Literature Review: An Important Exercise for Students and Researchers

 

Introduction

Review of literature is a very important exercise which researchers as well as students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels cannot shy away from, as it identifies and summarizes research and theories that are relevant to their area of interest, and as well sets good foundation for research or theses writing.

In this article, we will consider some aspects of literature review such as its meaning, its significance, what it entails, steps to take in writing a good literature review, and some of the things that we need to avoid while reviewing literature.

Meaning of literature review

Let us first break down the key concepts and see what the dictionary has for us as per the meaning of ‘Literature’ and ‘Review’.

In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8^th Edition), literature means “pieces of writing or printed information on a particular subject”. Also, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines literature as "all the books, articles, etc. on a particular subject".

Hence, a literature could be a book, journal article, conference proceedings, previous thesis or dissertation, and so on.

“To review” means to “carefully examine or consider something again, especially so that you can decide if it is necessary to make changes”.

The concept of literature review has been variously defined by different authors. According to Skills for Learning (2018), literature review is about “summary, analysis and evaluation of the literature and an explanation of what research has already been performed for a research area”. Also, it has been seen as a "piece of academic writing which includes current knowledge on a topic, substantive findings, theories and methodological contributions" (Minch, 2018). It is a comprehensive review of the available literature, which clearly reveals that research has already been carried out in relation to any given or particular subject.

It is essential to state that the purpose which a literature review will serve will depend on whether the literature review is for a class term paper or a part of undergraduate project work or postgraduate thesis or dissertation or a part of introduction in journal articles.

Significance of literature review

Literature review helps one to get familiar with the current line of thinking and studies that have been carried out on a specific topic of interest, thereby, preventing a researcher from duplicating another person's research unintentionally.

Literature review reveals "what has been done and what needs to be done" in a particular research area. In other words, it identifies gaps in knowledge and areas that have only been partially studied.

Literature review can help to discover some research strategies and methods or approaches of data collection which have been productive and those that have not really been productive in addressing a topic similar to the one being considered, thereby helping to avoid the mistakes that have been made by other researchers and as well learn from their experience.

Literature review could be used to support a problem that has been identified and as well illustrate the gap that has been discovered in previous studies, and which one's research aims to fill.

Literature review can help to facilitate the interpretation of one's research results. So, literature review will be helpful when discussing our research results in the fourth chapter (chapter 4) of our dissertation, and facilitate our readers’ understanding of the research findings.

What literature review entails

Literature review has to do with the following:

Searching: This deals with searching for reliable, accurate and up-to-date material on the topic or subject of interest.

Critical appraisal: This is about reading and summarizing the key points from the literature; synthesizing these key ideas, theories and concepts into a summary of what is known; discussing and evaluating these ideas, theories and concepts; identifying particular areas of debate or controversy.

 Writing: This is aimed at explaining what one finds out as the literature reviewer.

So, in any literature being reviewed, the focus could be on the aims and objectives of the research or study, outcomes of the research, approaches/methods/strategies that were used, the context the research was conducted, and its connection to our research questions.

Key steps to follow in writing a literature review

Step 1: Gather literature on the topic of interest

We could gather literature from both offline and online sources. Examples of offline sources of literature are libraries, bookstores, and so on., while examples of online sources are Google scholar (scholar.google.com), Google search (https://www.google.com), ScienceDirect (https://www.sciencedirect.com), Directory of Open Access Journals (https://www.doaj.org), websites of professional organizations such as World Bank (https://openknowledge.worldbank.org), Food and Agriculture Organization- FAO (https://www.fao.org/publications), field-specific databases or websites, among others.

To begin this step, it will be helpful to have a list of key words related to our topic so as to guide our searches.

In carrying out online searches for literature, we could make use of boolean operators such as AND, OR, -, " ", among others.

It is important to make a note of the words and phrases we intend to search for. The quantity of results gotten whether they are too much, or too little, would help to decide if the search area should be narrowed down or be broadened. Also, we need to think about the boundary of the research topic and decide on the literature that could be excluded.

Step 2: Evaluate the sources and select the very relevant ones

In selecting the relevant literature from the ones gathered, we could consider the following:

• title relevance;
• credibility of the source; and
• authors' competence and expertise in the field.

