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Importance and Issues of Literature Review in Research

Presentation · November 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.15347.14885

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M S Sridhar
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 Importance and Issues of Literature
Review in Research

M S Sridhar
mirlesridhar@gmail.com

A presentation made at workshop on 'Tackle a literature review'

under the series 'Publish or Perish‘ organised by Mysore
University Library and Mysore Librarians and Information
Scientists Association (MyLISA) on November 30, 2013
 Synopsis
• Introduction
• Definition
• Importance & purposes of literature review
• Some issues in literature review
• Judging relevance & evaluation of a work
• The processes of literature review
 Research notes and references
 Use of computer
 Note taking techniques, format and layout
• Characteristics of effective review
• Conclusion
M S Sridhar Literature Review 2
 Introduction
Research is
• a voyage of discovery or a journey from the
known to unknown
• an art of scientific investigation
• a systematized effort to gain new knowledge

M S Sridhar Literature Review 3

 Definition
• Review is a formal assessment of something with
the intention of instituting change if necessary
• Book Review is a critical appraisal of a book, play,
film, etc. published in a newspaper or magazine
• A literature review is a “critical analysis of a
segment of a published body of knowledge
through summary, classification, and comparison
of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and
theoretical articles” (University of Wisconsin
Writing Center)
= Assessment/ evaluation + explanation + Digest /
consolidation + comparison + categorisation/
classification
M S Sridhar Literature Review 4
 Definition
• Annotated bibliography should not be
confused for a literature review; it is just
bibliography with a short annotation for each
item
• Literature analysis is a process in literature
review
• Literature survey is often used interchangeably
with literature review, but an activity more
done at the time of selection and formulation
of research problem
M S Sridhar Literature Review 5
 Importance of Literature Review
1. A literature review may be an end in itself to
publish it as a review
2. It can be a preparatory work for taking up /
motivating future research
3. It can be to choose and formulate a research
problem (more appropriately called as ‘literature
survey’)
4. Literature Review enables a researcher to become
an expert/ specialist/ authority in the specific
area; the expertise acquired is often directly
proportional to the efforts put in literature review

M S Sridhar Literature Review 6

 Purposes of Literature Review
1. To understand the purpose and expectations of
the prompt for research so as to place
appropriate emphasis in the analysis and
summary
2. Like laying a brick for building, Literature review
enables to continue the tradition cohesively and
to integrate past works and sources to the body of
knowledge and also to say something new about
them
3. To demonstrate knowledge of available sources
4. To identify gaps in theories
5. To check consistency and continuity of existing
studies and their results
M S Sridhar Literature Review 7
 Purposes of Literature Review
6. Enables to delimit the scope and to narrow
down the research problem
7. To ascertain availability of expected data and
techniques for research problem
8. To compare ones findings/ results with that of
past studies and to place the work in the
context
9. To avoid duplication of work
10. To learn from earlier endeavours, i.e., to
know the type of difficulties encountered and
to get insight for new lines of approach
M S Sridhar Literature Review 8
 Some Issues in Literature Review
1. A continuous and time consuming process runs
through out research work (more while selecting
a research problem and writing ‘review of
literature’)
2. Each research problem being unique, demands
an unique research design and uniquely written
literature review
3. Literature review becomes a prime data
collection method in historical research
4. Ready made literature reviews like that in earlier
theses, Advances and Annual reviews in the
subject should serve more as spring board to
start review rather than as substitutes
M S Sridhar Literature Review 9
 Some Issues in Literature Review
5. Quoting from some one or using abstract/
annotation should be the last resort and only
when cannot access, read and digest the
original
6. Beware of ones hidden bias (mother complex)
in choosing only those results that suits
researcher’s perspectives
7. Resist collecting and accumulating all
references and copies of documents with the
hope of using at a later point of time
M S Sridhar Literature Review 10
 Some Issues in Literature Review
8. When to start reading? Read at the earliest to
avoid accumulating copies of all works for later
reading
9. From where to start reading? Some times reverse
chronological order or ‘latest first’ may be more
appropriate
10. When to start drafting review? As early as
possible
11. Avoiding duplication of efforts requires
systematic updated and maintenance of all
references including those rejected or excluded
from review
M S Sridhar Literature Review 11
 How many sources (references)
should be reviewed?
• Literature search may yield a large number
(thousands) of references References collected
• Browse/ skim all and
choose the most relevant Sources skimmed

