Research Methods: Doing a literature review

Eira Patterson | View as single page | Feedback/Impact
Doing a literature review: How to find and make sense of published research
Evidence
Key ideas
Searching in an organised way
How to read and organise information effectively
Telling a story
References
Why carry out a literature review
Identifying key terms
Selecting relevant literature
Starting to analyse
Further reading
What is a systematic literature review
Electronic searches
Finding information in texts
Structuring your ideas: Creating a literature map
Sources of research reports
Search engines
Questions to help you identify themes in your literature review
Useful links to help you create a literature map
Solving common problems related to searching for sources
Organising information
Application of ideas: Constructing your own literature map
Examples of databases
Taking notes
Case study: Identifying the 'trouble' in a story
Identifying themes to structure your literature review
How to reference
Writing your literature review
Strength of Evidence
Transferability
Areas for further research
Editor's Comments
Online Communities

Doing a literature review: How to find and make sense of published research

This guide is designed to help you to:

  • understand how to use other people’s writing to inform your own research;
  • develop a strategy for carrying out a search of the literature;
  • organise the themes logically;
  • evaluate the research you read;
  • think about the features of a reflective literature review and explore how to achieve this in practice. 

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