For journal articles, it is usually helpful to first read the abstract of the article to have an understanding of what the research is really all about, and also to know if it is relevant to the topic being considered.

We could get more relevant literature from the reference list of the literature we have considered to be relevant.

Step 3: Read and critically appraise the information in the literature

This stage has to do with reading the relevant literature, and then identifying relationships and connections between the sources that have been read.

The connections could be drawn in terms of:

• patterns and trends (specifically in theories, methods and results);
• themes (that is, questions and concepts that appear frequently across the literature);
• debates and conflicts (for example, studies that make use of similar methodology but produced different results); and
• gaps (that is, what is missing from the literature and any weakness that needs to be addressed).

Step 4: Structure the literature review

We can structure the literature using the following approaches:

Chronological approach: According to Ogunbameru and Ogunbameru (2010), this approach deals with discussing literature according to developmental or historical context. Furthermore, in this approach, patterns and turning points should be analyzed from the older literature to the more recent ones. Also, it is necessary for us to provide our own interpretation of why and how specific developments occurred over time in the field of study.

Thematic approach: In this approach, literature review is organized around themes. According to Ogunbameru and Ogunbameru (2010), this approach involves dividing the research into categories or subjects for the topic. For instance, a section could be devoted to literature or resources that supports our research hypotheses, while another section could be for resources that contradicts the hypotheses, and another section for the literature that neither support nor contradicts them but rather raised additional questions (Ogunbameru & Ogunbameru, 2010). Furthermore, considering another example, we could start by reviewing literature on 'adoption of innovation', and then on 'adoption of agricultural technologies', and then narrow the review down to adoption of specific improved crop variety.

Method approach: This deals with organizing the literature according to the research method used and comparing the results and conclusions of the different methods. For example, one can start by looking at studies that used survey method as well as those that used experimental method, and then compare the result of these different approaches.

Theory approach: This deals with organizing sources or literature based on the use of various theories, models and definitions of key concepts. For example, one can start by discussing how different scholars have defined the concept of adoption, then discuss theories that help to explain the relationship between adoption and income level.

Step 5. Bring your drafts together and begin to write your literature review

It is expected that we would have come up with a number of drafts in the course of reading the relevant literature. We are now at the stage of bringing all the drafts together to develop the literature review.

In writing our literature review, it is usually helpful to structure it into introduction, main body, conclusion, and references.

(a) Introduction: The introduction should plainly state the purpose and focus of the literature review.

(b) Main body: In the main body we need to take note of the following-

• Summarize and synthesize the information: Summarizing means giving the overview of the main points of the source while synthesizing means combining several sources to make an overall point showing the similarities and differences between them.
• Analyse and interpret the research: It is important to add our own interpretation.
• Critically evaluate sources to identify and discuss strengths and weaknesses.
• Use well-structured paragraph:  We should ensure good interconnection and flow in our paragraphs. We could also use linking words. 

(c) Conclusion: The conclusion should clearly show how our research addresses gaps; and contributes new knowledge. In addition, it should contain the summary of the major findings and implications. In the conclusion, we can also make suggestions for future research.

(d) References: In citing and referencing authors, it is essential for us to get familiar with the commonly used and acceptable referencing conventions or style in our field or institution, so as to pay attention to the details from the day reading begins for the research (Ridley, 2012). For example, in disciplines such as Education, Psychology, Social Science, some fields in Agriculture, etc., the commonly used referencing style is the APA style which was introduced by the American Psychological Association (APA).

The ways a material or literature will be referenced will depend on the type of literature. According to Ridley (2012), some of the common referencing conventions in developing the reference list are:

(i)  For a book or textbook, include: the surname of author, initials of author, year of publication, title in italics, place of publication and publisher.

Example: Weart, S. R. (2003). The Discovery of Global Warming. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

(ii)   For a chapter in an edited collection, include: the surname of author, initials of author, year of publication, title of chapter (in single quote marks), initials of editor, surname of editor, (ed. or eds), title of book in italics, place of publication and publisher.

Example: Scott, M. (1999). 'Agency and subjectivity in student writing'. In C. Jones, J. Turner and B. Street (eds) Students Writing in the University: Cultural and Epistemological Issues. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

(iii)  For a journal article, include: the surname of author, initials of author, year of publication, title of article (in single quote marks), name of journal in italics, volume/ issue: page numbers.

