Tips about the Literature Review

The literature review for your dissertation or other formal research project should include relevant scholarly articles and studies related to your topic. The review is a critical summary of what is already known on your topic. Here are a few tips about this important section of your research project.

1. Use scholarly journal articles. Sources included in your literature should be credible in the field. Include articles from journals that meet the standards of experts in the field and require peer review before for publication. In contrast, popular articles from magazines are not subject to academic standards.

For example, you could include articles from Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise published by the American College of Sports Medicine includes original scholarly articles of dissertation quality. Runner's World is a respected popular publication, but it does not adhere to the rigorous standards required for scholarly publications. Unless you have a very good reason for including a very limited number of popular articles, do not include them.

2. Organize by subheadings. It is much easier for readers to follow if you divide your review into major subheadings to present relevant literature. But be sure to tie these sections together by linking them where possible, and summarize at the end of the review as transition to the methods section.

3. Move from broad to narrow. As with introductory sections, assume the reader is intelligent, but ignorant of your topic. Start your literature review at a more general place and lead into what has already been found on your topic. Be sure to address the variables you plan observe in your study.

4. Be objective. Make every effort to represent the body of knowledge fairly, including the approximate proportions of pros and cons. Present them so that the reader has no idea what your personal opinion is. See Research Basics

5. Do not have an opinion. Do not make commentary or insert your personal opinion into the literature. Transitions and connections are encouraged, but if you have an opinion, let existing literature represent it.

6. Synthesize. One of the challenges, as well as one of the greatest teaching tools, is to learn to synthesize your literature into a critical summary. It requires thinking about how the pieces fit, even if different terms are used. Many sections of your literature should have multiple citations within a paragraph or even a sentence.

7. Avoid quotations. The review is a summary of what is known. Quotations upon quotations are just that--not a critical review.

8. Match citations with references. Be sure that for every citation you keep track of the sources that you will include in your reference list.

9. Think ahead. As you compose your literature review, consider that what you include sets the stage for why you are conducting your study. Your introduction, statement of the problem, signficance of the study, research questions, hypotheses, methods, discussion, and conclusions are all linked to the related literature.

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