All your questions answered about : A Literature Review

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All your questions answered about A Literature
Review

• UMW Libraries
• August 2008
• Charlotte Johnson Jones
• Social Sciences Librarian

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So you have to do a literature review

• What is a literature review?
• Who does one?
• When?
• Why?
• How does a literature review fit into my final
  paper?

This presentation will answer all these questions
and give you tips on how to get started and how
to put the finishing touch on your literature
review.
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What is a literature review?

• Literature (in this sense) does not mean
  poetry, plays, short stories, or novels.
• Literature is the body of work that has been
  written about a particular topic.

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• Review means to survey or to examine . . . but
  in this case, not necessarily in order to make a
  critique.
• A literature review is not like a restaurant,
  book, or movie review.

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A literature review is a survey of the body of
work that has been written about your topic.
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Who does a literature review?

• Research scientists
• Social scientists
• Business experts
• Economists
• Educators
• Literary theorists
• Anyone who is doing traditional academic writing
  and research
• You

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• Scholars in many disciplines do a literature
  review as part of a research paper or research
  project.

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When do you do a literature review?

• A literature review is the first step in
  developing a research paper or project.

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Why cant I just do it later?

• Tracking down and reading articles, book
  chapters, and books on your topic before you
  begin to write or to design your research, will
  help you plan a better project.

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Doing a literature review will help you

• to understand the state of knowledge on your
  topic
• to find methodologies, theories, or models that
  other researchers have already applied to your
  research question
• to refine your own research question or thesis

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A literature review is the first step because
knowing what others have done on your topic
establishes the foundation for your own work.
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You should put the results of your literature
review near the beginning of your paper. This is
the usual form that research papers and reports
follow. This is part of the scholarly tradition.
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The scholarly tradition is one of building

• Each scholar builds on the foundation that
  others have established.
• Each scholar acknowledges the ideas, work, and
  contributions of those who have studied a subject
  before them.

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A thorough, thoughtful literature review at the
beginning of your paper establishes your
credibility within this tradition.
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Where do I find the literature?

• You may get ideas and background information for
  your research paper or project from popular
  sources, like magazines or newspapers.

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But the articles and other works in a literature
review are almost always scholarly.
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Where do I find scholarly works?
Many of the books in the UMW Libraries collection
are scholarly. Search the catalog to find books
on your topic.
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The UMW Libraries also subscribe to databases in
many subjects. Youll find scholarly articles in
almost all of these databases. Sometimes the
scholarly articles will be identified as
academic or peer-reviewed.
Databases are listed on the research guides, too.
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Follow the citation trail

• It is perfectly acceptable to use works that
  other authors have cited in their literature
  reviews.
• But be sure that you actually find and read
  these works.
• It is not okay to cite information without
  reading it yourself.

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Find the scholarly literature for your review by
using the library catalog and databases and by
mining the references and citations in other
authors works.
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What if I have trouble finding literature?

• Be flexible and creative.
• Research questions tend to be complex for
  example What are the factors that influence
  whether first-generation college students will
  major in psychology?
• You may not find works that are exactly about
  your topic.
• Thats okay.
• Include works with a strong relationship to your
  topic or to one of the concepts in it for
  example choice of careers psychology students
  first-generation college students.
• Its up to you to discover intellectual
  connections in the body of work you survey.

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Dont be daunted by the mechanics of finding
actual copies of works you want

• Be thorough.
• If you have a citation for a work that seems
  right for your literature review, pursue the work
  until you find it, even it is not easily
  available in full text.
• A UMW librarian will always be happy to help you
  and resources you find through the library are
  almost always completely free.

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Be flexible and creative. Discover the
intellectual connections among the works in your
literature review. Dont give up. Get help if you
need it.
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The finishing touch complete citations

• A paper with a literature review always includes
  footnotes throughout or a Works Cited or
  References page at the end, depending on what
  style is used to write it.
• Use whatever citation style your professor
  requires. The most frequently used styles are MLA
  (Modern Language Association), Chicago, and APA
  (American Psychological Association).
• For best results, keep track of all the
  information you will need to compose your
  citations as you do your research. Use
  photocopies, handwritten notes, browser
  bookmarks, computer printouts, a citation manager
  like Zotero, or make sure you cut and paste
  citation information . . . whatever will work
  for you and the source at hand.

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What a pain. Why do I need citations?

• Building citations is tedious work, but they
  serve a purpose.
• Accurate citations help your readers find works
  you have included in your review.
• Just as your literature review demonstrates that
  you have built upon what others have written,
  citations help your readers build on your work.
• Acknowledging the ideas and contributions of
  others is an important feature of academic work
  in college.

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A literature review is not finished until it
incorporates accurate, complete citations.
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Need More Help?

• Watch the How to Read a Research Article video
  to see what a literature review looks like in
  context
• Watch the ShowMe! video Using the UMW Libraries
  Catalog to learn more about finding books
• Watch ShowMe! videos or read GuideMe! help sheets
  to learn more about finding articles in
  particular databases
• See Citing Sources on the UMW Libraries web
  site for help and examples
• Visit the Reference Desk at the Simpson or CGPS
  libraries
• Contact a Subject Librarian at the Simpson
  Library or the Reference Librarian at CGPS for
  individual help

Thank you for watching All Your Questions
Answered About A Literature Review