Literature Review
Resources
Writing the Literature Review by Call Number: Available OnlineISBN: 9781462536917Publication Date: 2018-09-24This accessible text provides a roadmap for producing a high-quality literature review--an integral part of a successful thesis, dissertation, term paper, or grant proposal. Each step of searching for, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing prior studies is clearly explained and accompanied by user-friendly suggestions, organizational tips, vignettes, and examples of student work. Also featured are excerpts from peer-reviewed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods articles. This is the first book to focus on crafting different types of reviews (systematic, traditional-narrative, or hermeneutic-phenomenological) that reflect the writer's research question, methodological choices, and approaches to knowledge. It describes what all reviews have in common and highlights distinct characteristics of each type. The book includes dos and don'ts for evaluating studies and constructing an argument, and software suggestions for locating, organizing, and arranging sources. Pedagogical Features *Checklists and "To Do" activities that break down key steps to take. *Boxed examples, graphics that organize and visually illustrate key concepts, and summary tables. *Group activities that invite students to further explore and apply the methods discussed in each chapter. *Detailed directions for using four different organizing strategies: synthesis matrix, summary table, mapping, and topic outline. *End-of-chapter summaries and "What's Next" sections. *Assessment matrices for reviewing and refining the completed literature review. Winner (First Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Nursing Research Category
Succeeding with Your Literature Review by Call Number: Available OnlineISBN: 9780335243686Publication Date: 2012-02-01This step-by-step handbook provides comprehensive and practical guidance on the process of researching a range of relevant literature on a subject, as well as planning and writing a literature review. The book takes a student friendly approach to offer complete novices a simple review of a process which is often central to producing a research study. Succeeding with your Literature Review will enable you to: Design a literature review which is related to the main facets of a research project Conduct a logically-planned search for relevant literature Determine which literature is most suited to inclusion in your study Analyse the literature, drawing comparisons and connections where appropriate Appraise the strengths and weaknesses of relevant literature Write logically and rationally about the key features of literature Write a literature review in a sound academic style Understand how to relate a literature review to other elements of your study or dissertation Written by an author with extensive experience of supervising and examining undergraduate, Masters and doctoral dissertations, this book covers the latest trends, such as: RSS feeds, wikis, grey literature, blogs and forms of open access publishing. The book also includes examples of common pitfalls, good practice, key terms and questions to reinforce student learning and reflection. Succeeding with your Literature Review is relevant in all subject areas and is essential reading for third year undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Research Tips
Tips to keep in mind while you are searching:
- You'll be explaining the background of your research problem with an eye to giving a comprehensive review of the discussion by scholars, professionals, and those impacted by your research problem up to this point in time
- Look for a variety of studies: well-known studies that have been cited by others; studies by emerging scholars with innovative perspectives; and/or those representative of the group being studied
- Review the references of each article you find to determine if any of the resources they used might be pertinent to your dissertation as well
- Search for each article you use in Google Scholar, then click on "Cited by" to see which articles have been written more recently that cite the article you are looking at to see the most up-to-date research on that particular topic
- If you can't find the full text of the document, put in an Interlibrary Loan request and we'll try to get it for you, don't skip it!
Inclusive Citation & Inclusive Referencing
- "Inclusive Citation" describes an approach to citing the intellectual and creative work of individuals and groups with a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. (Andrea Baer, Rowan University)
- "Inclusive Referencing" is the practice of including different voices and perspectives in your research. It prioritises investigating, and where relevant, including non-dominant voices, and emphasises the importance of including voices and perspectives from the group you are looking at and/or groups affected by the topic. (Technological University Dublin)
- Pre-Research Questions
- What voices could or should be included in your research?
- Are you looking at a particular community or geographic region? Do you have sources from that community or region?
- Are particular groups particularly affected by the topic you're discussing? Do you have sources from those groups?
- Does your research need to be accessible for people with different needs? For example, would audio-visual resources or other means of representation make your topic more accessible for your audience?
- Research Your Citations
- "performing a count of one's references and finding a bit of information about who one is actually citing, for example, is a simple method to draw attention to citation as a technology that isn't just a passive representation of things we read, but an active interrogation of who we include, who we exclude, and why." (Mott & Cockayne, 2017)
Handouts & Presentations
- Ed.D./Ph.D. Library Tip SheetUpdated 7.19.23
- Organizing Sources for Your Literature ReviewLibrary presentation including ideas on how to keep yourself organized with research.
- Literature Review Source Matrix TemplatesThese two types of matrices may help you organize your sources to write your literature review