15/02/2015 Guidelinesforwritingaliteraturereview

"Howto"GuidelineseriesiscoordinatedbyHelenMonganRallisoftheEducationDepartmentattheUniversityof
MinnesotaDuluth.Ifyouhaveanyquestions,comments,orsuggestionstoimprovetheseguidelinespleasemeatemail
hrallis@d.umn.edu.

Guidelinesforwritingaliteraturereview
byHelenMonganRallis.Lastupdated:November21,2014
[Note:Fortheseguidelines,insomesectionsIhavequoteddirectlysomeofthethestepsfrom:Galvan,J.
(2006).Writingliteraturereviews:aguideforstudentsofthebehavioralsciences(3rded.).Glendale,CA:
PyrczakPublishing.]

Whatisaliteraturereview?
Aliteraturereviewisnotanannotatedbibliographyinwhichyousummarizebrieflyeacharticlethatyou
havereviewed.Whileasummaryofthewhatyouhavereadiscontainedwithintheliteraturereview,it
goeswellbeyondmerelysummarizingprofessionalliterature.Itfocusesonaspecifictopicofinterestto
youandincludesacriticalanalysisoftherelationshipamongdifferentworks,andrelatingthisresearchto
yourwork.Itmaybewrittenasastandalonepaperortoprovideatheoreticalframeworkandrationalefor
aresearchstudy(suchasathesisordissertation).

Stepbystepguide
TheseguidelinesareadaptedprimarilyfromGalvan(2006).Galvanoutlinesaveryclear,stepbystep
approachthatisveryusefultouseasyouwriteyourreview.Ihaveintegratedsomeothertipswithinthis
guide,particularlyinsuggestingdifferenttechnologytoolsthatyoumightwanttoconsiderinhelpingyou
organizeyourreview.InthesectionsfromStep69whatIhaveincludedistheoutlineofthosesteps
exactlyasdescribedbyGalvan.Ialsoprovidelinksattheendofthisguidetoresourcesthatyoushoulduse
inordertosearchtheliteratureandasyouwriteyourreview.

InadditiontousingthestepbystepguidethatIhaveprovidedbelow,Ialsorecommendthatyou(a)locate
examplesofliteraturereviewsinyourfieldofstudyandskimoverthesetogetafeelforwhataliterature
reviewisandhowthesearewritten(Ihavealsoprovidedlinkstoacoupleofexamplesattheendofthese
guidelines(b)readoverotherguidestowritingliteraturereviewssothatyouseedifferentperspectivesand
approaches:Someexamplesare:

1. ReviewofLiterature:UniversityofWisconsinMadisonTheWritingCenter.
2. Howto..WriteaLiteratureReview:UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruzUniversityLibrary).
3. InformationFluencyLiteratureReview:Washington&LeeUniversity
4. HowtoDoALiteratureReview?NorthCarolinaA&TStateUniversityF.D.BlufordLibrary.
5. SelectedLinkstoResourcesonWritingaLiteratureReview

Step1:ReviewAPAguidelines

ReadthroughthelinksprovidedbelowonAPAguidelinessothatyoubecomefamiliarwiththecommon
coreelementsofhowtowriteinAPAstyle:inparticular,payattentiontogeneraldocumentguidelines(e.g.
font,margins,spacing),titlepage,abstract,body,textcitations,quotations.

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Step2:Decideonatopic

Itwillhelpyouconsiderablyifyourtopicforyourliteraturereviewistheoneonwhichyouintendtodo
yourfinalM.Ed.project,orisinsomewayrelatedtothetopicofyourfinalproject.However,youmay
pickanyscholarlytopic.

Step3:Identifytheliteraturethatyouwillreview:

1. Familiarizeyourselfwithonlinedatabases(seeUMDlibraryresourcelinksbelowforhelpwiththis),
identifyingrelevantdatabasesinyourfieldofstudy.
2. Usingrelevantdatabases,searchforliteraturesourcesusingGoogleScholarandalsosearchingusing
Furl(searchallsources,includingtheFurlaccountsofotherFurlmembers).Sometipsforidentifying
suitableliteratureandnarrowingyoursearch:
1. Startwithageneraldescriptorfromthedatabasethesaurusoronethatyouknowisalreadya
welldefineddescriptorbasedonpastworkthatyouhavedoneinthisfield.Youwillneedto
experimentwithdifferentsearches,suchaslimitingyoursearchtodescriptorsthatappearonly
inthedocumenttitles,orinboththedocumenttitleandintheabstract.
2. Redefineyourtopicifneeded:asyousearchyouwillquicklyfindoutifthetopicthatyouare
reviewingistoobroad.Trytonarrowittoaspecificareaofinterestwithinthebroadareathat
youhavechosen(remember:thisismerelyanintroductoryliteraturereviewforEduc7001).It
isagoodidea,aspartofyourliteraturesearch,tolookforexistingliteraturereviewsthathave
alreadybeenwrittenonthistopic.
3. Aspartofyoursearch,besuretoidentifylandmarkorclassicstudiesandtheoristsasthese
provideyouwithaframework/contextforyourstudy.
3. ImportyourreferencesintoyourRefWorksaccount(see:RefworksImportDirectionsforguideon
howtodothisfromdifferentdatabases).YoucanalsoenterreferencesmanuallyintoRefWorksif
youneedto.

