How to write your literature
Review: Identify the research gap
Dr Sedigheh (Nahid) Shakib
AKFA University, School of Education
Workshop Learning Outcomes
By the end of this workshop, you should be able to:
 Understand the purpose and role of a literature review.
Organize a literature review into themes.
 Distinguish between silo and synthesis approach
 Use linking words to help identify relationships in your writing.
 Create a research gap for your own study in a literature review.
What Is A Literature Review?
The term “the literature” is the body of scholarly work on a particular
topic.
 A critical synthesis of previous research which leads logically to the
research question(s) that you wish to ask/explore in your project or
dissertation
 An effective summary and synthesis of selected documents on a
research topic. It may also include elements of evaluation.
Types Of Literature Reviews
Literature review – a key part of proposals, theses, dissertations, and
reports.
Review paper – a published article that synthesizes the work that has
been done on a particular topic.
Mini-literature review – an assignment that asks you to explore a
restricted number of publications in answering a particular question.
Purpose Of A Literature Review
— Provides an overview of what has been said in the field
— Summarises who the key writers in the field are
— Summarises key theories, models, hypotheses, research
findings – and more?
— Discusses what questions are being asked in the field
Purpose Of A Literature Review
— To establish the context for the topic/problem
— To place the writer’s research in its historical context
— To synthesise and gain new points of view
— To highlight the significance of a particular issues or problems
— To distinguish what has been done from what needs to be
done.
Entering A Conversation
Academia is in some ways very similar to a group of friends
‘arguing’ about sport or politics – just imagine you are coming late
to the conversation. What do you do?
A Literature Review is about getting involved in the conversation,
but is grounded in academic theory and reasoning.
Entering A Conversation
Intellectual (logos):
— Location of your question / problem within its wider academic / professional
context
— Position of your research within the discipline; its meaning, significance,
relevance and purpose
Social (ethos):
— Establishing your right to speak
— Establishing why someone should read your work
Rhetorical:
— General specific pattern of information
— The creation of the thread
The Stages of Writing A Literature Review
What do you think are the different stages when writing a Literature Review?
1. Thinking of ideas
2. Sources
3. Narrowing
4. Notes
5. Assessment
6. Planning
7. Write, and rewrite
The Stages of Writing A Literature Review
The truth is, all these stages happen concurrently – writing is a
circular process.
Stage 2 Select Your Sources
Brainstorm and source key literature in your area(s)
What are Typical Sources included in a Literature Review?
Periodicals
and Journals
Internet
Publications
Conference
Proceedings
Theses and
Dissertations
Books
Textbooks
Stage 2 Select Your Sources
Brainstorm and source key literature in your area(s)
These are the stages when you find you are reading a lot – and it
may not all make sense yet! Don’t worry, this is perfectly natural.
Stage 2 Select Your Sources
Brainstorm and source key literature in your area(s)
1. Identify journal and magazine articles appropriate to your area
of study and check the indexes for suitable articles
2. Follow up references and bibliographies in books and articles
3. Browse the library catalogues, look at the shelves
5. Use the internet – but be very careful, and don’t let the web
become your primary source
Advantages and Disadvantages to Information Obtained
from the Internet
Advantage: information is more current than that found in books.
Disadvantage: information is uneven in terms of accuracy.
There is no screening process for information put on the Web.
It is important to check the source of any information obtained on
the Web to judge its validity.
What are the Two Types of Sources?
Primary sources
In research, written by the person(s) who conducted the
research
In theory, written by the theorist(s) who developed the theory
Secondary sources
Paraphrase the works of researchers and theorists.
Stage 3: Narrow It Down
After so much reading, you need to refine! There are three key
elements to consider:
1. Identify the focus of the field – this will be the general topic or
subject area within which the problem of issue you are investigating
is set.
2. From what you have read, what can you use directly? Indirectly?
3. Extract information of direct relevance – a Literature Review isn’t
the time to show off how much you have read. Keep it relevant!
