Conducting Literature Reviews

Like research, writing a literature review is an iterative process. Here is a very broad example of the process:

1. Frame the research question and determine the scope of the literature review
2. Search relevant bodies of literature
3. Manage and organize search results
4. Synthesize the literature
5. Write an assessment of the literature

The initial steps should already be familiar to you, as they parallel steps of the research process you have used before.

Research questions, like topics, must be specific and focused so that you can 1) search for materials to address the question, and 2) write a literature review that is manageable in scope and purpose.

Developing a research question is the next logical step after selecting and then narrowing a topic. It is important to have a research question because it focuses your next step in the literature review process: searching. As Booth (2008) explains in The Craft of Research: "If a writer asks no specific question worth asking, he can offer no specific answer worth supporting. And without an answer to support, he cannot select from all the data he could find on a topic to just those relevant to his answer" (p. 41).

Once you have selected and narrowed your topic, ask yourself questions about the topic's:

• History (Is is part of a large context? What is its own internal history? How has it changed over time?)
• Structure and composition (Is it part of a larger system/structure? How do its parts fit together?)
• Categorization (Can you compare/contrast it with similar topics? Does it belong to a group of similar kinds?)

You can also:

• Turn positive questions into negative ones by focusing on "nots" (why didn't this happen? why isn't this significant in context?) or by contrasting differences
• Ask "what if" speculative questions (what if your topic disappeared? Was put in a different context?)
• Ask questions suggested by your initial background research, such as those that build on agreement (Author X made a persuasive point...) or reflect disagreement (Author Y's conclusion doesn't account for this contextual element...)

You may find that you need to reframe or revise your question as you continue through the literature process. That's ok! Remember, the literature review process is iterative.

For more detailed information on forming and evaluating research questions, see these books available to order through ILL from OhioLINK.

More Resources

General guidance on where to search for sources:

Subject-specific guidance on where to search for sources:

How to search for sources by developing a search strategy:

General guidance on using catalogs and databases:

Research management involves collecting, organizing, and citing.

Research management is also based largely on personal preference. Do you have a system that works for you? Great! If you aren't used to research management and/or don't have an effective system in place, you have options.

• Do-it-yourself: maintain your resources on your computer's hard drive or on the cloud (Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, DropBox)
• Use a free research management software (Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote)

Regardless of what system you use, it is necessary to keep track of the these elements:

• The literature you found (Did you find full text in a PDF? Save it. Did you find a record in a database, but need to request the article? Save the permalink to the record.)
• The full APA citation for the literature
• How you found the literature (What database was it in? What keywords and search modifiers did you use to search? Etc.)
  • An easy way to track results you've found in databases is to create folders

Finally, you will need a note-taking system that will help you record the key concepts from the literature when you read and synthesize it. If you already have one, great! If you struggle with note-taking, see the links below.

What is synthesis?

Synthesizing information is much the opposite of analyzing information. When you read an article or book, you have to pull out specific concepts from the larger document in order to understand it. This is analyzing.

When you synthesize information, you take specific concepts and consider them together to understand how they compare/contrast and how they relate to one another. In other terms, synthesis involves combining multiple elements to create a whole. In regard to literature reviews, the elements refer to the findings from the literature you've gathered. The whole then becomes your conclusion(s) about those findings.

How do I synthesize information?

Note: This stage in the literature review process is as iterative and personal as any other. These steps offer a guideline, but do what works for you best.

1. Review the gathered literature
   • This is where you really decide if you want to read specific materials
   • If you have gathered a substantial amount of literature and reading all of it would prove overwhelming, read the abstracts to get a better idea of the content, then select the materials that would best support your review
2. Read the literature & take notes
   • Describe and analyze the findings (What were the results? How did the authors get these results? What are the impacts? Etc.)
   • Identify the key concepts
3. Synthesize all of the information you've gathered from the literature
   • Compare and contrast findings, concepts, conclusions, methods, etc.
   • Evaluate the quality and significance of findings, concepts, conclusions, methods, etc.
   • Interpret the findings, concepts, conclusions, methods, etc. in the context of your research question
4. Draw conclusions
   • This is the step where your synthesis of the information will lead to logical conclusions about that information
   • These conclusions should speak directly to your research question (i.e. your question should have an answer)

Visit the link below for helpful resources on note-taking: 

Writing style

You are expected to follow APA Style in your writing. Visit this guide for an introduction, tips, and tutorials:

Structure

The structure and flow of your literature review should be logical and should reflect the synthesis you have done.

A common pitfall for students is using an author-driven structure, which might look something like this:

• Introduction
• Author 1 says x
• Author 2 says y
• Author ∞ says...
• Conclusion

Why doesn't the author-driven structure work?

• Leans toward listing or summarizing information
• Doesn't illustrate synthesis of information (all of the findings are listed based on where they came from, not their meaning, impact, or significance)

What structures do work? The APA suggests three structures for literature reviews:

• Theme-based (group studies based on common themes or concepts present)
• Methodology-based (group studies based on the methodologies used)
• Chronological (group studies based on the historical developments in the field)

Theme-based structure 

The theme-based structure is applicable to most bodies of literature you might gather. It may look like this:

• Introduction
• Theme 1
  • Concept x from author 1
  • Concept a from author 5
  • Concept y from author 2
• Theme 2
  • Concepts…
• Theme ∞
  • Concepts…
• Conclusion

Why does the them-based structure work better?

• It avoids listing information
• It clearly shows the synthesis that occurred
• It illustrates the connections between concepts and the significance of particular concepts