Please review this video: Getting Started with Literature Reviews tutorial
What is a literature review?
A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information.
How is a literature review different from an academic research paper?
The main focus of an academic research paper is to develop a new argument, and a research paper will contain a literature review as one of its parts. In a research paper, you use the literature as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute. The focus of a literature review, however, is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others without adding new contributions.
How do I know when I can stop?
Literature reviews can be tricky because you don't want to stop before you've found everything relevant to your topic. There are a couple of guidelines for knowing when to stop looking for materials.
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Characteristics of a Good Literature Review |
Characteristics of a Poor Literature Review |
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Synthesizes available research |
Basically an annotated bibliography |
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Critical evaluation of sources |
Analysis confined to describing the work |
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Appropriated breadth and depth |
Narrow and Shallow |
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Clear and concise |
Confusing and Longwinded |
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Uses rigorous and consistent methods |
Constructed arbitrarily |
A focused way to find scholarly, peer-reviewed articles about topics in your area of interest, is to search the databases for that subject. We own lots of things online, but for the things we do not own online, make sure to place a request for that item through Resource Sharing (ILL).
See the boxes below and the "Research by Discipline" tab for database suggestions or go to our full database list.
INDEXED DATABASES
If you want to find articles on a particular topic or by a particular author, you should use an indexed database. An index is a collection of article citations organized by subject matter. Indexes are compiled by human indexers, who actually read or review each article and then select the subjects covered by the article from a list of established subject descriptors. That is, they use a “controlled vocabulary” such as the Library Search uses the Library of Congress subject headings or descriptors for indexing the subjects of articles.
Examples of indexed databases include: Academic Search Premier (or any EBSCO database), Web of Science, and ABI/Inform (or any ProQuest database).
FULL-TEXT DATABASES
Kind-of like searching Google, full-text databases can be tricky to search and you can end up with thousands of results, many of which aren't relevant to your topic. Since they may not be indexed (like the Indexed Databases above), they don't have a common language. This means you need to think about synonyms for your search terms. For example, if you are searching for "Children," and not finding relevant information, try related terms such as "juvenile," "adolescent," etc...
Examples of full-text databases include: JSTOR, and Nexis Uni
EXAMPLES OF INDEXED DATABASES TO SEARCH FOR SCHOLARLY ARTICLES
1. Introduction
Whether conducting research in the social sciences, humanities (especially history), arts, or natural sciences, the ability to distinguish between primary and secondary source material is essential. Basically, this distinction illustrates the degree to which the author of a piece is removed from the actual event being described, informing the reader as to whether the author is reporting impressions first hand (or is first to record these immediately following an event), or conveying the experiences and opinions of others—that is, second hand.
2. Primary sources
These are contemporary accounts of an event, written by someone who experienced or witnessed the event in question. These original documents (i.e., they are not about another document or account) are often diaries, letters, memoirs, journals, speeches, manuscripts, interviews and other such unpublished works. They may also include published pieces such as newspaper or magazine articles (as long as they are written soon after the fact and not as historical accounts), photographs, audio or video recordings, research reports in the natural or social sciences, or original literary or theatrical works.
3. Secondary sources
The function of these is to interpret primary sources, and so can be described as at least one step removed from the event or phenomenon under review. Secondary source materials, then, interpret, assign value to, conjecture upon, and draw conclusions about the events reported in primary sources. These are usually in the form of published works such as journal articles or books, but may include radio or television documentaries, or conference proceedings.
4. Defining questions
When evaluating primary or secondary sources, the following questions might be asked to help ascertain the nature and value of material being considered:
Ultimately, all source materials of whatever type must be assessed critically and even the most scrupulous and thorough work is viewed through the eyes of the writer/interpreter. This must be taken into account when one is attempting to arrive at the 'truth' of an event.
