The literature review structure and function
Part 4: Chapter 14
Questions to consider
A. Why is a literature review also referred to as the background or introduction of a paper?
B. What are the functions of a literature review?
C. What is the primary objective of a literature review?
No matter how the literature review is organized (e.g. chronologically, thematically), it follows a standard format: introduction, body, conclusion. The introduction to the literature review contains a statement or statements about the overall topic of consideration. This might be a paragraph or section that lets the reader know what the literature review will address. Occasionally, writers describe how the literature review will be organized (for example, what main points are going to be dealt with and in what order). Like a methods section, search criteria (keywords, databases, journals) are sometimes identified this section; they may be discussed in the conclusion as well or not attended to.
An introduction to an introduction
The purpose of the introduction to the literature review is to lead the reader through the body and the main points to the ultimate message of the work. The introduction will achieve several goals.
- Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern thereby providing an appropriate context and a historical frame of reference for the remainder of the review.
- Indicate overall trends in what has been previously published on the topic; refer to a landmark or seminal study; or reveal conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, conclusions, or gaps in research and scholarship.
- Establish the objective for reviewing this research (point of view); explain the criteria used to select the reviewed material; the organization of the review (sequence); and – if necessary – why certain literature either is or is not included (scope).
- Demonstrate how ensuing research either closes a gap in the literature, extends earlier work, or replicates an important study thereby contributing new knowledge to the field.
The body of the literature review
Written information is commonly presented logically, from general to specific, showing how past research relates to a proposed project (for literature reviews that serve as the background or introduction to a research proposal or paper). Information should be deliberately organized following an obvious progression of ideas (e.g. chronologically, following the development of a research topic) with consistent support from acceptable sources.
This is where a strong synthesis works to illustrate the value of the writer’s contribution and to persuade the reader. To that end, citing two or more sources for a single point demonstrates its strength or general acceptability.
The use of a formal academic voice should be consistently maintained, and the content should be focused and objective. Author contribution should illustrate important strengths and weaknesses of research studies as well as contradictions and inconsistent findings. Implications and suggestions for further research, or where there are gaps in the current literature, should be specific, original and a logical conclusion based on the sources deployed as evidence.
Strong conclusions
The conclusion often summarizes the major points of the literature review, discusses implications, and reveals an area for future or further research needed. This is where the proportion of writer contribution is often higher and there is relatively less cited source material.
The conclusion will often
- clearly define the topic or issue for an informed audience;
- provide a complete and exhaustive overview of relevant literature;
- be focused throughout;
- critically and consistently evaluate and synthesize extant information;
- present information logically and accurately;
- be relevant and objective; and
- accurately cite all references using one citation style or system.
Documenting the support
The reference list of publications used in a literature review serves two purposes. First, it provides the reader with a means to evaluate the quality of the research. Second, accurately and correctly citing all the sources used protects the author from possible accusations of plagiarism. Using the words or ideas of others without referencing the source is a very serious academic offense.
The reference list reflects the thoroughness of the review. It also allows others to retrieve the cited publications. Errors made in authors’ names, journal or article titles, page numbers and dates present barriers to retrieval of articles and prevent attributing credit to authors for their work. Each reference should be checked carefully for errors. Every in-text citation must have a listing in the references and every title in the reference list should connect to an in-text citation.[1]
Exercise #1
Read the following brief literature review from Attending lectures in person, hybrid or online—how do students choose, and what about the outcome? and complete an simple inventory of it by answering these questions:
- What is the topic and how is it relevant?
- How many unique sources are used?
- How many citations are there?
- What ideas do the authors contribute on this topic?
- What can readers expect from the rest of the article?
Introduction
1The COVID-19 pandemic has occasionally been viewed as one of the biggest experiments in education (Tomas & Rogers, 2020; Dunrong & Jin, 2020). 2This might be a misnomer, since “experiment” implies some sort of controlled conditions, while arguably, educational settings were largely controlled by fluctuating, external factors. 3“Disruption” might be a more fitting characterization of what was essentially an emergency response, and in the aftermath of this disruption, increased flexibility in attendance and delivery modes of education will become the “new normal” (Kortemeyer, 2020; Schapiro, 2021; Hofer et al., 2021). 4The educational experiment starts now, as the impact of this flexibility can be investigated in more controlled settings. 5A preliminary “finding” of this experiment is that many faculty members report that live-lecture attendance has decreased—some faculty members even go so far as to demand that streaming, video conferencing, and recording should be discontinued, “now that the pandemic is over,” to force students to return to campus. 6There might be some justification for that: both students and faculty who knew the university before COVID-19 bemoan the loss of campus culture, and there are certainly cross-disciplinary and social competencies that were implicit in higher education, such as scientific discourse, self-presentation, teamwork, conflict resolution, etc., which may not be fostered anymore when purely focusing on the explicit curriculum of teaching and transmitting facts, methods, and concepts. 7There are also serious concerns about loneliness, depression, anxiety, and procrastination that need to be addressed (Wang et al., 2020; Pelikan et al., 2021; Copeland et al., 2021; Tasso et al., 2021; Amendola et al., 2021; Buizza et al., 2022), which are consistent with a survey on student well-being conducted at ETH Zurich at the height of the pandemic. 8The problems and their solutions are likely more complex and reaching deeper—the pandemic may have simply brought some existing inconsistencies in the 21st-century higher-education system to the surface, particularly when it comes to lecturing (Vlachopoulos & Jan, 2020).
9An immediate question is how student choices regarding attendance may have influenced performance in the subsequent exam session. 10Finally, throughout the whole pandemic, high-stake exams were conducted in-person on-site at ETH Zurich, and another question is how the students’ perception of these physical exam settings may be connected to their potentially completely virtual attendance during the learning phase.[2]
Review and Reinforce
The goal of the literature review is to present an argument defending the relevance and value of a research question. To that end, a literature review must be balanced. For example, in proposing a new theory, both findings that are consistent with that theory and contradictory evidence must be discussed. It is acceptable to argue that the balance of the research supports the existence of a phenomenon or is consistent with a theory, but it is not acceptable to ignore contradictory evidence. What makes a research question interesting is often the uncertainty about its answer.
Media Attributions
- activist art © Ron Cogswell is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
- Adapted from Frederiksen, L., & Phelps, S. F. (2017). Literature Reviews for Education and Nursing Graduate Students. Open Textbook Library. ↵
- Kortemeyer, G., Dittmann-Domenichini, N., Schlienger, C., Spilling, E., Yaroshchuk, A., & Dissertori, G. (2023). Attending lectures in person, hybrid or online—how do students choose, and what about the outcome?: Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimiento. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00387-5. ↵
