The document provides guidance on conducting literature reviews. It discusses that the goals of a literature review are to understand the issues being examined, inform the research questions and methodology, and relate the present study to previous work. It also notes literature reviews should highlight gaps in existing research. The document offers tips for searching literature sources, developing an annotated bibliography, reorganizing summaries by theme, combining paragraphs, and reviewing the review. It stresses the importance of focusing on one's own study rather than becoming overwhelmed by the literature.

1. • Dr.C.S.N.Vittal

2. “Originality rarely means starting from scratch,
but looking to expand that which is already known.”
- Ruth-Sahd, L. and King, C. A diamond in the rough to a polished gemstone ring:

3. Definition
• Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview
of sources you have explored while researching a
particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers
how your research fits within a larger field of study.
• Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. Fourth edition.
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2014.

4. What ever thesis you were doing…
• Experts have already researched the answers and
published their results!
• All you have to do is find the answers!
• Their published findings are called the “LITERATURE”
• Your search for them is called a “REVIEW”

5. Goals of literature review
1. To give better understanding of the issues one is examining so that the
thesis is well informed and thorough
- informs every aspect of the thesis: the research questions, hypotheses and
goals, and methodology.
2. It is important to an investigator in order to know what has been
established and documented as there are critical summaries of what is
known about a particular topic.
3. Helps to relate the present study to the previous ones in the same field.
4. To highlight the gaps in the literature which justify the focus of the thesis.

6. • ‘Literature review is an interpretation and synthesis of
published work’.
• Merriam (1988:6)

7. Primary
Experimental
• RCTs
• Controlled Studies
Observational
• Cohort studies
• Case control studies
• Case reports
• Review articles
• Meta-analysis
• Systematic reviews
• Practice guidelines
• Decision analysis
• Consensus reports
• Editorials
• Commentaries
Secondary
– Reviews of original research
The author reports his own
work directly in the form of
original research articles in
journals, books, dissertation
and theses.
The author compiles and
summarizes the finding of
the work done by others and
gives interpretation of these
findings

8. Electronic sources - Internet
• The PubMed
• MedlinePlus
• Medscape
• Web-of-Science
• Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews
• Google Scholar
• Online Journals

10. Diagnosis
button
* Means
any letters
“OR” synonyms
PubMed via
Google

11. Sensitivity of
62% or 55%

12. Hand Searching of Journals
"a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"

13. Go fo the latest editions…

14. ‘Take some time to browse –
serendipity is a wonderful thing.’
• Blaxter et al. (2001:103)

15. Placing the Literature Review in the
Dissertation/Thesis
1. The ‘traditional’ place is immediately after the introduction to
the dissertation or thesis – the second section or chapter after
an initial sketch of the project
2. After the presentation of empirical evidence so that the
literature review acts as a kind of foil to the main findings.
• https://www.kent.ac.uk/learning/resources/studyguides/literaturereviews.pdf

16. How many books and articles?
• Enough
• Ready rule of thumb – 8 to10 significant pieces (books and/or
articles) for a 8,000 word dissertation, up to 20 major pieces
of work for 12-15,000 words, and so on.
• But use your judgement!

17. “A 21st century clinician who cannot
critically read a study is as unprepared as
one who cannot take a blood pressure or
examine the cardiovascular system.”
- BMJ 2008:337:704-
705

18. Using a Mind Map
Planning
Maintaining a Current Reference
Writing Style
Reviewing, Rewriting and Editing
Strategies for Writing an
Effective Literature Review

19. Step 1
Strip
the
Summaries
Annotated
Bibliography

20. Step 1
Strip
the
Summaries

21. Step 1
Strip
the
Summaries

22. Step 2
Reorder
Paragraphs
• Re-read all paragraph summaries
• Find similarities and differences
• Reorder paragraphs into logical list
based on connections you find
The best sequence will be the one you
find and apply affectively

23. Step 2
Reorder
Paragraphs
Potential Structure Could be…
• Chronologically
• By theme
• By sector
• By development of idea
• By some combination of the
above
Thematic
Reorganization

24. Step 2
Reorder
Paragraphs
After reading and analysing
individual sources, you have
identified a key concept relating
to your research topic as well
as a key resource (A) relating to
that concept.
The argument in resource A is
supported by another article
(B), which is in turn supported
by article (D).
Article C, which contradicts the
argument presented in
resource A.

25. Step 3
Combine
the
Paragraphs

26. Step 3
Combine
the
Paragraphs

27. Step 4
Reviewing
your
review

28. Summary
• It’s a cyclical
process

29. When to Stop?
‘Build an argument, not a library’.
- Rudestam and Newton (1992:49)
“It is important to keep the focus on your study,
rather than on the literature.”
- Wellington 2005
• Usually the literature review will be around 3,000 to 4,000 words.

30. Referencing
• Referencing is a standardised way of acknowledging
the sources of information and ideas that you have
used in your assignments and which allows the
sources to be identified. It is important to be consistent
when you are referencing.

31. Reference List/Bibliography
• A reference list contains details only of those works cited in the text of the
document. (eg. book, journal article, pamphlet, internet site, cassette tape
or film).
• A bibliography is a separate list from the reference list and should be
arranged alphabetically by author or title (where no author is given) in the
Vancouver style. A bibliography lists sources not cited in the text but
which are relevant to the subject and were used for background reading.
• A reference list should appear at the end of your essay/report with the
entries listed numerically and in the same order that they have been cited
in the text. Sources cited from the Internet should be in your reference list

32. Styles of Referencing

33. Vancouver-style
• Number all references.
• Arrange your list in the order in which the references appear in your text.
• If there are more than 6 authors, list the first 6 authors followed by “et al.”
in-text citation
• Write the reference with an Arabic number in brackets after the citation.
• If you cite several sources in one sentence, cite them as (2-4) to refer to sources 2, 3
and 4 and (2-4,8) to refer to sources 2, 3, 4 and 8.
• You need to give a reference even when the author's name is stated in the sentence.
Quotations
• Quotations of 3 lines or fewer are placed in quotation marks (before and
after). Quotations of more than 3 lines should have their own indented paragraph,
without quotation marks.

34. Citation Rules with Examples for Entire
Dissertations and Theses
• The general format for a reference to entire dissertation, including punctuation:

35. Citation Rules with Examples for Entire
Dissertations and Theses
• Author (R) | Title (R) | Content Type (O) | Type of Medium
(R) | Place of Publication (R) | Publisher (R) | Date of
Publication (R) | Pagination (O) | Physical Description (O) |
Language (R) | Notes (O)
An R after the component name means that it is required in the citation; an O after the name
means it is optional.

36. Mistakes to Avoid
• Trying to read and include everything you
find on your topic
• Failing to integrate your examination of
the literature with your own thesis topic.
• Plagiarism: Using of someone else’s
words or ideas, and passing them off as
your own.

37. • Dr.C.S.N.Vittal