Steps in Writing a Literature Review

1. Identify your research topic and a tentative research question

2. Locate appropriate information
3. Read and critically evaluate the literature. Evaluate them in the following aspects:

a. Relevance to your topic of interest

b. Currency of article (published 4-5 years ago preferably) or website (Is it
dated? Do not cite facts or statistics that are not dated.)
c. Is the article peer reviewed (a scholarly paper see below “Scholarly vs Popular”)?
d. Author’s authority/credibility
e. Publisher (For papers and books: commercial or academic? For
websites: edu, gov, org, com or net?)
f. Does the article come with a bibliography? This gives you an idea whether
the author has referred to other sources and helps to validate the content of
the article.

For websites, there should be links or footnotes that list down references
and further resources.

g. Is the article biased in any way?

4. Take notes
5. Write the Review

Quotation, Summary, Paraphrase

1. Quotation – writer’s words should be used if exact words need to be commented on

When to quote:

 When the author’s words convey a powerful meaning

 When you want to use the author as an authoritative voice
 To introduce an author’s position you may wish to discuss
 To support claims in, or provide evidence for your writing

How to quote:

 Single quotation marks for short direct quotes (not double)

 Give page numbers for direct quotes
 For longer quotes (3+ lines) – left indent, single line space, no quotation marks.
 Do not use quotation marks for emphasis in text

2. Summarizing – useful if an overview is required. The main idea is given, but details,
examples are left out.

When to summarize:

 To outline the main points of someone else’s work in your own words without details
or examples
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 To include an author’s ideas using fewer words than the original text
 To briefly give examples of several differing points of view on a topic
 To support claims in, or provide evidence for your writing.

3. Paraphrasing – expressing someone else’s ideas in your own words. It changes the
words or phrasing of a text but retains the original meaning

When to paraphrase:

 As an alternative to a direct quotation

 To rewrite someone else’s ideas without changing the meaning
 To express someone else’s ideas in your own words
 To support claims in, or provide evidence for your writing

How to paraphrase

 Use synonyms
 Use varied sentence patterns
 Change or reverse the order of ideas
 Break long sentences into short sentences
 Combine two short sentences and simplify their structure
 Make abstract ideas more concrete (simplify)
 Change the voice (active / passive

Unity and Coherence in your Essay

1. Unity
Discuss one idea in each paragraph. Do not include any information that does not support
the topic sentence.

2. Coherence
The movement from one sentence to another and one paragraph to the next must be
logical and smooth.

There are four ways to do this:

1. Using transition signals

2. Arranging sentences according to pattern of organization
3. Repeating key nouns
4. Using pronouns consistently

Transitions
Here are some example transitions and connective phrases.

Conjunctions: and, but, or, for, nor, neither, so, yet

To compare: by comparison, here again, in the same way, in a similar manner, likewise,
similar to, similarity, so too, as, also, equally, balanced against

To add information and reasons: add to this, again, also, another, equally, further,
furthermore, in addition, moreover, once more, then too, too, yet again, yet another

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To show concession: admittedly, after all, all the same, granted, however, in any case,
in spite of, it is true that, nevertheless, obviously, of course, still

To summarize or conclude: in brief, briefly, in other words, in summary, in conclusion,

on the whole, therefore, hence, thus, that is, consequently, as a result, finally

To contrast: conversely, however, instead, a different view is, differing from, on the
contrary, in contrast, on the other hand, unlike, whereas, otherwise, rather that, despite,
still, yet, but

To show various conditions: in this event, in these circumstances, under such

circumstances, this (that) being so, provided that, in spite of, none/nevertheless, at the
same time, even if, if, unless, otherwise, although, even though, though, despite

To show chronological order: later, subsequently, concurrently, in the meantime, now,

simultaneously, at this time, when / while / was, first, second, formerly, earlier, previously,
before, then, already, at length, by that time, finally, followed by

To explain, give reasons: admittedly, because, certainly, for example, since, that is

