Preparing your literature review
Scribbr (2020) How to write a literature review: 3 minute step-by-step guide. Available at: https://youtu.be/zIYC6zG265E (Accessed: 29 June 2021).
Constructing your search strategy
The exact nature of your research will not be determined until after the literature review. However, the review should be conducted with a certain degree of structure. In many cases, your supervisor will expect to see a preliminary search strategy before you proceed with your review.
So, what does a search strategy involve?
- Themes and keywords:
- Which themes are you including?
- Which are the principal key words or search terms for each theme?
- Are there obvious alternative search terms that should be included? For example, 'international' could also be described as 'global' or 'worldwide'.
- Item types:
- Which types of material are you including in your review? This will vary according to the level of study and subject but could be restricted to research articles or encompass policy papers, textbooks, reports, conference presentations, blogs and more. If in doubt, see the listing in Finding Sources
- Resources:
- Which search resources are you going to use to find the relevant literature? Options include bibliographic databases and Google Scholar (journal and research papers); the library's OneSearch (books, exemplars and more), Google or other general search engines (policy papers, blogs ...).
- Additional selection criteria:
- Which other factors will determine your selection of individual items? For example:
- Does a specific date range for publication apply?
- Are you only interested in a specific scenario or environment?
- Are you focusing on (for example) a specific population, product or genre?
- Which other factors will determine your selection of individual items? For example:
Remember the restricted nature of your assignment and timescale when making such decisions. Manageability is an acceptable justification for applying restrictions.
Are you compiling a literature review or a systematic literature review?
Research Shorts (2017) Conducting a systematic literature review. Available: https://youtu.be/WUErib-fXV0 (Accessed: 13 September 2021).
This video introduces the steps involved in a systematic literature review and demonstrates the differences with a standard literature review.
- Systematic literature searchingYou might be an undergraduate who wants to improve the quality of their searches, a postgraduate deciding on a dissertation topic, or a PhD student conducting a systematic literature review as part of your thesis. Or, you might be a member of staff conducting systematic search as part of your academic work, grant application, or Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme. This guide is your practical companion, offering insights and strategies to navigate the intricacies of systematic searching work.
Unsure about your search and related aspects? Ask a librarian!
The team of Academic Librarians are here to help you with your projects.
Make an appointment, tell us about your project and past searching experiences and we'll hep you devise the best search strategy to find the research and other materials that you need.