Let’s assume
for a moment that you know how to select a research-worthy problem, find good
literature sources, and identify the main components of a research article. These
are not trivial skills! Even so, a formal
literature review is a different beast. A
quick way to get off the mark is to start summarizing the articles you want to
use. My favorite format is the annotated bibliography citation.
An annotated
bibliography is just what it sounds like: a bibliography, or list of sources, with
notes. Each entry begins with the proper APA or MLA format for listing the
article in the reference section of your paper. This alone saves lots of time
later. Following this are about 150 words that describe and evaluate the
article. I like to identify the problem being investigated, the methodology
used, the results and conclusions, and the limitations and open questions. That’s
the descriptive part. My evaluation would be my opinion of how the work
contributes to the body of knowledge on the subject. Doing all this in 150
words is good practice in thrifty writing.
When you start assembling the literature review you can draw directly
from these summaries, sometimes even using them verbatim. Voila! You have a big
chunk of the lit review out of the way.
A good
literature review is more than a collection of article analyses, however. Synthesis
is also needed. By synthesis I mean weaving together a cohesive narrative
around your analysis. This is partly a matter of organizing the material in a
logical way but it also includes introductions, transitions, and summaries that
draw out and connect the themes that are present in the literature you’re
reviewing. Good analysis and good
synthesis, coupled with good writing that allows any reader to understand, make
for a good literature review.
While we’re
on the subject of writing, I consider the best academic writing to be easy to
read. It is designed for clarity, it is grammatical and adheres to guidelines,
and it is free of ego. By that I mean that its purpose is to communicate
clearly to any reader, not to demonstrate the writer’s intelligence or mastery
of the subject. As with many things in
life, more is not always better when it comes to writing. In fact, more is
often simply lazy or undisciplined. This is another reason to cut your teeth on
AB citations. They tighten up your writing measurably.
The
literature review can be fun. It is an opportunity to dig into a subject that
interests you and to exercise your creative and intellectual muscles. Think of
it as sharing what you’ve learned. Remember,
when you perform this level of research on a topic, you become something of an
expert on that topic. You can take pride in that.
Rick
