...Literature Review Handout Liberty University Online Writing Center Handout Description A review of literature is a critical analysis of a portion of the published body of knowledge available through the use of summary, classification, and comparison of previous research studies, reviews of literature, and journal articles (“How to Write a Literature Review”, 2012). This handout discusses the reasons for writing a literature review and presents its various requirements. It examines what a literature review is, as well as what it is not; it distinguishes between the literature review and the annotated bibliography. Like many academic writing assignments, there is not one universal standard for writing a literature review. Its format can differ from discipline to discipline and from assignment to assignment. There is, however, an overall structure that is commonly used across various disciplines, and this format is examined in more detail. The handout concludes with some helpful “tips and tricks” for preparing a literature review. Disclaimer: The content of a literature review may vary from discipline to discipline and from assignment to assignment. The literature review content recommended in this handout is that which is most commonly included. If in doubt about what you should include in your literature review, please consult your professor. Literature Review Handout Defining a Literature Review ...
Words: 2913 - Pages: 12
...Nursing http://jsn.sagepub.com/ Literature Reviews as a Research Strategy Julia Muennich Cowell The Journal of School Nursing 2012 28: 326 DOI: 10.1177/1059840512458666 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jsn.sagepub.com/content/28/5/326 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: National Association of School Nurses Additional services and information for The Journal of School Nursing can be found at: Email Alerts: http://jsn.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://jsn.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav >> Version of Record - Sep 25, 2012 What is This? Downloaded from jsn.sagepub.com by guest on August 26, 2013 Editorial The Journal of School Nursing 28(5) 326-327 ª The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1059840512458666 http://jsn.sagepub.com Literature Reviews as a Research Strategy Literature reviews have long been important strategies to assess the state of the science. As early as 1993, Broome (1993) recommended literature reviews as a strategy to assist in the development of concepts. Many graduate students in nursing and other sciences learn about synthesizing literature throughout their academic programs using a variety of guides including Cooper’s (1998) Synthesizing Research: A Guide for Literature Reviews as a common reference or Fink’s...
Words: 1365 - Pages: 6
...Writing Centre Literature Review Template Definition: A literature review is an objective, critical summary of published research literature relevant to a topic under consideration for research. Its purpose is to create familiarity with current thinking and research on a particular topic, and may justify future research into a previously overlooked or understudied area. A typical literature review consists of the following components: 1. Introduction: A concise definition of a topic under consideration (this may be a descriptive or argumentative thesis, or proposal), as well as the scope of the related literature being investigated. (Example: If the topic under consideration is ‘women’s wartime diaries’, the scope of the review may be limited to published or unpublished works, works in English, works from a particular location, time period, or conflict, etc.) The introduction should also note intentional exclusions. (Example: “This review will not explore the diaries of adolescent girls.”) Another purpose of the introduction is to state the general findings of the review (what do most of the sources conclude), and comment on the availability of sources in the subject area. 2. Main Body: There are a number of ways to organize the evaluation of the sources. Chronological and thematic approaches are each useful examples. Each work should be critically summarized and evaluated for its premise, methodology, and conclusion. It is as important to address inconsistencies...
Words: 322 - Pages: 2
...Review of the Related Literature and Studies A researcher needs to review the write-ups, readings, and studies related to the present study in order to determine the similarities and differences of the findings between the past and present studies Related Literature * Literature maybe defined as written works collectively, especially those enduring importance, exhibiting creative imagination and artist skill which are written in a particular period, language, and subject. * In other words, any written matter such as book, journal, magazine, novel, poetry, and encyclopedia are considered as literature. Guidelines on Effective writing of Literature 1. Research paper must be written in a formal style, which is in the third person, not the first person. 2. Avoid highly descriptive writing style, not appropriate for a scholarly research. 3. Language should be neutral gender, no sexy language like his. 4. Make the conclusion and contradictions found in the literature clear in the report. 5. Use proper grammar and proofread the work. 6. Never plagiarized, give credit to the original author of ideas. 7. Pay attention to the structure and form of published articles, which are good examples of how literature reviews can be written. Example 1. Peters (1993) claims that job-related stress can enhance productivity up to a certain point. There is, however, a threshold point beyond which stress becomes a harmful factor in one’s productivity. On...
