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Essential Guide to Conducting a Literature Review in Academic Research

This workshop, held on March 11, 2013, delves into the significance of literature reviews in academic research. Participants will explore how to discuss previous research, the role of literature reviews in larger reports, grant proposals, and theses, as well as their potential as stand-alone publications. Key components discussed include defining the research problem, conducting a comprehensive literature search, selection criteria for sources, and using bibliographic management software. Gain insights into the methodologies, strengths, and weaknesses within your field of study to effectively position your research.

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Essential Guide to Conducting a Literature Review in Academic Research

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Literature Reviews Library Workshop March 11, 2013

  2. What is a Literature Review? • Discusses previous research on a topic • Can be a part of a larger report or research project • Can be a part of a grant proposal • Can be a part of a thesis or dissertation • Can be a stand alone publication published separately in a scholarly journal or even as a monograph • Example: Annual Reviews - http://www.annualreviews.org.proxy.library.nd.edu/

  3. A Literature Review is NOT… • A collection of book reviews • An annotated bibliography • New primary scholarship

  4. Why a Literature Review? • To understand what is currently known about a topic • To determine how the research you propose fits into a larger picture • To offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic • To see what has and has not been investigated • To determine the strengths and weaknesses of research on the topic • To provide a solid background for research investigations

  5. Components of a Literature Review • Stating or formulating the problem • Similar to formulating a research query or hypothesis • Stating the scope or focus of the reviewed material • This could include: • Time frame • Methodologies used in research • A particular aspect within a larger subject

  6. Components of a Literature Review • The Literature Search • Selection of databases, bibliographies, experts in the field • These vary with each subject area, but attention should be paid to resources that are interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary in scope as well as formatssuch as: • Web of Science • JSTOR • Google Scholar

  7. Search Tips • Know your databases • Special search features – look for: • A thesaurus (Ex: PsycINFO) • Subject headings or descriptors • Specialized indexes (Ex: ATLA) • Faceted searching (Ex: CatalogPlus, Web of Science) • Times cited information (Ex: Google Scholar)

  8. Components of a Literature Review • Helpful hints • Group your articles/books in categories • Methodologies used/results found, etc. • Maintain a search record • Track where you have searched, and what search terms you have used • Keep full bibliographic information for your sources. • Use bibliographic management software to track citations. • Set up alerting services in frequently used databases • My Citation Alerts (Web of Science), My Research (ProQuest) • Track cited references in books and articles, and look for citing references

  9. Questions? • Meeting time with librarians

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