Step4:Analyzetheliterature

Onceyouhaveidentifiedandlocatedthearticlesforyourreview,youneedtoanalyzethemandorganize
thembeforeyoubeginwriting:

1. Overviewthearticles:Skimthearticlestogetanideaofthegeneralpurposeandcontentofthe
article(focusyourreadinghereontheabstract,introductionandfirstfewparagraphs,theconclusion
ofeacharticle.Tip:asyouskimthearticles,youmaywanttorecordthenotesthatyoutakeoneach
directlyintoRefWorksintheboxforUser1.Youcantakenotesontonotecardsorintoaword
processingdocumentinsteadoraswellasusingRefWorks,buthavingyournotesinRefWorks
makesiteasytoorganizeyournoteslater.
2. Groupthearticlesintocategories(e.g.intotopicsandsubtopicsandchronologicallywithineach
subtopic).Onceagain,it'susefultoenterthisinformationintoyourRefWorksrecord.Youcanrecord
thetopicsinthesameboxasbefore(User1)oruseUser2boxforthetopic(s)underwhichyouhave
chosentoplacethisarticle.
3. Takenotes:
1. Decideontheformatinwhichyouwilltakenotesasyoureadthearticles(asmentionedabove,
youcandothisinRefWorks.YoucanalsodothisusingaWordProcessor,oraconcept
mappingprogramlikeInspiration(free30trialdownload),adatabaseprogram(e.g.Accessor
FileMakerPro),inanExcelspreadsheet,orthe"oldfashioned"wayofusingnotecards.Be
consistentinhowyourecordnotes.
2. Definekeyterms:lookfordifferencesinthewaykeystermsaredefined(notethese
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differences).
3. Notekeystatisticsthatyoumaywanttouseintheintroductiontoyourreview.
4. Selectusefulquotesthatyoumaywanttoincludeinyourreview.Important:Ifyoucopythe
exactwordsfromanarticle,besuretocitethepagenumberasyouwillneedthisshouldyou
decidetousethequotewhenyouwriteyourreview(asdirectquotesmustalwaysbe
accompaniedbypagereferences).Toensurethatyouhavequotedaccurately(andtosavetime
innotetaking),ifyouareaccessingthearticleinaformatthatallowsthis,youcancopyand
pasteusingyourcomputer"edit>copy>paste"functions.Note:althoughyoumaycollect
alargenumberofquotesduringthenotetakingphaseofyourreview,whenyouwritethe
review,usequotesverysparingly.TheruleIfollowistoquoteonlywhenwhensomekey
meaningwouldbelostintranslationifIweretoparaphrasetheoriginalauthor'swords,orif
usingtheoriginalwordsaddsspecialemphasistoapointthatIammaking.
5. Noteemphases,strengths&weaknesses:Sincedifferentresearchstudiesfocusondifferent
aspectsoftheissuebeingstudied,eacharticlethatyoureadwillhavedifferentemphases,
strengths.andweaknesses.Yourroleasarevieweristoevaluatewhatyouread,sothatyour
reviewisnotameredescriptionofdifferentarticles,butratheracriticalanalysisthatmakes
senseofthecollectionofarticlesthatyouarereviewing.Critiquetheresearchmethodologies
usedinthestudies,anddistinguishbetweenassertions(theauthor'sopinion)andactual
researchfindings(derivedfromempiricalevidence).
6. Identifymajortrendsorpatterns:Asyoureadarangeofarticlesonyourtopic,youshould
makenoteoftrendsandpatternsovertimeasreportedintheliterature.Thissteprequiresyou
tosynthesizeandmakesenseofwhatyouread,sincethesepatternsandtrendsmaynotbe
spelledoutintheliterature,butratherbecomeapparenttoyouasyoureviewthebigpicture
thathasemergedovertime.Youranalysiscanmakegeneralizationsacrossamajorityof
studies,butshouldalsonoteinconsistenciesacrossstudiesandovertime.
7. Identifygapsintheliterature,andreflectonwhythesemightexist(basedonthe
understandingsthatyouhavegainedbyreadingliteratureinthisfieldofstudy).Thesegaps
willbeimportantforyoutoaddressasyouplanandwriteyourreview.
8. Identifyrelationshipsamongstudies:noterelationshipsamongstudies,suchaswhichstudies
werelandmarkonesthatledtosubsequentstudiesinthesamearea.Youmayalsonotethat
studiesfallintodifferentcategories(categoriesthatyouseeemergingoronesthatarealready
discussedintheliterature).Whenyouwriteyourreview,youshouldaddressthese
relationshipsanddifferentcategoriesanddiscussrelevantstudiesusingthisasaframework.
9. Keepyourreviewfocusedonyourtopic:makesurethatthearticlesyoufindarerelevantand
directlyrelatedtoyourtopic.Asyoutakenotes,recordwhichspecificaspectsofthearticle
youarereadingarerelevanttoyourtopic(asyoureadyouwillcomeupwithkeydescriptors
thatyoucanrecordinyournotesthatwillhelpyouorganizeyourfindingswhenyoucometo
writeupyourreview).Ifyouareusinganelectronicformofnotetaking,youmightnotethese
descriptorsinaseparatefield(e.g.inRefWorks,puttheseunderUser2orUser3inExcel
haveaseparatecolumnforeachdescriptorifyouuseInspiration,youmightattachaseparate
noteforkeydescriptors.
10. Evaluateyourreferencesforcurrencyandcoverage:Althoughyoucanalwaysfindmore
articlesonyourtopic,youhavetodecideatwhatpointyouarefinishedwithcollectingnew
resourcessothatyoucanfocusonwritingupyourfindings.However,beforeyoubegin
writing,youmustevaluateyourreferencelisttoensurethatitisuptodateandhasreportedthe
mostcurrentwork.Typicallyareviewwillcoverthelastfiveyears,butshouldalsorefertoany
landmarkstudiespriortothistimeiftheyhavesignificanceinshapingthedirectionofthe
field.Ifyouincludestudiespriortothepastfiveyearsthatarenotlandmarkstudies,you
shoulddefendwhyyouhavechosentheseratherthanmorecurrentones.

