“The literature”: what it means and why it’s important for research

Introduction
During your research time you are going to hear a lot of people talk about “the literature”. “The
literature” is a short hand way of talking about books, journal articles, conference papers, reports,
standards and other types of professional and scholarly publications. Professional and scholarly
publications are those publications created for, and by, experts in the field (professional
practitioners, researchers and academics).

You will need to develop a thorough understanding of “the literature” in your research area as it
provides critical inputs into your research activities. It will help you determine the “current thinking”
(another phrase that researchers like to use) in your area, the best theory to apply and the most
appropriate methods of research. You will also use the literature to draw on the knowledge of other
researchers in your field (or important related fields) for other research purposes.

In this module, we:

 Introduce the scientific research cycle

 Show you what kinds of literature that tend to be created at the different stages of the cycle
 Introduce the literature review .

Introducing the “literature review”

Chapter 2 of your dissertation will be the literature review chapter. As you may not yet be familiar
with “the literature”, let’s begin with a definition of the literature review. Once you have a little
understanding of the literature review, we will take a look at “the literature”.

A literature review is:

A document (in this case a chapter of your dissertation) which examines the literature
related to your area of research. This examination will include things like:

 Demonstrating that your research has not been conducted in the past (you will hear
people describing this as demonstrating the “gap in the literature”)
 Describing and analysing other research and its relevance to, and impact on, your
work
 Demonstrating that you have a thorough knowledge of your area and its importance
to the profession and to society.

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 Your literature examination will not present any new data or knowledge that your research
generates. This will be reported elsewhere in your dissertation.

Once you’ve had a chance to see some literature, we’ll look at the literature review in more detail.

Scientific Research and Literature Cycle

As a beginning researcher, you may not have had much experience using the professional and/or
scholarly literature. That may make your literature review a little difficult. How can you identify the
literature that you need and review it if you don’t really understand what the literature is and where
it fits into the bigger research picture? Well, let’s get you started on your journey into “the
literature”.

Learning Activity
Watch the online video outlining the Scientific Research and Literature Cycle. Below, you will find a
video related to your broad research area. Choose your area of research and device/machine type:

Engineering Spatial Sciences

Standard version Mobile version Standard version Mobile version

Urban & Regional Planning Construction Management

Standard version Mobile version Standard version Mobile version

There will always be some research that falls outside the standard cycle, but you will find that this
cycle is applicable in the majority of circumstances. In time, you will also come to see where your
research fits into its own Research and Literature Cycle.

Literature types
Did you notice that journal articles and conference papers appear the most frequently of all the
literature types? This is important to note. As these are the places where most research is reported
or where applications of research are reported, these are the literature types that will most likely
feature prominently in your literature review. Other types of literature may also appear in your
literature review, especially those related to the practical elements of your research.

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 Learning Activity
First, you will need at least two textbooks from third or fourth level courses.

Next, you will need the course readings for this section. Once again choose the readings from your
broad research area below. Then:

1. Read each of the papers (selection provided after table)

2. Make yourself a table like the one below and use it to compare the characteristics of each
document. When you are aware of the characteristics of the different types of literature, it’s
much easier to identify where you are likely to find the different types of information that
you require.

The target audience Textbooks:

Journal articles:
Conference papers:
The kind of information and evidence provided Textbooks:
Journal articles:
Conference papers:
The writing style Textbooks:
Journal articles:
Conference papers:
The structure/format Textbooks:
Journal articles:
Conference papers:
Any other factors that seem important to you (eg. Textbooks:
visual appeal) Journal articles:
Conference papers:

Engineering readings Spatial Sciences readings

Journal article: Hughes, BR & Abdul Ghani, SAA 2009, Journal article: Campbell, G 2011, ‘A principles-
‘A numerical investigation into the effect of windvent based approach to cadastral reinstatement for
dampers on operating conditions’, Building and Australian jurisdictions, Journal of Spatial Science,
Environment, vol. 44, pp. 237-248. vol. 56, no. 1, pp.15-25.