Words: 909 - Pages: 4
...Introduction By general agreement and on the basis of first hand experience, the review of literature in most student research (and some professional academic research too) is clumsy, naive, turgid, confusing and often down right dull. But given the central importance the literature review holds in our academic writing tradition, and its pivotal role in the academic assessment of research why are we still executing them so badly? Specifically, why do students find them so difficult to write? And academics find them so disheartening to read? There is no shortage of guidance in how to undertake a literature review. Comprehensive guides to business research such as Gill and Johnson (1991) or Cooper (1989) contain some guidance. More comprehensive are the general thesis guides such as Dunleavy (2003), Teitelbaum (1998), Baker (2003), or Evans (1996). There are also many specific guides to undertaking a literature review such as Baker (2000), Rowley and Slack (2004) or Hart (1999). Indeed, any competent trawl of the internet will generate innumerable guides and resources from universities around the world. The issue it seems is not the lack of guidance, but how such guidance is translated into the finished product. As a consequence this article focuses upon how to write the literature review, some techniques that can be used to ^ Correspondence: Mark Gabbott, Department of Marketing, Monash University, P.O. Box 197, Caulfield East Melbourne, Vic 3145, Australia, Tel: 00 61 3 9903...
Words: 8854 - Pages: 36
...How to write a Literature Review: Step 1: Read a lot. Sounds simplistic, but the fact is that you do have to read a lot, and read with care and purpose. There are things that you can do within the process to make your life easier, and the purpose of this short document is to point some of them out. Hopefully, this will help. However, there is no substitute for good, thorough, and hard work. When you start your reading, start broadly. If you have an area you are interested in, such as computers in education, multi-media, distance education, web-based instruction, or some other specific concentration, start your reading in those areas. Course assigned reading will help, but you will have to branch outwards and inwards. Don’t be afraid to follow an area that seems not to be related to your area. You are trying to define your interests. Allow yourself the freedom to do that. Here are some tips on how you might branch out, and/or focus in: A. Look carefully at the references. Should the author raise a salient point that interests you and they happen to cite somebody, look up the citation and read the original source. The original source will have its own references, follow these. Repeat as necessary. B. Read from tangentially related fields. Don’t be afraid to look outside of the literature in IT to other areas. Educational Psychology, Human Resources, Computer Science, and Communications Studies are but a few of the related fields with important information...
Words: 1603 - Pages: 7
...of the milestone will include identification of the problem or concern using the PICOT format and a literature search to find evidence to support an intervention that will change the outcomes. COURSE OUTCOMES This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes: CO4 Develops and outlines a scientific, systematic decision-making process to integrate critical thinking with clinical judgment to assure safe and effective outcomes. (PO #4) CO8 Selects evidence for best practice when planning professional nursing care for individuals, families, aggregates, and communities. (PO #8) DUE DATE Milestone #1 consists of the completion of one worksheet that contains to parts (i.e., the PICOT portion and the Literature Search portion). Submit the worksheet with the two portions completed to the Dropbox by the end of Week 2. POINTS This milestone is worth 200 points (100 for each portion of the worksheet). DIRECTIONS 1. Read this document including the grading rubrics below. 2. Download the PICOT/Literature Search Worksheet from Doc Sharing.Consider what is the nursing problem or issue that you have uncovered. Make sure it is related to a nursing, i.e., one that a nurse can solve independently. Do not select a medical problem that is dependent upon a medical professional to resolve. Completion of this portion of the worksheet will offer a tool for your literature search. 3. For theLiterature Search portion of the worksheet, find AT LEAST SIX (6)studies to support...
