A literature review is an essay that reports an on-going “conversation” on a topic among scholars that has been taking place in published books and articles. It identifies major issues and positions of key participants and presents our evolving understanding of the topic.
While the conversation itself has taken place over several years and the topic and list of participants has evolved, a literature review treats the conversation as a whole, giving it a coherence not apparent as the conversation initially unfolded. The participants and their published contributions may have discussed many issues. You need to focus your review on the ones most relevant to your topic.
Goals of a literature review:
Communicating what social scientists have found about your topic – provide the background information necessary for the reader to understand your project.
Provide evidence of depth and breadth – your literature review should show that you know the details of the most important aspect of the studies that relate to your specific topic and that you know of all the studies done that inform your specific topic.
Demonstrate that you can evaluate research – do not simply summarize all the studies, but evaluate their worth for your project.
Develop a general explanation for observed differences or identify potential relationships between concepts
Components of a literature review:
An introduction that provides an overview of the focus and objectives of the review, along with a thesis statement and why your study is important
A set of themes that categorize and make sense of the sources reviewed and develop the thesis (e.g., sources that support a particular position, those opposed, and those offering alternative views). Start with general patterns, findings, themes in the literature. Then move to specific findings – explaining why and how the general patterns and specific findings inform your study. Only criticize a study if your project is designed to address that limitation.
Explanation and evaluation of conclusions reached by key sources, and explanation of how they converge and diverge from the conclusions reached by other sources
A conclusion with reasonable speculations and gaps that emerge after considering the literature as a whole. This conclusion should not only restate your problem/policy/argument, but identify unanswered or inadequately answered questions. (These unanswered questions are your project.)
To accomplish the goals and components of a literature review:
Identify the broad problem area, but avoid global statements; have a clear sense of purpose.
Remember the purpose, read with a purpose, and write with a purpose.
Early in the review, indicate why the topic being reviewed is important.
Be selective – select only the most important aspects of the source for your problem/policy.
Summarize and synthesize each source within the paragraph and throughout the review
Distinguish between research findings and other sources of information (i.e., theory); If citing a classic or landmark study, identify it as such. Indicate why certain studies are important.
Use caution when paraphrasing. If you paraphrase, make sure you represent the author’s information correctly.
If you are commenting on the timeliness of a topic, be specific in describing the time frame.
Discuss other literature reviews on your topic and refer the reader to other reviews on issues that you will not be discussing in detail.
Avoid long lists of nonspecific references; if it doesn’t relate to your topic, cut it.
If the results of previous studies are inconsistent or widely varying, discuss them separately, by thematic findings.
Keep your own voice – start and end each paragraph with how this paragraph’s theme relates to your thesis/argument/problem/policy.
PROOFREAD; do not just spell check
Read your paper aloud to identify problems in flow and awkward phrasing.
If you read over a paragraph you’ve just written and notice that there are only two sources cited in that paragraph, you have summarized too much and not synthesized enough.
Revise, revise, revise. You should write a minimum of three drafts before you turn it in. For this post, you can post your first draft. Take the feedback from your peers to revise, revise, revise, before you include this in your final research paper.
Documenting your sources
The papers you utilize as sources should be cited at appropriate locations within the text (where you are using that information). You must cite any research you used to inform your project, thesis, or question both within the text and in the bibliography. Research should almost always be cited parenthetically. Students give their power away by using too many direct quotes. They often lose their own argument. All the research you use should contribute to YOUR argument, not just summarize someone else’s argument. Make your main point and then cite the journal article in parentheses afterward rather than directly referring to the article. Always avoid including the title of an article and, whenever possible, avoid the author’s name in the sentence. Again, the point is to use existing research to support your argument. Cite the source at the end of the sentence.
When citing a paper, list the authors and the year of publication and nothing else (no page numbers, etc), unless you are taking a direct quote from the paper. In this case, cite the page number where you got the quote. But use as few direct quotes as possible. For example:
Bad: Burke and others (1997) did a study that showed large woody debris is important in providing inorganic nitrogen to streams throughout the entire year. [Notice how this is giving power to Burke et al, instead of focusing on the student’s argument.]
Better: Large woody debris in lowland old growth forests has been shown to provide sustained levels of inorganic nitrogen to streams throughout the summer and winter months (Burke et al. 1997). [Notice that the same information is now being used to push the student’s argument forward.]