Review of Related Literature

What is the value of related literature?

A good research is designed to build on and use existing knowledge. Once a research topic is
already determined and well thought of, the researcher must look for academic and research journals,
books, and other similar documents that contain reports of previous research studies about a topic related
to the present research. This is called literature review of review of related literature. It involves a process
of identifying, locating, organizing, and analyzing information about a research topic. Conducting a
literature review is essential because it prevents duplication of studies and helps avoid problems that
others have encountered. It would be wasteful for a researcher to begin working on a study without
knowing what others have already done. Literature review also provides valuable information about how
to measure the research variables involved and what research designs will be most useful. A thorough
literature review before the implementation of the study reflects the depth of discussion, analysis, and
interpretation of findings.
Literature serves the following functions in the research process:
 It provides information about past research studies related to the intended investigation,
preventing the duplication of research undertakings.
 It presents gaps in the field of study. Gaps may either be areas in the body of knowledge that are
not explored yet or parts where research studies yielded inconclusive results.
 It affords confidence and authority to the researchers since reviewing the literature can provide
them all possible constructs and perspectives of the present study.
 It gives information about the methods used in similar studies, including the characteristics of the
samples, the sampling techniques or the process of selecting the research participants, the
variables considered, the kinds of data gathered, and the type of analysis and interpretation done
on the collected data.
 It enumerates findings from previous studies that may support those of the present study.
 It provides ideas on how implications may be drawn out of the analysis and interpretation of data.

Types of Sources

What are the types of sources for related literature?

Researchers need to familiarize themselves with the types of sources before they begin to search for
information related to the research question.

The types of sources include general, primary, secondary, and tertiary sources

1. General references are sources that are first accessed by researchers to give them information about other
sources such as research articles, professional journals, books, monographs, conference proceedings, and
similar documents. The Current Index of Journals in Education is an example of this source.

2. Primary sources are those that provide first-hand information about expert’s and other researchers’
publications. These publications contain findings that are directly communicated to the readers and
interested parties. Authors’ information for future correspondences may also be found in these
publications. Examples of this kind include academic and research journals published by universities and
learned organizations

3. Secondary sources are those written by authors that describe another researcher's works These materials
or documents may contain only summaries or interpretations of the research reports rather than a
 complete description of them. Good secondary sources are articles on meta analysis of studies conducted
in a period of time because they can provide research gaps and over studied areas of a research field.
Secondary sources include textbooks, single authored books, and books edited by different authors with
each contributing to a collection of chapters on a single topic.

4. Tertiary sources are books and articles based on secondary sources. It synthesizes and explains the work
of others.

Related literature is surveyed for theories and concepts that can be used as bases of the present
research. A theory a defined as a statement that makes a claim about a certain phenomenon. Theories can
arrange from complex, well-researched claims to informal guesses about specific situations. As these
statements may be viewed as abstract and complex body of ideas, it is required to break them down into
their constituent parts for better understanding and to show how they can provide support to the problem,
procedures, and findings of the present study. These statements are normally composed of several
concepts and how they relate to one another.

Concept is a particular phenomenon that can be both abstract and concrete. Everyone in a society
shares many concepts, though one may present different interpretations of people with distinctive culture
and language.

Writing the Review of Related Literature

What are the steps involved in writing the review of related literature?

There are several steps in writing the review of related Literature which compose of Chapter 2 of the
research paper.

Typically, it starts with writing the introduction, the body of the review, and a synthesis. It is also
suggested to make a list of the bibliographical information of the sources where ideas included in the
review were found, because these are to be consolidated in the Bibliography section of the research paper.

1. Introduction. The introduction of the review of literature discusses briefly the research problem
and the significance of the study. It may also present the organization of the discussion of the claims and
arguments of experts and researchers aligned with the topic of interest.

2. Body. The body contains a narrative of relevant ideas and findings found in the reports of other
researchers that support the present research problem. It must be stressed that the review of literature is
not simply a listing and discussion of research findings, but it must be organized to form a story that will
help the conduct of the research and the analysis and interpretation of data gathered in the research
process. It may be helpful to make a topic outline as a guide in organizing and writing the body of the
literature review.

