2011 MBBS Honours
Literature Review
Structure and Content
Year 3 Honours Workshop 3C
A/Prof Di Eley
MBBS Research Coordinator
Based on presentations by A/Prof Lindy McAllister
Overview of this presentation
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Literature reviews
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What are they? What are they not?
Searching for literature
Reading and compiling literature
Writing a literature review
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Macrostructure
Microstructure
Overcoming being overwhelmed
Publishing your review
A literature review
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IS NOT
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a summary
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a conceptually organised synthesis of the results of
your search University of Toronto (2001).
http://www.utoronto.ca/hswriting/lit-review.htm
a critique of existing literature
an illustration of your mastery of the field
an argument e.g., for the need for your research, for
a position. Make sure your argument line is clear.
Why write a literature review?
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Demonstrates that you know the field
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Justifies the reason for your research
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Maps the field and positions you and
your research within the context
Identifies the gap your research can fill
Shows your research is important
Allows you to establish your theoretical
framework and methodological focus
University of Queensland (2002). http://www2.ems.uq.edu.au/phdweb/phhome.html
The stages of writing a literature
Searching the literature
 Reading and compiling literature
 Writing the document
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Macrostructure
Microstructure
Publishing your review
Searching the
literature
Types of literature
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Journals/periodicals
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Books & chapters
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Reports
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Unpublished work
(e.g., e-mail, letters, minutes,
internal reports)
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Reviews
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Audiovisual media
Conference papers
& proceedings
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Electronic media
Dissertations & theses
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(e.g., technical, government,
research)
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(e.g., CD ROM, internet)
Newspapers &
magazines
Based on APA (1994) and http://www.clet.ait.ac.th/EL21LIT.HTM
Make sure your review is current
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Use the library
Learn to search
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Medline
CINAHL
ERIC
Ask colleagues – get help and advice
Reading
a mountain of
literature
Reading – just do it,
lots of it
"Some books are to be tasted,
others to be swallowed,
and some few to be chewed and digested"
(Bacon)
Reading for different purposes
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accounts of research on similar topics;
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accounts of research methods being applied in
ways which are similar to your own plans;
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accounts of the context relating to your project.
Baxter, L., Hughes, C., Tight, M. (1996). How to research. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Prepare to be overwhelmed
where to start?
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Get a feel for the state of play in your topic area
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Ask your supervisor for the names of 2 influential
researchers in your topic area
Look them up on the web; download their CVs if
possible; read all their papers chronologically to trace
the development of key ideas in the field
Read a recent state-of-the-art summary or
literature review in your topic area
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Text book chapter; review articles or tutorial articles in
journals; meta-analysis; systematic review
Be ‘picky’ (strategic) with what
you read and use
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Delimit the searches e.g., by years (say 2000-2006),
language, key words etc
Only read ‘older’ literature if it is
‘seminal’/classic or frequently cited
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In recent search, what papers are most often referred to?
Citation indices
Keep good record of searches to save effort and
reduplication
Ask librarian to help you!
Information management
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Electronic
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ProCite, EndNote, ScholarsAid
Manual
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Filing cabinet
Concertina files
Card system
Reading log
Spreadheet
Categorise your articles
After a comprehensive search decide which are;
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A - highly relevant
B - less relevant, but still important
C - articles that leave you with a nagging
feeling that you should have read them
X - don’t want to read, not relevant,
never will be relevant
Findley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read more articles
than you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation, 70, S17-S22.
Reviewing it all
Individual article review
versus
Conceptual review of the literature
Individual article review –
evaluating what you have gathered
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Read in this way for ‘A’ articles
Numerous formats within various
references for individual article reviews
Formats often focus on research
methodology
Literature to help you
evaluate individual articles
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Cuddy, P. G., Elenbaas, R. M., Elenbaas, J. K.
(1983). Evaluating the medical literature - Part I:
Abstract, introduction, methods. Annals of
Emergency Medicine, 12, 549-62.
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Part II: Statistical analysis (pp. 610-20)
Part III: Results and discussion (pp. 679-86)
Gore, S. M. (1981). Assessing clinical trials
(series). British Medical Journal, 282, 1687-89,
1780-81, 1861-63, 1958-60, 2114-17. Also 283,
211-13.
Conceptual literature review
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Articles are reviewed in an integrated fashion
Articles that are methodologically flawed are
included
Goal = examination of the state of the art
Your conceptual framework will be different
from that of the writer of the article
Conceptual review is written from common
themes
Findley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read more articles than
you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,
70, S17-S22.
How to construct a
conceptual framework
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Review the highly relevant articles.
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Construct a framework for classification of
relevant articles
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Write a few notes on each front page
List major points from the articles, then sort these
points into a sensible order
Draw a table listing author and year under
each conceptual category
Findley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read more articles than
you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,
70, S17-S22.
