Writing the review (Galvan, 2006: 81-90)

1. Identify the broad problem area, but avoid global statements

2. Early in the review, indicate why the topic being reviewed is important
3. Distinguish between research finding and other sources of information
4. Indicate why certain studies are important
5. If you are commenting on the timeliness of a topic, be specific in describing the time
frame
6. If citing a classic or landmark study, identify it as such
7. If a landmark study was replicated, mention that and indicate the results of the replication
8. Discuss other literature reviews on your topic
9. Refer the reader to other reviews on issues that you will not be discussing in details
10. Justify comments such as, "no studies were found."
11. Avoid long lists of nonspecific references
12. If the results of previous studies are inconsistent or widely varying, cite them separately
13. Cite all relevant references in the review section of thesis, dissertation, or journal article

Developing a coherent essay (Galvan, 2006: 91-96)

1. If your review is long, provide an overview near the beginning of the review
2. Near the beginning of a review, state explicitly what will and will not be covered
3. Specify your point of view early in the review: this serves as the thesis statement of the
review.
4. Aim for a clear and cohesive essay that integrates the key details of the literature and
communicates your point of view (a literature is not a series of annotated articles).
5. Use subheadings, especially in long reviews
6. Use transitions to help trace your argument
7. If your topic teaches across disciplines, consider reviewing studies from each discipline
separately
8. Write a conclusion for the end of the review: Provide closure so that the path of the
argument ends with a conclusion of some kind. How you end the review, however, will
depend on your reason for writing it. If the review was written to stand alone, as is the
case of a term paper or a review article for publication, the conclusion needs to make
clear how the material in the body of the review has supported the assertion or
proposition presented in the introduction. On the other hand, a review in a thesis,
dissertation, or journal article presenting original research usually leads to the research
questions that will be addressed.
9. Check the flow of your argument for coherence.

Source:

Galvan, J. (2006). Writing literature reviews: a guide for students of the behavioral sciences (
3rd ed.). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing.
The Structure Of A Literature Review

A literature review should be structured like any other essay: it should have an introduction, a middle
or main body, and a conclusion.

Introduction
The introduction should:

define your topic and provide an appropriate context for reviewing the literature;

establish your reasons - i.e. point of view - for

reviewing the literature;

explain the organisation - i.e. sequence - of the review;

state the scope of the review - i.e. what is included and what isn’t included. For example, if you were
reviewing the literature on obesity in children you might say something like: There are a large number
of studies of obesity trends in the general population. However, since the focus of this research is on
obesity in children, these will not be reviewed in detail and will only be referred to as appropriate.

Main Body
The middle or main body should:

organise the literature according to common themes;

provide insight into the relation between your chosen topic and the wider subject area e.g. between
obesity in children and obesity in general;

move from a general, wider view of the literature being reviewed to the specific focus of your
research.

Conclusion
The conclusion should:

summarise the important aspects of the existing body of literature;

evaluate the current state of the literature reviewed;

identify significant flaws or gaps in existing knowledge;

outline areas for future study;

link your research to existing knowledge.

Source:

http://www.rlf.org.uk/fellowshipscheme/writing/literaturereviews/structure.cfm
The Structure of Your Literature Review
Sep 09, 2013 by Dr Sally
Once you have analyzed, synthesized, and evaluated the relevant sources for your topic, you need to think about
presenting the material in a way that will best shape your argument and make sense to your readers.

Think of organizing a literature review as a lawyer would present a case to a jury. The way a lawyer organizes evidence
is crucial to how well the jury understands the argument and moves from one piece of evidence to the next. Obviously
a lawyer chooses which piece of evidence to present first, and chooses the next piece of evidence based on the
previous evidence and what the jury needs to understand to evaluate the next piece. This repeats until the lawyer has
presented all the essential and necessary evidence to understand the situation at hand. As the lawyer presenting your
case, you need to organize and structure the evidence for your argument so that the jury knows how you think of your
evidence. Likewise, in the literature review, the categories and concepts or themes you use to organize your evidence
help the reader evaluate your argument.

