REVIEW OF

LITERATURE
A JOURNEY THROUGH LITERATURE
WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW AND WHY
IS IT IMPORTANT?
“A research literature review is a
systematic, explicit and
reproducible method for
identifying, evaluating and
synthesizing the existing body of
completed and recorded work
produced by researchers,
scholars and practitioners.”
(Fink, 2005)
 INTRODUCTION
❖ The review of literature is a summary of all the
reviews
from various research literatures related to the
current
study carried out by a researcher.
❖ It helps to discover what is already known about the
research problem and what more has to be done.
❖ According to Abdellah and Levine, the material
gathered in
literature review should be included as a part of the
research data, since it influence the problem and
research
 DEFINITION
❖ A literature review is an assessment of a body of
research
that addresses a research question.
❖ An organized written presentation of what has been
published on a topic by the scholars.
(Burns and Grove, 2005)
❖ An Account of what has been published by
accredited
scholars and researchers.
(Taylor, 2011)
 DEFINITION
is a survey of scholarly
❖ A literature review
articles, books, or other sources that
pertain to a specific topic, area of
research, or theory.

❖The literature review offers brief

descriptions, summaries, and critical
evaluations of each work, and does so in
the form of a well organized essay
 Characteristics of a Good Quality
Review of Literature
❖ A good review of literature must be
comprehensive.
❖ It should include up-to-date references.
❖ It should be systemic.
❖ It should be reproducible.
❖ It should be free from bias.
❖ It should be well written.
❖ It should be in the form of sum of its parts.
❖ It should be clearly searched and selected.
❖ Accurate references should be given in the
 Purpose of Review of Literature
❖ It helps to identify what is already known about
a research problem.
❖ It helps to build on previous knowledge.
❖ Many published research studies contain
recommendation for future research, from
which we can get idea for a new research study.
❖ It makes researcher know what research has
already been done in a particular area so as to
avoid duplication.
❖ It is necessary to narrow the problem to be
studied.
 Cont…
❖ It helps researcher to get acquainted with the
relevant theory, strategies, tools and instruments for
conducting the research.
❖ It helps to understand the different ways of
conducting the research study.
❖ It helps to identify comparative data so helps in
interpretation and discussion of previous study.
 Types of Review of Literature:
Traditional or Narrative Review of Literature
•This type Critique and summarize literature to draw conclusion about a
topic.
Systematic Review of Literature
•This method uses more well defined approach, mainly used for making
a complete list of all published and unpublished studies relating to a
particular topic.
Meta Analysis
• This type of review takes large quantitate findings and conducts a
statistical analysis to integrate those findings enhance understanding.
Meta Synthesis
• This is a non-statistical method used to integrate and evaluate and
interpret the findings of multiple similar quantitative studies, to
identify the common elements.
 RRL in Quantitative Research
❖There are two basic methods of reviewing related
literature: traditional and systematic review.
❖Traditional is for qualitative research; systematic, for
quantitative research.
❖Systematic review, ‘a question-driven methodology’ is
used by quantitative researchers who begin their
research work by asking questions—one big question
that states the main problem of the research and a set
of sub-questions that deal with specific aspects of the
research.
 Sources of Review of Literature
❖Literature sources may be classified as primary source
and secondary source
PRIMARY SOURCE:
❖A primary Source is a literature resource of a study
written by the original researcher. It is research
publication written by the person or people who
conducted the research.
❖Examples: Research Articles, Unpublished
Thesis/Dissertation, Personal Diary, hand written
records and reports, etc.
 Cont…
SECONDARY SOURCE:
❖These are second hand information prepared or written
by someone other than the original author.
❖Examples: Newspaper, Book Chapters, Television,
Radio, Magazine, Wikipedia, Journals, etc.
TERTIARY SOURCE:
❖These are excellent sources that can provide general
background information to help narrow or broaden the
focus of a topic.
 Primary Source
Literature review mostly relies on primary sources, i.e.
research reports, which are description of studies written
by researchers who conducted them.
A primary sources is written by a person who developed
the theory or conducted the research, or is the
description of an investigation written by the person who
conducted it.
For example, a nursing research article.
A credible literature review reflects the use of mainly
primary sources.
Example of a primary source: An original qualitative on
patient experiences in the ICU: Hupcey, J. E. (2000). Feeling
 Secondary Sources
Secondary source research documents are description of
studies prepared by someone other than the original
researcher.
They are written by people other than the individuals
who developed the theory or conducted the research.
The secondary sources may be used when primary
sources are not available or if researchers want external
opinions on an issue or problem or even the results of
their own research.
Example of a Secondary Source: A literature review on patient
experiences in the ICU: Stein-Parbury, J. & Mckinley, S. (2000)
patient experiences of being in an intensive care unit: a select
Resources of Literature Review
 1. Electronic Sources
Computer-assisted literature search has revolutionized
the review of literature.
These searches, however, for a variety of reasons may not
provide the desired references.
Electronic literature search through web may be very
useful, but sometimes it can be time consuming &
unpredictable because there are many website & web
pages that can lead to information overload & confusion.

