SEARCH FOR

SCHOLARLY
PUBLICATIONS

Review of Related Literature

Overview
I. Review of literature
A. Purpose of literature review
B. Literature review in a quantitative study
C. Forms of literature review

II. Steps in conducting a literature review

III. Priority of resources in literature
IV. Creating Literature Map
V. Abstracting Studies
A. Empirical
B. Non-empirical

VI. Style Manuals

VII.Model for Writing Literature Review

Review of the Literature

A collation, integration and critique of
similar investigations done in the past
Incorporates basic principles or theories
related to the topic
the literature review is not about providing window
dressing in the form of a few citations. Rather, its
about digging into the body of knowledge that previous
researchers have generated and taking advantage of
that knowledge as you design your inquiry.

Purpose of Literature
Review
It shares with the reader the results of
other studies that are closely related to the
study being reported.
It relates a study to the larger ongoing
dialogue in the literature about a topic,
filling in gaps and extending prior studies.
It provides a framework for establishing the
importance of the study as well as a
benchmark for comparing the results of a
study with other findings.

Literature Review in a
Quantitative Study
A quantitative research has a substantial
amount of literature at the beginning of
the study to provide direction for research
questions and hypothesis.
Literature is also included at the end of the
study to compare the results of the study
with the existing findings in the literature.
Separate section entitled Review of
Literature or Review of Related
Literature.

Forms of Literature Review

(Cooper 1984)

Integrative review
The researcher summarizes broad themes in
literature

Theoretical review
The researcher focuses on extant theory that
relates to the problem under study.

Methodological review
The researcher focuses on methods and definitions
Does not only provide summaries but also strength
and weaknesses of the method sections

Steps in Conducting a Literature

Review
1. Identify key words that can be used in
searching for materials in the library.
2. Begin searching at the library catalog for
holdings (i.e. journals or books).
3. Initially, try to locate at least 50 reports of
articles or books.
4. Look over the abstract and skim through the
article or chapter.
5. Design a literature map.*
6. Draft summaries of the most relevant articles.
7. Assemble the literature review.

UPLB iLib (Online

Catalog)

Google Scholar
Google
automatically
places AND in
between words.
Quotation
marks around
phrases or titles.
Use OR for
alternate terms

or
Quantitative ethnobotany

Search Results

Request an article

Q?

A Priority for Resources in

Literature
1. Broad syntheses of the literature
2. Journal articles in respected, national journals.
a) Primary research articles
b) Review articles

3. Books related to the topic

a) Research monographs
b) Entire books on a single topic or with chapters
written by different authors

4. Recent conference papers

5. Abstracts of dissertations
*internet materials?

Questions to consider when

evaluating the quality of
internet materials

Who/what is the author of the website?

Is the site advocating a particular kind of
view?
Does the website give accurate and complete
references?
Are the data up-to-date?
Are the data official?
Is it a university research site?
Do the data seem consistent with data from
other sites?

Literature Map
A tool to organize the literature
about the topic
A visual summary of the topic usually
represented by a figure
Hierarchical structure
Flow chart
Circles

Abstracting Studies
Mention the problem being addressed.
State the central purpose or focus of the
study.
Briefly state about the sample,
population, or participants.
Review the results related to the study.
For methodological reviews, point out
methodological and technical flaws in
the study.

Abstracting Nonempirical Studies

Mention the problem being
addressed by the article or book.
Identify the central theme of the
study.
State the major conclusions related
to this theme.
Mention flaws in reasoning, logic,
force of argument, and so forth if the
review type is methodological.

Style Manuals
American Psychological Association
(APA)
Modern Language Association (MLA)
University of Chicago

Style Manuals

Tips
Take notes as you read through the
articles, including your observations
and questions.
Write to communicate rather than to
impress.
Be mindful of your audience and
purpose of writing the report.
Avoid plagiarism. Cite sources
properly. Be consistent with your
style.

A Model for Writing the

Literature Review
Introduction
Primarily a statement on how the whole
chapter is organized

Topic 1
Addresses the scholarly literature about
the independent variable/s

Topic 2
Addresses the scholarly literature about
the dependent variable/s

A Model for Writing the

Literature Review
Topic 3
Includes the scholarly literature that
relates the independent variable/s to the
dependent variable/s

Summary of the review

Most important studies, major themes,
as well as suggestions why more
research is needed

References

Babbie, E. (2013). The Practice of Social Research (13th ed).

Cengage Learning.
Cresswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative,
and Mixed Method Approaches (2nd ed). Sage Publications.