To show cause and effect: accordingly, as a consequence, as a result, consequently,

for this reason, hence, it follows that, so / so that, then, therefore, thus

To show conviction: after all, at least, at the same time, apparently, even so, evidently,
conceivably, conclusively, doubtless, no doubt, perhaps, possibly, presumably, probably,
undoubtedly

To list or show logical order: for example, for instance, in particular, to illustrate, the
one…the other, this…that, these…those, here…there, either…or, neither…nor,
whether…or, though…yet, wherever…there, since…then, the more…the more, not
only…but also

To introduce a topic: as for, concerning, with regard to, with respect to

To show purpose: in order that, in order to, so that

To give an example: for example, for instance, to illustrate, to demonstrate, in this case,
take the case of

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Points to note when writing your literature review:

1. Be sure to understand your research topic/question before you begin.

2. Select sources that cover all or most sub-areas of your research topic. Do
not leave areas unexplored as far as possible.

3. Read your sources with an end in mind, making notes on relevant

information --- this will help you compile what you have read in your
review.

4. Your review should give the audience an idea of what is already known
about your research topic.

5. Searching for relevant sources takes time, so start early!

6. As you do your literature review, you might make modifications to the

scope of your study depending on your findings.

Useful references:

[1] How to write a lit review: http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/litreview.php

[2] Evaluating sources of information:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/guides/evaluation.html

Scholarly vs Popular
(Extracted from: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/guides/evaluation.html)

A scholarly journal is generally one that is published by and for experts. In

order to be published in a scholarly journal, an article must first go through the
peer review process in which a group of widely acknowledged experts in a field
reviews it for content, scholarly soundness and academic value. In most cases,
articles in scholarly journals present new, previously un-published research.
Scholarly sources will almost always include:
 Bibliography and footnotes
 Author's name and academic credentials
As a general rule, scholarly journals are not printed on glossy paper, do not
contain advertisements for popular consumer items and do not have colorful
graphics and illustrations (there are, of course, exceptions).
Popular magazines range from highly respected publications such as Scientific
American and The Atlantic Monthly to general interest newsmagazines like
Newsweek and US News & World Report. Articles in these publications tend to
be written by staff writers or freelance journalists and are geared towards a

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general audience. Articles in popular magazines are more likely to be shorter
than those in academic journals. While most magazines adhere to editorial
standards, articles do not go through a peer review process and rarely contain
bibliographic citations.
A good resource that provides background information to help you evaluate
periodicals is:
Magazines for Libraries (Doe Reference AP1.21.K3 Directories).
Tip: When searching a journal index such as Expanded Academic ASAP, try
narrowing your search by limiting to refereed publications. This will retrieve only
scholarly journals matching your search terms. Some other journal indexes offer
this or a similar option.
If you do your searches in Web of Science, you will retrieve only scholarly articles
since only academic journals are indexed in this database.

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 Sample Literature Review

Project title: Investigating the Anti-bacterial Properties of Metal and

Metal
Oxide Nanoparticles

Done by: Lim Jue Min, Jeremy (4N07)

State a
fact and
cite ref. In recent years, there has been growing interests and investments in
research on nanomaterials, minuscule substances having at least one
dimension within the nanometer scale, including nanoparticles, nanowires and
nanofilms (Cao, 2006). At the nanometer scale, these materials exhibit vastly
different physical and chemical properties from their bulk materials: crystals in
the nanometer scale have much lower melting points, ferromagnetic materials
may lose their ferromagnetism when diminished to nanometer size,
semiconductors become insulators and vice versa, solids become liquids at
room temperature and pressure, and inert chemicals like gold become excellent
catalysts. In addition to these are biological anti-bacterial properties.
Nanomaterials have such amazing properties because of their high proportion
of surface atoms, in comparison to bulk materials. Thus, there are more atoms
at the surface with unsaturated bonds, capable of taking part in interactions.

The antibacterial properties of nanoparticles are of interest because

of their obvious potential applications. Some metal-based nanoparticles,
particularly silver nanoparticles, exhibit excellent bacteriocidal and
bacteriostatic properties (Sondi & Salopek-Sondi, 2004; Panacek et al, 2006).
It is well known that silver ions and silver-based compounds are highly toxic to
as many as 12 species of bacteria, including E. coli (J.S. Kim et al, 2007).

