LEGAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. Literature Review
i. "The Review of Literature reveals the element of distinctive contribution and birth
of a research problem"-Elaborate. (Jan-2023)
ii. Evaluate the significance of Review of literature and identify the various types of
sources of review. (MAY-2019)
iii. What is ‘Review of literature'? Explain the significance of literature review in
research. (JAN-2019)
iv. Review of Literature (JAN-2020-SQ)
v. Review of literature (NOV-2017-SQ)
vi. Review of literature (APRIL-2017-SQ)
Review of literature

1. Review of literature
2. Significance of Review of Literature
3. Purposes of Review of Literature
4. Sources of Review of Literature
a. Journals and Books
b. Reviews
c. Abstracts
d. Indexes
e. Internet
f. Doctoral Dissertations
g. Supervisors / Research Professors
5. Types of Literature
a. Subject Specific Books
b. Grey Literature
c. Official Publications
d. Writing Aids
e. Journal Articles

1. Review of literature
Review of literature is a collective body of works done by earlier scientists
and published in the form of books or in the form of articles in journals or published
as monograph etc

2. Significance of Review of Literature

a. A literature review is part of a report. It provides considerable information on
the topic being researched and the various works that had gone on in the field
over the years.
b. These materials are gathered by the researcher from many sources such as
journals, books, documents etc.
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 c. The review of such a literature could be a matter of fact presentation of the
information or it could be a synthesis of a large number of information and
put together subject wise for the purpose of understanding.
d. It can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an
organisational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis.
e. In summary all the information is synthesised and given in a capsule form.
f. It synthesises and organises the entire information in terms of its relevance
and appropriateness to the topic of research.
g. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old
interpretations or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field,
including major debates.
h. The literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the
most pertinent and relevant information

3. Purposes of Review of Literature

a. To identify the variables relevant for research
b. To avoid repetition of earlier work (any duplication of work)
c. To synthesis prior works
d. To determine meaning and relationship among variables
e. To argue for the relevance and the significance of the research question
f. To provide the context for one’s own methodological approach
g. To establish one’s own credibility as a knowledgeable and capable researcher
h. To argue for the relevance and appropriateness of one’s own approach

4. Sources of Review of Literature

a. Journals and Books
i. Different research journals and books relevant to the areas of interest
are the primary sources of the Review of Literature
ii. Most major libraries have a periodical section where different types of
research journals are made easily available
iii. A research journal generally contains the publication of original
research reports with their detailed methodology and results
iv. Such journals are referred and therefore are different from non-
referred journals.
v. A referred journal is one which reports only those articles which are
carefully reviewed by the experts before publication. Often, the
reviewer rejects several manuscripts and selects a few for publication.
vi. Similarly, books are also direct sources of the Review of Literature.
vii. Of these two, journals are regarded as more useful because they
provide the researcher with the latest and up-to-date information
relevant to the area of interest
b. Reviews
i. Reviews are short articles that give brief information regarding the
work done in a particular area over a period of time.

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 ii. Reviews are commonly published in journals, yearbooks, handbooks
and encyclopaedias.
iii. Reviewers select research articles of their interest, organise them
content wise, criticise their findings and offer their own suggestions
and conclusions.
iv. Review articles are a good source for all the relevant researches at one
place without taking pains to look for them.
v. review articles also provide the advantage of prior reviews
c. Abstracts
i. Abstracts provide a summary of the research reports done in different
fields
ii. Psychological abstract and Sociological abstract are the two common
examples of abstracts.
iii. These abstracts are the useful sources of up-to-date information for
researchers.
iv. In an abstract, besides a summary, researchers get all the relevant
information such as the title of the Research Report, name of the
author and the journal pagination information, etc., regarding the
research article.
v. The only limitation of abstracts is that they fail to satisfy those
researchers who desire detailed information regarding the
methodology and results of the research articles.
d. Indexes
i. Indexes show the titles of the research report without any abstract.
ii. The titles are categorised and arranged alphabetically in each category
so that the researcher can locate any article of interest easily.
iii. As indexes do not provide detailed information, they keep many a
researcher dissatisfied.
iv. They can be best regarded as the supplementary source which, if
combined with other sources, can yield valuable information to the
researchers.
e. Internet
i. Today Internet is a very easy and quick source of Review of Literature.
ii. Internet sites are very useful for providing easy access to original
writings by important researchers.
iii. They also provide such an updated information on the topic that
ordinarily is not available in the library.
iv. Internet sites also provide for useful bibliographies related to a
particular researcher.
v. Search on Internet also reveals some relevant professional societies
and academic associations which can provide a lot of support to the
studies in the concerned area.
vi. Such organisations also sometimes publish important papers or
periodicals which can be of immense help to the researchers.

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 vii. Some publishers put the brief content and extracts from the recently
published books on the Internet and these can be of valuable help to
the researchers.
viii. Sometimes, the Internet sites include articles extracted from
encyclopaedias which can also be very useful and informative as
background reading.
ix. However, they are not normally suitable for citing in a report
f. Doctoral Dissertations
i. Doctoral dissertations have also been a very good source of the
Review of the Literature.
ii. In libraries of universities, doctoral dissertations are available. The
researcher can choose the dissertations of their interest and find useful
and relevant information there.
iii. There are no set forms for writing the research report in a doctoral
dissertation but most dissertations contain chapters like an
Introduction, Review of the Literature, Purpose of the Study, Method
of the Study, Results, Discussion, Summary and Conclusion.
iv. Some researchers prefer not to add a separate chapter on Discussion,
Summary and Conclusion. Some do not add a separate chapter on the
Review of the Literature but incorporate it into the Introduction itself.
v. Thus, the doctoral dissertations present the advantage of prior review.
vi. Ordinarily, it is not possible for the researcher to move through all the
important libraries in the country to consult all existing doctoral
dissertations.
vii. In India, the Survey of Research in Education (edited by M B Buch)
publishes the abstracts of the doctoral dissertations submitted to
different universities.
g. Supervisors / Research Professors
i. Supervisors often know the literature well and are able to guide in
right direction.
ii. They are the recognised authority on the topic or research problems.
iii. Therefore, they should be consulted and their suggestions and advices
should be carefully analysed.
iv. It may also be that the other research professors have recently sourced
and reviewed the literature or an area very close to the literature the
researcher is seeking. So they also constitute one important source

5. Types of Literature
a. Subject Specific Books
i. Introductory and advanced text books and research report can provide
important background and context for the research.
ii. Such literatures also provide information about theory and method of
the research
b. Grey Literature

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 i. It means both published and unpublished materials that do not have
International Standard Book Number (ISBN) or an International
Standard Serial Number (ISSN).
ii. It is a broad category that includes unpublished research newspaper
articles, conference paper and pamphlets, etc.
iii. During the course of doing research most researchers do utilise one or
the other type of grey literature
c. Official Publications
i. This type of literature serves the dual purpose.
1. valuable source of background and contextual information
2. used as a source of secondary data
ii. Document analysis and secondary data analysis are often based upon
this type of literature.
d. Writing Aids
i. As its name implies, such literature generally offers a significant
support during the process of writing and can be easily used to
improve the linguistic style of the work.
ii. Such literature includes dictionaries, bibliographic works,
encyclopaedias, thesauruses, yearbooks, books of quotes, almanacs,
etc.
e. Journal Articles
i. This type of literature is very common among the researches.
ii. Importance:
1. journal articles are very credible
2. they are often targeted for academic audience
3. they possess the trait of specialty
4. they possess the regularity of production which means that
research articles are not only relevant but also current