There are two primary ways to organize and structure a literature review: chronologically and thematically.

The Chronological Literature Review

In a literature review organized chronologically, you group and discuss your sources in order of their publication
date, highlighting the changes in research in the field and your specific topic over time. This structure is useful for
reviews focusing on research methodology, historiographical papers, and other writing in which you want to
emphasize how ideas have developed over time. For example, a literature review on theories of Alzheimer’s disease
might examine the literature by first providing the earliest medical developments of treatment and progressing to the
latest models and treatments. This type of organization is related to what is referred to as a descriptive review in
which you sequence the review according to how your topic has been organized by others. However, a frequent
criticism of either the chronological or descriptive review is that you have relied on someone else’s organizing
principles rather than your own synthesis of the material.

The Thematic Literature Review

In a review organized thematically, you group and discuss your sources in terms of the themes, theoretical concepts,
and topics that either you decide are important to understanding your topic or that you have identified from
reviewing the key studies on your topic. This structure is considered stronger than the chronological organization
because you define the theories, constructs, categories, or themes that are important to your research. If you have
used one of the synthesis matrices described in the previous blog, you will be in a good position to organize your
review thematically. In these types of reviews, you explain why certain information is treated together, and your
headings define your unique organization of the topic. The sequence of the concepts or themes should be from broad
to specific.

The organization is often referred to as a funnel in which the discrete pieces of information are funneled from
higher-level concepts to the specific studies upon which your own research is based.
For example, if the topic of the literature review is altruism in children, then you might develop sections on the
definitions of altruism, theories of altruism, the biological basis of altruism, the benefits of altruism, and at the
bottom of the funnel you might synthesize the themes found in the key sources upon which your study is based and
identify the gaps in the knowledge about altruism in children that you will address in your proposed research study.

Whether you choose a chronological or thematic structure, as you begin to write the sections of your review,
remember that the transitions you use will indicate to your readers your perspective on the material. Good transitions
connect ideas and paragraphs and help readers understand how ideas work together, reference one another, agree or
disagree, and build on one another. Your transitions need to tell the reader how each new point or piece of evidence
fits with the one before it and what you think about it. Your reader should never have to figure out why you chose to
include the quotation or evidence you did, or what it means. The transitions weave together your argument as you
present the case for your proposed study.

In organizing your review, remember the aim is not simply to present and summarize the ideas about your topic as
they have been laid out over time by others. You need to write a review that demonstrates that you understand the
literature on your topic, have wrestled with the ideas, and have synthesized the issues in a unique way. If you make
sense of others’ ideas in the context of your topic, your reader also can make sense of them.

In the next blog, you will learn how to present the ideas of others in your literature review as you guide your reader
through the text.

source:

http://www.academiccoachingandwriting.org/dissertation-doctor/dissertation-doctor-blog/iv-the-
structure-of-your-literature-review/
How to write a literature review

What is a literature review?

The aim of a literature review is to show your reader (your tutor) that you have read, and have a good
grasp of, the main published work concerning a particular topic or question in your field. This work
may be in any format, including online sources. It may be a separate assignment, or one of the
introductory sections of a report, dissertation or thesis. In the latter cases in particular, the review will
be guided by your research objective or by the issue or thesis you are arguing and will provide the
framework for your further work.

It is very important to note that your review should not be simply a description of what others have
published in the form of a set of summaries, but should take the form of a critical discussion, showing
insight and an awareness of differing arguments, theories and approaches. It should be a synthesis and
analysis of the relevant published work, linked at all times to your own purpose and rationale.

According to Caulley (1992) of La Trobe University, the literature review should:

• compare and contrast different authors' views on an issue

• group authors who draw similar conclusions
• criticise aspects of methodology
• note areas in which authors are in disagreement
• highlight exemplary studies
• highlight gaps in research
• show how your study relates to previous studies
• show how your study relates to the literature in general
• conclude by summarising what the literature says

The purposes of the review are:

• to define and limit the problem you are working on

• to place your study in an historical perspective
• to avoid unnecessary duplication
• to evaluate promising research methods
• to relate your findings to previous knowledge and suggest further research

A good literature review, therefore, is critical of what has been written, identifies areas of
controversy, raises questions and identifies areas which need further research.

