Carrying Out a Literature Review

Dr Aamer Naeem
 What is a literature review?
• Overview of existing knowledge of major
questions or themes within a topic area;
• Present state of knowledge in insightful
manner;
• Organized according to research objective,
research question, research theme;
• Carefully structured to suit your own
purposes.
 A literature review is not:
• An annotated bibliography or historical listing
of authors;
• A listing of every article and author in the
area;
• A reference to every piece of literature or
theory in an area.
 Why is it important?
• Prevents duplication of work;
• Identifies gaps in the literature;
• Provides convincing arguments as to why the
proposed research is important;
• Presents an objective view;
• Identifies lessons learned from other studies;
• Refines problem statement in research;
• Provides a comparison for your findings.
 Carrying out a literature review
Step one: Literature search
• Develop concepts and keywords
• Select sources and perform search
• 1st cut - review titles
• 2nd cut - review abstracts
• Refine search concepts and search again
• Multi-disciplinary sources may be required
 Types of literature
• Journal articles, published papers, reports and
books
• Conference papers
• Dissertations
• Research and program reports – published
and unpublished
 Locating literature
• Library holdings
• Databases and CD-Roms – (i.e.,Medline, JSTOR)
• Indexes
• International agencies (WHO, UN, World Bank)
• NGOs
• Government Departments
• Internet
 Searching on the Internet
• Search engines (Google, Yahoo, Altavista)
• Organizational websites (POPIN, PRB,
Population Council, WHO)
• Academic sites
• Use different conventions for search
– Boolean Operators [AND, OR, NOT, ()]
– Exact phrase searching
– Adapt to specific search engine/database
 Carrying out a literature review
Step two: Review the literature
• Be selective!

• Read reference listings and bibliographies

• Summarize the development and rationale for

research topic

• Arrange by key themes or findings

 General critique questions
• Is the author knowledgeable?
• Is discussion objective and balanced?
• Is article up-to-date and relevant?
• Are findings substantiated?
• Does author provide counter evidence and
alternative explanations?
 Methodological critique
• Sample size
• Validity
• Generalizability
• Confounding variables
 Carrying out a literature review
Step three: Organizing the review
• Based on initial reading of research, review and
reconsider keywords to categorize the literature

• Use as headings to organize summaries of

research

• Be open and flexible in this process

 Carrying out a literature review
Step four: Crafting your story
• Identify areas of consensus
• Identify areas of disagreement
• Provide summaries throughout the review
• Refer to other’s findings
– Include specific details (i.e., criteria for inclusion,
sample size, type of study, findings)

• Cover seminal work and concepts

 Important things to remember

• Careful in use of verbs

• Avoid repetition
• Keep a search journal
• Write about everything you read
• Cannot cover entire literature
• Make sure your review supports your research
question and approach
 Citing your work
• Provide careful citations – attribution
important
• Most widely used reference styles are Harvard
Style; Vancouver Style; Turabian Style
• Check which style is required in advance
 References
• Natilene Bowker. 2006. Student Learning Centre,
Massey University, Palmerston North.
• Faizunnisa, A. “Use of Internet for Literature Review”.
Powerpoint Presentation. Population Council.

• Davies, M. 2005. “Critical thinking: Making an

argument and reviewing literature.” University of
Melbourne.
• Hofmann. 2006. “The Literature Review, a.k.a. lit
review.”
Thanks