Words: 1241 - Pages: 5
...2.1 Introduction After the discussion about the introduction of the study, this chapter will discuss about the important aspects in this study. This chapter is very important part in any research because every element in it will be highlighted. It is because the related data in literature review and useful information will give advantage to the researcher to conclude the research. The other researcher also can use it as the guidelines to their research. Literature review is a systematic and through search of published literature in order to identify as many items as possible on particular topic. Thus, literature review is important for new researcher in order to understand better and get some info from previous research. In addition, literature...
Words: 840 - Pages: 4
...Global Conference for Wikimedia 6 - 10 August 2014 · London FIND OUT MORE Close Literature review From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For a focused scientific review, see Systematic review. [hide]This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (November 2010) This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. (May 2014) A literature review is a text of a scholarly paper, which includes the current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. Literature reviews use secondary sources, and do not report new or original experimental work.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Types of Literature Reviews 2 Distinguishing between Process and Product 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading Types of Literature Reviews[edit] Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such as a thesis or peer-reviewed article, a literature review usually precedes a research proposal and results section. Its main goals are to situate the current study within the body of literature and to provide context for the particular reader. Literature reviews are a staple for research in nearly every academic field.[2] A systematic review is a literature review focused on a research question, trying to identify, appraise, select and synthesize...
Words: 1430 - Pages: 6
...What is a literature review? Put simply, it is an analysis of prior academic research so as to identify the who, what, where, and whys’ of the chosen topic area. You may or may not have conducted what some academics call a preliminary study – a brief search into the existing academic work in your chosen topic. After all, for some students carrying out primary research it’s vital that their work has never been carried out before and these initial studies are crucial when identifying a unique topic for research. In some subject areas, it may be difficult, if not impossible to identify areas for primary research and therefore a preliminary study may not be necessary (secondary research is usually carried out as a result). Whatever the starting point, the literature review forms one of the first major pieces of work in a dissertation. There are several main reasons why you would undertake a literature review. The first is to enable you, the author, to become absolutely clear on what it is you have chosen to research and study. By understanding other academic literature you can gain an understanding of what has been and is currently being researched. This will help with your own work by identifying windows of opportunity and helping to cement your research questions. For some subjects you may find there has not been much prior research in your field of study, in which case your literature review will have to be less specific and the academic net in which you search will have to be...
Words: 2651 - Pages: 11
...How to improve efficiency of organization Literature Review Tanshu Song BUS 551 University of La Verne The effective of an organization is concern by every managers. It was an important innovation in business management. Organizational effectiveness considers how well an organization performs business. In the present prospectus, the research will focus on effective management style and individuals behaviour which will impact on the efficiency of organization. The following literature reviews will attempt to show the information related to prospectus and demonstrate the analysis. In the research article by William Clark and Ray Wright (2009), they mentions the challenge which organizations will face in next several years. Increasing pressure to do more with fewer workers, growing demand for strategic new services, expected loss of legacy management skills and need for automated solutions. Then they provide a solution which can capture the knowledge of retiring workers and perform many tasks necessary to manage both legacy and distributed systems. This wide range of solutions that enable knowledge retention and automate the process workflow to provision and maintain IT services specifically. “By taking advantage of the wide range of solutions for automating management tasks, the agency can benefit from the ability to create automated, repeatable processes, reduce the need to replace retiring workers, improve ability to recruit new employees...
Words: 714 - Pages: 3
...Caring for Inmate-Patients: A Review of the Literature Caring for Inmate-Patients In 2010, approximately one in every 27 adults (2.8 million) in the United States was behind bars according to a report from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC), 2012. Maintaining a safe and secure environment is the most important mission of correctional facilities - not healthcare. Correctional nurses are challenged to provide inmate healthcare services in a caring relationship that promotes wellness, restores health, and facilitates healing. A great deal has been written by nursing theorists regarding a caring attitude, and that it is fundamental to the nurse’s role. No other health care setting presents such limitations to nurses’ free expression of caring. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a review of the literature on how nurses balance the culture of security and the culture of care while delivering health care to inmate-patients in a correctional setting. Analysis It is well documented in the nursing literature that nursing care for prisoners is both complicated and conflicting. These findings clearly stated that the experiences of caring for inmate-patients vary greatly from that of any other health care setting. Both the infrastructure of a prison coupled with its restrictive security element, directly affects how the health care of inmate-patients is delivered. This is in direct correlation with the findings of Mathis & Schoenly, 2008; Muse...
