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WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW

A lot of students want to find an easy way to write their literature reviews. But this task often takes a lot of
time and causes a lot of difficulties. Therefore, this lecture attempts to provide a general overview of the
literature review process. First, the literature review will be defined as well as its characteristics and
purposes. In addition, some basic steps and considerations will be provided for starting a literature review
as well as when to finish one.

What is a literature review?

The review of literature is a summary of all the reviews from various research literatures related to
the current study carried out by a researcher.
It helps to discover what is already known about the research problem and what more has to be
done.
A literature review is a text that you write based on a secondary source that you have read like
academic journals. A literature review is a part of your thesis or your research paper.
It is the process of identifying, locating, examining, and synthesizing scholarly information and
publications on a particular topic.
It is one of the first things done by any student who plans to pursue new knowledge or do research
in most subject areas.
The literature review establishes the base upon which any new work stands

LET’S SUM IT UP The act of combining different ideas or things

to make a whole that is new and different
from the items considered separately

“A literature review is a systematic study and critical examination of completed or ongoing scholarly papers, documents
and other published/unpublished materials on a particular topic to understand current knowledge. It is a useful synthesis
of information and evaluation of works of other researchers to establish what is known or unknown about the subject
of your thesis. Reviewing literature offers you the opportunity to gain insights into what other people have done or said
in the past that relates to your thesis. Through this review, you will be able to understand current debates and
discourses as well as theoretical and methodological issues relating to your thesis. If you want to look at a literature
review first hand, a simple way would be to look at any research journal article you have used during the course of your
studies; a common feature will be a review of the literature prior to discussion of the research findings. This enables the
research to be contextualized". (Jegede, 2020, p.40)
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Why do I search the literature?

Frequently, thesis students fail to see the significance of the review of related literature. Sometimes, they
consider this as an unnecessary component of the thesis requirement, hence they do not take it seriously.
There is more than meets the eye in the literature review. In fact, the review of related literature is normally
about 25 percent of the entire thesis. In any case, why do you have to review the related literature? The
nine basic purposes of the literature review are as follows:

1 It helps to identify what is already known about a research problem.

2 It helps to build on previous knowledge.
3 Many published research studies contain recommendation for future research, from
which we can get idea for a new research study.
4 It makes researchers know what research has already been done in a particular area so as
to avoid duplication.
5 It is necessary to narrow the problem to be studied.
6 Identify questions a body of research does not answer
7 It helps researchers to get acquainted with the relevant theory, strategies, tools and
instruments for conducting the research.
8 It helps to understand the different ways of conducting the research study.
9 It helps to identify comparative data so helps in interpretation and discussion of previous
study.

It is worth remembering that literature is more than just books; literature includes all of the following:

Books (reference, textbooks, Online material

monographs) Patents
Conference proceedings Published video/DVD material
Encyclopaedias Reports
Journal articles Standards
Magazine articles Theses
Newspapers TV/radio broadcasts
Official publications

There is a wealth of information out there. It is really important, therefore, to have a good search strategy
and evaluation method in place to make sure you find the most relevant literature for your study.

Just remember that looking at Wikipedia/ Google is not sufficient to produce a thesis! You will be
assessed on the QUALITY and the RANGE of sources used.
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What makes a good literature review?

The techniques you use for conducting your literature search and the way you write your review will depend
on the aim and objectives of your thesis. While some studies may require an extensive, in-depth review of
literature, others may just need a short review of existing literature. Generally, characteristics of a good
quality Review of Literature are:

A good review of literature must provide a comprehensive evaluation and examination of

information on the topic of investigation and present this information in a logical and orderly
fashion (systematic) to help readers follow the discourse, debates, arguments and research findings
of other researchers.
Fully referenced (up-to-date references), it should provide a good summary of relevant scientific
literature relating to other people’s work by synthesizing what has been done, when and by whom
so that readers can have a good understanding of how research and knowledge on the topic has
developed over the years.
Although selective, it should also provide readers with a good understanding of the background or
context to the study and how the research fits or sits within existing knowledge or contributes to
the development of new ideas. It should highlight key features of theories and concepts that have
been used to underpin similar studies and the key assumptions of these theories.
It is also important for a literature review to be balanced in terms of its coverage of different
opinions and debates (free from bias).
To serve its purpose, a literature review should be critical and analytical in its approach so that new
ideas and understanding can be developed from the evidence
It should be reproducible and well written. (Bolderston 2008).

Where do I find information for my literature review?

Information for your literature can be sourced in three main ways through hard copies and online material.
These are: primary, secondary and tertiary sources (Panda and Alekya 2018).