• If still the number is too large,

Sources
the research problem may not be Selected
sufficiently narrow or you are too
liberal in deciding relevance
• Try narrowing down the problem and/ or
delimiting the problem
M S Sridhar Literature Review 12
Judging Relevance & Evaluation of a Work
• Judging whether a work/ study is relevant or
not is tricky and depends much on how well
the research problem is formulated
• First hand examination and inclusion of most
significant past studies is more important than
exhaustive coverage of every less relevant/
trivial studies (use ABC analysis when the
number is large)
• Note that there may be plenty of relevant
studies in allied areas from the point of view of
methodology; Use only those which are highly
significant ones
M S Sridhar Literature Review 13
Judging Relevance & Evaluation of a Work

• Evaluation presupposes prior knowledge

of (i) subject (ii) research methodology
and (iii) statistical techniques
• To evaluate a study use all the criteria of
research evaluation like those about
sample strategy, research design, data
collection methods, techniques of
analysis, drawing inference,
generalisation, etc.

M S Sridhar Literature Review 14

 The Processes of Literature Review
• Determine the clear purpose of review
• Search, access and gather literature
• Skim through literature followed by a detailed
reading of significant ones
• Notice similarities and differences in terms of
methodologies, philosophies, claims, choice and
interpretation of evidence, reliability, etc.
• Observe gaps in research or areas that require
further study
• Note any particular issue or problem that stands
out
M S Sridhar Literature Review 15
 The Processes of Literature Review
• Look for prompt to compare texts in general or
hone in on a specific issue or question
• Avoid going back and forth and changing direction
and focus of review / research problem
• Notes taking with categorisation/ classification
and creating structure (Keep track of sources by
writing a brief summary for each)
• Note significance of each work to the research
problem (The amount of space dedicated in
review should be in proportion to its significance
within the body of literature)
M S Sridhar Literature Review 16
 The Processes of Literature Review
• Build References database
Working bibliography
Cyclic method of building references
Eliminating duplication
Managing reference with Styles (software
like Reference Manager can help)
• Build a database of notes (Personal
Information System / Library) integrating
references, text, quotes and comments (Make
a table or chart to map how different sources
relate to/contrast with one another)
M S Sridhar Literature Review 17
 Research Notes and References
• Any form of note-taking that requires compilation
of information by categories, rather than in
narrative form is best done using index cards
 Notes card: landscape format 4 X 6” thick cards
for notes, quotes and own observations
 References card: landscape format 3 X 5” thick
cards
• You can sort, edit and arrange index cards to suit
your particular study needs
• The most important point in using cards is to
indicate the correct reference and topic at the top
of the card
• Use the cards for study, review, to help organize
information for writing paper, report, or thesis
M S Sridhar Literature Review 18
 Plagiarism
• Plagiarism is an intellectual theft and is a major
offence
• Any academic work draws from published
information supplemented by own ideas,
results and findings
• Making use of and building on the others’
(usually past) works is acceptable as long as
others works are identified and properly and
fully acknowledged
• There are softwares to check and detect
plagiarism (CrossCheck powered by
iThentiocate)
M S Sridhar Literature Review 19
 Use of Computer
• It is even better idea to organize categorical
information in a database. Once computer is set
up, finding, updating and adding new
information becomes quite easy; Softwares like
NoteScribe, EndNotes and EverNote help a lot
• For references to be used for citation and
bibliography, a number of softwares like
‘Reference manager’, ‘Librarian’, etc., make it
easy and accurate to produce in whichever style
they are required later once data is entered
completely and correctly

