Researching & WritingResearching & Writinga Literature Reviewa Literature Review

NCSU Libraries

Expectations of graduate Expectations of graduate studentsstudentsGrad students have different backgrounds

◦Not every grad student has done research

◦Not everyone has experience reading the literature

No problem.You are learning to ask questions

Do so! No one expects you to know everything. Your job is to learn to seek out answers

Knowing that information is out there can be empowering!

Talking about the literature…

◦“What does the literature show us?”

◦“Connect your ideas to the literature.”

◦“Survey the literature on the topic.”

Talking about the literature…

What it IS:◦Scholarly communication

◦A published record of research

◦Challenging to read and digest

◦Indexed, searchable with research databases

Talking about the literature…

What it IS NOT:◦Common knowledge

i.e., handily summarized in Wikipedia

◦Easy to find If you just Googled it, you

overlooked something.◦Available freely online

(mostly) This distinction can be

transparent on campus: the “free” internet vs. library subscriptions

XX

Talking about the literature…

◦Let’s focus on “What are lit reviews?” and “Why?” and the conceptual approach first…

◦Follow-up workshops will tackle the “How?” But we’ll look at a examples as we go

What is a Literature Review?What is a Literature Review?

A literature review Surveys scholarly sources relevant to a

particular issue, area of research, or theoryProvides a description, summary, and critical

evaluation of each workOffers an overview of significant literature

published on a topicGives future research context by telling the

story of work done so far

(adapted from http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/ literaturereview.html)

Functions of Literature Functions of Literature ReviewsReviewsEstablish research context

Show why the question is significant

Illustrate and describe previous research, including gaps and flaws

Ensure that research has not been done before

Hey, did you notice that the bullets here are checkboxes?

Functions of Literature Functions of Literature ReviewsReviewsUnderstand the structure of the problem

Demonstrate your knowledge of the field

Synthesize previous perspectives and develop your own perspective

Point the way to future research

Review article examples:http://go.ncsu.edu/litrev1http://go.ncsu.edu/litrev2

Review article examples:http://go.ncsu.edu/litrev1http://go.ncsu.edu/litrev2

Digging Into the LiteratureDigging Into the Literature

A

= Major works

C

B

Digging Into the LiteratureDigging Into the Literature

A

= Major works

C

B

= Studies that rely on major works

Digging Into the LiteratureDigging Into the Literature

A

= Major works

C

B

= Studies that rely on major works

New!

= Something new!

Digging Into the Literature – Digging Into the Literature – How?How?

Aspect How?

Major works •Literature databases•Colleague recommendations•Cited work

Related works Citation searching:•Web of Science•Google Scholar

New information

•Articles alerts/RSS feeds•Tables of Contents

Put it all together, you have a literature review!

Writing and

revision

RefWorks

Work with Articles and Brain

Overview of the ProcessOverview of the Process

Research and Collect Information

Topic

Overview of the ProcessOverview of the Process

Topic

Initial topic won’t be your final topic!Choose, explore, focusRefine as you go based on:

Availability of research – too much? too little?Discovering new ideasWriting progress

Overview of the ProcessOverview of the Process

Research and Collect Information

Topic

Search databasesFind, evaluate, and select articles

RefWorks

Work with Articles and Brain

Overview of the ProcessOverview of the Process

Research and Collect Information

Topic

Save your work in a citation mgr.Read, analyze, synthesizeDevelop your conceptual framework

RefWorks

Work with Articles and Brain

Overview of the ProcessOverview of the Process

Research and Collect Information

Topic

Refine topic?Use your citation manager to stay organized

Writing and

revision

RefWorks

Work with Articles and Brain

Overview of the ProcessOverview of the Process

Research and Collect Information

Topic

Proceeding…(use worksheet handout)Proceeding…(use worksheet handout)

Develop draft topic Discuss with advisor, colleagues

Find a literature review (or book/chapter) Identify key terms and concepts Use bibliography to find sources

Search the major disciplinary database Check with colleagues, a librarian

Each will have different ideas of where to search! Determine scope and facets of topic Collect useful, current sources

Proceeding…Proceeding…

Search other key databases (another discipline?) Round out understanding of scope, facets,

terms, concepts

Search a Citation database Best ones: Web of Science, Google Scholar

Web of Science has better tools Scholar can complete picture

Identify key/seminal papers/research Identify key researchers, research centers,

journals

Trace citations back and forward

Questions that come Questions that come up…up…

◦How do I know I have the “right stuff”?

◦How do I know when I’m done?

◦How do know what’s important?

◦No set answers…for each individual to decide.

Housekeeping TipsHousekeeping Tips

Use a citation management system◦Such as RefWorks, Zotero, Mendeley, etc.◦One word for these: invaluable. You are

absolutely doing more work in NOT learning about these.

Always get the complete citation information◦Article title, journal title, author, year/volume,

pages, abstractKeep track of searches, notes, ideas, etc.

(back to the worksheets)Fully citing sources = avoiding plagiarism

Read Synthetically: Pull it All Read Synthetically: Pull it All TogetherTogether

Look at all articles to identify relationships

Classify or group papers, or paper sections, by topic, method, theme

Compare and contrast papers addressing similar questions◦Discover relationships between sources◦Discover critical gaps and disagreements

Fit within the generated outline, or adapt outline

The Synthesis MatrixThe Synthesis Matrix

Tool to aid in writing a document showing synthesis

Based on a grid

Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3 Concept 4

James, et al.

xxxxx xxxxx

Chung xxxxx xxxxx

Levy xxxx xxxxx

Models of Paper StructuresModels of Paper Structures

“Stringing” Model: Organization of a Simple

Summary Paper

Introduction Paragraph 1: Summary

ordescription of article 1

Paragraph 2: Summary or description of article 2

Paragraph 3: Summary or description of article 3

…and on…Summary and

conclusions

“Synthesis” Model: Paper showing Synthesis of Sources and Sequencing by

Theme

Introduction--Introduce context, topic, importance, research questions, overview

Theme A: Introduce concept or theme, discuss/compare the relevant parts of papers 1, 3, and 4

Theme B: Introduce concept or theme, discuss/compare the relevant parts of papers 2,4, and 5

Theme C: Introduce concept or theme, discuss/compare the relevant parts of papers 5 and 6

Final paragraphs --Summarize and highlight conclusions, unresolved issues, identify possible next steps in research and/or practice.

Some Tips for WritingSome Tips for WritingWrite as you go: don’t wait until you’ve

finished searching the literatureSet some times to write regularly, and do it!Start with the easier sections (probably not

the introduction)Jot down notes and ideas and keep them

handyGet feedback, and don’t take it too

personallyAim for a style that is clear, simple, and

straightforward

Moving forwardMoving forwardOther library workshops on:

Doing Literature Searching◦How to identify good databases◦Maximizing your use of them

Citation management◦How to save all of this work