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Understanding the Lit Review
Steps to creating a Lit Review
Practice
Resources & Q&A
What is a literature review?
LITERATURE REVIEW
A summary and evaluation of significant research on a particular subject. Lit reviews are often at the
beginning of a larger research article, to introduce a topic and provide its
history and development.
What is the purpose of a literature review?
PURPOSE OF A LIT REVIEW
• Provide context for a research paper• Explore the history and development of
a topic• Examine the scholarly conversation
surrounding the topic• Shows relationships between studies• Examines gaps in research on the topic
PURPOSE OF A LIT REVIEW
A literature review is not simply a summary of different articles written on a topic. It should take a critical eye
to published research to provide insight, and make connections.
What counts as literature?
WHAT COUNTS AS LITERATURE?
Everything relevant that is written on a topic*
• books• journal articles• newspaper articles• historical records• government reports• theses and dissertations, etc.
*Your professor may have specific guidelines as to what type of materials you may include.
STEPS TO THE LITERATURE REVIEW
FIND YOUR SOURCES
Research Question
What is the effect of lack of after-school activities on minority students in urban
schools?
Identify the Key Concepts
What is the effect of lack of after-school activities on minority students in urban
schools?
Identify the Key Concepts
What is the effect of lack of after-school activities on minority students in urban
schools?
… and connect your search terms
AND OR
After-school
activities
ANDnarrows your search by connecting concepts
UrbanUrban
After-
school
activities
After-school activities AND Urban
Urban
AND
After-school activities
Minority
AND
ANDnarrows your search by connecting concepts
But what if…
…you get too few results?
Identify alternative keywords
• Synonyms or related words•Medical, legal, scientific alternatives• Explore Google and Wikipedia• Ask a friend• Thesaurus.com
OR: Broadens Search By Connecting Similar Words
UrbanORCityOR
MetropolitanOR
Inner-city
After-school
activities
UrbanORCity
AND and OR together
UrbanORCity
After-school
activities
PRACTICE
Complete 1 and 2
Where do you search?
WHERE SHOULD YOU SEARCH?
• Research Guide for Education: guides.library.jhu.edu/education
• Databases used for other assignments
• Sources you know are reliable.
PRACTICE
Complete 3
Conduct a Search
READ YOUR SOURCES
What makes a source “good”? What clues do
you look for?