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Step5:Summarizetheliteratureintableorconceptmapformat

1. Galvan(2006)recommendsbuildingtablesasakeywaytohelpyouoverview,organize,and
summarizeyourfindings,andsuggeststhatincludingoneormoreofthetablesthatyoucreatemay
behelpfulinyourliteraturereview.Ifyoudoincludetablesaspartofyourrevieweachmustbe
accompaniedbyananalysisthatsummarizes,interpretsandsynthesizestheliteraturethatyouhave
chartedinthetable.Youcanplanyourtableordotheentiresummarychartofyourliteratureusinga
conceptmap(suchasusingInspiration)
1. YoucancreatethetableusingthetablefeaturewithinMicrosoftWord,orcancreateitinitially
inExcelandthencopyandpaste/importthetheExcelsheetintoWordonceyouhave
completedthetableinExcel.TheadvantageofusingExcelisthatitenablesyoutosortyour
findingsaccordingtoavarietyoffactors(e.g.sortbydate,andthenbyauthorsortby
methodologyandthendate)
2. Examplesoftablesthatmayberelevanttoyourreview:
1. Definitionsofkeytermsandconcepts.
2. Researchmethods
3. Summaryofresearchresults

Step6:Synthesizetheliteraturepriortowritingyourreview

Usingthenotesthatyouhavetakenandsummarytables,developanoutlineofyourfinalreview.The
followingarethekeystepsasoutlinedbyGalvan(2006:7179)

1. Consideryourpurposeandvoicebeforebeginningtowrite.InthecaseofthisEduc7001
introductoryliteraturereview,yourinitialpurposeistoprovideanoverviewofthetopicthatisof
interesttoyou,demonstratingyourunderstandingofkeyworksandconceptswithinyourchosenarea
offocus.Youarealsodevelopingskillsinreviewingandwriting,toprovideafoundationonwhich
youwillbuildinsubsequentcourseswithinyourM.Ed.andultimatelyinyourfinalproject.Inyour
finalprojectyourliteraturereviewshoulddemonstrateyourcommandofyourfieldofstudyand/or
establishingcontextforastudythatyouhavedone.
2. Considerhowyoureassembleyournotes:planhowyouwillorganizeyourfindingsintoaunique
analysisofthepicturethatyouhavecapturedinyournotes.Important:Aliteraturereviewisnot
seriesofannotations(likeanannotatedbibliography).Galvan(2006:72)capturesthedifference
betweenanannotatedbibliographyandaliteraturereviewverywell:"...inessence,likedescribing
treeswhenyoureallyshouldbedescribingaforest.Inthecaseofaliteraturereview,youarereally
creatinganewforest,whichyouwillbuildbyusingthetreesyoufoundintheliteratureyouread."
3. Createatopicoutlinethattracesyourargument:firstexplaintothereaderyourlineorargument(or
thesis)thenyournarrativethatfollowsshouldexplainandjustifyyourlineofargument.Youmay
findtheprogramInspirationusefulinmappingoutyourargument(andonceyouhavecreatedthisin
aconceptmapform,Inspirationenablesyoutoconvertthistoatextoutlinemerelybyclickingonthe
"outline"button).ThiscanthenbeexportedintoaMicrosoftWorddocument.
4. Reorganizeyournotesaccordingtothepathofyourargument
5. Withineachtopicheading,notedifferencesamongstudies.
6. Withineachtopicheading,lookforobviousgapsorareasneedingmoreresearch.
7. Plantodescriberelevanttheories.
8. Plantodiscusshowindividualstudiesrelatetoandadvancetheory
9. Plantosummarizeperiodicallyand,againneartheendofthereview
10. Plantopresentconclusionsandimplications
11. Plantosuggestspecificdirectionsforfutureresearchneartheendofthereview
12. Fleshoutyouroutlinewithdetailsfromyouranalysis
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Step7:Writingthereview(Galvan,2006:8190)

