Literature Review

Veena Bansal
IIT Kanpur
Veena@iitk.ac.in
 Scientific community makes its
What is findings public through publishing

Literature
Review At the beginning of a research
project, a researcher has to read the
existing occean of the knowledge
Don't waste time reinventing the wheel

Repeat work is not value addition

Why do
Repeat work will not earn you credit Literature
Review
Repeat work is not publishable

Do your homework
 SCANNING MAKING NOTES STRUCTURING THE WRITING THE BUILDING A
LITERATURE REVIEW LITERATURE REVIEW BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Steps
One of the most intimidating
aspects of a literature review is
encountering the messy nature of
knowledge.

The concluding paragraphs of the

literature review should lead
seamlessly to research propositions Some Issues
and methodologies.

The literature review is focused

 Compare these two texts
GOOD OR BAD
An organization will have to cross many
barriers in successfully adopting big data
analytics. Some of the identified barriers
include lack of data analytics skills in
employees (Russom, 2011), inadequate
infrastructure (Jagadish et al. 2014), data
related issues (Lavalle et al, 2011),
and organizational culture (LaValle et al,
2011), .
GOOD OR BAD
Russom (Russom, 2011) identified lack of
data analytics skills as a barrier. As per the
findings of Jagadish (Jagadish et al, 2014),
some organization don't have enough IT
infrastructure for adopting big data
analytics. Some organizations have a
culture that is not supportive of big data
adoption (Lavalle et al, 2011).
Self Study

Increases the reader’s confidence.

Context
Types of
Place a specific project in the big picture. This is Literature
a necessary part of a research paper
Reviews
Historical

Trace the development of an issue over time. An

article in itself. May require an invitation or
special issue.
Theoretical
Compare different theories. Standalone
paper or you may propose and test a new
theory: inductive/deductive

Integrative Types of
Summarize what is known at a particular
point in time: Standalone paper or you Literature
may propose an advancement Review
Methodological
Point out how methodologies vary:
Standalone paper or you may propose and
test a new methodology
supporting the identification of a research topic, question
or hypothesis

identifying the literature to which the research will make

a contribution, and contextualising the research within
that literature

Context
building an understanding of theoretical concepts and
terminology Literature
Review
facilitating the building of a bibliography or list of the
sources that have been consulted

suggesting research methods that might be useful in

analyzing and interpreting results.
 1. Primary

Original material on which other research is

based: Research articles
2. Secondary
Types of Describe or Analyze primary sources, e.g.
Resources Textbooks, review articles
3. Tertiary

Indexes and Abstracts that provide complete

citation
 1. Scholarly journal Articles: Primary
2. Books: Secondary
3. Dissertations: Primary
4. Government Documents: Primary
Types of 5. Policy Reports: Secondary
Research
Searchengine for
Reports researcher
Googlescholar

Will find lots of white

papers, will waste time
google
 1. Authors Details
2. Title
3. Volume No
What do I 4. Issue No

need to 5. Pages
6. Publisher
Record 7. ISBN number
8. Your own summary of the article
 Format of citation: Important
A. Chicago
Google B. Harvard
Scholar C. Vancouver
D. MLA
E. APA
 Locate the most recent articles and most cited
articles on a particular topic

Include most widely discussed or cited articles

Write the Cross refererence to locate further articles

Review
Don't include your opinion

Write your own story supported by references

 Compare these two texts
THIS IS A STORY SUPPORTED BY
EVIDENCE
An organization will have to cross many
barriers in successfully adopting big data
analytics. Some of the identified barriers
include lack of data analytics skills in
employees (Russom, 2011), inadequate
infrastructure (Jagadish et al. 2014), data
related issues (Lavalle et al, 2011),
and organizational culture (LaValle et al,
2011), .
THIS IS JUST A COLLECTION OF
REFERENCES
Russom (Russom, 2011) identified lack of
data analytics skills as a barrier. As per the
findings of Jagadish (Jagadish et al, 2014),
some organization don't have enough IT
infrastructure for adopting big data
analytics. Some organizations have a
culture that is not supportive of big data
adoption (Lavalle et al, 2011).
How to
Conduct a 1. Define and Refine a Research Topic: what
2. Design a Research Strategy: how
Literature 3. Locate Research Reports: bibliography

Review
 Narrow or Broaden

Too narrow: Miss out on relevant resources

How to Too broad: Too many resources

Search
Pay attention to citation- an important indicator

Literature review papers are a good

Identify most important journals place to start
and conferences in your area Scan through important journals
Scan through important conferences
How much time?
One month of
extensive
reading?

Memorize
Write
Six month of
Read
extensive
reading?
Process
1. Read an article
2. It is an important article
3. No, then don't read it
4. Read the name of the author carefully
5. Sounds familiar
a. Have you read another article by the same author
b. Which article? Can you recall the paper? No, take a quick look
6. Write the summary in your own words- don't cut paste
Process (continued)
7. Relate it to what you have already written
8. Think/reflect- what is important about it
9. What is new in the article
10. Attitude- I need to know the contribution/novelty
11. This will help you identify what is novelty in your research area
12. Create a tea group, discuss
13. Try to explain what you read to someone not in your area
14. Go back to step 1
Objective
T1

Keep multiple curves going

T2
in your life
 ⚫ Neuman, L.W., 2007. Social research
methods, 6/E. Pearson Education India.
⚫ Trochim, W.M. and Donnelly, J.P., 2001.
Research methods knowledge base.
⚫ Gibson, L.D., 1998. Defining marketing
References problems. Marketing research,
10(1), pp.4-12.
⚫ Storey, D.J., 2016. Understanding the
small business sector. Routledge.
⚫ https://dilbert.com/