1. Based on presentations by A/Prof Lindy McAllister
2011 MBBS Honours
Literature Review
Structure and Content
Year 3 Honours Workshop 3C
A/Prof Di Eley
MBBS Research Coordinator
Based on presentations by A/Prof Lindy McAllister

2. Overview of this presentation
Literature reviews
What are they? What are they not?
Searching for literature
Reading and compiling literature
Writing a literature review
Macrostructure
Microstructure
Overcoming being overwhelmed
Publishing your review

3. A literature review IS IS NOT a summary
a conceptually organised synthesis of the results of your search University of Toronto (2001).
a critique of existing literature
an illustration of your mastery of the field
an argument e.g., for the need for your research, for a position. Make sure your argument line is clear.

4. Why write a literature review?
Demonstrates that you know the field
Maps the field and positions you and your research within the context
Justifies the reason for your research
Identifies the gap your research can fill
Shows your research is important
Allows you to establish your theoretical framework and methodological focus
University of Queensland (2002).

5. The stages of writing a literature
Searching the literature
Reading and compiling literature
Writing the document
Macrostructure
Microstructure
Publishing your review

6. Searching the literature

7. Types of literature Journals/periodicals Books & chapters
Reports (e.g., technical, government, research)
Conference papers & proceedings
Dissertations & theses
Unpublished work (e.g., , letters, minutes, internal reports)
Reviews
Audiovisual media
Electronic media (e.g., CD ROM, internet)
Newspapers & magazines
Based on APA (1994) and

8. Make sure your review is current
Use the library
Learn to search
Medline
CINAHL
ERIC
Ask colleagues – get help and advice

9. Reading a mountain of literature

10. Reading – just do it, lots of it
"Some books are to be tasted,
others to be swallowed,
and some few to be chewed and digested"
(Bacon)

11. Reading for different purposes
accounts of research on similar topics;
accounts of research methods being applied in ways which are similar to your own plans;
accounts of the context relating to your project.
Baxter, L., Hughes, C., Tight, M. (1996). How to research. Buckingham: Open University Press.

12. Prepare to be overwhelmed where to start?
Get a feel for the state of play in your topic area
Ask your supervisor for the names of 2 influential researchers in your topic area
Look them up on the web; download their CVs if possible; read all their papers chronologically to trace the development of key ideas in the field
Read a recent state-of-the-art summary or literature review in your topic area
Text book chapter; review articles or tutorial articles in journals; meta-analysis; systematic review

13. Be ‘picky’ (strategic) with what you read and use
Delimit the searches e.g., by years (say ), language, key words etc
Only read ‘older’ literature if it is ‘seminal’/classic or frequently cited
In recent search, what papers are most often referred to?
Citation indices
Keep good record of searches to save effort and reduplication
Ask librarian to help you!

14. Information management
Electronic
ProCite, EndNote, ScholarsAid
Manual
Filing cabinet
Concertina files
Card system
Reading log
Spreadheet

15. Categorise your articles
After a comprehensive search decide which are;
A - highly relevant
B - less relevant, but still important
C - articles that leave you with a nagging feeling that you should have read them
X - don’t want to read, not relevant, never will be relevant
Findley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read more articles than you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 70, S17-S22.

16. Reviewing it all Individual article review versus
Conceptual review of the literature

17. Individual article review – evaluating what you have gathered
Read in this way for ‘A’ articles
Numerous formats within various references for individual article reviews
Formats often focus on research methodology

18. Literature to help you evaluate individual articles
Cuddy, P. G., Elenbaas, R. M., Elenbaas, J. K. (1983). Evaluating the medical literature - Part I: Abstract, introduction, methods. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 12,
Part II: Statistical analysis (pp )
Part III: Results and discussion (pp )
Gore, S. M. (1981). Assessing clinical trials (series). British Medical Journal, 282, , , , , Also 283,

19. Conceptual literature review
Articles are reviewed in an integrated fashion
Articles that are methodologically flawed are included
Goal = examination of the state of the art
Your conceptual framework will be different from that of the writer of the article
Conceptual review is written from common themes
Findley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read more articles than you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 70, S17-S22.

20. How to construct a conceptual framework
Review the highly relevant articles.
Write a few notes on each front page
Construct a framework for classification of relevant articles
List major points from the articles, then sort these points into a sensible order
Draw a table listing author and year under each conceptual category
Findley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read more articles than you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 70, S17-S22.