However, currently it is one of the most important

sources of literature search.
 2. Printed Sources
 Printed research summary may be located from published
abstracts such as Nursing Research, Abstract, Psychological
Abstracts, Dissertation Abstract
 International, Masters Abstract International, etc.
 References of the other printed sources may be located through
indexes such as cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health
Literature, Nursing Studies Index, & Index Medicus.
 Following are the main printed sources that can be used to
review the relevant literature:

Journals: There are several National & International

journals which can be used to review the researchrelated
Steps of Literature Review
Content of the Review

Introducti
Body Conclusion
on
 Writing the Introduction
While writing the introduction, following steps should be taken care of:
Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern, thus,
providing appropriate context for reviewing the literature.
Point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic or
conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, & conclusion or gaps in
research & scholarship, or a single problem or new perspective of
immediate interest.
Establish the writer’s point of view for reviewing the literature, explain
the criteria to be used in analysing & comparing literature & organization
or review (sequence).
 Writing the Body
Following measures need to be undertaken while writing the body of the
literature.
Group research studies & other types of literature (reviews, theoretical
articles, case studies) according to common denominators such as
qualitative versus quantitative approaches, conclusions of authors,
specific purposes or objectives, chronology, & so on.
Summarize individual studies or articles with as much as or as little detail as
each merits according to its comparative importance in the literature,
remembering that space denotes significance.
Assist the reader with strong ‘umbrella' sentences at the beginning of
paragraphs, signpost throughout, & brief summary sentences at
intermediate points.
 Writing the Conclusion
The points to be taken care of in the conclusion are as follows:
Summarize major contributions of significant studies & articles to the
body of knowledge under review, maintaining the focus established in the
introduction.
Evaluate the current ‘state of the art’ for the body of knowledge reviewed,
pointing out major methodological flaws or gaps in research,
inconsistencies in theory, & finding & areas or issues pertinent to future
study.
Conclude by providing some insight into the relationship between central
topic of the literature
 Examples
Example of a Bad Review:
Sexual harassment has many consequences. Adams, Kottke, & Padgitt (1983)
found that some women students said that they avoided taking a class or
working with certain professors because of the risk of harassment. They also
found that men & women students reacted differently. Their research was
conducted through a survey of 1,000 men & women graduate & undergraduate
students. Benson & Thomson’s study in social Problem (1982) lists many
problems created by sexual harassment. In their excellent book, the Lecherous
Professor, Dziech & Weiner (1990) give a long list of difficulties that victims
have suffered.
 Examples
Example of a Good Review:
The victims of sexual harassment suffer a range of consequences, from
lowered
self-esteem & loss of self-confidence to withdrawal from social interaction,
changed career goals, & depression (Adams, Kottke, & Padgitt, 1983; Benson
& Thomson, 1982; Dziech & Weiner, 1990). For example, Adams, Kottke, &
Padgitt (1983) noted that 13% of women students said that they avoided taking
a class or working with certain professors because of the risk of harassment.
 Points To Be Considered
Be specific & be succinct:
Briefly state specific findings listed in an article, specific methodologies used
in a study, or other important points. Literature reviews are not the place for
long quotes or in-depth analysis of each point.
Be selective:
Researcher should narrow down a lot of information into a small space for
literature review. Just the most important points (i.e. those most relevant to the
review’s focus) must be mentioned in each work of review.
 Points To Be Considered
Focus of current topics:
Researcher needs to analyse points such as if it is a current article, & if not,