Other According to Kim et al. (2007), the mechanism of the inhibitory effects of Ag ions
in –text on microorganisms is only partially known. Several studies (Hamouda et al,
citing
styles 2000; Dibrov et al, 2002; Dragieva et al, 1999) have reported that the positive
charge on the Ag cation plays a key role in its antimicrobial activity via
electrostatic attraction between the negatively charged cell membrane of
microorganism and positively charged nanoparticles. In other studies

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investigating the killing mechanisms of silver nanoparticles, the antimicrobial
activity of silver nanoparticles on Gram-negative bacteria was correlated to the
concentration of Ag nanoparticles, which governs the formation of pits in the
bacterial cell wall, allowing the accumulation of silver nanoparticles to affect the
membrane’s permeability, resulting in cell death (Sondi & Salopek-Sondi, 2004).
A report by Lok et al. (2006) states that silver nanoparticles have been found to
destabilize the bacterial outer membrane and deplete the levels of intracellular
ATP. Several recent publications postulate that silver nanoparticles may adhere
to the surface of the cell membrane, thereby disrupting cellular functions such
as permeability and respiration (Panacek et al, 2006); silver nanoparticles may
cause damage, after penetration, by interacting with phosphorus- and sulphur-
containing compounds, including DNA, for silver tends to have a high affinity to
react with such compounds (Hatchett, 2004).

Given the high toxicity of silver nanoparticles on bacteria, there are

extensive biological, biomedical, and pharmaceutical applications (Sondi &
Salopek-Sondi, 2004) of nanoparticles exhibiting antibacterial properties,
including widespread products where bacterial growth should be inhibited. The
antibacterial activity of the nanoparticles may be used in medicine to reduce
infections in burn treatment, arthroplasty, to prevent bacteria colonization on
prostheses, catheters, vascular grafts, dental materials and dental resins, as
well as integration into textile fabrics, or even for water treatment (Panacek et
al, 2006). In addition, they can be incorporated into domestic and car air-
conditioner filters, floor drain traps, shoe and insole lining, bandages or plasters,
refrigerators, storage containers, and antibacterial soaps, detergents or
washing liquids.

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 References

Cao, G. (2006). Nanostructures & Nanomaterials. London: Imperial College

Press. 433pp.

Dibrov P. et al. (2002). Chemiosmotic mechanism of antimicrobial activity of

Ag(+) in Vibrio cholerae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 46: 2668-70.

Dragieva I. et al. (1999). Complex formation in solutions for chemical synthesis

of nanoscaled particles prepared by borohydride reduction process.
Nanostruct Mater, 12: 267-70.

Hamouda T. et al. (2000). A novel surfactant nanoemulsion with a unique non-

irritant topical antimicrobial activity against bacteria, enveloped viruses and
fungi. Microbiol Res 156: 1-7.

Hatchett, D. W., Henry, S. J. (2004). Phys. Chem., 100: 9854-9859.

Kim J.S. et al.(2007). Antimicrobial effects of silver nanoparticles.

Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine, 3, 96: 95-101.

Lok, C.N. et al. (2006). Proteomic analysis of the mode of antibacterial action
of silver nanoparticles. J Proteomic Research, 5(4): 916-24

Panacek, A. et al. (2006). Silver colloid nanoparticles: synthesis,

characterization, and their antibacterial activity. J Phys Chem B Condens
Matter Mater Surf Interfaces Biophys, 110(33):16248-53.

Sondi, I., Salopek-Sondi, B. (2004). Silver nanoparticles as antimicrobial

agent: a case study on E. coli as a model for Gram-negative bacteria. Journal
of Colloid and Interface Science, 275: 177-182.

More in-text citing styles:

 Studies by Mitch and Albom (1999, 2003) showed that … …

 It was observed by Merck (1997) that … …
 John et al (2007) reported that … …
 Sondi (2001) found that … …