1 - First Lecture Literature Review

A literature review is a surveys scholarly
articles, books and other sources as

theses, conference proceedings, relevant
to a particular issue, area of research, or
theory.
Purpose of the literature review
Ø For review a paper
Ø For review an introduction or a discussion of a research

paper, thesis or dissertation.
Ø To start a new area of research
Ø For a research proposal

Benefits of the literature review
1- Determine if the proposed research is needed.
§ Even if similar research published, researchers
might suggest a need for similar studies or
replication.
2- Narrow down a problem.

§ It can be overwhelming getting into field of study.
§ A literature review can help you understand where
you need to focus your efforts.
3- Generate hypotheses or questions for further studies.

4- Build up background knowledge of the intended field.
§ Facts
§ Eminent scholars
§ Parameters of the field
§ The most important ideas, theories, questions and
hypotheses.
5- increase knowledge of the methodologies common to the
intended field.
Databases and information resources
• Textbooks
• PubMed
• Google scholar
• Chemistry journals - Open Access Journals
• Encyclopedia of Chemistry
How do you do a literature search?
1- Search across multiple databases and information resources.
− It’s not adequate to use Medline as your one and only
resource
2- Read the literature throughout the search process.
−What you read will guide your subsequent searches and
refine your topic.
3- Keep a list of questions and hypotheses that come to
your mind or that are mentioned in what you read.
• The more one learns about a subject, the more questions
come to mind.
§ These questions will help guide you when you are
constructing your review
§ The questions will also guide you in discussing the
implications of your own findings and the additional research
directions your work supports or suggests.
4- Keep a record of the literature you collect
5- Record where and when you retrieved the information
6- Collect too many references perhaps you return to it few
weeks or months, instead of spend hours trying to
relocate documents. ( ‫)ﻣﺣﺎﺿرة ﻛﺎﻣﻠﺔ‬
7- Use a citation manager programs like RefWorks or
EndNote
8- Data Evaluation: Selecting literature
When you read for your literature review, you are doing
two things at the same time:
1. Trying to define your research problem: finding a gap,
asking a question, continuing previous research,
counter-claiming
2. Trying to read every source relevant to your research
problem
• As you define your problem you will more easily be able
to decide what to read and what to ignore.
• Before you define your problem, hundreds of sources
will seem relevant.
• However, you cannot define your problem until you read
around your research area.
• This seems a vicious circle, but what should happen is
that as you read you define your problem, and as you
define your problem you will more easily be able to
decide what to read and what to ignore.
1. Reading for the big picture
1. Read the easier works first
2. Skim the document and identify major concepts
3. After you have a broad understanding of the
10 to 15 papers, you can start to see
patterns:
− Groups of scientists argue or disagree with other
groups.
4- Narrow your focus:
• Start from new material to old, general to specific
• starting with general topic will provide leads to specific areas of
interest and help develop understanding for the interrelationships of
research
• Note quality of journal, output of author
• As you read and become more informed on the topic, you will
probably need to go back and do more focused searches
5- Think, analyze, and weed out.
6- Arrange to spend some review time with an experienced
researcher in the field of study to get feedback and to
talk through any problems encountered.
Step 1: read the abstract
Decide whether to read the article in detail
Step 2: read introduction
It explains why the study is important
It provides review and evaluation of relevant literature
Step 3: read Method with a close, critical eye
Focus on participants, measures, procedures
Step 4: Evaluate results
Do the conclusions seem logical?
Can you detect any bias on the part of the researcher?
Step 5: Take discussion with a grain of salt
Do edges are smoothed out?
Pay attention to limitations
• Take notes as you read through that will be included in the review
• In the notes include:
§ purpose of study reviewed
§ synopsis of content
§ research design or methods used in study
§ brief review of findings
• Once notes complete organize common themes together. Some
people do this in a word document, others use index cards so they
can shuffle them.
• Some people construct a table of info to make it easier to organize
their thoughts.
• As you organize your review, integrate findings elicited from note
taking or table making process.

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A literature review is a surveys scholarly

articles, books and other sources as

Ø For review an introduction or a discussion of a research

Ø To start a new area of research

Ø For a research proposal

2- Narrow down a problem.

3- Generate hypotheses or questions for further studies.

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