Structure of the literature review

The overall structure of your review will depend largely on your own thesis or research area. What you
will need to do is to group together and compare and contrast the varying opinions of different writers
on certain topics. What you must not do is just describe what one writer says, and then go on to give a
general overview of another writer, and then another, and so on. Your structure should be dictated
instead by topic areas, controversial issues or by questions to which there are varying approaches and
theories. Within each of these sections, you would then discuss what the different literature argues,
remembering to link this to your own purpose.
Linking words are important. If you are grouping together writers with similar opinions, you would use
words or phrases such as:

similarly, in addition, also, again

More importantly, if there is disagreement, you need to indicate clearly that you are aware of this by
the use of linkers such as:

however, on the other hand, conversely, nevertheless

At the end of the review you should include a summary of what the literature implies, which again links
to your hypothesis or main question.

Writing the review

You first need to decide what you need to read. In many cases you will be given a booklist or directed
towards areas of useful published work. Make sure you use this help. With dissertations, and
particularly theses, it will be more down to you to decide. It is important, therefore, to try and decide
on the parameters of your research. What exactly are your objectives and what do you need to find
out? In your review, are you looking at issues of theory, methodology, policy, quantitive research, or
what? Before you start reading it may be useful to compile a list of the main areas and questions
involved, and then read with the purpose of finding out about or answering these. Unless something
comes up which is particularly important, stick to this list, as it is very easy to get sidetracked,
particularly on the internet.

A good literature review needs a clear line of argument. You therefore need to use the critical notes
and comments you made whilst doing your reading to express an academic opinion. Make sure that:

• you include a clear, short introduction which gives an outline of the review, including the main topics
covered and the order of the arguments, with a brief rationale for this.

• there is always a clear link between your own arguments and the evidence uncovered in your
reading. Include a short summary at the end of each section.
Use quotations if appropriate.

• you always acknowledge opinions which do not agree with your thesis. If you ignore opposing
viewpoints, your argument will in fact be weaker.

Your review must be written in a formal, academic style. Keep your writing clear and concise, avoiding
colloquialisms and personal language. You should always aim to be objective and respectful of others'
opinions; this is not the place for emotive language or strong personal opinions. If you thought
something was rubbish, use words such as "inconsistent", "lacking in certain areas" or "based on false
assumptions"! (See Guide 1.21)

When introducing someone's opinion, don't use "says", but instead an appropriate verb which more
accurately reflects this viewpoint, such as "argues", "claims" or "states". Use the present tense for
general opinions and theories, or the past when referring to specific research or experiments:

Although Trescothick (2001) argues that attack is the best form of defence, Boycott (1969) claims that
...
In a field study carried out amongst the homeless of Sydney, Warne (1999) found that ...

And remember at all times to avoid plagiarising your sources. Always separate your source opinions
from your own hypothesis. making sure you consistently reference the literature you are referring to.
When you are doing your reading and making notes, it might be an idea to use different colours to
distinguish between your ideas and those of others. (See Guide 1.13).

Final checklist
Here is a final checklist, courtesy of the University of Melbourne:

Selection of Sources

Have you indicated the purpose of the review?

Are the parameters of the review reasonable?
Why did you include some of the literature and exclude others?
Which years did you exclude?
Have you emphasised recent developments?
Have you focussed on primary sources with only selective use of secondary sources?
Is the literature you have selected relevant?
Is your bibliographic data complete?

Critical Evaluation of the Literature

Have you organised your material according to issues?

Is there a logic to the way you organised the material?
Does the amount of detail included on an issue relate to its importance?
Have you been sufficiently critical of design and methodological issues?
Have you indicated when results were conflicting or inconclusive and discussed possible reasons?
Have you indicated the relevance of each reference to your research?

Interpretation

Has your summary of the current literature contributed to the reader's understanding of the
problems?
Does the design of your research reflect the methodological implications of the literature review?

