1. Developing Research Proposal Writing a Literature Review

2. What is Review of Literature ?
The review of the literature is defined as a broad, comprehensive, in-depth, systematic, and critical review of scholarly publications, unpublished scholarly print materials, audiovisual materials, and personal communications, within specific time period.
Scholarly literature refer to published and unpublished data based literature and conceptual literature materials found in print and non print forms
scientific articles, books, medical journals, dissertations
Other sources relevant to a particular area of research topics, or theory
Critical = evaluate what you read
Analyze = extract differing information from what you read
Synthesis = show relationships between studies/sources; differing definitions, concepts, theories etc.
Evaluate = methodological approaches used

3. Purposes of Literature Review
Determines an appropriate research design/method (instruments, data collection and analysis methods) for answering the research question
Determines the need for replication of a well designed study or refinement of a study
Determines and discovers unanswered questions what is known about a subject, concept or problem
Determines gaps, consistencies & inconsistencies about a subject, concept or problem
Describes strengths & weaknesses of designs, methods of inquiry and instruments used in earlier works

4. Working with Literature
Find it!
Manage it!
Use it!
Review it!
Knowing the
literature types
Reading
efficiently
Choosing your research topic
Understanding the
lit review’s purpose
Using available resources
Keeping track
of references
Developing your question
Ensuring adequate
coverage
Honing your
search skills
Writing relevant annotations
Arguing your
rationale
Informing your work with theory
Designing
method
Writing
purposefully
Working on
style and tone

5. Working with Literature
Journal articles of original research
Theses & dissertation. Conference abstract &proceeding
Primary source: is written by a person(s) who developed the theory or conducted the research
Secondary source: is written by a person(s) other than the individual who developed the theory or conducted the research
Journal articles
Book or chapter on book

6. Sources of Literature
Journal articles: These are good sources, especially for up-to-date information. They are frequently used in literature reviews because they offer a relatively concise, up-to-date format for research.
Conference proceedings: these can be useful in providing the latest research, or research that has not been published.
Theses and dissertations: these can be useful sources of information. However there are disadvantages. they can be difficult to obtain since they are not published, but are generally only available from the library or interlibrary system

7. Sources of Literature
Books:  remember that books tend to be less up-to-date, as it takes longer for a book to be published than for a journal article.
Government/corporate reports: Many government departments and corporations commission carry out research. Their published findings can provide a useful source of information, depending on your field of study.
 Internet: Fastest-growing source of information. Bear in mind that anyone can post information on the Internet so the quality may not be reliable

8. Some Common Rehabilitation Data Base
Cochrane reviews at
TRIP database (Turning Research into Practice) at
PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence resource) at
Current clinical trials at
Medline/PubMed (
Medline Plus(
Ovid ( which provides a searchable database of medical, scientific, and academic research information.
CINAHL ( which is commonly available at college campuses
Eric :Educational Resources Information Center
Web of sciences

9. What is a “Literature Review”?
Good Review
Synthase of available research
Critical evaluation
Appropriate breadth and depth
Clarity and consensus
Uses rigorous and consistent methods
Poor review
An annotated bibliography
Confined to description
Narrow and shallow
Confusing & longwinded
Constructed in an arbitrary way

10. Guideline for Writing a Literature Review
Introduce the literature review by pointing out the major research topic that will be discussed
Point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic or conflicts in theory and methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps in research
Establish the reason (s) (point of view) for reviewing the literature; explain the criteria to be used in analyzing and comparing literature
Conclude by providing some insight into the relationship between the central topic of the literature review and a larger area of study (rationale)
It is important to cover research relevant to all the variables being studied.
Research that explains the relationship between these variables is a top priority.

11. Guideline for Writing a Literature Review
Don’t attempt to cover everything written on your topic
All sources cited in the literature review should be listed in the references
To sum, a literature review should include introduction, summary and critique of journal articles, justifications for your research project and the hypothesis for your research project

12. Organization of Literature Review
A general organization looks like a funnel
Chronological order- time order : form first to last or last to first
Comparison:
Comparison emphasizing similarities
Comparison emphasizing differences
Importance
From least to most important
From most to least important
Generality
From general to specific
Form specific to general
Methodological
Focuses on the methods of the researcher, e.g., qualitative versus quantitative approaches
Spatial arrangement: physical location of parts

13. Common Errors Made in Lit Reviews
Review isn’t logically organized
Review isn’t focused on most important facets of the study
Review doesn’t relate literature to the study
Too few references or outdated references cited
Review isn’t written in author’s own words
Review reads like a series of disjointed summaries
Review doesn’t argue a point
Recent references are omitted

14. Writing the Literature Review
Plagiarism includes (Galvan, pg. 89):
Using another writer’s words without proper citation
Using another writer’s ideas without proper citation
Citing a source but reproducing the exact word without quotation marks
Borrowing the structure of another author’s phrases/sentences without giving the source
Borrowing all or part of another student’s paper
Using paper-writing service or having a friend write the paper

15. What is Review of Literature ?
Narrative
Systematic Review with/without
Meta-analysis

16. What is Review of Literature ?
A systematic review is defined as “a review of the evidence on a clearly formulated question that uses systematic and explicit methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant primary research, and to extract and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review.”
Statistical methods (meta-analysis) may or may not be used to analyze and summarize the results of the included studies

17. Narrative vs systematic review

18. Narrative vs systematic review
Many questions
No search methods
No inclusion criteria
No combining studies
Prone to random and systematic error
Provide conflicting summaries
Systematic
One question
Explicit search
Reproducible
Explicit inclusion criteria
Combine study results (meta-analysis)
WHY do we need Systematic Reviews?