21. Example of tabular format
Scully & Shepard, 1983
Physiotherapy
USA
Ethnography
31, various experience levels
Grounded theory
Key themes/subthemes
Primacy of patient needs
Rewards-Personal satisfaction, Professional development, Dept enrichment
Hardships-Time conflicts, Loss of patient contact, Loss of privacy
Teaching tools unique to clinical setting-Diagnosis of student readiness, Selection of clinical problems, Manipulating time, Coaching, Shifting status of student to therapist, Evaluation of students, Self-evaluation
Study
Discipline
Country
Research approach
Participants
Data analysis
Major findings

22. Example: Concept map framework
Create your own! Use
Powerpoint
Butcher’s paper
Post It notes
Inspiration.com
Mind mapping software

23. Where to find literature
Macro structure
Concept map
Writing
Definition
Literature review
Micro structure
Reading
Show examples
Where to find literature
Sources of literature
Publishing the review
Resources
Librarian

24. Writing your literature review
Macrostructure
versus
Microstructure

25. Macrostructure Funnel your writing from
what is widely known
to what is not known
Take the reader to the "point" (reason) of your research

26. Macrostructure: Funnel (1)
Establish a territory
Show the general area is: important/ central/ interesting/ problematic/ relevant
Introduce and review previous research
Establish a niche
Indicate a gap in previous research
raise a question about it
extend previous knowledge (but it remains unclear)
Learning Assistance Centre, The University of Sydney, 1997

27. Macrostructure: Funnel (2)
Occupy the niche
Outline purposes/nature of the research
Announce principle findings
Indicate structure of the paper
Learning Assistance Centre, The University of Sydney, 1997

28. Developing a structure – some ideas
Put all related articles together e.g., in piles on the floor if need be
Discuss why these piles go together
Sort and re-sort as explanations become clearer
These piles will become sections of the literature review
Create sub-piles within piles
These sub-piles become sub-headings
Create a word file of these headings and sub-headings – do they flow logically
Mindmapping on paper or software will achieve similar results; visual-spatial work and ‘doing’/moving are right brain tasks and working with words is left brain

29. Macrostructure: Writing paragraphs
Keep in mind that the literature review should provide the context for your research by looking at what work has already been done in your research area.
It is not supposed to be just a summary of other people's work!
The next few slides show the difference

30. How NOT to do it
This is more like an annotated bibliography than a literature review
"Green (1995) discovered…"
"In 1998 Black conducted experiments and discovered.."
"Later Brown (2000) illustrated this in…"

31. A better way Approaching the review this way forces you
to make judgements and
to distinguish your thoughts from assessments made by others
There seems to be general agreement that xxx (e.g., Brown, 2000; Green, 1995; White, 1997). Green (1995) sees xxx as a consequence of yyy; whereas Black (1998) puts xxx and yyy as … While there are limitations with Green’s analysis, its main value lies in …...
University of Queensland (2002).

32. Writers’ block - don’t believe it
Start with an annotated bibliography
Summarise each article in one pile/section
Decide on the key themes in the annotated bibliography
Write a paragraph for each theme (as per suggestions above, in order to obtain synthesis not description/recounts) e.g, Various researchers have conducted randomised control trials on x. The results are equivocal in that some found…. (Refs), while others found …. (Refs). Smith and Jones (2000) have suggested that this variability in results may be due to ….

33. Just start writing - anything
Start off as a letter…….
Go back to your outline (headings/sub-headings)
Get feedback on sections and rework
Arrange in order of headings and sub-headings
Create linkages between each section and within each section
Build in critique of the literature as you go

34. Microstructure Relationship between content and form
Form isn’t only for pendants; it can enhance, or detract from, the content
Content is difficult to understand if form is deficient
"Hey, where’s the next mistake?"

35. Microstructure
Includes
Grammar
Spelling
Referencing
BE CONSISTENT

36. Grammar and spelling Watch out for: Singulars / plurals Fewer / less
However
Apostrophes
That / which
Affect / effect
Capitalisation
Commas
Full stops
Abbreviations
Split infinitives
Colons and semi colons

37. Apostrophe’s by Greg Dare
Greg’s First Law of punctuation:
for every omitted apostrophe (Australias, Womens)
theres an equal and opposite extra one (potato’s, pyjama’s).
Its predicted by the year 2000 apostrophe’s will cease to exist or every ’s will have one
but I’ suspect the’yll still keep coming randoml’y.

38. Reasons for referencing
Academic honesty
Credibility
Sources of information
i.e., where the ideas, material, etc. come from
Location of information
i.e., where to find the original material
Good Guide: APA Publication Manual 5th edition

39. Publish your literature review
Where?
Conference (poster or paper), journal (tutorial paper), book chapter
Why?
To get reviewers’ and readers’ feedback
To accomplish something early
To stake your claim to that area

40. Hints for good writing
1. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
2. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects, but data is not singular.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
5. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.

41. More hints for good writing
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Foreign words and phrases are not de rigeur.
12. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
13. One should NEVER generalize.

42. Yet more hints for good writing!
14. Don't use no double negatives.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
17. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
18. Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
19. Don’t use contractions.
20. An ‘underway’ is the opposite of an ‘overpass’.

43. Four key features One key concept
Content
Critical analysis
Considered reflection
Elegance of exposition
In a single word
SCHOLARSHIP

44. Resources People - write your own list
Other academics, people outside your discipline, people you know who are good writers, CRGT, successful grant writers, copy editors (look around the room as well!)

45. Useful resource
McLeod, S. & McAllister, L. (Eds). (2002). Getting started on research: Age old issues, new age tools. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing, 4 (1).
Available from Speech Pathology Australia ($22 including postage)