A Literature Review is More Than a Summary Transcript

Watch the video embedded above and then respond to the following prompt:

Now that you know more about the literature review, what questions or concerns do you have about writing the lit review of your research paper? Where do you need guidance? What steps do you find challenging? Use this discussion forum to share your thoughts and status about this portion of the research paper. Ask your colleagues for recommendations or suggestions in finding and processing articles to draft a better lit review. If at all possible, find examples of other literature reviews in public administration articles (link the article!) and point out areas you'd like to imitate or areas you need help understanding. Make one original post and respond to at least one colleague in a thoughtful, meaningful way (e.g., something far more substantial than "I agree" or rephrasing the original post

When you are creating a literature review you will read and critically examine articles and books about your topic. You want to be thinking about the scope of your topic and analyze arguments for strengths and weaknesses. But don't fall into the trap of making your review just a list of summaries of the works you have read.

While summarizing is a great start your goal should be to go one step further and create something new!

Ideally, you will make your own conceptual map of the literature on your topic and also include your own thoughts and ideas.

Look for relationships between publications, which will help you discover major themes and important concepts, as well as critical gaps and disagreements. For example,

let's say as you read you discover four major concepts that are important in the literature and relevant to research You should then identify how each piece you've read relates to the concepts you discovered.

Some publications may be relevant to several concepts; others may apply to only one concept. What's important is that you develop and present your own organization and understanding of the literature.

Literature Review Organization Then when you write your literature review you will end up with a document that is organized by the concepts and relationships you discovered and developed. Your review will not only cover what's been published on your topic, but will include your own box and ideas throughout. For example, you might notice that Author 1 and Author 2 both

Literature Review Structure argue that concept A is true; however, Author 2 disagrees with the causes laid out by Author 1. You can assert that your research will explore the gap in understanding between these authors and aim to resolve the causes of Concept A. You will be telling the specific story that sets the background and shows the significance of your research. Looking for help with the next steps? Researching and writing a good literature review is a challenging and sometimes intimidating process. So drop by one of our many library location or the writing center to set up a consultation!