Literature Reviews Lora Leligdon Engineering Research Librarian CSEL L166 /

 Outline for this “Literature Review” session Define a Literature Review Identify resources to search for Literature Reviews How to begin the process of collecting material for the development of a Literature Review

What is a Literature Review? your thesis/argument, which you present by reading, analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing  a body of work you have critically selected  that is relevant to your question, claim, argument,  wherein you present new developments, gaps, directions, changes,  which shows how your work contributes to the field. Source: COE Graduate Student Writing Studio 2/28/11 (

A Lit Review is NOT:  An annotated bibliography  A book or article “review”  An article summary or critique  A survey of literature  It is also not a dump. Source: COE Graduate Student Writing Studio 2/28/11 (

Literature Reviews State-of-the-Art Assessment (1) Written for specialists (2) Exhaustive bibliography

Purpose of the Literature Review  To show that you are a scholar  To demonstrate how your research will contribute to the existing knowledge  To show your skills in Information seeking: that you know and can find the pertinent materials in your field Critical appraisal: that you can evaluate the relevance/significance of your studies in your field

Grant Proposals Example : National Science Foundation The Project Description should provide a clear statement of the work to be undertaken and must include: objectives for the period of the proposed work and expected significance; relation to longer-term goals of the PI's project; and relation to the present state of knowledge in the field, to work in progress by the PI under other support and to work in progress elsewhere. NSF 13-1 Grant Proposal Guidelines II.C.2.d.i

Vocabulary  “Literature Reviews”  “Literature Review*”  “Literature Survey”  “Systematic Review”  Review  Meta Analysis  Look at Advanced Search Options in databases: Limit Add to a search box

 Scholarly Literature  Annual Reviews of…(Journals)  Congressional Hearings/ Committee Reports/ Research Service  Doctoral dissertations  Masters Theses  Online catalogs, LIBROS, WorldCat Resources to Find Literature Reviews

 Web of Knowledge – Science Citation Index Social Science Citation Index Arts & Humanities Index  Academic Search Complete/ (Quick Search)  Google Scholar  Other library databases (100s to choose from) Scholarly Literature

 Annual Reviews Electronic Journal & Archives – 41 Disciplines Biomedical/ Life Sciences Physical Sciences Social Sciences Economics

U.S. Congress  Congressional Hearings, Prints, and Congressional Research Service  Database: ProQuest Congressional

Doctoral Dissertations/Masters Theses  Database: Digital Dissertations  LoboVault  Google Scholar

Medicine/Health Care Literature Review Vocabulary  Databases: PubMed Cochrane DynaMed  Literature Reviews Systematic Review Meta-analysis Review

Steps to Writing a Literature Review  Clarify How many sources? What types of sources? Will you summarize, synthesize, or critique your sources? Will you evaluate your sources?  Find models  Narrow your topic  Current sources  Pathway: - Databases Tabhttp://elibrary.unm.edu  Research Guides  Consult experts

Strategies for Writing  Find a focus & construct a working thesis statement  Consider organization Chronological, publication, trend Thematic Methodological Methods and/or Standards

Begin Composing  Use evidence  Be selective  Use quotes sparingly  Summarize and synthesize  Keep your own voice  Use caution when paraphrasing  Revise, revise, revise

Other Resources  Dr. Palm’s Video and Resources:  Grant Proposal Writing: Elements for Success (See Literature Review)  Lit Review synthesis matrix studio/Lit%20review%20synthesis%20matrix.pdf studio/Lit%20review%20synthesis%20matrix.pdf  LIBROS – Online Catalog Search for “Literature Reviews” in Keyword searchhttp://libros.unm.edu/search~S7  Writing Center – How to write a literature review success.html

Questions?