Strategies for Writing a Literature Review A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area.

Strategies for Writing a Literature Review
    Good morning, everyone. Last class we discussed what we should do before writing a literature review; today we will talk about strategies for writing the literature review.
    At first, we should find a focus. Because a literature review, like a term paper, is usually organized around ideas, not the sources themselves as an annotated bibliography would be organized.(1)This means that you will not just simply list your sources and go into detail about each one of them, one at a time. No. As you read widely but selectively in your topic area, consider instead what themes or issues connect your sources together. Do they present one or different solutions? Is there an aspect of the field that is missing? Do they reveal a trend in the field? Pick one of these themes to focus the organization of your review.
     (2)Secondly, use the focus you’ve found to construct a thesis statement. Yes, literature reviews have thesis statements as well. However, your thesis statement will not necessarily argue for a position or an opinion; rather it will argue for a particular perspective on the material. Some sample thesis statements for literature reviews are as follows: The current trend in treatment for congestive heart failure combines surgery and medicine.
     (3)You’ve got a focus, and you’ve narrowed it down to a thesis statement. Thirdly, consider an organization. What is the most effective way of presenting the information? What are the most important topics, subtopics, etc. , that your review needs to include? And in what order should you present them? Develop an organization for your review at both a global and local level: Just like most academic papers, literature reviews also must contain at least three basic elements: an introduction or background information section;(4)the body of the review containing the discussion of sources; and, finally, a conclusion to end the paper.
    OK, let’s come to the fourth part: organizing the body. Once you have the basic categories in place, then you must consider how you will present the sources themselves within the body of your paper. Create an organizational method to focus this section even further.
     (5)To help you come up with an overall organizational framework for your review, consider the following scenario and then three typical ways of organizing the sources into a review:
    You’ve decided to focus your literature review on materials dealing with sperm whales. This is because you’ve just finished reading Moby Dick, and you wonder if that whale’s portrayal is really real. You start with some articles about the physiology of sperm whales in biology journals written in the 1980’s. Then you look up a book written in 1968 with information on how sperm whales have been portrayed in other forms of art, as the whale hunters in the late 19th century used to do. This makes you wonder about American whaling methods during the time portrayed in Moby Dick, so you find some academic articles published in the last five years on how accurately Herman Melville portrayed the whaling scene in his novel.
    If your review follows the chronological method, you could write about the materials above according to when they were published. There is relatively no continuity among subjects here. And notice that even though the sources on sperm whales in other art and on American whaling are written recently, they are about other subjects or objects that were created much earlier. Thus, the review loses its chronological focus.
     (6)In the process of using chronological method, you can order your sources by publication chronology, then, only if the order demonstrates a more important trend. For instance, you could order a review of literature on biological studies of sperm whales if the progression revealed a change in dissection practices of the researchers who wrote and conducted the studies. On the other hand, a better way to organize the above sources chronologically is to examine the sources under another trend, such as the history of whaling. Then your review would have subsections according to eras within this period.
     (7)However, progression of time may still be an important factor in a thematic review. For instance, the sperm whale review could focus on the development of the harpoon for whale hunting. While the study focuses on one topic, harpoon technology, it will still be organized chronologically. The only difference here between a "chronological" and a "thematic" approach is what is emphasized the most: the development of the harpoon or the harpoon technology. But more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order.
     (8)A methodological approach differs from the two above in that the focusing factor usually does not have to do with the content of the material. Instead, it focuses on the "methods" of the researcher or writer. For the sperm whale project, one methodological approach would be to look at cultural differences between the portrayal of whales in American, British, and French art work. Or the review might focus on the economic impact of whaling on a community.(9)A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed.
    Of course, once you’ve decided on the organizational method for the body of the review, the sections you need to include in the paper should be easy to figure out. They should arise out of your organizational strategy.
    Sometimes, though, you might need to add additional sections that are necessary for your study, but do not fit in the organizational strategy of the body. What other sections you include in the body is up to you. Put in only what is necessary. Here are a few other sections you might want to consider: 1)Current Situation: Information necessary to understand the topic or focus of the literature review; 2)History: The chronological progression of the field, the literature, or an idea that is necessary to understand the literature review, if the body of the literature review is not already a chronology;(10)3)Standards: The criteria you used to select the sources in your literature review or the way in which you present your information. For instance, you might explain that your review includes only peer-reviewed articles and journals; 4)Questions for Further Research: What questions about the field has the review sparked? How will you further your research as a result of the review?
    OK, in today’s lecture, we looked at strategies for the literature review. In our next lecture, we will learn a few guidelines you should follow during the writing stage. Thank you for your attention.