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Literature Reviews

The Process

Literature Review Process

Sage Research Methods

Lit Review Process

  • Define your Research Question
What is the topic of your search, and it's main concepts.
Complete a quick search  to understand the terminology/keywords/language of your subject
Use Key papers & Indexes/Thesauri used by databases to identify keywords & synonyms
  • Document Search
  • May include hand searching of print & electronic sources
  • Information Sources
  • Which resources to use? Where will the information be?  Is it academic or professional?
  • Which database to use?
  • How do they search?  Check the help section
  • Develop a search strategy (Note variations between different search tools)
  • Refine your search using limits
  • Save your searches/set alerts by registering with the database
 

Critique

A critique is a systematic way of objectively reviewing a piece of research to highlight both its strengths and weaknesses, and its applicability to practice.

How to Write a Literature Review

Academic Writing: Writing the Literature Review