Conference paper: Rodenburg, J & House, HK 2007,
‘Field observations on barn layout and design for
robotic milking’, Sixth International Dairy Housing
Conference Proceeding, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA,
16-18 June 2007, American Society of Agricultural and
Biological Engineers, St Joseph, MI.
Conference paper: Dunwoody, E, Apan, A & Liu, X
2013, ‘Effects of spatial resolution on measurement
of landscape function using the landscape leakiness
calculator’, Surveying and Spatial Sciences
Conference (SSSC 2013): Collect, Connect, Capitalise,
Canberra, Australia, 17-19 April 2013, Surveying and
Spatial Sciences Institute, Deakin West,Page
ACT.
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Construction Management readings
Urban & Regional Planning readings
Journal article: Weippert, A, Kajewski, SL & Tilley, PA
Journal article: s ue -Moreno, L., & C rdova, A.
2003, ‘The implementation of online information and
(2013). A conceptual framework to assess urban
communication technology (ICT) on remote
agriculture’s potential contributions to urban
construction projects’, Logistics Information
sustainability: An application to San Cristobal de Las
Management, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 327-340.
Casas, Mexico. International Journal of Urban
Conference paper: Dhakal, SP & Mahmood, NM 2013, Sustainable Development, 5(2), 200-224.
‘Climate change and disaster risk reduction strategies
Conference paper: Basson, M., & Basson, M. (2012).
in Bangladesh: the tale of two coastal cities, People
Mining – godsend or manmade disaster in the eyes of
and the Planet 2013 Conference: Transforming the
rural communities? Planning Institute of Australia 2012
Future, Melbourne, Australia, 2-4 July 2013, Global
National Congress. Adelaide, South Australia.
Cities Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.

When you compared your sources did you notice the following:

Source Characteristics of information provided (knowledge shared with reader)

Textbooks  Information provided gives a fundamental grounding in the topic (from
which the reader can build in more advanced courses or in professional practice)
 Headings and subheadings break down the chapter carefully to guide the
reader’s thinking and learning
 Writing style is designed especially for students and can even be quite
conversational as though the author is talking directly to the reader
 Text includes features to actively engage thinking and learning – discussion
points, questions to consider, activities, worked examples
 As well as sharing a message, images often attempt to be appealing to the
reader’s eye
Journal articles  Discussion assumes that the reader has substantial knowledge in the field and
uses technical terms and concepts without explanation
 Reports on research or other in-depth topics are presented
 Headings provide a good “map” allowing the reader to easily see what will be
discussed but are not broken down to provide as much guidance as
commonly provided by books for students and other learners
 Images, tables and graphs seek to clearly explain or demonstrate
important information but do not deliberately seek to appeal to the
reader’s eye
 Images, tables and graphs provide critical data and evidence supporting

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 the researcher’s claims
 Writing style is quite formal helping give an impression of expertise and
authority rather than engaging in conversation with the reader
 Begin with an abstract designed to allow the reader to quickly determine
whether or not the article will be of use to him/her
Conference papers  Like journal articles, conference papers assume that the reader has substantial
knowledge in the field
 Some conference papers will offer some explanation of technical concepts and
terms because the conferences are aimed at a wide variety of attendees (from
beginning professional practitioners to expert practitioners and researchers).
While other conferences are designed for highly expert professionals and
researchers and so assume that explanations are unnecessary
 Report on research progress, important and interesting experiences and issues
in professional practice (eg. an engineer might present a paper on the
application of a new technology in a particular setting, a planner might discuss
the implications of fly-in fly-out workers on a small rural town, or a surveyor
might talk about professional implications of the Native Title Act)
 Headings and subheadings act like journal article headings and subheadings as
the reader does not need the level of guidance that a learner needs
 Images, tables and graphs often try to balance the provision of evidence to
support the presenter’s/author’s argument with “appeal to the eye” as they
are attempting to engage both readers of the paper and conference audience
members
 Begin with an abstract designed to allow the conference attendees to
decide whether they should attend the session, and help the reader to
quickly determine whether or not the article will be of use to him/her

As you consider the different kinds of literature, are you beginning to see how each kind can help
you fulfil the various information needs that a researcher may have? At this stage you should be
getting a general idea – the type of literature that you use to develop a basic grounding on a new
area coming up in your research versus choosing an appropriate theory or research methodology. As
you learn more about research itself, you will gather more insights into the role that different types
of literature play in research generally, and your research in particular.

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As you look at the journal and conference papers, remember, they are written by experienced
researchers, not fourth year university students. So, don’t be intimidated by them – nobody expects
your research or your dissertation to perform at these levels. Also, don’t be disheartened if you are
having trouble understanding the papers that you read. That is also normal at this stage of your
professional knowledge development.

You may also find it useful to keep the characteristics of a conference paper in mind for your own
project conference presentation next year. And, of course, you should also consider your audience
when you write your dissertation. Writing well for your audience will help you demonstrate your
knowledge and skills and, therefore, have a positive impact on your marks.

