1 / 19

Mastering Literature Reviews: Skills, Techniques, and Resources

Learn the art of crafting a comprehensive literature review. Understand its purpose, avoid common misconceptions, and hone critical evaluation skills. Discover where to find authoritative sources and navigate advanced search options. Enhance your research impact and scholarly credibility through well-crafted reviews.

felsie
Download Presentation

Mastering Literature Reviews: Skills, Techniques, and Resources

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Literature Reviews Lora Leligdon Engineering Research Librarian leligdon@unm.edu CSEL L166 / 277-1186

  2. 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

  3. 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 newdevelopments, gaps, directions, changes, • which shows how yourworkcontributes to the field. Source: COE Graduate Student Writing Studio 2/28/11 (http://coe.unm.edu/uploads/docs/writing-studio/Lit%20Review.pdf)

  4. 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 (http://coe.unm.edu/uploads/docs/writing-studio/Lit%20Review.pdf)

  5. Literature ReviewsState-of-the-Art Assessment (1) Written for specialists (2) Exhaustive bibliography

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

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

  10. Scholarly Literature • 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)

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

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

  13. Doctoral Dissertations/Masters Theses • Database: Digital Dissertations • LoboVault • Google Scholar

  14. Medicine/Health CareLiterature Review Vocabulary • Databases: • PubMed • Cochrane • DynaMed • Literature Reviews • Systematic Review • Meta-analysis • Review

  15. 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: http://elibrary.unm.edu - Databases Tab • Research Guides http://libguides.unm.edu/ • Consult experts

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

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

  18. Other Resources • Dr. Palm’s Video and Resources: http://vimeo.com/20348984 • Grant Proposal Writing: Elements for Success http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/pdf/efop/efo31072.pdf (See Literature Review) • Lit Review synthesis matrix http://coe.unm.edu/uploads/docs/writing-studio/Lit%20review%20synthesis%20matrix.pdf • LIBROS – Online Catalog http://libros.unm.edu/search~S7 Search for “Literature Reviews” in Keyword search • Writing Center – How to write a literature reviewhttp://coe.unm.edu/administration/facilities/center-student-success.html

  19. Questions?

More Related