Primary sources: A primary Source is a literature resource of a study written by the original researcher. It is
research publication written by the person or people who conducted the research. Examples: Research
Articles, Unpublished Thesis/Dissertation, Personal Diary, hand written records and reports, etc.

Secondary sources: These are based on literature review materials that are published or compiled by
someone other than the original researcher who carried out the study. Typically, these include bibliographies,
indexes and review articles compiled by a second party other than the original scholar.
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Tertiary sources: Literature reviews based on tertiary sources are those that depend on search tools aimed
at finding original primary or secondary literature. These include encyclopedias, guides handbooks and
other fact-finding documents and databases.

Essential steps in literature review

Reviewing literature is a complex process and unwieldy initial search results will often require constant
review and refinement over a period of time. The essential steps in undertaking your literature review are:

1 Choose your topic

• Work with your supervisor to help define your topic if you are not assigned one.
• Sometimes you may want to research an area, but it is much more complex than you realise.
• Speaking to somebody who is familiar with the field will help to clarify any areas that you
are uncertain about.
2 Gather documents and information and evaluate their relevance

• Identify key authors and sources of information for your topic.

•Skim sources index for your key words, then skim the pages on which those words occur.
•Skim the first and last paragraphs in chapters that use a lot of your key words.
•Skim introduction, summary chapters, and so on.
•Skim the last chapter, especially the first and last two or three pages.
•If the source is a collection of articles, skim the editor’s introduction.
•Check the bibliography for titles relevant to your topic.
•Read the abstract.
•Skim the introduction and conclusion, or if they are not marked by headings, skim the first
six or seven paragraphs and the last four or five.
•Skim for section headings, and read the first and last paragraphs of those sections.
•Check the bibliography for titles relevant to your topic.
• Avoid the popular press.

•If it looks like a printed article, follow the steps for a journal article.

•Skim sections labeled “introduction,” “overview,” “summary,” or the like. If there are none,
look for a link labeled “About the Site” or something similar.
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•If the site has a link labeled “Site Map” or “Index,” check it for your key words and skim the
referenced pages.
•If the site has a “search” resource, type in your key words.
Evaluating information sources for reliability

Audience

What age group/education level/political affiliation/etc. is the audience?

Is this for a person with in- depth knowledge or a layperson?

Authority

Does the author’s name appear on the Web page?

What are his/her credentials?
Does the author provide contact information?

Bias

Is the source objective?

Could the writer or the organization’s affiliation put a different spin on the
information presented?
What is the purpose of the source?

Currency

When was the work published?

When was the work last updated?
How old are the sources or items in the bibliography?
How current is the topic?
If a Web page, do the links work?

Scope

What does/does not the work cover?

Is it an in-depth study (many pages) or superficial (one page)?
Are sources and statistics cited?
If a site, does it offer unique info not found in any other source?

3 Critically read the literature.

Now that you have a list of and access to references which are relevant for our study, you should start
reading those sources critically. Critical reading is an active approach to reading that involves an in depth
examination of the text. Memorization and understanding of the text is achieved. Additionally, the text is
broken down into its components and examined critically in order to achieve a meaningful understanding
of the material.
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 First, look for the key themes in the documents and try and identify how the sources fit together.
This process is going to be time-consuming because you will be reading a large amount of material.
Furthermore, once you start your reading, you might find that some of the literature is of little
relevance to your study. Do not panic; this is something that many researchers and theses students
experience and is often a necessary part of the process. It is better to read something that is not
central to your thesis than miss something that might be an important and relevant contribution to
the field.
 While reading, make notes about the central themes and arguments of the book, chapter or article.
Try and get a sense of the theoretical perspective of the author; this will be of use when you come
to organise and present your literature review. Also, emphasise the way in which the piece of
literature you are reading seeks to set itself apart from other literature. Importantly, start to think
critically about the piece you are reading: what is this person trying to say and why? How is it different
from the way others have dealt with this issue? This critical component is very important as it
demonstrates that you are engaging with relevant literature in an appropriate manner to develop
your academic discourse and that you can discriminate between different perspectives and
approaches that exist within your chosen field.
 Keep track of what you read and try to organise all your notes into themes. As you read, ensure that
you also keep a note of page numbers. This is important if you want to come back to the source to
check your interpretation and also, when you write your thesis, you will need to include page
numbers in your citations. Making a note now can stop you wasting a lot of time later trying to find
an elusive quote. Good note-taking and critical reading in the initial stages of your thesis will lead to
a much more effective and focused literature review.

