How to Write a Review of Manuscript for a Publisher
How to...
write a literature review
To write a literature review information technology is important to wait at the relationships between different views, draw out the key themes and structure appropriately. See our step by step guide for some useful tips.
On this page
- What is a literature review?
- Why write a literature review
- Creating a literature review - step by pace guide
- Related topics
What is a literature review?
Essentially, it is a description of work that has already been published in a particular field or on a specific topic. In that location are ii primary types of literature review:
Research literature review – This doesn't contain new enquiry but looks at experiments already published and reports on their findings. It gives an overview of what has been said, who the fundamental writers are, the prevailing theories and hypotheses, the questions being asked, and the methods and methodologies that have proved useful.
Systematic or evidence-based literature review – Especially popular in medicine, these reviews are designed to find the best grade of intervention, or explore summaries and critiques leading to better future practice.
Why write a literature review?
For students, a literature review is often part of a thesis or dissertation, forming an early context-setting chapter. For academics, it is a necessary part of a research paper, setting the scene and showing how their ain work contributes to the torso of knowledge.
This guide focuses on literature reviews that keep to be published every bit individual journal papers.
Research literature reviews
The format can exist purely descriptive, i.e. an annotated bibliography, or it might provide a critical assessment of the literature in a item field, stating where the weaknesses and gaps are, contrasting the views of detail authors, or raising questions.
Whichever format you cull, it's crucial that the review doesn't simply listing and paraphrase the content of the papers involved – it should as well prove evidence of evaluation, and explore relationships between the material so that key themes emerge.
Systematic or evidence-based literature reviews
These employ explicit and transparent methods. They follow a standard protocol, or series of steps, oftentimes established in consultation with a panel.
All procedures are documented, i.e. there is a enquiry audit trail of databases and search terms used, so that others can easily replicate the steps followed. The documented procedures might include:
- The search parameters
- Databases used
- How papers were analysed
- Criteria for inclusion in the last review
The systematic review was originally developed in the field of medicine, through the Cochrane Collaboration (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006). While its origins lie in the field of evidence-based healthcare, it has also been adopted past some researchers. Considering of its rigorous approach and transparent methodology, information technology helps to eliminate bias from the selection of literature.
Creating a literature review - pace by step guide
The following steps employ for all types of literature review.
It's important to found a purpose for your literature review but the central is in finding the right residue – besides narrow and you volition have limited sources to review, too wide and the listing will be endless. Some authors choose to confine their review to a specific time period.
It's of import to exist systematic - whether yous follow a list of database references, or jump directly to the citations of a particular article, you need to go along records. These should not only be bibliographic (author, appointment, title of commodity/chapter, publication, volume and consequence number, edition, etc.), but focus on the content too.
Searching
Keywords are a good search strategy and it helps if you are specific (don't rely on full general keywords and phrases). Yous can also search for key scholars in the field by proper name.
Too many results returned? Try filtering using the following methods:
- Metadata: Refine material by author, year of publication or geographic location.
- Semantic: Remove words or terms that are spelled the same only differ in significant.
- Evidence-grading: Utilize a quality filter eastward.g. sift out non-peer reviewed, or opinion-based, rhetorical, and non-conclusive material.
- Accessibility: Is the full-text article bachelor or but the abstract?
Sources
You will want to search for relevant materials across a range of media. Possible sources include:
- Books (monographs, text books, reference books)
- Periodical articles
- Newspaper articles
- Historical records
- Commercial reports and statistical data
- Regime reports and statistical information
- Theses and dissertations
If you are attached to a university, the library is probably the best place to offset. You could besides refer to other relevant library catalogues, such every bit the British Library catalogue, the National Union Catalogue (Library of Congress), and, through their URLs, other big bookish libraries. Most libraries will also accept indexes of periodicals, eastward.yard. Business Periodicals Index, and abstracting services, e.g. Dissertation Abstracts.
While at that place are special circumstances for using old sources, for example in a historical study, or because the work is seminal, ideally y'all want to focus on the most recently published literature.
When yous are looking at your raw bibliographical data, there are some important points to consider:
- What are the writer'southward credentials? Are they an good in the field? Are they affiliated to a reputable organisation?
- What is the engagement of publication? Is it sufficiently current or will noesis take moved on?
- If it's a book, are you looking at the latest edition?
- Is the publisher a reputable, scholarly publisher?
- If it is a periodical, has the content been peer reviewed?
Every bit you move on to analysing the content, your questions alter in tone.
- Is the author addressing a scholarly audience?
- Does the author review the relevant literature?
- Does the author write from an objective viewpoint, and are their views based on facts rather than opinions?
- If the author uses research, is the design sound?
- Is information technology primary or secondary cloth?
- What is the relationship of this work to other material on the same topic? Does it substantiate information technology or add a dissimilar perspective?
- Is the author's statement logically organised and clear to follow?
- If the author is writing from a practice-based perspective, what are the implications for practice?
- What themes emerge and what conclusions can be drawn?
- Are there whatsoever significant questions forming a basis for further investigation?
The Cornell Academy Library website contains some proficient pointers for evaluating textile, including how to distinguish scholarly and non-scholarly publications.
Betwixt the first and second stages, there should be a procedure of selection; not everything yous read will go into your terminal literature review.
One useful fashion to find mutual strands and show up apparent contradictions is to create a table of your results with study references listed alongside a cursory overview of findings. These could be:
- Statistical – results subjected to a set of statistical tests, i.e. meta-assay.
- Narrative – organised by theme, written report blazon, etc.
- Conceptual – different concepts brought together and a new concept described.
There are many ways to organise a literature review. Let'southward take a closer look at i option:
Introduction: Define the topic, together with your reason for selecting the topic. You could likewise point out overall trends, gaps, detail themes that emerge, etc.
Torso: this is where you talk over your sources. Hither are some ways in which you lot could organise your word:
- Chronologically: For case, if writers' views have tended to modify over time. There is picayune indicate in doing the review by society of publication unless this shows a clear tendency.
- Thematically: Identify a series of themes.
- Research type: For case, academic versus practitioner.
- Dialectical: Contrast dissimilar views or theoretical debates.
- Methodologically: Here, the focus is on the methods of the researcher, for instance, qualitative versus quantitative approaches.
As with any piece of writing, make sure that your structure is clear past explaining what y'all are going to do, and using appropriate headings.
Conclusion: Summarise the major contributions, evaluate the current position, and betoken out flaws in methodology, gaps in the research, contradictions, and areas for further study.
A manuscript or instance study that is easy to follow volition help readers absorb your key messages.
Tips on writing just
This guide explains the building blocks that are used to construct a journal commodity and why getting them correct tin can boost your chances of publishing success.
Tips on structure
In this guide we explain what you should wait for at the proofing stage.
Tips on proofreading
Source: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/how-to/authoring-editing-reviewing/write-a-literature-review
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