Literature Review Week 3 Lecture 1. School of Information Technologies Faculty of Science, College of Sciences and Technology The University of Sydney.

Literature Review

Week 3 Lecture 1

School of Information TechnologiesFaculty of Science, College of Sciences and Technology

The University of Sydney

Critical Literature Review

• Learn as much as possible about the problem from reports of previous research in the area,

• Help you develop and refine your research ideas,• Demonstrate you understanding of the current state-

of-the art, its strengths and limitations and how your research fits into that picture (critical review)



Purposes

• Generate and refine your research idea• Build on the work that has been done before your

project – don’t want to end up reinventing the wheel• Highlight research possibilities overlooked previously• Obtain tips for research strategies, methods etc.



Content of Lit. Reviews

• Demonstration of your understanding of the area• Show how your proposed work builds on previosu research of

high quality• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of previous research as

well as omissions, gaps, biases in prior research• Justification in support of your arguments (reasoning)• Clear and complete referencing so that the readers get a clear

picture of related work (giving credit to other’s work)

Graziano & Raulin (1997)



Using the Library

• A college or university library will typically house or have access to millions of books and journal articles

• The reference librarian can help you to learn the ins and outs of a library search and the tools available to help you

• In this electronic age, the library is more accessible and useful than ever




Library Resources

• Libraries contain many kinds of documents and resources– Primary sources such as research journals– Secondary sources such as book chapters– Abstract and keyword search services– Literature citation indexes

• Increasingly, electronic access to these resources are possible




Primary Sources

• Primary sources publish the details of specific research projects

• Journal articles– Thousands of journals covering every topic imaginable– Abstract services makes it easy to find relevant journal

articles

• Dissertations– Available through interlibrary loan or University Microfilms




Secondary Sources

• Secondary sources provide reviews of broad areas of research

• Review articles in journals or books– Provide integrative reviews of a research area– Some journals specialize in these kinds of integrative

reviews• Books and edited books

– Provide extensive reviews without the typical space constraints of journal reviews




Finding the Relevant Research

• Searching randomly for the information you want is a hopeless task

• Abstract and keyword search services allow you to track down information by author, title, and most importantly, topic

• Citation indexes allow you to find sources by identifying papers that reference a particularly relevant paper




Abstracting Services

• Abstracting services provide information on a wide range of sources (journal articles, books and chapters in books, magazine articles, etc.) in a standard format that includes an abstract of each source

• Widely used abstract services– Psychological Abstracts– Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC)




Subject and Keyword Services

• Virtually identical to abstract services except they do not include the abstract– Topic searches are conducted by title, keyword, or subject searches

• Common keyword or subject services– Library catalogs (often online)– Books in Print (for all published books)– Index Medicus (for medical journals)– Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature (for magazine and other

popular literature)




Citation Indexes

• Lists which articles, books, or chapters reference a specific paper

• Valuable for finding studies that build on previous research, because these studies will usually reference the previous work

• Useful Citation Indexes– Social Science Citation Index– Science Citation Index




Search Strategies

• Many ways to find the information that you are after– Search by topic– Search by author using authors who you know specialize

in the area– Check out the references in relevant articles– Use citation indexes to find articles that cite classic articles

in a field




Search by Topic

• The most common search strategy• Abstract and keyword indexes are structured for topic

searches– Most are now computerized– Easy to do sophisticated searches in computerized

databases using Boolean operators (OR & AND)• Identify all the work of authors you find who have

done a lot of work in the field




Searching Backwards

• Relevant research will likely reference other relevant research

• Identify some recent relevant studies and then look through their reference sections

• Not a substitute for a thorough topic search, but is a good supplementary strategy




Searching Forward

• In most areas, there will be one or more articles that are SO critical that they will be referenced by every related study

• Citation indexes can be used to find the studies that reference these classic studies

• Again, not a substitute for a thorough topic search, but a good supplementary strategy




Summary

• The library is a tremendous source of information• The reference librarian can be invaluable• Available resources include primary (e.g., journals)

and secondary (e.g., book chapters) sources of research information

• Abstract journals and citation indexes (often computerized) simplify the search process









Literature Review Week 3 Lecture 1. School of Information Technologies Faculty of Science, College of Sciences and Technology The University of Sydney.

Documents

research area

college of sciences

university library

research fits

research strategies

research ideas

university of sydney

university of sydney