Doing a Literature Review

Process Reading Searching Writing Thinking Background reading Focused Thinking Organization Common themes Contrast and compare Reading Background reading Critical reading Writing Note taking Summarizing Synthesis

Process (Reality) Reading: Background Writing: Notetaking Reading: Critical Thinking: Organization Searching: Background Writing: Summarizing Searching: Focused Thinking: Common themes Thinking: Contrast and compare Writing: Synthesis

Process (Reality) Reading: Background Writing: Notetaking Reading: Critical Thinking: Organization Searching: Background Writing: Summarizing Searching: Focused Thinking: Common themes Thinking: Contrast and compare Writing: Synthesis

Process (Reality) Reading: Background Writing: Notetaking Reading: Critical Thinking: Organization Searching: Background Writing: Summarizing Searching: Focused Thinking: Common themes Thinking: Contrast and compare Writing: Synthesis

It’s messy… so

Choose something that interests you Choosing a Topic Choose something that interests you Look at news stories to find something that is current Canadian Newsstream Factiva Look at key journal editorials/news Journal Citation Reports Medicine, General Multidisciplinary Sciences

Find out what information is available Do some background reading Getting Started Find out what information is available Summon Do some background reading Find a review article Use a database filter (Pubmed, Scopus, WoS) Use review as a search term Find a book Look at the Table of Contents Find an encyclopedia entry Often provide background readings

Map your topic Think of the landscape of your topic Outline the various aspects/concepts/main ideas

An Example of Concept Mapping

or it might look like this...

Example: AIDS in Africa

Focus your topic Pick one or two aspects to focus on Go deeper into these areas Develop a research question(s)

Example: AIDS in Africa Malnutrition What impact does AIDS have on malnutrition? What is being done to combat this issue? Are theses interventions effective? What more can be done? Poverty What is the relationship between AIDS and poverty? What other factors are involved? What programs exist to tackle this problem? Why do certain programs/interventions work and others not? Orphans How has AIDS affected children of parents with AIDS in Africa?

From concepts/main ideas to search terms PICO Identify Search Terms From concepts/main ideas to search terms PICO Population Intervention Comparison Outcome Synonyms Controlled vocabulary

Combining Search Terms Boolean operators – AND, or, NOT Phrase searching – “…” Truncation - * Proximity operators – N/x, NEARx

Example: AIDS in Africa (AIDS or “acquired immune deficiency syndrome” or HIV) (Africa or Sub-sahara* or Eastern or Burundi or ….) (Child* or youth) orphan* (Malnutrition or “nutritional deficiency” or malnourishment) (Poverty or “low income” or poor) You may need to do separate searches for different aspects of your topic

Where to look Think about who/what is interested in the topic Think about what subject area might cover this topic

Example: AIDS in Africa African governments NGOs AIDs researchers Economists Nutritionists

Subject Guide > Detailed Guide > Health Where to look Subject Guide > Detailed Guide > Health Subject Guides > Quick Guides Political Science Economics Public Policy etc… Government Information Canadian – federal, provincial International

Example: AIDS in Africa WHO IRIS Digital Library Health Topics PubMed CINAHL Worldwide Political Science Abstracts World Bank Government Info The World Bank is an IGO (inter-governmental organization) and is part of the UN system. NGOs normally do not have governments as members.

Data and Statistics Data Canada WHO United Nations OECD ODESI UNdata OECD OECD.Stat Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Keeping it all organized Citation Management Mendeley Endnote Zotero

Note Taking Underline Highlight Take notes in your own words

Summary vs Synthesis Summary Synthesis A summary is a brief statement of a source(s) In order to synthesize several sources you should first summarize each source individually An integrated essay based on multiple sources Based on evidence, not your opinion

What was the objective/hypothesis? How did they do it? Summarize Why did they bother? Problem statement, rationale What was the objective/hypothesis? How did they do it? What did they find? So what? Significance, implications Relevance to your research topic?

Synthesize – organization Sequential Show progression of the field/topic…. Topical Topic 1 with subtopics, topic 2 with subtopics…. Methodological No other method has proven…. Theoretical Contrast and compare theories…. origins of the Coral Triangle biodiversity

Identify Common Themes Hypotheses Populations studied Theories Methods Outcomes

Contrast and Compare He said/she said Do different studies agree or disagree Do they agree on some things but disagree on others

Identify Gaps What is missing? What can be studied next?

Proofreading and editing Write a draft Let it sit Look at it with fresh eyes Ask your ____ to read it

Resources about lit reviews Books Writing literature reviews: A guide for student of the social and behavioral sciences The literature review: A step-by-step guide fro students Doing a literature review in nursing, health and social care Doing your literature review: Traditional and systematic techniques They say/I say: the moves that matter in academic writing Online Carleton UofT UBC

Need Help? QUESTIONS? Visit the library Call Research Help Desk 613-520-2600 x2735 Email heather.macdonald@carleton.ca