What is the purpose of literature review?

It is analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through

summary, classification and comparison of prior research studies reviews of
literature and theoretical articles. (the writing center)
According to Almofad.com:
1. To define and limit the problem you working on.
2. To place you study in an historical perspective.
3. To avoid unnecessary duplication.
4. To evaluate promising research methods.
5. To relate you finding to previous knowledge and suggest further research.
Note: A literature review is not an annotated bibliography in which you summarize
briefly each article that you have reviewed. While a summary of the what you have
read is contained within the literature review, it goes well beyond merely
summarizing professional literature.
It focuses on a specific topic of interest to you and includes a critical analysis of the
relationship among different works, and relating this research to your work. It may
be written as a stand-alone paper or to provide a theoretical framework and
rationale for a research study (such as a thesis or dissertation).
What is the most critical thing can literature review do?
According to Toronto University that the literature review has significant issue:
1. Be recognize around and related directly to the thesis or research question
you developing.
2. Synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known.
3. Identify areas of controversy in the literature.
4. Formulate questions that need further research.
When to Start Reviewing Related Literature?

While the research problem is still being conceptualized, the researcher must
already start reviewing literature. In identifying and defining the research
problem, the researcher must be able to show evidences that the problem
really exists and is worth investigating.

It is important that the researcher knows what is already known about the
problem or what earlier researchers have found about it and what questions

still need to be answered before the research questions or objectives are

finalized.
Theories which the researchers use to explain the existence of a research
problem and used as bases in analyzing relationships between variables can
be generated from reference books on theories or from related studies. The
researcher therefore, must have already read adequate literature at the start
of the research activity.

Steps in writing the review of related literature

Step 1: Review APA guidelines

Step 2: Decide on a topic

Step 3: Identify the literature that you will review:

Step 4: Analyze the literature

Step 5: Summarize the literature in table or concept map format

Step 6: Synthesize the literature prior to writing your review

Step 7: Writing the review (Galvan, 2006: 81-90)

Step 8: Developing a coherent essay

APA Guidelines

Introductory Information

Rules
o

Abbreviations

Avoiding biased and

pejorative language

Capitalization

Commas

Hyphenation

Italics (underlining)

Miscellaneous

Page Formats
o

Title & text pages

(graphic)

Headings

Text details

References & tables

(graphic)

Tables (notes)

Reference Citations (In-Text)

Reference Formats
o

Abbreviating within a

Numbers

Quotation marks

reference
o

Alphabetizing within
reference lists

APA reference style &

examples

Writing in APA Style for Literature Reviews

ONE WORK BY SINGLE AUTHOR:

Smith (1983) compared reaction times

In a recent study of reaction times it was found that (Smith, 1983)

In 1983, Smith compared reaction times

ONE WORK BY THREE OR MORE AUTHORS:

Cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; in subsequent
citations include only the surname of the first author followed by "et
al." (not underlined and with no period after "et") and the year.
Citations apart of the text, use and , when citing in parentheses use &
symbol.

Williams, Jones, Smith, Bradner, and Torringon (1983) found (first

citation)

Researchers (Williams, Jones, Smith, Bradner, &Torringon, 1983) found

(first citation)

Williams et al. (1983) found (subsequent citations)

ONE WORK BY THREE OR MORE AUTHORS:

Cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; in subsequent
citations include only the surname of the first author followed by "et
al." (not underlined and with no period after "et") and the year.
Citations apart of the text, use and , when citing in parentheses use &
symbol.

Williams, Jones, Smith, Bradner, and Torringon (1983) found (first

citation)

Researchers (Williams, Jones, Smith, Bradner, &Torringon, 1983) found

(first citation)

Williams et al. (1983) found (subsequent citations)

Tips in Writing (RL)

QUOTATIONS: Quotations should be extremely rare in scientific writing, and

should only be used if exact wording or terminology is needed.
VOICE: AVOID 1ST PERSON (GALVAN, 2004, P. 54)

Ex. Improper voice for academic writing In this review, I will show
that the literature on treating juvenile murderers is sparse and suffers
from the same problems as the general literature Unfortunately, I have
found that most of the treatment results are based on clinical case
reports of

Ex. Suitable voice for academic writing The literature on treating

juvenile murderers is sparse and suffers from the same problems as
the general literature Most of the treatment results are based on
clinical case reports

AVOID SLANG. USE PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE

conducted a study instead of did a study

examined instead of looked at

utilize instead of use (where appropriate)

great deal instead of a lot

furthermore instead of run-on sentences

ORGANIZE THE PAPER BY TOPICS NOT CHRONOLOGY:

BE CONSICE:

Build paper with a clear thesis. Good writing should provide clear and
organized evidence for your argument or theory.

Delete unnecessary words, phrases, and sentences to drastically

improve your writing. Scientific writing is concise and to-the-point!

REVISE AND REWRITE:

Good writing takes hard work. Give yourself enough time to take a
break from the paper. Time away from the paper provides perspective

regarding organization and allows the opportunity to find technical

errors.

CITATIONS:

It is imperative that you use good citation habits. It is plagiarism to use

other writers words and IDEAS.