Stage 4 – Take Notes
Note taking is crucially important. How do you take notes?
Good notes involve you and the text communicating – highlighting
words or sentences is not good note taking.
Some top tips:
1. Summarise
2. Paraphrase
3. Quote
4. Ask questions and make comments – this is your criticality!
5. Keep detailed referencing information in your notes – author,
date, title, publisher
Stage 5 – Assess Your Research
Everyone reaches that stage – the one where you have pages of
Notes and no idea what to do with them!
Stage 5 – Assess Your Research
Sort and prioritise the literature you have already
See which authors/ideas compliment each other
See which authors/ideas disagree with each other
Stage 6 – Plan
There are many different approaches to planning. With a
partner, discuss:
How do you plan? Is it effective? Do you plan?
What’s the best way to organise your literature Review:
– Chronologically?
– Thematically?
– By ‘different schools of thought’?
How do you organize your the literature?
The Silo Approach
 Students new to literature reviews often use a “silo
approach.”
They write their first paragraph about one study, their
second paragraph about another study, their third about a
third study, and so on.
The purpose of a literature review is not to analyze each
study separately, but to show how the studies relate to one
another and to your own study.
The Silo Approach: An Example
Synthesizing the literature
A literature review requires a synthesis of different subtopics
to come to a greater understanding of the state of knowledge
on a larger issue. It works very much like a jigsaw puzzle. The
individual pieces (arguments) must be put together in order to
reveal the whole (state of knowledge).
Synthesizing
 Synthesizing is key to a literature review. A synthesis identifies and
interprets themes, trends and relationships.
 A synthesis reveals similarities and differences and shows how the
literature advances the research area.
 Most of your paragraphs should begin with a general claim about
trends or themes. This claim should be made in a topic sentence and
supported with evidence from the literature.
You may want to discuss some key studies in detail in some parts of
your literature review.
Example of a Synthesis
Silo Versus Synthesis
The Literature Review: Silo Approach Versus Synthesis
The Key to Avoiding the Silo Approach
 Prepare a thematic outline, either using a flowchart or a regular
outline.
 Prepare a chart containing the studies you have gathered.
 The chart should show key similarities and differences among the
studies.
 Create a table with two columns. Place the headings from your
outline in your left column.
 Insert the studies in the right column wherever you think they
might fit.
Creating Your Synthesis Matrix
Label the columns across the top of your chart with the author’s
last name or with a few keywords from the title of the work.
A sample of Synthesis Matrix
Sample Partial Flowchart for a LiteratureReview
Adapted
from
(n.d.).Retrieved
Reasoning Lab:
Tools
for
critical
thinking,
writing
from
http://www.reasoninglab.com/research-on-essay-wri+ng-with-ra+onale/
and
decision
making.
Planning: The Key to Avoiding The Silo Approach
(cont’d)
Signal Words Used to Synthesize Evidence
Stage 7 – Write And Rewrite
This stage can feel quite
laborious and repetitive –
but remember that high
quality work is always the
result of a careful drafting
and redrafting process.
Tenses
Used in
Syntheses
The present perfect tense is used to refer to more than one study.
E.g., Many scientists have studied the effects of global warming on
glaciers (Clark & Li, 2019; Ho & Lifle, 2020; Roberts, 2020).
The simple past tense is used to refer to a single study. E.g., Hodges
and Whitby (2013) studied glacier in Antarctica and found that it has
receded by five kilometers since 1999.
Either the past or present tense is used to refer to the views or
conclusions of researchers from single studies. E.g., Black and Clark
(2008) conclude/ concluded that political instability has a complex
set of causes.
Features Of A Literature Review
Let’s Talk About The Research Gap
Research Gap
When you read papers or books on topics
of your interest, you may realize there are
some areas that have significant scope for
more research but they have not been
tapped by other researchers. A research
gap or a literature gap refers to such
unexplored or underexplored areas that
have scope for further research.