M S Sridhar Literature Review 20

 Use of Computer
• There are online personal libraries like that
of ResearchGate, Mandeley, Colwiz and
Google Scholar where in you can build
references of your own and other
publications; they can later be imported and
exported from one to the other in Bibtex,
Refworks and Endnote formats

M S Sridhar Literature Review 21

 Tips for Notes Taking
1. Be selective and systematic
2. Identify the purpose and function of a text
3. Identify how information is organised
4. Include your thoughts
• What ideas did you have about your research
when you read that information
• How do you think you could use this
information in your research?
5. Use symbols, standard abbreviations and own
shorthand for words (shortcut)
6. Don’t rely on memory
M S Sridhar Literature Review 22
 Notes Taking Techniques
• Set out your notebooks so that you have a
similar format each time you take notes
• Have columns to distinguish the source
information and your own thoughts/
comments (see sample format & layout)
• Use headings, sub-headings and number
each point
• Include bibliographic reference/ details of
the sources of information
M S Sridhar Literature Review 23
 Notes Taking Techniques
Whichever form of notes taking chosen:
• Use different coloured inks for headings, major
sections, main points, diagrams and notes, i.e., use
color to highlight
 Outlining
 Topic sentence or main idea
 Patterning: flowcharts, diagrams, etc.
 Listing, margin notes, highlighting
• Allow plenty of free space around notes to expand
further – write on one side of sheet or use
alternate lines
• Order information (categorisation)
• Use extensive cross-reference system
M S Sridhar Literature Review 24
 Notes Taking Techniques
• Use as much as possible diagrams, charts,
graphs, drawings and other visual aids
 Try diagram or patterned notes like
Main idea in the centre of the page
Related ideas and facts around linked to
main idea with link to indicate relation
More important the idea, placed nearer to
the main idea (centre)

M S Sridhar Literature Review 25

 Notes Format & layout
Category/ Classification Codes Headings/ Sub-headings
Source information (Bibliographic reference) and location
Notes Own thoughts/ comments

M S Sridhar Literature Review 26

 Characteristics of Effective Review
1. A clear logical structure: Logical analysis of
the subject matter based on mental
connections and associations between one
thing and another (Simple possible to most
complex structure or Logically or
chronologically arranged)
2. Present well thought out ideas
3. Well organised work
4. Clear assumptions justified with evidence
5. No grammatical errors and no spelling
mistakes
M S Sridhar Literature Review 27
 Characteristics of Effective Review
6. No obscure or too long sentences or
paragraphs
7. No borrowed ideas or sentences without
giving credit to sources
8. Not much repetition
9. No irrelevant information
10. Strong and effective summary and
conclusion

M S Sridhar Literature Review 28

 Conclusion
• An unique research problem demands an
unique research design and so an unique
review of literature
• A borrowed or an imitated research problem
implies that the researches has reused an
earlier literature review
• A researcher acquires expertise on a specific
area mainly through extensive and intensive
unique literature review

M S Sridhar Literature Review 29

 References
• Academic Resource Center, Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA
24595.
• Buzan, Tony. The speed reading book: read more, learn more,
achieve more. England, BBC, 2010.
• Cohen, Louis and Manion, Lawrence. Research methods in education.
London: Routledge, 1980.
• Dudley, Geoffrey A. Rapid reading: the high-speed way to increase
your learning power. Bombay: Jaico, 1980.
• Kothari, C.R. Research methodology: methods and techniques. 2 ed.,
New Delhi: Vishwaprakashan, 1990.
• Jones, Gwyn and Mort, Pam. Study Skills for Academic Writing.
Phoenix, 1994.
• University of Wisconsin Writing Center’s online guide to Literature
Reviews:
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html
M S Sridhar Literature Review 30
 Thank You

M S Sridhar Literature Review 31

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