Example: Shield, F., Enderby, P. and Nancarrow, S. (2006). 'Stakeholder views of the training needs of an inter-professional practitioner who works with older people', Nurse Education Today, 26(5): 367-76.

(iv)  For a thesis, dissertation, or project, include: the surname of author, initials of author, year of submission, title of thesis (within single quote marks), level of degree, place of submission.

Example: O'Hanlon, B. (2005) 'Mobile technology for housing association repair departments'. UG final year project, University of Leeds.

According to Ridley (2012), in a situation where we have two different publications published in the same year by the same author(s), the publication mentioned or cited first in the main body of the review should include a lower case ‘a’ after the year, for example (Olakunle, 2020a), and the second publication should have ‘b’ added to the year, for example (Olakunle, 2020b).

The entries in the section for ‘references’ should correspond to the in-text citation and include 2020a and 2020b after the author's name for each entry, as illustrated below.

Olakunle, O. P. (2020a). Computers are feeling good in Agriculture. Journal of Computers in Agriculture. 2(1): 110-120.

Olakunle, O. P. (2020b). Literature review is under review. Journal of Group Assignment. 10(2): 55-66.

In the case of putting secondary references (that is, authors that were cited in the literature one is reviewing), “the in-text reference must make it explicit that the citation is a secondary reference, e.g. (Abiodun, 1900, cited in Akinloye, 2010). The Akinloye, 2010 reference is included in the bibliography and the Abiodun, 1900 which is a secondary citation is not included in the reference list” (Ridley, 2012).

In short, in writing literature review, proper in-text citation and referencing should be ensured so as to avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the practice of copying another author’s work or information without proper acknowledgement. Plagiarism is discouraged as it is considered unacceptable in the field of academics; hence, it should be avoided as much as possible. Some of the ways to avoid plagiarism are:

• By paraphrasing statements or sentences (obtained from another author’s work) in one’s own words and then citing the author. For instance, if Adebisi (2020) stated that “Farmers face problems like insect and pest infestation, and post-harvest losses”. The paraphrased statement could be: Some of the challenges faced by farmers are post-harvest losses and the invasion of insects and other pests (Adebisi, 2020).
• Adding double quotation marks to statements or sentences (obtained from another author’s work) when one has not made any change to it, and then adding in-text citation accordingly. For example: “Farmers face problems like insect and pest infestation, and post-harvest losses” (Adebisi, 2020).
• Using synonyms or similar phrases to replace some words or phrases in the statement or sentence of the original author, and then citing the author appropriately. Nevertheless, it is important to state that, there are some words that should not be replaced in some contexts or statements; so, one needs to take note of that in order to avoid misinterpretation by readers.

Things to avoid in literature review

1. Reading but not writing: It is very important to take notes or write as we read through the literature. The notes taken or writings will form the draft which will eventually be brought together when it is time to write the main draft and final version of the literature review.

2. Not keeping bibliographic information or details of references: It is very important to have a note of the reference information of the literature that were reviewed and cited in the work (Ogunbameru & Ogunbameru, 2010). As we write the drafts, it is advised that we should always put references accordingly.

3. Not labelling and referencing tables and figures: If tables and figures are included in the body of the literature review, it is very important to add label or title to them appropriately. Note that the discussion and reference to the table should be done prior to the table or figure.

Conclusion

It is very important to proofread the writeup you have developed during literature review, and pay close attention to typographical errors, overuse of passive voices, repetitive phrasing, informal language, among others. After proofreading, we need to ensure that we revise it accordingly.

In this article, we have been able to enhance our understanding of literature review.

References

Minch, C. (2018). How to write a literature review. Teaching Council Webinar. Centre for Effective Services.

Ogunbameru, O. A. & Ogunbameru, B. O. (2010). Contemporary Methods in Social Research. Kuntel Publishers, Ile-Ife.

Ridley, D. (2012). The literature review: A step-by-step guide for students. Sage Publications. London.

Skills for Learning. (2018). Guide to report writing [online]. Wolverhampton: University of Wolverhampton. Accessed on 24th July 2023. Available at: https://www.wlv.ac.uk/lib/media/departments/lis/skills/study-guides/LS015-Guide-to-Writing-a-Literature-Review.pdf

Thank you for reading.

Happy learning!