3. Synthesis. The synthesis ties together the main ideas revealed in the review of related literature. It
presents an overall picture of what was established up to the present, and perhaps how the review can
support the development and conduct of the research. The role of synthesis is very important because it
explains why the review is relevant and helpful to the present research.
4. Bibliography. This part contains the full bibliographic information of all the sources mentioned in the
review. This information list is needed in building the References section of the research report. The
format of the bibliographic entries in the References depends on the writing style adopted in writing the
report.

ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION FROM RELATED LITERATURE

The related literature section is not a list of article summaries. It should be flowing, well structured
narrative that begins with the research variables included in the problem and ends with a question to be
answered.

As an initial step, topics to be searched must be studied, and a topic outline may be made. The
following questions may be considered: How do the different authors define and use the concept? Do the
authors have the same or different argument on the concept? Can you group the authors by disagreeable
opinions concerning the concept? The, write it in narrative form and show a clear description of how
these authors use the given concept.

After each of the topics are analyzed and improved into a narrative form, determine what will be
the order these key word narratives should take in the related literature portion.
In ordering the topics, three major approaches considered:

[Link]. A chronological ordering is most applicable if the topics are arranged for a usual
timeline of development. In this arrangement, clusters are time-sensitive and show a change in thinking
over time. This approach is most appropriate for development qualitative studies.

2. Conceptual. A conceptual ordering is suggested if the study is set in clear and interrelated concepts. This
approach is applicable to almost all qualitative and quantitative researches because the organization of the
review is by claims and arguments, forming a small body of knowledge that supports the present research.

3. Stated hypotheses. If there are several hypotheses in a given study, stated hypotheses form a natural way
to order key word clusters. The topics are listed based on each hypothesis made in the research and the
discussion is done according to this topic listing.

In writing the review of related literature, always begin with a good introduction and end it with a
synthesis. Make a connection between the topic and subtopics discussed. As much as possible, the use of
direct quotations must be avoided. Consistently, the source or reference for each claim or argument must
be cited. A summary of each subtopic must also be presented together with transition paragraphs from
one subtopic to the next. In most cases, the American Psychological Association (APA) style and format
is adopted to cite bibliographical information in the body of the literature review

Doing a Computer Search

A computer search for related literature could be performed in libraries and in the Internet, where
more than 200 databases are available. Steps involved in doing a computer search are similar to the
manual search with the exception that the computer does the bulk of work. In defining the problem, one
should be specific so that relevant descriptors can be pinpointed. In selecting the descriptors, single or
various combinations can be used to locate references.
Some keywords
 Guidelines in Citing Author(s) of the Related Literature
In citing the source of the related literature and studies in the body of the research paper (or -text
citation), the following ways may be considered with corresponding examples.

1. By author or write. In this method, facts, ideas, or principles are discussed or explained
separately. The respective authors or writers are then cited in the footnote.

Burns et al. (2008) expounded that learning styles are the preferred habitual patterns of
mental functioning

Romanelli et al. (2009) described learning styles as the cognitive, affective, and
psychological behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact,
and respond to the learning environment.

2. By topic. In this case, if many authors have the same opinion or idea about the same topic
discussion and citation of the topic is under the names of the authors or writers.

The use of animated movies, computer animation, and simple drawings are constructive for
stimulating and maintaining learner's attention (Williamson & Abraham, 1995, Ames & Aimes
1995, Barak, 2006).

3. Chronological. Related materials or references may be cited in a chronological manner, that is according
to the year they were written or published.

Adri (2004) described the relationship between the student's learning styles and their
academic performance.
Baldomero (2006) assessed the learning style of students in bridge programs in a public high
school and their implications on academic achievement.
Romana (2010) determined the learning styles and multiple intelligences of pupils in a
preparatory school.

Ways of Citing

There are many formats in citing sources of information and ideas in the text of the related
literature or in any part of the research paper. The following are the commonly used formats with sample
citations.

APA Format
American Psychological Association or APA style is the most common way to cite sources in
field of social sciences. In using this format, the author-date method of in-text citation is followed, in
which the author's surname and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, eg.
(Cahan, 2000). A complete reference should appear in the bibliography section of the research paper.

In some cases where the researcher only cites an idea or opinion from another author's work but
do not directly quote the material or making reference to an entire book, article, or other work, a reference
to the author and year of publication is made. There is no need to include the page number in the in-text
reference.
 Citing in APA format

1. A work by two authors. Name both authors in the parentheses whenever their work is cited. Use the word
"and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand (&) in the parentheses .