4. Write individual sections

Your literature review incorporates the notes that you have made during the reading of the literature
that you have found. It is an important part of your thesis because it performs a number of related
functions. It demonstrates to your reader that you have read widely and that you are aware of the
range of debates that have taken place within the given field. It provides the proof that you have
more than a good grasp of the breadth and depth of the topic of the thesis.
Investigate expected length and format of the literature review.
Make a preliminary outline.
Organize the literature you will cover.
Limit the scope of the review to the topic at hand.

Your literature review chapter should start with an introduction (a short paragraph). This introductory section
provides a re-orientation to the purpose of the research study; for example, “The purpose of this study is to
. . .”, and identifies the topics to be discussed in the chapter: “In the present chapter, a review of the literature
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includes a historical overview of . . . the current findings from . . . and [add remaining topics].” The topics you
list in the introduction to this chapter should appear as headings in the body of your Literature Review in the
same order.

Note the use of tense for describing what others have said. Past tense is used for the Literature Review, for
example Anderson (2017) reported, stated. Other verbs and phrases you might find helpful as you report the
findings and thoughts of other writers are listed in the list below:

Described Argued for Insisted

Clarified Found Expressed concern
Made the point Another researcher argued Carefully added
Detailed how the process that Reported
worked Discovered Documented
Introduced the idea/notion Observed that Underscored
Stated clearly Perceived Pointed out
Believed that Continued by saying Summarized
Commented Defined Postulated
Suggested that Asserted
Reviewed the findings of Reflected on

Use transition markers.

Synthesize and critically evaluate your literature review.
Practice summarizing and paraphrasing (to be presented in semester II)
Indicate the gap. Use the review to lead to your research questions.
Be careful to cite the source of direct quotes and of ideas expressed. Citations are an indicator you
are showing respect for the ideas of others. Failure to cite sources, whether direct quotes, or others’
ideas, is academic dishonesty, often referred to as plagiarism (will be discussed in semester II).
There are two golden rules of writing: • Write early and write often: the more you write, the easier
it becomes and it becomes a habit • Don't get it right, get it written: drafting helps you to clarify your
thoughts, start by writing the parts you are clear on, this identifies the bits that need more work

Remember these four important points when you review the literature related
to your study:
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1 The literature review must provide, though briefly, a historical background of the subject you are
going to study. This includes any material relevant to the content of the study. It should present a
clear background of the topic of study.
2 The literature review must adequately present any and all relevant materials that are available,
showing the difficulty or practicality of the problem, the research design, procedures, instruments,
and analyses employed by the studies being reviewed. The review should also present an appropriate
integration or synthesis of the materials, thereby providing an appropriate synthesis of the
literatures that have been reviewed.
3 The literature review should help developing the theoretical framework. This may be done with the
clear statement of assumptions.
4 The review of related literature must present a summary in relation to the model or framework
being considered for the study. In other words, what is distinct about the literature?

Common errors in reviewing / writing the scientific literature

There are some common errors that thesis students regularly commit when reviewing / writing the literature
related to their studies. These are:

1. Too frequently, thesis students rely solely on secondary materials or sources, such as research abstracts,
literature reviews done by other researchers, and the like. Frequently, they sometimes simply copy someone
else’s review of the literature, which has become very easy to do in the age of the “cut-and-paste” technology
(Librero, 2010). This could have serious repercussions because there is a chance that the reviewer you may
be referring to might have interpreted the original material differently from the way you would. You would
also be committing plagiarism if you just cut and paste what is available from the Internet. It is always wise
to refer to the original material and properly cite it in your review or in your study.

2. Very frequently, researchers concentrate on the findings in research reports. This is a serious error
because if you look at the findings alone, you are likely to be misled by impressive statistics. The important
parts of the research reports that you must analyze critically are the over-all methodology, sampling,
research design and methods of analyses. It is a mistake to read only the results reported. Professionals who
read your thesis will always want to see how you treated the scientific literature related to your study
because this would tell them whether or not you are on top of your field. If you treated the literature lousily,
it will almost always mean that your thesis may have been lousily undertaken and written, and perhaps not
really worth the reader’s while.

3. Hurrying through review to get started could mean that you will miss something that will improve your
research.
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4. Avoid long quotations; rather paraphrase or break up the quote with your own commentary .

5. Avoid sloppy and inaccurate presentation and ensure that your references are correct (referencing
techniques will be presented in semester II)

6. Do not start each paragraph the same way. Do not just list each source one after the other with a
description or summary.

A literature review is an account of the previous efforts

and achievements of researchers on a phenomenon. It
helps to compare with other previous study. And a
good review of literature is the foundation for a good
research.