Literature Review “How to”

Sohail Bajammal, MBChB, MSc, FRCS(C), PhD(c)ssbajammal@uqu.edu.sa

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, Faculty of MedicineVice Dean, Academic Development, Faculty of Dentistry

Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Outline of Literature Review

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• How?

• Tips & Tricks

We will not discuss search strategy

What is it?

Literature Review

It is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic.

Wikipedia

Never use Wikipedia in your

proposal

When to do it?

When to do a Literature Review?

Beginning of the Study

When to do a Literature Review?

Beginning of the Study

End of the Study

AND

Why to do it?

• Show your grasp of the subject: thorough understanding & critical appraisal

• Identify gap/uncertainty in knowledge

• Justify the need for the study Impact

• Justify the hypothesis & the instruments used

• Show that you can do it

Why at the Beginning of the Study?

• Confirms or refutes prior study results

• Explanation of your results

Why at the End of the Study?

How to do it?

5 Steps of Literature Review

1. Identify key terms2. Locate the literature3. Critically appraise & select the literature4. Organize the literature5. Write the literature review

Time & Resources Management

Creswell JW. Educational Research. 2008

1. Identify key terms

• 3-4 keywords

• Your tool during the search process

• How to identify them?– Working title of your project– Research question– Keywords of previous studies similar to yours– Subject headings within electronic databases

Key terms

• Pay attention to:– English vs American spelling:

Orthopaedic - Orthopedic

– All possible terms:Cancer - Malignancy - TumorFracture - Trauma - Injury

2. Locate the literature(Discipline-based)

• Sources:– Primary sources: primary studies, dissertations– Secondary sources: systematic reviews, review

articles, textbooks, encyclopedia

• Technique:– Manually: books, old articles– Electronically: databases, conference proceedings

Databases

• Depends on your discipline (so we cannot cover it all tonight)

• In Medicine: MEDLINE, EMBASE

• ProQuest: to search all MSc & PhD theses

• Google Scholar: fits all (poor man best friend)

Broad Term Lots of irrelevant results

They will email you when new article cites this article

Digital Library at UQU

Web of Science (The Elegant Google Scholar)

Citation Map

5 Steps of Literature Review

1. Identify key terms2. Locate the literature3. Critically appraise & select the literature4. Organize the literature5. Write the literature review

3. Critically appraise & select the literature

• For each piece of information (article, book, thesis), you have to decide:– Is it valid & accurate?– Is it relevant to your study?

• If in doubt, get it in– It is easier to remove this source later than to find it

4. Organize the literature

• The most critical step – otherwise, you will be overwhelmed

• Filing: photocopies, downloads– By Author Name & Year (there are other ways)

• Abstracting (systematic note taking):– For each source, write YOUR words on the research

problem, question, instruments & results– Copying the abstract plagiarism

• Draw a map of your literature!

Papers

Literature Map

5. Write the Literature Review

• Plan enough time

• Draft (Revision Read Revision)3

• Think about:– Content– Organization– Writing & Citation Style– Spelling & Grammar

Content

• Do not list studies

• You are presenting a summary AND an argument using your analysis of the literature

• How much to write?– Balance DEPTH & BREADTH– It depends on what for– For grant proposal: 8-10 double-spaced pages– For PhD Thesis: ? 40-50 pages

Content

• Smooth logical transition of ideas

• Current & relevant literature

• Unbiased discussion (strengths & weaknesses) of supporting & opposing studies

• Consistent referencing style

Organization of Literature Review

Introduction

Body

Conclusions• Summary• Implication• Suggestion for future research

• Background• How is it organized

• Different styles: themes, chronological, debate

• Smooth transition• Not a list of studies• It is an argument

Plagiarism

• Copying without citing

• Paraphrasing without citing

• Using other’s ideas without citing

By the end of the literature review, your goal is to have

1. High Quality Research Proposal:– Covered the subject thoroughly & succinctly– Addressed gap/uncertainty– Justified your hypothesis & instruments

2. High Impact Research Proposal:– On the institution and/or society– On the scientific community– On the Kingdom

3. High Potential for Success:– Experience of the research team– Reasonable allocation of time, resources, rules

Tips & Tricks to makeYour Life Easier with

Literature Review

Using Technology to Help Lit Rev

• MindMapping Software: e.g., MindManager

• File Management System: e.g., Papers

• Bibliography Software: e.g., EndNote

• Books

MindMapping Software

or paper-and-pencil

Organize your

thoughts!

Links to

PDFLinks to

PDF

File Management Software

Papers

Built-in Search Engines

Search Options

Adding Notes

AbstractFull Text View

For more info…

Tutorials

Video Tutorials

Bibliography Software

EndNote

Change the format with a click

Deleting a reference automatic update

EndNoteTraining YouTube Channel

Digital Library at UQU

Books on Writing Skills

There are many books

Outline of Literature Review

• What is it?

• When to do it?

• Why do we need it?

• How to do it?

• Tips & Tricksssbajammal@uqu.edu.sa slideshare.net/uqudent