Why is it important to identify a unique
research gap?
Assume that you have completed your
research work and published the findings
only to find out that another researcher
has already published something similar.
How devastating would that be!
Therefore, it is necessary to find out those
problems in your research field which
have not been addressed before.
Here are 6 tips to identify research gaps:
1. Look
for inspiration in published literature
This will not only help you understand the depth of work done by researchers in
your field but also provide an opportunity to ask questions that can lead you to a
research gap.
What is the significance of this research to my work or the broader field?
How can this article help me formulate my research questions?
Does the author’s argument require more clarification?
What issues or questions has the author not addressed?
Is there a different perspective that I can consider?
Are the methods or procedures used outdated or no longer considered valid in your
field?
Here are 6 tips to identify research gaps:
2. Seek help from your research advisor
3- Use digital tools to seek out popular topics or most cited research
papers: familiarize yourself with the trending queries in your field, you
can use digital tools as ‘Essential Science Indicator’ and ‘Google Trends’.
4- Check the websites of influential journals: The websites of
prominent journals often have a section called ‘key concepts’ where
experts in an area highlight the central ideas in that field. Reading
through this section can help you gain a lot of insights and generate
new ideas as well.
Here are 6 tips to identify research gaps:
5. Make a note of your queries
6- Research each question
Some Examples of Research Gap
a) That research in my country is not tested yet
b) There are another variable should add on
c) Hypothesis not supported (-ve result) also is a PhD
Important Questions When Critically Appraising
Literature Reviews
Are primary sources cited in the review?
Are the references current?
Are relevant studies identified and described?
Are relevant theories identified and described?
Are relevant landmark studies described?
Are the studies critiqued?
Important Questions When Critically Appraising
Literature Reviews
Are sources paraphrased to promote the flow of content?
Is the current knowledge about the research problem
described?
Does literature review identify gap(s) in the knowledge base
that provides a basis for study?
Is the literature review clearly organized, logically developed,
and concise?
Critical Thinking
Criticality means putting yourself forward. Many writers wonder
how can they come into their own writing, when they are
usually exploring other people’s ideas.
What do you think? Discuss with your partner.
Critical Writing
 Text organisation and presentation
 Argument
 Analyses and balance of information
 Structuring of ideas and arguments
 Linking and signalling
 Relationship with reported knowledge
 Relationship with the reader(s) (i.e., being cautious / being
confident)
Introduction to Manchester Phrase bank
https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
Good writing
 Good writing maintains the thread. Do you know the story of
Theseus and the Labyrinth?
“Ariadne, King Minos' daughter, fell in love with Theseus and gave
him a ball of thread so he could find his way out of the Labyrinth”.
Theseus found his way out of the Labyrinth by using a
thread.
You can do the same by:
Create a thread (planning)
Maintain the thread (stay focused)
Careful planning
Dissection of the research question / issues
Guide the reader through your argument(s) / analysis
Signposting your direction / your progress
Assertive introduction
Use topic sentences and transition paragraphs
Relate you ideas, arguments and statements back to the research
question and/or the issues in order to answer the question
References
1 http:/Writingcentre.unc.edu/handouts/literature/reviews/
2 Bitchener, J., & Turner, E. (2011). Assessing the effectiveness of one approach to the
teaching of thematic unit construction of literature reviews. Assessing Writing: Studies in
Writing
Assessment
in
New
Zealand
and
Australia.
16
(2),
17-36.
Doi:10.1016/j.Asw.2011.02.002
3,4 Cooley. R. (2015). Workshop on writing a literature review, University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, SK.
5, 6 ReasoningLab: Tools for critical thinking, writing and decision making. (n.d.). Retrieved
from http://www.reasoninglab.com/research-on-essay-writing-with-rationale/
7 Swales, J.M, & Feak, C.B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students: Essentials tasks
and skills. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, p. 331.
8 Swales, J.M., (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge,
U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Thank you for your attention!