your literature review should provide a helpful overview of the topic you chose at a level appropriate to your target audience. In the process, you will demonstrate mastery of key works and concepts.

Note-taking strategy

You need to organize and coherently present your findings. A literature review is not series of annotations. It is a coherent narrative.

Outline

Create an outline of your argument, beginning with your thesis, and followed by an explanation and justification of your thesis. You may find mind mapping software helpful at this point.

Reorganize your notes according to the path of your argument

• Within each topic, plan to discuss differences among studies.

• Within each topic, plan to highlight areas needing more research.

• For each key study, plan to discuss how it changes our understanding.

• Plan to present conclusions and implications (by section and for the whole review)

• Flesh out your outline with details from your analysis

Write the review

• Identify the broad problem area

• indicate why the topic being reviewed is important

• Distinguish research findings from other types of information.

• Indicate why landmark studies are considered important, and mention successful or failed replications.

• Cite all relevant references.

• Use subheadings, especially in long reviews.

• Use transitions to help trace your argument.

• Your conclusion should briefly retrace the path of your argument.

• Suggest directions for additional research, being as specific as possible.