Words: 1980 - Pages: 8
...2. LITERATURE REVIEW. In the context of India’s tea export, there exists vast literatures .But for this study we have included some of the important empirical works which are matched with our objectives. Chand and Tiwari,(1991),analyzead growth and instability of India’s export and import of agricultural commodities. Jaganathan , (1992) , in his paper examined the instabilities of export earnings of selected groups and selected commodities and all the commodities from the period 1974-75 to 1989-1990. Pal , (1992) , analyzed the magnitude , causes and effects of instability of agricultural export earnings of India for the period 1979 to 1989.Subramaniam , (1995) , analyzed the impact of fluctuations in tea production and exports on international tea trade .He articulated that India plays a significant role in world tea trade , being the world’s largest producer , consumer , and exporter . Therefore , fluctuations in India’s tea production , consumption and exports are enough to disturb international tea trade . Aiello , (1999) , analyzed that the effects of export earnings instability on economic growth of developing countries has long interested economists for several reasons . Reddy , (2001) , examined global demand for and supply of tea by estimating semi – log trends separately using data of the recent past , 1974 to 1988 , on the area under cultivation of tea , production , export and retention of tea for domestic consumption . Debraj , (2003) , in a column...
Words: 4447 - Pages: 18
...Writing a Literature Review What is a Literature Review? A literature review is a survey and discussion of the literature in a given area of study. It is a concise overview of what has been studied, argued, and established about a topic, and it is usually organized chronologically or thematically. A literature review is written in essay format. It is not an annotated bibliography, because it groups related works together and discusses trends and developments rather than focusing on one item at a time. It is not a summary; rather, it evaluates previous and current research. Purpose A literature review is written to highlight specific arguments and ideas in a field of study. By highlighting these arguments, the writer attempts to show what has been studied in the field, and also where the weaknesses, gaps, or areas needing further study are. The review should therefore also demonstrate to the reader why the writer’s research is useful, necessary, important, and valid. Audience Literature reviews can have different types of audiences, so consider why and for whom you are writing your review. For example, a lot of literature reviews are written as a chapter for a thesis or dissertation, so the audience will want to know in what way your research is important and original. Highlighting the gap in knowledge which your research aims to fill is particularly important in this instance because you need to convince the reader that there is an opening in the area of study. A literature review...
Words: 1153 - Pages: 5
...Doing a literature review This Advice Sheet introduces you to the basics of compiling a Literature review. What is a literature review? 1 What it is not …. 1 Approaches needed …. 1 Approaching your review …. 2 Writing the review …. 3 What is a literature review? • • • Further reading …. 4 • It is a critical and evaluative account of what has been published on a chosen research topic. Its purpose is to summarise, synthesise and analyse the arguments of others. (It is not an academic research paper, the main purpose of which is to support your own argument.) You should describe and analyse the knowledge that exists and what gaps occur in research related to your field of interest. (This should clarify the relationship between your own research and the work that has previously been done.) It should reveal similarities and differences, consistencies and inconsistencies and controversies in previous research. What it is not It is not primarily an argument for the importance of what it is you are researching. While it is necessary to explain what is the primary purpose of your research, the reader of a literature review will assume that the need for undertaking the research has already been established. It is not a descriptive list of papers or summaries. You must not just list your sources and describe them in detail one at a time. A literature review is organised around ideas, not the sources themselves as an annotated bibliography would be organised. You should...
Words: 1290 - Pages: 6
