Tutorial Series 3

WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW

 Disclaimer

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The content presented in this tutorial is free from any
plagiarism and copyright violations and wherever needed
‫اإلعالم واالتصاالت‬
appropriate referencing/citations have been provided.

You are kindly advised to refer to the text books, reference

books and any other supplementary materials recommended
here later for complete understanding of the topic.

05/27/2020 2
 Overview of the tutorial

By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to:

- define what a literature review (LR) is.
- state the role and purpose of a typical LR.
- identify the structure of the LR in terms of its
Moves and Steps.
- make use of the academic writing conventions for
producing an effective LR.

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 What is a literature
review?

• It is published information
A literature review is not merely listing or
in a particular subject area. summarizing the studies in your field.
• It is a key component of
most academic papers. Your LR needs to be more than a listing of
previous studies.
• It is an overview of the
relevant and important The purpose of the LR is to establish a context for
literature on a research
area. your work, highlighting its potential contributions
to the field and “extending the research story of
• Your review should include the field in some way”(Feak and Swales 2009).
a description, summary
and critical evaluation of
the research studies you
choose to discuss.

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Purpose of a literature review

5
Thematic organization of an
LR
(An example)
Research
Source

Sources for your LR include:

• Books
• Journal articles
• Reports / Published Dissertations
• Scholarly or professional websites etc
When in doubt check with your supervisor
about the validity of a research source
 Structure of a Literature Review

A typical LR has:

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• an introduction,
• a body, and
• a conclusion.
‫واالتصاالت‬ ‫اإلعالم‬
Writing your first paragraph or the introduction:
Your first paragraph could begin with a generalization,
discussing some accepted knowledge of the field or
presenting information that is widely known.
 Moves and steps for writing your LR (Introduction)

Move 1: Step 1: Describing the topic of your study and highlighting its importance
Introduction to
Literature Review
Step 2: Stating the aim of the review

Step 3: Identifying the components/ sections of the literature Review

Chapter

* Cite from sources

 Moves and steps for writing your LR (body)

Move 2: Summary and Step 1: Summarizing

critical evaluation

Step 2: Evaluating (identify strengths and

weaknesses of the study, contribution,
compare with other studies etc.)

Step 3: Identifying gaps/limitations based on

your review of the studies in your field
 Moves and steps for writing your LR
(conclusion)
Move 3 : Chapter Summary
Move 4: Announcing own study
Move 5 : Announcing the upcoming
chapter
Step 1: Summing up the chapter and also
making your stance clear
Step 2: Suggesting future research
directions
Step 1: Situating your own research in the
gap identified in your review
Step 1: Identifying the section/chapter to
follow
Summarizing

A detailed summary should include the following :

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• Author (s) name(s) and Year (citation)

• Objectives of the paper/ study

• Methods (If an empirical/experimental paper is

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•
being reviewed)

Findings (results)

• Conclusions drawn by author

 Literature Review= Summarizing + Evaluating

For the research papers/ journal articles you read and review, you have to

1. Summarize

and
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2. Evaluate ‫اإلعالم واالتصاالت‬
Finally, you will have to synthesize your ideas
 Using your own
words
• When writing your Literature review, you will be required
to paraphrase and summarize information from other
texts.
• Paraphrasing is a restatement of a specific point or
points from another work, while summarizing is writing
the gist or the main message of the source (Feak and
Swales 2009).
• Whether you paraphrase or summarize, remember to
acknowledge your sources to avoid the issue of
plagiarism.
 Evaluatio
n

 Strengths and weaknesses of the methods

 Are the methods clear for replication?
 Methods of analysis (qualitative, quantitative)
 Unsatisfactory data (If any)
 Unexpected findings
 Scope of the study (big/small)
 What is the contribution of this paper?
 How could it have been improved? (Example: Even so, this model has some
serious limitations).
 Look for gaps in the literature. What was done and what else can be done
(further research)?
 ‫‪Tenses‬‬

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 Some Don’ts

• Do not include URLs in citations

• Do not define what an LR is
• Do not treat the LR as a book review
• Make sure that you include adequate number of sources in you LR (ask your
supervisor if you are not sure)
• Tools like Google translators are not allowed for paraphrasing or summarizing
texts
• Make sure you adhere to MEC regulations on plagiarism
 Checklis
t
 Does your LR address your research questions or research objectives?

 Are your sources grouped appropriately?

 Have you evaluated the chosen studies?

 Have you explained why certain sources were included or excluded from the study?

 Have you included in-text citations?

 Have you written the LR in your own words and also acknowledged your sources so
as to avoid the issue of plagiarism?
 References

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Centre for Academic Writing (2009) The Coventry University Guide to Referencing in Harvard Style, Unpublished booklet,
[online] available from <https://www.coventry.ac.uk/globalassets/media/documents/lanchester- library/guide-to-
referencing-in-harvard-style-version-4.0-september-2017.pdf > [20 September 2019]

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Feak, C.B. and Swales, J.M. (2009) Telling a research story: Writing a literature review. Michigan: University of Michigan
Press

The University of Manchester (2019). Academic Phrasebank [online] available from <
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/ > [20 September 2019]

Swales, J.M. & Feak, C.B. (2012) Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Skills and tasks. Michigan: University of
Michigan Press