Title: All your questions answered about : A Literature Review
1All your questions answered about A Literature
Review
- UMW Libraries
- August 2008
- Charlotte Johnson Jones
- Social Sciences Librarian
2So 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.
3What 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.
4- 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.
5A literature review is a survey of the body of
work that has been written about your topic.
6Who does a literature review?
- Research scientists
- Social scientists
- Business experts
- Economists
- Educators
- Literary theorists
- Anyone who is doing traditional academic writing
and research - You
7- Scholars in many disciplines do a literature
review as part of a research paper or research
project.
8When do you do a literature review?
- A literature review is the first step in
developing a research paper or project.
9Why 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.
10Doing 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
11A literature review is the first step because
knowing what others have done on your topic
establishes the foundation for your own work.
12You 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.
13The 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.
14A thorough, thoughtful literature review at the
beginning of your paper establishes your
credibility within this tradition.
15Where 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.
16But the articles and other works in a literature
review are almost always scholarly.
17Where 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.
18The 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.
19Follow 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.
20Find the scholarly literature for your review by
using the library catalog and databases and by
mining the references and citations in other
authors works.
21What 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.
22Dont 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.
23Be flexible and creative. Discover the
intellectual connections among the works in your
literature review. Dont give up. Get help if you
need it.
24The 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.
25What 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.
26A literature review is not finished until it
incorporates accurate, complete citations.
27Need 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