Who is this guide for ...
This guide has been created for university students who need to submit a Literature Review or trying to organise and utilise research into a piece of work.
Make sure you ask for help ...
As a student you need to pro-active in seeking support and help. It is your responsibility to approach relevant people for guidance.
Your Librarians are a useful resource for guidance on finding research and then for referencing this research. You can attend one of the regular Library Drop-ins for help https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/learning_hub/drop-ins
Your Learning and Development Team are available to help you with your academic writing, structure and critical skills. For further details go to https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/learning_hub
The Learning Hub hosts an extensive list of online guides on a whole range of academic skills. View the full list at https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/LearningHub
Top source
Even though the title is 'Study skills for international postgraduates', it contains lots of good advice and useful tips for all types of students.
Harvard reference - Davies, M. (2022) Study skills for international postgraduates. 2nd edn. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
The rest of this guide will be referring to relevant content created by Davies (2022) and also the Learning Hub team at Teesside University.
What is a Literature review?
"It's the finding, classification, evaluation and presentation of what others have written on a particular topic." (Davies, 2022, p. 279)
"They are written to provide others with information about current and relevant literature in a particular field of study" (Davies, 2022, p. 280)
Harvard reference - Ridley, D. (2012) The literature review: a step-by-step guide for students. 2nd edn. London: SAGE.
Structure for a literature review
Introduction
- Outline your research topic, including the context and background
- Set the parameters / boundaries to your research question
- Can you present reasons / justification for your research - Why is it needed?
- (Davies, 2022, p. 283)
Main body
- Be selective in the sources reviewed
- Each 'selected' source should be summarized briefly and fairly
- Highlight the key ideas related to your specific topic
- Similar literature should be grouped together
- Look for any research gaps
- (Davies, 2022, p. 284)
Conclusion
- Briefly, summarise the significance and contribution
- Evaluate strengths and weaknesses
- Reminder about research gaps and points of further investigation
- (Davies, 2022, p. 285)
Be selective
You need to select sources that either agree, disagree, partly agrees or disagrees with your research statement
Identify and select the main point(s) or key idea from each relevant source
Don't include minor details and lesser points. If you have in the draft version, then remember to edit them out
Always be specific to your research aims and stick to this focus ...
Group similar things together
Combine similar ideas or related details into categories and give them appropriate headings
This allows you to group sources more easily and then evaluate them together
This also makes it easier to compare and contrast sources
It will also help you find similar sources quicker and the different headings will eventually combine to form your overall structure
Succeed@Tees Workshops and Resources
These informal workshops and supporting online resources are designed to help YOU become a more effective learner during your studies at Teesside University and beyond ...
The workshops and supporting online resources are full of useful information, tips and practical exercises to help you develop the skills you need to get the most from your student experience
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