There are other types of literature that we haven’t mentioned here – standards, handbooks, reports,
web documents and more. They are also important to researchers and should not be neglected if
you need them to complete your own research activities. They aren’t included here as the module
would become unmanageable, and comparing the two most significant research literature types
(journal and conference papers) with the literature with which you are most familiar (textbooks) is a
useful learning experience for the novice researcher.

The “literature review” in more detail

Now that you have a better idea of the literature, it’s time to look at some more objectives of the
literature review (we have included those already mentioned earlier in the module).

The literature review:

 Reveals the gap in the research literature and how it has affected your research choice. Gaps
in the literature may suggest:
o That a new research method is needed
o The need for new theory to help researchers think more or differently about a
subject
o The need for knowledge in new areas (eg. application of research extending the
knowledge base into new technical areas)
 Defines/clarifies any important terms or concepts that you use in your research
 Explains why you have chosen to use a particular theory and how it is important to your
research
 Supports your research methodology – the ways you have chosen to conduct your
experiments, set up your questionnaire, choose your sample, collect your data, analyse your
data, etc

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  Proves that you have read, analysed and applied the important literature in your research
area. Note that simply describing the literature is not sufficient for research as research
requires deep and critical thinking
 Reveals any limitations in the literature (especially limits in original research)
 Makes the relationships between important research studies clear
 Demonstrates the importance of your topic to the profession and/or to society
 Shows how your work applies, extends, improves or even challenges research previously
done
 Justifies any other important research decisions (eg. choice of a standard).

If you’d like to hear a little more about the literature review, the University of Michigan Library has a
nice 10 minute introductory video on YouTube.

Project literature reviews

So, you will be starting to understand this important research phrase “the literature”, and you will
be forming an idea of the literature review. Now it’s time to read a literature review from a fourth
year dissertation.

Learning activity
Again, choose the broad research area in which you hope to work. If your area is not represented,
choose a project that looks interesting to you. Read the literature review (Chapter 2) of a
recommended dissertation, and see if you can identify how the author has achieved some of the
objectives listed above. Don’t expect them all to be achieved – our authors are also learners.

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 Engineering

Barnett, PJ 2010, ‘Life cycle assessment (LCA) of li uefied natural gas (LNG) and its environmental impact as a low
carbon energy source’, Undergraduate Project thesis, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.

Black, GW 2012, ‘The investigation of the sustainability of a regional approach to Water Sensitive Urban Design
using a Triple Bottom Line Assessment, Undergraduate Project thesis, University of Southern Queensland,
Toowoomba.

Caunce, CM 2010, ‘Effective road pavement design for expansive soils in Ipswich: Literature review’,
Undergraduate Project thesis, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.

Christensen, ZM 2009, ‘Reduction of local scour around bridge piers: combined system of aerofoil and slot’,
Undergraduate Project thesis, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.

Clarke, AJ 2012, ‘Robust deadbeat control of the non-linear magnetic levitation system using adaptive control
techni ues’, Undergraduate Project thesis, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.

Fraser, MJ 2008, ‘Analysis of a no-till toolbar for a two wheeled tractor’, Undergraduate Project thesis, University
of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.

Harrington, D 2011, ‘CSG water as a medium to grow marine microalgae for biofuel production’, Undergraduate
Project thesis, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.

If you are planning to conduct genuinely novel research and a thorough review reveals that very little directly
applicable literature exists, the approach used in this literature review may be useful – Malpress, R 2007, ‘A new
internal combustion engine configuration – opposed piston with crank offset’, Undergraduate Project thesis,
University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.

Nobbs, R 2012, ‘Development of advanced SWER models for the Ergon Energy network’, Undergraduate Project
thesis, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.

Urban and Regional Planning

Dillon, M. (2013). Little streets in small cities: the role of laneway activation in regional Queensland revitalisation
(Unpublished project thesis). University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

Lonard, C.S. (2012). Urban fringe agriculture and its potential contribution to sustainable cities: a case study of Western
Sydney (Unpublished project thesis). University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

Spatial Sciences

Sussana, V 2013, ‘AUSGeoid09 performance in mountainous regions’, Undergraduate Project thesis, University of Southern
Queensland, Toowoomba.

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Conclusion
That brings us to the end of the module. For many of you, there has been a lot more reading than
you are used to. I hope that you’ve managed without too much pain. It’s good practice – research
requires a lot of reading.

You should now feel more comfortable with the idea of “the literature” and you should have a good
idea of the literature review – what it looks like and what it seeks to achieve.

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References
University of Michigan Library 2009, Literature reviews: an overview for graduate students, viewed
19 June 2014, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2d7y_r65HU>.

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