Research is... (Robinson & Levin, 1997)

Robinson and Levin (1997) discussed...

2. A work by three to five authors. Include the entire author’s surname in parentheses the first time
the source is cited. Use the word and between the authors’ names within the text and use the ampersand
in the parentheses.

Kim, Song, Chang, Kang, and Park (2013) posited …..

Learning is….. Kim, Song, Chang, Kang, and Park (2013)

In subsequent citations, only use the first author’s surname followed by the words “et al.” which
means ‘and others’ in parentheses.

Kim et al. (2013) stated….

In et al., et should be followed by a period.

3. Six or more authors. Use the first author’s name followed by et al. in parentheses.

Choi et al. (2013) re ported…

However, if two sources have six or more authors but with some identical
surnames, cite the first author followed by as many names to distinguish one
source from the other.

Orleans, Nueva España, Palomar, Camacho, Avilla, Sotto (2014) suggested.

Orleans, Nueva España, Palomar, Florentino, David, Abulon (2014) claimed....

In the subsequent citations, the following is observed:

Orleans, Nueva España, Palomar, Camacho et al. (2014) argued….

Orleans, Nueva España, Palomar, Florentino et al. (2014) maintained.

4. Associations, corporations, government agencies, etc. as an author. If

the name of an association is the source, it should be cited as follows:

According to the Department of Education (2013)...

 However, if the association has a well-known abbreviation, the abbreviation in
brackets is included the first time it appears and then only the abbreviation in
later citations.

first citation: Commission on Higher Education [CHED] (2012)...

second citation: CHED (2012)...

5. Citing indirect sources. If a source was mentioned in another source, the

citation is as follows:

Smith argued that... (as cited in Johnson, 2005, p. 92).

6. Electronic sources. Electronic documents are cited the same way as any other
document by using the author-date style.

Briones (2009) explained...

7. Citing websites. Websites are cited the same way as any other source, using
the author-date style if known. If there is no author, the title and the date are
cited as the in-text citation (for long titles, the first few words are cited). For
sources with no date, "n.d." (for no date) in place of the year is used.

Andrews, n.d.

a. In-text citation for website with no author

Bulacan has become a major link between large and concentered consumer markets in the
National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila and the resource-rich provinces of Northern Luzon
(Provincial Government of Bulacan, 2007).

b. Reference entry for website with no author

Provincial Government of Bulacan. (2007). Retrieved from

[Link]

c. In-text citation for section of website with no author

In addition, bamboo bike cannot be split in two because of having so much fiber ("Philippine
Bamboo Bikes Hit", 2012).

d. Reference entry for section of a website with no author

 Philippine Bamboo Bikes Hit Market. (2012). Manila Bulletin. Retrieved from
[Link]

Ethical Standards in Writing Related Literature

What are the ethical standards to be followed in writing related literature?

There are three broad issues that need to be considered when writing the
literature revie These ethical standards to be followed are as follows:

1. Plagiarism

Plagiarism is an act of claiming another's work or copying a portion of

someone else's writing. If copying another researcher's ideas cannot be avoided,
proper citation must be done. In most universities, plagiarism is a breach of the
student code of conduct and can result in failure of the course subject or even
expulsion from the institution. T avoid such consequences, care and adequate
referencing must be observed in writing any academic or research documents.

2. Self-Plagiarism

Self-plagiarism is defined when the researchers reuse their own work or

data in new' written product without letting the readers know that the
manuscript already appeared in another literature. The available literature on
self-plagiarism concerns with tor problems such as publishing what is
substantially the same paper in more than one ach journal without any
indication that it has been published already, or dividing an extensive study that
should have been reported in a single paper into smaller published researches.
The practice of text recycling and copyright infringement are also included.

3. Copyright

For researchers who want their papers to be published in conventional

journals. the usual agreement is for the copyright of the researcher's work to
be transferred to the publisher of that journal. In this case, the publisher of
the journal can reproduce and distribute the research legally. However, most
journals nowadays maintain the catcher's ownership of their work, but both
parties agreed on the journal's right to publish and reuse the manuscript. In
case of Open Access' journals, the researchers age to allow free
dissemination of one's work without their permission