Conducting Research for a Literature Review
- A “lit review” is a work (or section of a work) that presents the historical context AND current situation about a certain topic using writings by experts in the field.
- The literature review adds to the ongoing scholarly conversation around a topic, by identifying past research and showing how the current research contributes to the body of knowledge. Authors provide context for a thesis by reviewing scholarly articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings and other resources which are relevant to a particular issue.
Purpose of a Literature Review
- Identifies gaps in current knowledge
- Helps you to avoid reinventing the wheel by discovering the research already conducted on a topic
- Sets the background on what has been explored on a topic so far Increases your breadth of knowledge in your area of research
- Helps you identify seminal works in your area
- Allows you to provide the intellectual context for your work and position your research with other, related research
- Provides you with opposing viewpoints
- Helps you to discover research methods which may be applicable to your work
Greenfield, T. (2002). Research methods for postgraduates. 2nd ed. London: Arnold.
1) Planning: identify the focus, type, scope and discipline of the review you intend to write.
2) Reading and Research: collect and read current research on your topic. Select only those sources that are most relevant to your project.
3) Analyzing: summarize, synthesize, critique, and compare your sources in order to assess the field of research as a whole.
4) Drafting: develop a thesis or claim to make about the existing research and decide how to organize your material.
5) Revising: revise and finalize the structural, stylistic, and grammatical issues of your paper.
This process is not always a linear process; depending on the size and scope of your literature review, you may find yourself returning to some of these steps repeatedly as you continue to focus your project.
Information Literacy Resources
Most library resources authenticate with a system called Open Athens, which uses your MyHU login.
For more information and help logging into resources, view the Logging in to Library Resources guide.