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Guide to writing an academic literature review

What is a literature review?

Some definitions

 A literature review is a description of the literature relevant to a particular field or topic. It gives an overview of what has been said, who the key writers are, what are the prevailing theories and hypotheses, what uestionsare being asked, and what methods and methodologies are appropriate and useful. As such, it is not in itself 

primary research, but rather it reports on other findings.

!ere is one definition of a literature review"

#... a literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original scholarship, and does

not report new primary scholarship itself. $he primary reports used in the literature may beverbal, but in the vast ma%ority of cases reports are written documents. $he types of 

scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical&analytic, or methodological in nature.Second a literature review seeks to describe, summarise, evaluate, clarify and&or integrate the

content of primary reports.#

'ooper, !. (. )*+-, #$he structure of knowledge synthesis#,Knowledge in Society , ol. *, pp. */01*23

 A literature review may be purely descriptive, as in an annotated bibliography, or it may provide a criticalassessment of the literature in a particular field, stating where the weaknesses and gaps are, contrasting the

views of particular authors, or raising uestions. Such a review will not %ust be a summary but will also evaluateand show relationships between different material, so that key themes emerge. 4ven a descriptive reviewhowever should not %ust list and paraphrase, but should add comment and bring out themes and trends.

Some basic do5s and don5ts

 A literature review should never be %ust a list, as in the e6ample below"

#7ntil recently many researchers have shown interest in the field of coastal erosion and theresulting beach profiles. $hey have carried out numerous laboratory e6periments and field

observations to illuminate the darkness of this field. $heir findings and suggestions arereviewed here.

8A'!9WS:I )*+30- developed a model investigation conducted on the interlocking precastconcrete block seawall. After a result of a survey of damages caused by the severe storm at

the coast of 7SA, a new and especially shaped concrete block was developed for use inshore protection. $his block was designed to be used in a revetment type seawall that would

be both durable and economical as well as reduce wave run1up and overtopping, and scour atits base or toe. It was proved that effective shore protection could be designed utili;ing these

units.

!9(1(A and !9<I:AWA )*+30- studied waves forces acting on the seawall which waslocated inside the surf ;one. 9n the basis of the e6perimental results conducted to measure

waves forces against a vertical wall, the authors proposed an empirical formula of wavepressure distribution on a seawall. $he computed results obtained by using the above formula

were compared well with the field data of wave pressure on a vertical wall.

S4=4>9 and >!4=4>@A: )*+3- conducted e6periments on scour of sea bottom in front

of harbor seawalls, basing on the theoretical investigation of solitary wave interaction with avertical wall using Boussinesue type euation. It showed that the numerical results were inreasonable agreement with laboratory e6perimental data.#

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$his e6ample first appeared on the website of the=anguage 'enter, Asian Institute of $echnology.

 All this e6tract does is to write a potted summary of the views of three sets of authorsC there is no attempt to lookat the relationships between the views, or draw out themes.

By contrast, the following e6tract from a paper uoted in full )see Durther information and e6amples section- does %ust that"

#In developed countries, a large part of the literature concerned with income1related aspectsof disability has tended to focus on the uantitative impact of disability on educational

achievement, earnings and income, and on the adeuacy and euity of income maintenanceschemes and other programmes. $he costs and benefits of rehabilitation and vocationalemployment schemes and employment discrimination have also been recurrent themes.(uch of the current popular literature has been to do with removing barriers of all kinds in

order to increase the participation of disabled people in the employment market.#

What is a literature review as an 4merald article category?

It is a paper the main purpose of which is to annotate and&or critiue the literature in a particular sub%ect area. Itcan either be"

• a selective bibliography providing advice on information sourcesC

• comprehensive, covering the main contributors to the field with an e6ploration of their views.

9n what other occasion is a literature review relevant?

 A literature review will generally be part of a thesis or dissertation, forming an early conte6t1setting chapter. It mayalso form a useful background where you are outlining a piece of research, or putting forward a hypothesis.

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$he stages of a literature review

efine the problem

It is important to define the problem or area which you wish to address. !aving a purpose for your literaturereview will narrow the scope of what you need to look out for when you read.

'arry out a search for relevant materials

<elevant materials will probably comprise a range of media"

• books )monographs, te6t books, reference books-C

• articles from %ournals, whether print or electronic )but make sure electronic %ournals have been sub%ect to

the peer review process-C

• newspaper articlesC

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• historical recordsC

• commercial reports and statistical informationC

• government reports and statistical informationC

• theses and dissertationsC

• other types of information which may be relevant to your particular discipline.

(uch the best place to start the search is your own university library if you are attached to a university. If you arenot, find the nearest academic library with a good collection in your sub%ect area. (ost academic libraries havewell ualified and helpful staff who will be more than happy to help you. Start by looking at their 9HA' )online

public access catalogue- which is a database of their resources.

