A
Seminar Paper
on
LITERATURE REVIEW
by
Kousar Taj
Definition of a Literature Review
•A literature review

surveys scholarly articles, books and
other sources
(e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings)
relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or
theory.
 provides a short description and
critical evaluation of work critical to
the topic.
 offers an overview of significant
literature published on a topic.
cont…
What is a Literature Review?
•
It is a process of gathering information from other
sources and documenting it.
• Precursor in the introduction of a research paper.
• It can be an entire paper in itself.
• Critical and in depth evaluation of previous
research.
• Summary and synopsis of a particular area of
research.
• Expands upon the reasons behind selecting a
particular research question.
cont…
Conducting a Literature Review
• Begin research in an academic library.
• Journals found in academic library can be
regarded as safe and credible.
• Use the Internet
• Structure the Internet research.
• Bookmark papers, in one folder and make
another subfolder for a ‘short list’.
cont…
• Scanning the work, using the abstract and
introduction as guides.
• Critically evaluate the paper and decide if
the research is sufficient quality.
• Check into the credentials of any source.
•
Look for agreements.
cont…
Literature Search
Perform a preliminary search of the literature.
Search literature to see what other work in the area
of interest has already been published.
−Gives a preview of the number of articles available on the
topic.
−If your topic is already written about, select a slightly
different topic or modify the focus of the objective.
Recent journal issues in areas central to the topic
may provide leads to content that should be in the
review.
−Consult Web of Science’s Journal Citation Index for an
idea of the most important journals in the field
Develop a list of subject headings that relate to
themes of interest
cont…
Search across multiple databases and information
resources.
−It’s not adequate to use Medline as your one and only
resource
Read the literature throughout the search process.
−What you read will guide your subsequent searches and
refine your topic.
Your search should help refine the topic and objective
of the overview being written.
cont…
Read the Material Closer
Step 1: Read the abstract
Decide whether to read the article in detail
Step 2: Read introduction
It explains why the study is important
It provides review and evaluation of relevant literature
Step 3: Read Method with a close, critical eye
Focus on participants, measures, procedures
Step 4: Evaluate results
Do the conclusions seem logical
Can you detect any bias on the part of the researcher?
Step 5: Take discussion with a grain of salt
Edges are smoothed out
Pay attention to limitations
cont…
Quality of published work
• Look critically at any published work.
• The fact that something has been published does not mean
the findings are automatically trust worthy.
• Most trust worthy conclusions are those reached in
double blind randomized controlled trials with a
representative sample of sufficient size to detect the
smallest worthwhile effects.
cont…
• Weakest findings are those from case studies.
• How subjects were sampled is an important
issue.
• Look at the key original papers cited in any
earlier reviews.
• Judge yourself whether the conclusions of the
reviews are justified.
cont…
Organization of literature review
•A general organization looks like a funnel
•Broader topics
•Subtopics
•Studies like yours
cont…
Organization of literature review
Introduction to the lit review
 Content - what is covered
 Structure - how it is organized
 Boundaries - what is outside of its scope
SECTION 1
The most important topic or a key concept
discussed and evaluated
 summarized and related to your research project
Conclusion
From each of the section summaries,
 highlight the most relevant points
 relate these back to the need for research
 reiterate what these mean for the research design
cont…
How to write a Literature Review
• Avoid technical terms.
• Avoid abbreviations.
• Use simple sentences.
• Avoid common errors of punctuation and
grammer.
• Use the first person (I, we) rather than the
passive voice.
• Link your ideas into a sensible sequence without
repetitions or discontinuities.
• Get feedback on your article form colleagues.
cont…
Check List.
Check these before you submit your review.
• The Summary is no longer than 300
words(including subheading words).
• The Summary includes real data and
magnitudes of effects.
• The content of each section is appropriate to
the section.
• Perform a spelling check in the language
appropriate for the journal.
• References are in the style required by the
journal.
Cont…
Example :
Keywords: Use of BIBLIOMETRICS, SCIENTOMETRICS,
INFORMETRICS In LIS Research
The authors have made a comparative analysis of research hot-spots in
medical information in China in different periods of time using the co-words
cluster analysis method of high frequency key words with the key words of
papers published in Journal of Medical Informatics and Chinese Journal of
Medical Library and Information Science. Results show that the research
hot-spots were medical information service, medical library service, medical
journal and literature retrieval before 1990, assessment of literature novelty
and medical literature retrieval with medical information service weakened
in 1991-2000, and networking, digitalization, quantification and
personalization with insufficient research in medical information theories
and methods from 2001 which should be strengthened.
Bibliographical references
Li, Xiao-tao., Liu, Yan., Liu, Ya-min & Du, Hua-rong. (2011). Research Heat-Spots
Published in Different Periods of Time of the Two Major Medical Library and
Information Science Journals of China: A Comparative Analysis. The Journal of
Academic Librarianship 20(1), 10 – 14. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.
com/docview/870996217?accountid=27563