Example of tabular format
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Study
Discipline
Country
Research approach
Participants
Data analysis
Major findings
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Scully & Shepard, 1983
Physiotherapy
USA
Ethnography
31, various experience levels
Grounded theory
Key themes/subthemes
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Primacy of patient needs
Rewards-Personal satisfaction, Professional
development, Dept enrichment
Hardships-Time conflicts, Loss of patient
contact, Loss of privacy
Teaching tools unique to clinical settingDiagnosis of student readiness, Selection of
clinical problems, Manipulating time,
Coaching, Shifting status of student to
therapist, Evaluation of students, Selfevaluation
Example: Concept map framework
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Create your own! Use
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Powerpoint
Butcher’s paper
Post It notes
Inspiration.com
Mind mapping software
Macro
structure
Concept map
Writing
Micro
structure
Literature
review
Definition
Reading
Show
examples
Where to find
Sources of
literature
literature
Publishing
the
review
Librarian
Resources
Writing your
literature review
Macrostructure
versus
Microstructure
Macrostructure
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Funnel your writing from
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what is widely known
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to what is not known
Take the reader to the "point" (reason)
of your research
Macrostructure: Funnel (1)
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Establish a territory
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Show the general area is: important/ central/
interesting/ problematic/ relevant
Introduce and review previous research
Establish a niche
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Indicate a gap in previous research
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raise a question about it
extend previous knowledge
(but it remains unclear)
Learning Assistance Centre, The University of Sydney, 1997
Macrostructure: Funnel (2)
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Occupy the niche
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Outline purposes/nature of the research
Announce principle findings
Indicate structure of the paper
Learning Assistance Centre, The University of Sydney, 1997
Developing a structure – some ideas
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Put all related articles together e.g., in piles on the floor if
need be
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Discuss why these piles go together
 Sort and re-sort as explanations become clearer
 These piles will become sections of the literature review
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Create sub-piles within piles
 These sub-piles become sub-headings
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Create a word file of these headings and sub-headings –
do they flow logically
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Mindmapping on paper or software will achieve similar results; visualspatial work and ‘doing’/moving are right brain tasks and working with
words is left brain
Macrostructure:
Writing paragraphs
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Keep in mind that the literature review
should provide the context for your
research by looking at what work has
already been done in your research area.
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It is not supposed to be just a summary of
other people's work!
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The next few slides show the difference
How NOT to do it
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This is more like an annotated bibliography
than a literature review
"Green (1995) discovered…"
"In 1998 Black conducted experiments and discovered.."
"Later Brown (2000) illustrated this in…"
A better way
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Approaching the review this way forces you
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to make judgements and
to distinguish your thoughts from assessments made by
others
There seems to be general agreement that xxx (e.g., Brown, 2000;
Green, 1995; White, 1997). Green (1995) sees xxx as a
consequence of yyy; whereas Black (1998) puts xxx and yyy as …
While there are limitations with Green’s analysis, its main value lies
in …...
University of Queensland (2002). http://www2.ems.uq.edu.au/phdweb/phhome.html
Writers’ block - don’t believe it
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Start with an annotated bibliography
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Summarise each article in one pile/section
Decide on the key themes in the annotated
bibliography
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Write a paragraph for each theme (as per
suggestions above, in order to obtain synthesis not
description/recounts) e.g, Various researchers have
conducted randomised control trials on x. The results are
equivocal in that some found…. (Refs), while others found
…. (Refs). Smith and Jones (2000) have suggested that
this variability in results may be due to ….
Just start writing - anything
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Start off as a letter…….
Go back to your outline (headings/sub-headings)
Get feedback on sections and rework
Arrange in order of headings and subheadings
Create linkages between each section and
within each section
Build in critique of the literature as you go
Microstructure
Relationship between content and form
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Form isn’t only for pendants;
it can enhance, or detract from,
the content
Content is difficult to understand
if form is deficient
"Hey, where’s the next mistake?"
Microstructure
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Includes
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Grammar
Spelling
Referencing
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BE CONSISTENT
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Grammar and spelling
Watch out for:
 Singulars / plurals
 Fewer / less
 However
 Apostrophes
 That / which
 Affect / effect
Capitalisation
Commas
Full stops
Abbreviations
Split infinitives
Colons and semi colons
Apostrophe’s by Greg Dare
Greg’s First Law of punctuation:
for every omitted apostrophe (Australias, Womens)
theres an equal and opposite extra one (potato’s,
pyjama’s).
Its predicted by the year 2000 apostrophe’s will
cease to exist or every ’s will have one
but I’ suspect the’yll still keep coming randoml’y.
Reasons for referencing
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Academic honesty
Credibility
Sources of information
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Location of information
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i.e., where the ideas, material, etc. come from
i.e., where to find the original material
Good Guide: APA Publication Manual 5th
edition
Publish your literature review
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Where?
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Conference (poster or paper),
journal (tutorial paper), book chapter
Why?
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To get reviewers’ and readers’ feedback
To accomplish something early
To stake your claim to that area
Hints for good writing
1. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
2. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects, but data is
not singular.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
5. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
More hints for good writing
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are
(usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Foreign words and phrases are not de rigeur.
12. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than
necessary; it's highly superfluous.
13. One should NEVER generalize.
Yet more hints for good writing!
14. Don't use no double negatives.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. Never use a big word when a diminutive one
would suffice.
17. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others
use them.
18. Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million
can use it correctly.
19. Don’t use contractions.
20. An ‘underway’ is the opposite of an ‘overpass’.
Four key features
One key concept
1.
Content
2.
Critical analysis
3.
Considered reflection
4.
Elegance of exposition
In a single word
SCHOLARSHIP
Resources
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People - write your own list
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Other academics, people outside your discipline,
people you know who are good writers,
CRGT, successful grant writers, copy editors
(look around the room as well!)
Useful resource

McLeod, S. & McAllister, L. (Eds).
(2002). Getting started on
research: Age old issues, new age
tools. ACQuiring Knowledge in
Speech, Language and Hearing,
4 (1).

Available from
Speech Pathology Australia
office@speechpathologyaustralia.org.au
($22 including postage)