Marine & Environmental Sciences Department Guide

This is an excellent video from NC State on the processes involved in a literature review.   It is a little lengthy, but worth watching! 

Be sure to select a topic you can manage in the time frame you have to complete the project.  Narrow down the topic if it is too broad.  If you need help with this, ask your professor, ask a Librarian, or use subject suggestions in Galileo.

Use a variety of sources: books, articles, conference proceedings, government reports, thesis and dissertations, etc!  Do NOT rely solely on electronic full-text material (which is readily available).  Reference resources, such as dictionaries, may be useful in defining key terminology, and encyclopedic sources may provide a good introduction in to specific areas of the topic. 

The MOST IMPORTANT PART of this step is to REVIEW and ANALYZE the literature you collect!  The review process is ongoing - you may need to go back to locate additional materials as you identify new ideas to see if others have written on similar topics.

During the review, you can begin to notice patterns in the literature, and to separate your findings in to different categories. 

Remember, a literature review is NOT simply a list of the resources with a summary of each one!

You can organize the review in many ways; for example, you can center the review historically (how this topic has been dealt with over time); or center it on the theoretical positions surrounding your topic (those for a position vs. those against, for example); or you can focus on how each of your sources contributes to your understanding of your project.

Your literature review should include

• an introduction which explains how your review is organized. 
• a body which contains the headings and subheadings that provide a map to show the various perspectives of your argument
  • the body contains the evaluation or synthesis of the materials you want to include on your topic
• a conclusion that ties together the themes or questions you found in the process of conducting your review