What does this guide cover?
Writing the literature review is a long, complex process that requires you to use many different tools, resources, and skills.
This page provides links to the guides, tutorials, and webinars that can help you with all aspects of completing your literature review.
The Basic Process
These resources provide overviews of the entire literature review process. Start here if you are new to the literature review process.
The Role of the Literature Review
Your literature review gives your readers an understanding of the evolution of scholarly research on your topic.
In your literature review you will:
- survey the scholarly landscape
- provide a synthesis of the issues, trends, and concepts
- possibly provide some historical background
Review the literature in two ways:
- Section 1: reviews the literature for the Problem
- Section 3: reviews the literature for the Project
The literature review is NOT an annotated bibliography. Nor should it simply summarize the articles you've read. Literature reviews are organized thematically and demonstrate synthesis of the literature.
For more information, view the Library's short video on searching by themes:
Search for Literature
The iterative process of research:
- Find an article.
- Read the article and build new searches using keywords and names from the article.
- Mine the bibliography for other works.
- Use “cited by” searches to find more recent works that reference the article.
- Repeat steps 2-4 with the new articles you find.
These are the main skills and resources you will need in order to effectively search for literature on your topic:
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Subject Research: Education
by Jon Allinder Last Updated Aug 7, 2023 5467 views this year
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Keyword Searching: Finding Articles on Your Topic
by Lynn VanLeer Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 26200 views this year
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Google Scholar
by Jon Allinder Last Updated Aug 16, 2023 16888 views this year
Staying Organized
The literature review requires organizing a variety of information. The following resources will help you develop the organizational systems you'll need to be successful.
You can make your search log as simple or complex as you would like. It can be a table in a word document or an excel spread sheet. Here are two examples. The word document is a basic table where you can keep track of databases, search terms, limiters, results and comments. The Excel sheet is more complex and has additional sheets for notes, Google Scholar log; Journal Log, and Questions to ask the Librarian.
- Search Log ExampleSample search log in Excel
- Search Log ExampleSample search log set up as a table in a word document.
- Literature Review Matrix with color codingSample template for organizing and synthesizing your research
Writing the Literature Review
The following resources created by the Writing Center and the Academic Skills Center support the writing process for the dissertation/project study.
Beyond the Literature Review
The literature review isn't the only portion of a dissertation/project study that requires searching. The following resources can help you identify and utilize a theory, methodology, measurement instruments, or statistics.
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Education Theory
by Jon Allinder Last Updated May 17, 2024 656 views this year
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Tests & Measures in Education
by Kimberly Burton Last Updated Nov 18, 2021 53 views this year
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Education Statistics
by Jon Allinder Last Updated Feb 22, 2022 66 views this year
Books and Articles about the Lit Review
The following articles and books outline the purpose of the literature review and offer advice for successfully completing one.
Articles
- Chen, D. T. V., Wang, Y. M., & Lee, W. C. (2016). Challenges confronting beginning researchers in conducting literature reviews. Studies in Continuing Education, 38(1), 47-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2015.1030335Proposes a framework to conceptualize four types of challenges students face: linguistic, methodological, conceptual, and ontological.
- Randolph, J.J. (2009). A guide to writing the dissertation literature review. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation 14(13), 1-13.Provides advice for writing a quantitative or qualitative literature review, by a Walden faculty member.
- Torraco, R. J. (2016). Writing integrative literature reviews: Using the past and present to explore the future. Human Resource Development Review, 15(4), 404–428. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484316671606This article presents the integrative review of literature as a distinctive form of research that uses existing literature to create new knowledge.
- Wee, B. V., & Banister, D. (2016). How to write a literature review paper?. Transport Reviews, 36(2), 278-288. http://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2015.1065456Discusses how to write a literature review with a focus on adding value rather and suggests structural and contextual aspects found in outstanding literature reviews.
- Winchester, C. L., & Salji, M. (2016). Writing a literature review. Journal of Clinical Urology, 9(5), 308-312. https://doi.org/10.1177/2051415816650133Reviews the use of different document types to add structure and enrich your literature review and the skill sets needed in writing the literature review.
- Xiao, Y., & Watson, M. (2017). Guidance on conducting a systematic literature review. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X17723971Examines different types of literature reviews and the steps necessary to produce a systematic review in educational research.
Books
Writing Your Doctoral DissertationIncreasing numbers of adults are enroling in doctoral programmes, but their earlier college lives often do not prepare them for the rules of the academic game. Many have no idea what a dissertation looks like, how it gets that way, or what options are available to them. This book is a practical guide for students who need help in progressing from the decision to write a dissertation to the planning, writing and defending of it. It includes samples of proposals and dissertations that have been accepted and data drawn from a number of sources, including focus groups with doctoral students and graduates and responses to an open-ended questionnaire from doctoral students across the United States.
Writing Your DissertationThis book gives you the confidence, tools and techniques to produce a first-class dissertation. It offers practical guidelines to planning realistic timetables and structuring every aspect of your work. Find out how to avoid common mistakes and the best way to present your work, and even how to assess your dissertation in the same way as a university or college tutor does.
