Introduce yourself to people around you
• What’s your name?
• What department are
you in?
• What kind of project are
you working on ?
Thesis/Dissertation Literature
Review Workshop
Hannah Gascho Rempel, Science Librarian
Margaret Mellinger, Engineering Librarian
What is a literature review?
• Defined by a guiding concept
• It is not a descriptive list of
everything available or a set of
summaries
• Evaluative and critical
overview based on previous
work in your field
• Provides background &
theoretical base for your
problem
• Comprehensive
From “An evaluation of the use of menu
risk assessment as a tool in food service
protection programs” – Lori Gray, OSU
Thesis
What is the purpose of a literature review ?
• For Your Development:
• Formulate or clarify what your
research topic is for yourself
• Professional development – learn
how to be a scholar in your field
• For Your Readers’
Understanding of the
Problem:
• Set the context and significance
for your research topic
• Identify gaps in the literature
• Demonstrate relationships among
prior research
From “Prepare before you say “I do” – Jun
Young, OSU Thesis
What materials to include in the literature review?
• Types of literature
• Original works – articles, grey
literature
• Summaries or reviews, patents,
standards
• Time frame
• Newer materials (online
databases)
• Older materials (print indices)
• What you’re not including
From “Irrigation Choices for Major West
Coast Crops” – Beau Olen, OSU Thesis
Checklist to get started
Talk to your advisor about their expectations for your
literature review (and thesis)
Find out if your department has specific expectations for
literature reviews
Determine what the final product will be
• Thesis/dissertation only
• Journal article
• Grant proposal…
Read theses done by others in your department
How do you do a literature review?
Discuss how you have approached a research project
that has a written product in the past. Take into
consideration:
• How you started the process
• How you decided what to search
• How you kept track of resources
• How you knew when you were done
• Any other strategies
How to go about the literature review process?
Search Strategies
• Author searching
• Footnote chasing/using
bibliographies
• Citation searching
• Using review articles
• Tracking where you’ve
been
How to go about the literature review process?
Recognizing patterns
• Recurring authors
• Recurring labs or institutions
• Recurring structures of how
thoughts/findings are
organized
• Signals you pick up that let
you know you are done with
your review
Photo: Dilshan R. Jayakody ( flickr)
How to go about the literature review process?
• Learning to read
• Reading with your
question in mind
• Finish with a short “take
home message” about the
significance of each article
as it relates to your
research question
• Re-reading as your
questions change
How to go about the literature review process?
Take notes
•
•
•
•
•
•
Describe
Summarize
Compare & Contrast
Analyze
Critically Evaluate
Out of Scope?
Tips for writing a literature review
Literature Review
I. Introduction
II. Article 1
III. Article 2
IV. Book 1
V. Proceedings 1
VI. Article 3
VII. Article 4
VIII.Summary & Conclusions
Tips for writing a literature review
Literature Review
I. Introduction
II. Common Theme
i. Article I
Compare
ii. Article 2
OSU Writing
Center
iii. Article 3
Contrast
III. Common Theme 2
i. Proceedings 1
Gaps
ii. Article 2
New Directions
iii. Article 4
Synthesizing
IV. Summary & Conclusions
Database Tools
• OSU Libraries Databases
• Citation searching
o Web of Science
o Google Scholar
• Review articles
• Controlled vocabulary
• Tracking your own searches
systematically
• Advantages of using multiple databases
Thinking about your topic: Mind mapping
Current Knowledge
Questions
Pre-existing models?
Laland & Williams ,
2012
Scarcity of innovations?
Innovation transmission
model?
Lindeyer & Reader,
2011
Transmission
Theories
Methods
Animal Innovation
Kendall et al., 2008
Coolen et al., 2012
Biondi, 2010
Similar
techniques
to mine
Lindeyer & Reader, 2011
Sims et al., 2012
Thinking about your topic: Tabling
Citation
Info (Title,
Author,
Year)
Summary of
Context or
Significance Important
Relationships (to the field Figures (brief
Key Points
or you)
(include quotes
description,
page #)
if direct quoting
and page
numbers)
References Other
to follow up Notes
on
Keeping up with changes in the literature
Table of Contents alerts
•
•
•
•
JournalTOCS
Journal website itself
RSS feeds
Email
Managing your references
• Bibliographic management
software
• EndNote, EndNote Web,
Zotero, Mendeley,
BibTex, Refworks, etc.
• EndNote, EndNote Web,
Zotero and Mendeley
workshop sessions offered
at the library
Essential library services
Graduate Student Page
Theses and Dissertations in
ScholarsArchive
Interlibrary Loan and Scan and
Deliver
Keeping Current with Research
Resources
Questions? Comments?
. . . also
• Please take the time to fill out the evaluation form.
• If you want to set up search alerts, sign up for InterLibrary Loan
or have other questions, contact your subject librarian and set
up an appointment.
Session evaluation
http://bit.ly/gsPPL7
• Name of Workshop: Literature Review Workshop
• Date: 10/15/2012
• Instructor: Hannah Rempel
Session evaluation
http://bit.ly/gsPPL7
• Name of Workshop: Literature Review Workshop
• Date: 10/16/2012
• Instructor: Hannah Rempel