1. Identifythebroadproblemarea,butavoidglobalstatements
2. Earlyinthereview,indicatewhythetopicbeingreviewedisimportant
3. Distinguishbetweenresearchfindingandothersourcesofinformation
4. Indicatewhycertainstudiesareimportant
5. Ifyouarecommentingonthetimelinessofatopic,bespecificindescribingthetimeframe
6. Ifcitingaclassicorlandmarkstudy,identifyitassuch
7. Ifalandmarkstudywasreplicated,mentionthatandindicatetheresultsofthereplication
8. Discussotherliteraturereviewsonyourtopic
9. Referthereadertootherreviewsonissuesthatyouwillnotbediscussingindetails
10. Justifycommentssuchas,"nostudieswerefound."
11. Avoidlonglistsofnonspecificreferences
12. Iftheresultsofpreviousstudiesareinconsistentorwidelyvarying,citethemseparately
13. Citeallrelevantreferencesinthereviewsectionofthesis,dissertation,orjournalarticle

Step8:Developingacoherentessay(Galvan,2006:9196)

1. Ifyourreviewislong,provideanoverviewnearthebeginningofthereview
2. Nearthebeginningofareview,stateexplicitlywhatwillandwillnotbecovered
3. Specifyyourpointofviewearlyinthereview:thisservesasthethesisstatementofthereview.
4. Aimforaclearandcohesiveessaythatintegratesthekeydetailsoftheliteratureandcommunicates
yourpointofview(aliteratureisnotaseriesofannotatedarticles).
5. Usesubheadings,especiallyinlongreviews
6. Usetransitionstohelptraceyourargument
7. Ifyourtopicteachesacrossdisciplines,considerreviewingstudiesfromeachdisciplineseparately
8. Writeaconclusionfortheendofthereview:Provideclosuresothatthepathoftheargumentends
withaconclusionofsomekind.Howyouendthereview,however,willdependonyourreasonfor
writingit.Ifthereviewwaswrittentostandalone,asisthecaseofatermpaperorareviewarticle
forpublication,theconclusionneedstomakeclearhowthematerialinthebodyofthereviewhas
supportedtheassertionorpropositionpresentedintheintroduction.Ontheotherhand,areviewina
thesis,dissertation,orjournalarticlepresentingoriginalresearchusuallyleadstotheresearch
questionsthatwillbeaddressed.
9. Checktheflowofyourargumentforcoherence.

Reference:

Galvan,J.(2006).Writingliteraturereviews:aguideforstudentsofthebehavioralsciences(3rded.).
Glendale,CA:PyrczakPublishing.

Resources
1. UMD&libraryresourcesandlinks:
1. UMDlibraryresearchtools:includeslinksto
2. RefworksImportDirections:LinkstostepbystepdirectionsonhowtoimportanttoRefworks
fromdifferentdatabases
2. Writingguidelines:
1. PurdueOWL(OnlineWritingLab):Auserfriendlywritinglabthatparallelswiththe5th
editionAPAmanual.
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3. APAguidelines:
1. APAStyleEssentials:overviewofcommoncoreofelementsofAPAstyle.
2. APAResearchStyleCribSheetisasummaryofrulesforusingAPAstyle.
3. APAStyleforElectronicMediaandURL's:commonlyaskedquestionsregardinghowtocite
electronicmedia
4. Examplesofliteraturereviews:
1. Johnson,B.&Reeves,B.(2005).Challenges.Literaturereviewchapterfromunpublished
master'sthesis,UniversityofMinnesotaDuluth,Minnesota.
2. Maguire,L.(2005).Literaturereviewfacultyparticipationinonlinedistanceeducation:
barriersandmotivators.OnlineJournalofDistanceLearningAdministration,Volume8,No.
1,Spring2005.StateUniversityofWestGeorgia,DistanceEducationCenter.

ReturntotheIndexofHowToGuidelines

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