how old it is: has its claims, evidence, or arguments been superseded by more
recent work; if it is not current, then if it is important for historical
background ; etc.
Ensure evidence for claims:
Researcher should focus on what support is given for claims made in literature.
What evidence & what type (experimental, statistical, anecdotal, etc.) of
evidences are offered? Is the evidence relevant & sufficient? What arguments
are given? What assumptions are made?
 Points To Be Considered
Focus on sources of evidences:
Researchers should ensure the reliability of the sources of the evidence or other
information – if they are from author’s own experiments, surveys, historical
records, government documents, etc. He should check how reliable those
sources are.
Account of contrary evidences:
Does the author take into account contrary or conflicting evidence &
arguments? How does the author address disagreements with other
researchers?
 Points To Be Considered
Reference citation:
Any references cited in the literature review must be included in the
bibliography. The common practice is that the reviewer does not list references
in the bibliography that are not directly cited in the literature review or
elsewhere in the paper /thesis.
Avoid abbreviations:
Avoid technical terms, jargons & abbreviations.
Simple & accurate sentence structure:
A researcher should use simple sentences & must avoid errors of grammar &
punctuation
 Points To Be Considered
Organization of literature review:
A literature review is organized by subtopic, not by individual references. In a
typical literature review, the writers may cite several references in the same
paragraph & may cite the same reference in more than one paragraph, if that
source address more than one of the subtopics in the literature review.
Typically, discussion of each sources is quite brief. The contribution the
present reviewers make is organizing the ideas from the sources into a cogent
argument or narrative that includes their perspectives.
 Points To Be Considered
Referring original source:
The reviewer should focus on citing the material that originates with each
reference. This may require a careful reading of the reference. If the reference
author refers to another source whose ideas are relevant or interesting, it is
better to track & use that original reference.
 Conclusion
A literature review is an account of the
previous efforts and achievements of researchers on
a phenomenon. It helps to compare with other
previous study. And a good review of literature is
the foundation for a good research.

PLAGIARISM
 In-text Citation and Referencing Styles
All reading materials related to your
research that you intend to review or
reexamine offer you concepts, ideas, or
information belonging to other people. Having
honesty, respect, or courtesy to the owners of
these varied forms of knowledge as well as
gratefulness for their valuable contribution to the
field, you see to it that the names of these
idea owners or authors appear in the
appropriate sections of your research paper..
 In-text Citation and Referencing Styles
Referring to authors within the main
body of the paper is called Citation or
In-text Citation; at the end of the
paper, it is called Bibliography or
References.
The two most commonly used
referencing styles are the MLA (Modern
Language Association) and the APA
The following table shows you how these two referencing styles differ in some aspects.
(Baraceros, 2016)
The following table shows you how these two referencing styles differ in some aspects.
(Baraceros, 2016)
The following table shows you how these two referencing styles differ in some aspects.
(Baraceros, 2016)
Ethical Standards in Literature-Review Writing
The ethical way of literature writing tells you to acknowledge
the owners of borrowed ideas and put quotation marks
around copied words from books or articles. Intentionally or
negligently disregarding the use of quotation marks around words
copied exactly is not only unethical but an indication of gross
plagiarism as well. You must be aware of the fact that with the
surfacing of online sources of information, software to detect
plagiarism from online sources has likewise become so available in
academic institutions. Proper citation and referencing is your way
of freeing yourself from plagiarism and of avoiding people from
casting doubts on your honesty and integrity as a researcher.
(Fraenbel 2012; Ransome 2011)
THANK YOU