What Are the Steps in Writing a Literature Review?

What is a Literature Review?

A literature review basically is the collating of a body of information derived from secondary sources such as books, newspapers, magazines and other appropriate sources. This information is content specific and usually revolves around a specific theme or issue. It represents a careful selection of ideas gleaned from other people's findings of a particular topic or set of topics deemed to be related in some way. Sources selected should be authoritative and be well written in good English and should shed light on the study to be undertaken. The main goal of the literature review is to set the tone for the rest of an academic paper as insights can be made into the theoretical and methodological positions adopted by past researchers of a similar ilk. The use of subheadings can act as sign posts that guide the writer so that he/she keeps on track.

Length of a Literature Review

Students are frequently concerned about the length of the review. However, there are no hard rules about this. It all depends on the way the academic faculties within which students operate weigh it. It depends too on the specific details required to provide a comprehensive coverage of previous researches. In short there is no magic formula or algorithm here.

Types of Literature Review

Two well known styles of literature review exist: the traditional or narrative and the systematic. The traditional style involves the production of a summary of the literature. Arguments are narrative or descriptive as all they do is inform the reader of the major arguments and debates raised thus far within a specific topic or field of inquiry. Points are organized in some predetermined order which provides a truthful synthesis of the topic or social problem. The systematic style is different from the narrative since it goes a step further than mere narrative reproduction of text. In essence it is a creative presentation of the topic. The writer goes about looking for new ways of presenting old information often providing a balanced (or close to balanced) evaluation or assessment of the arguments. It can also suggest that there is an impasse in the field which could possibly be resolved only if new research is undertaken.

Steps in Writing a Literature Review in Academic Research

These basic steps form part of what can be deemed the literature review cycle. The term cycle is appropriate because there is always need for constant monitoring of the work in progress and careful assessment of the research objectives to determine whether the writer is able to inform his/her audience about similar preceding works. These steps are locating, selecting, note-taking, reviewing and collating.

1. Locating involves finding suitable data or information relevant to the topic of interest. This is almost a never-ending process. However, it may be best that writers set limits on the search for information to justify their cause. This averts the difficulty of having too much information to process at any one time.

2. Selecting means identifying the most suitable data or studies that will enhance one's research focus. It calls for rational decision making on the writer's part,;taking into consideration his/her main objectives. A good practice is to note all bibliographic details of written material. This allows for easy reference of previous works..

3. Note-taking entails reducing a large quantity of written material into smaller chunks so that they fit one's purpose. Additionally, it involves reducing large amounts of written information into smaller more coherent portions that are most appropriate for the writer's objectives.

4. Reviewing is the summarizing, evaluating and assessing of the information in terms of its quality and worth as well as its appropriateness for the writer's purpose. He/she should keep the overall research objectives in mind when doing this.

5. Synthesizing is ordering the reviewed information in the most logical manner so as to create a new product that meets the writer's intentions, objectives and standards. Of course the use of discipline specific language is advisable since most research projects are usually geared toward informing a particular audience despite the need for general appeal.

The cycle continues until the writer is confident that the supply of relevant material has been exhausted and there is nothing else that can be done to enhance the quality and quantity of the review.

These steps are intended to act as a basic guide for the graduate student who may feel overwhelmed by the fact that a deadline date may be set by which time the review should be turned in to the Faculty or academic supervisor.

Some students do not quite grasp the nature of a literature review and often fail to perceive it as a dynamic and creative attempt to re-construct information using sources that already exist. There are no definitive rules about the literature review save for the fact that it should enhance the quality of one's paper. Issues such as relevance, credibility and creativity are critical guiding principles. I recommend that writing the literature review should be one of the early steps in academic research since it often provides a gateway to the other aspects of an academic report.

In this article I have attempted to define a literature review and explain the nature and purpose of the literature review. In addition, I have outlined (briefly) at that two main styles of review and examined a five step cyclical process of literature review writing. Once these are followed the writer should be able to master the process and provide a neat summation of the main issues in a particular type of academic discourse.

Bennie Berkeley has attained a PhD in Sociology with high commendation from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. At present he lectures Sociology courses namely Introduction to Sociology and Caribbean Social Structure. Additionally, he conducts methodology seminars for graduate students about to embark upon their research projects in Social Work and Sociology. He supervises a number of students from a cross section of the Social Sciences including Sociology (Criminology), Social Work and Mediation Studies.

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