@ou could also refer to other relevant library catalogues, such as the British =ibrary catalogue, the ational 7nion'atalogue )=ibrary of 'ongress-, and, through their 7<=s, other large academic libraries.

(ost libraries will also have inde6es of periodicals, e.g. Business Heriodicals Inde6, and abstracting services, e.g.issertation Abstracts.

:eywords are a good search strategy, and here it is better to use specific rather than general keywords andphrases.

$he Internet via search engines, metasearch engines, sub%ect gateways and directories has become a hugelypopular place to search, but there are also huge pitfalls. $he following websites provide useful advice on

searching the Internet"

• <esource iscovery etwork )a series of free tutorials-

• 7niversity of Berkeley =ibrary

If you are fairly new to research, you could do well to acuaint yourself with the pitfalls of evaluating material onthe Internet. $he following web resources are particularly helpful"

• 7niversity of Berkeley =ibrary

• eakin 7niversity =ibrary

$he last site has good advice on how to do library researchC obviously a lot is geared to their own collection butmuch is also fairly general, particularly that which relates to searching on the Internet.

4valuate the materials!ere are some points to consider when evaluating material )please note that this is not an e6haustive list-.

Initial appraisal from raw bibliographical data"

• What are the author5s credentials, are they an e6pert in the field? Are they affiliated to a reputable

organi;ation?

• What is the date of publication, is it sufficiently current or will knowledge have moved on?

• If a book, is it the latest edition?

• Is the publisher a reputable, scholarly publisher?

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• If it is a %ournal, is it a scholarly %ournal which has been peer reviewed?

 Appraisal based on content analysis"

• Is the writer addressing a scholarly audience?

• oes the author review the relevant literature?

• oes the author write from an ob%ective viewpoint, and are their views based on facts rather than

opinions?

• If the author uses research, is the design sound?

• Is it primary or secondary material?

• oes the author have a particular theoretical viewpoint, e.g. feminist?

•

What is the relationship of this work to other material you have read on the same topic, does itsubstantiate it or add a different perspective?

• Is the author5s argument logically organi;ed and clear to follow?

• If the author is writing from a practice1based perspective, what are the implications for practice?

$he following website provides good pointers as to how to evaluate material"

• 'ornell 7niversity =ibrary

)including distinguishing scholarly and non1scholarly publications-.

 Analyse the findingsWhat themes emerge and what conclusions can be drawn? What are the ma%or similarities and differences

between the various writers? Are there any significant uestions which emerge and which could form a basis for further investigation?

@ou are now at the stage when you can write up your literature review.

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!ow to organi;e a literature review

$here are a number of ways of organi;ing a literature review. !ere is one suggestion"

*.   Introduction: define the topic, together with your reason for selecting the topic. @ou could also point outoverall trends, gaps, particular themes that emerge, etc., as in the previous 'ooper )*+- uote.

2.   Body: this is where you discuss your sources. !ere are some ways in which you could organi;e your discussion"

o chronologically " for e6ample, if writers5 views have tended to change over time. $here is little point in

doing the review by order of publication unless this shows a clear trendC

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o thematically " take particular themes in the literature, for e6ample in the literature review of poverty

and disability cited in the ne6t section, the author takes the themes of the prevalence and structure of disability, education, employment, income and poverty, causes of disability, the path from poverty to

disability and vice versa, and finally, policies for disabled peopleC

o methodologically " here, the focus is on the methods of the researcher, for e6ample, ualitative versus

uantitative approaches.

J.   Conclusion: summari;e the ma%or contributions, evaluating the current position, and pointing out flawsin methodology, gaps in the research, contradictions, and areas for further study.

$he following websites provide some useful ideas about organi;ation and structure"

• 7niversity of Wisconsin1(adison

• 7niversity of   orth 'arolina

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Durther information and e6amples

Durther information

$he following universities have good information on how to write a literature review, which is naturally mostlyaimed at students, but the principles are still the same"

• eakin 7niversity  aimed mainly at research students.

• 7niversity of Wisconsin1(adison  provides a useful structure for how to write the literature review.

• 7niversity of orth 'arolina   despite its somewhat flippant beginning, has some useful points, and

provides some suggestions for structure.

• 7niversity of 'alifornia, Santa 'ru;  )Dollow links to #Write a =iterature <eview#.- Some useful bullet

points, including advice on how to assess pieces, as well as on the purpose of a literature review.

Some e6amples of literature reviews

$he best way of improving skills in writing literature reviews is by looking at other e6amples"

• Surviving and thriving in academia" a selective bibliography for new faculty members

)eborah =ee, Reference Services Review , vol. J* no. *-$his is much more in the nature of being a descriptive bibliography but note how the author groups her 

material according to themes, with descriptive opening paragraphs.

• $rends and evolution in the development of grey literature" a review

)aniela =ui;i, International Journal of Grey Literature, vol. * no. J-46ample of a literature review which takes a chronological approach.

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