LITERATURE REVIEW

Sofia Fernandes
LITERATURE REVIEW
Purpose of Literature Review
Critical Review
Literature sources and techniques
Referencing
Plagiarism

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PURPOSE OF LITERATURE REVIEW
The preliminary literature search helps you to generate and
refine your research ideas.
The critical review or critical literature review, is part of your
research project - usually it is presented in the final report as
a dedicated chapter, but it can also be integrated throughout
the report.
For most research projects, your literature search will start
early in the research process.
It is usually necessary to continue searching throughout
your projects life.

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CRITICAL REVIEW
Provides the foundation on which the research is based
For some research projects you will use the literature to help
you to identify theories and ideas that you will test using data
-> deductive approach (you develop a theoretical or
conceptual framework, which you subsequently test using
data).
For other research projects you will be planning to explore
your data and to develop theories from them that you will
subsequently relate to the literature ->inductive approach
(your research has a clearly defined purpose with research
question(s) and objectives, but you do not start with any
predetermined theories or conceptual frameworks).
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THE PURPOSES OF CRITICAL REVIEW
to help you to refine further your research question(s) and objectives;
to highlight research possibilities that have been overlooked in previous
research;
to discover explicit recommendations for further research. These can
provide you with a justification for your own research question(s) and
objectives;
to help you to avoid simply repeating work that has been done already;
to sample current opinions in newspapers, professional and trade
journals, thereby gaining insights into the aspects of your research
question(s) and objectives that are considered newsworthy;
to discover and provide an insight into research approaches, strategies
and techniques that may be appropriate to your own research question(s)
and objectives.
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CONTENT OF CRITICAL REVIEW : CHECKLIST
Have you ensured that the literature covered relates clearly to
your research question and objectives?
Have you covered the most relevant and significant theories of
recognised experts in the area?
Have you covered the most relevant and significant literature
or at least a representative sample?
Have you included up-to-date literature?
Have you referenced all the literature used in the format
prescribed in the assessment criteria?

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 REMEMBER THAT: WRITING CRITICALLY MEANS.
Comparing and contrasting dierent theories, concepts and
terminology from the literature and indicating where you stand in
relation to your research
Strategic and selective referencing to support the arguments which
form the basis of your research
Synthesising arguments from two or more sources to create a new
or more developed point of view
Defending a point of view through an analysis of its merits and
limitations
Rejecting a point of view and giving reasons for the rejection, but
identifying its strengths also;
Being critical does not mean being only negative. 7
LITERATURE SOURCES
Journals, including academic and professional journals
Books
Newspapers
Reports
Conference proceedings
Theses

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LITERATURE SOURCES
Primary literature sources are the first occurrence of a piece of
work. They include published sources such as reports and
some central and local government publications such as
White Papers and planning documents. They also include
unpublished manuscript sources such as letters and memos.
Secondary literature sources such as books and journals are
the subsequent publication of primary literature. These
publications are aimed at a wider audience.

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LITERATURE SOURCES

As presented in: Saunders et al (2009) 10

 LITERATURE SOURCES AND TECHNIQUES
Literature search:
systematic and thorough search of all types of published literature
in order to identify as many items as possible that are relevant to a
particular topic.

Search strategy:
the parameters of your search;
the key words and search terms you intend to use;
the databases and search engines you intend to use;
the criteria you intend to use to select the relevant and useful
studies from all the items you find.
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LITERATURE SOURCES AND TECHNIQUES

As presented in: Saunders et al (2009) 12

REFERENCING
The bibliographic details contained in the list of references
need to be sucient to enable readers to find the original
items.

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REFERENCING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDgqqPvMn0U 14
 PLAGIARISM
Presenting the work and ideas of other people and passing them o as your own,
without acknowledging the original source of the ideas used, for example:
buying a paper from a research service, essay bank or term-paper mill (either
specially written for the individual or pre-written);
copying a whole paper from a source text without proper acknowledgement;
submitting another students work with or without that students knowledge (e.g.
by copying a computer disk);
submitting a paper written by someone else (e.g. a peer or relative) and passing it o
as your own;
copying sections of material from one or more source texts, supplying proper
documentation (including the full reference) but leaving out quotation marks, thus
giving the impression that the material has been paraphrased rather than directly
quoted;
paraphrasing material from one or more source texts without supplying appropriate
documentation. 15
 CONCLUSION
For most research projects, your literature search will be an early activity. It is
usually necessary to continue searching throughout your projects life.
A critical review of the literature is necessary to help you to develop a thorough
understanding of previous research that relates to your research question(s) and
objectives.
Literature sources can be divided into two main categories: primary and
secondary.
When planning your literature search you need to: (1) have clearly defined
research question(s) and objectives; (2) define the parameters of your search;
(3) generate key words and search terms and (4) discuss your ideas as widely as
possible.
All literature sources used should be presented in the list of references and,
when necessary, should be cited throughout the text.
Care should be taken when writing your literature review not to plagiarise the
work of others. 16
HOMEWORK
Do a literature search on the e-library
Read through the Cardi Met University information on
Referencing: http://study.cardimet.ac.uk/AcSkills/Pages/
Referencing.aspx
Read through the Cardi Met University information on
Plagiarism: http://www.cardimet.ac.uk/registry/Pages/
Plagiarism.aspx

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION - HOW TO READ EFFECTIVELY?
Checklist of skills to be practised for eective reading:
Previewing: looking around the text before you start reading
in order to establish precisely its purpose and how it may
inform your literature search;
Annotating: conducting a dialogue with yourself about the
issues and ideas at stake.
Summarising: state the issues and ideas in your own words.
Comparing and Contrasting: ask yourself how your thinking
has been altered by this reading or how has it aected your
response to the issues and themes of your research.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION - BOOLEAN OPERATORS FOR LITERATURE SEARCH

As presented in: Saunders et al (2009) 19

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION - SEARCHING THE INTERNET

As presented in: Saunders et al (2009) 20

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION - SEARCHING THE INTERNET

As presented in: Saunders et al (2009) 21

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION - SEARCHING THE INTERNET

As presented in: Saunders et al (2009) 22