Note

The literature review will be judged in the context of your completed research.
The review needs to further the reader's understanding of the problem and whether it provides a
rationale for your research.

Source:

http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.04.htm
Writing a literature review
What is a literature review?
A literature review is a critical analysis of published sources, or literature, on a particular topic. It is an
assessment of the literature and provides a summary, classification, comparison and evaluation. At
postgraduate level literature reviews can be incorporated into an article, a research report or thesis. At
undergraduate level literature reviews can be a separate stand alone assessment.
The literature review is generally in the format of a standard essay made up of three components: an
introduction, a body and a conclusion. It is not a list like an annotated bibliography in which a summary of
each source is listed one by one.

Why do we write literature reviews?

At university you may be asked to write a literature review in order to demonstrate your understanding of
the literature on a particular topic. You show your understanding by analysing and then synthesising the
information to:

 Determine what has already been written on a topic

 Provide an overview of key concepts
 Identify major relationships or patterns
 Identify strengths and weaknesses
 Identify any gaps in the research
 Identify any conflicting evidence
 Provide a solid background to a research paper’s investigation

How to write a literature review

Determine your purpose
Work out what you need to address in the literature review. What are you being asked to do in your
literature review? What are you searching the literature to discover? Check your assignment question and
your criteria sheet to know what to focus on.

Do an extensive search of the literature

Find out what has been written on the topic.

What kind of literature?

Select appropriate source material: Use a variety of academic or scholarly sources that are relevant,
current and authoritative. An extensive review of relevant material will include — books, journal articles,
reports, government documents, conference proceedings and web resources. The Library would be the
best place to search for your sources.
How many resources?
The number of sources that you will be required to review will depend on what the literature review is for
and how advanced you are in your studies. It could be from five sources at first year undergraduate level
to more than fifty for a thesis. Your lecturer will advise you on these details.

Note the bibliographical details of your sources

Keep a note of the publication title, date, authors’ names, page numbers and publishers. These details
will save you time later.

Read the literature

 Critically read each source, look for the arguments presented rather than for facts.
 Take notes as you read and start to organise your review around themes and ideas.
 Consider using a table, matrix or concept map to identify how the different sources relate to each
other.

Analyse the literature you have found

In order for your writing to reflect strong critical analysis, you need to evaluate the sources. For each
source you are reviewing ask yourself these questions:

 What are the key terms and concepts?

 How relevant is this article to my specific topic?
 What are the major relationships, trends and patterns?
 How has the author structured the arguments?
 How authoritative and credible is this source?
 What are the differences and similarities between the sources?
 Are there any gaps in the literature that require further study?

Write the review

 Start by writing your thesis statement. This is an important introductory sentence that will tell your
reader what the topic is and the overall perspective or argument you will be presenting.
 Like essays, a literature review must have an introduction, a body and a conclusion.

Structure of a literature review

Introduction
Your introduction should give an outline of

 why you are writing a review, and why the topic is important
 the scope of the review — what aspects of the topic will be discussed
 the criteria used for your literature selection (e.g.. type of sources used, date range)
 the organisational pattern of the review.
Body paragraphs
Each body paragraph should deal with a different theme that is relevant to your topic. You will need to
synthesise several of your reviewed readings into each paragraph, so that there is a clear connection
between the various sources. You will need to critically analyse each source for how they contribute to
the themes you are researching.
The body could include paragraphs on:

 historical background
 methodologies
 previous studies on the topic
 mainstream versus alternative viewpoints
 principle questions being asked
 general conclusions that are being drawn.

Conclusion
Your conclusion should give a summary of:

 the main agreements and disagreements in the literature

 any gaps or areas for further research
 your overall perspective on the topic.

Checklist for a literature review

Have I:

 outlined the purpose and scope?

 identified appropriate and credible (academic/scholarly) literature?
 recorded the bibliographical details of the sources?
 analysed and critiqued your readings?
 identified gaps in the literature and research?
 explored methodologies / theories / hypotheses / models?
 discussed the varying viewpoints?
 written an introduction, body and conclusion?
 checked punctuation and spelling?

Source:

http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/litreview.jsp