Research a Literature Review

As you find resources supporting your thesis, you will quickly discover the need to organize them.

• RefWorks allows you to save and manage your research efficiently. Import citations and, in some cases, the full text of your results from most library databases into RefWorks, providing a centralized place for all your research. It can also work within your internet browser through its browser plug-in and help you quickly format and place citations into your work through its Word plug-in. Use the RefWorks Toolkit for more information and to register for an account.
• The Center for Writing Excellence has grammar tools, a reference and citation generator, paper templates, and writing resources for doctoral students. The citation generator produces citations for the most common citation types: periodical, book/eBook, and webpages, in APA, 7th ed. format. The library also provides a collection of APA citation and formatting resources in its APA Toolkit for additional assistance with APA citations and style.
• Database toolkits offer resources to help you save your searches and results. You may need to routinely rerun your searches in the databases to cover any time gaps between conducting your research and writing your dissertation. Creating search alerts allows you to automate these searches and notify you if new articles are published in your study area. Individual databases also allow you to create accounts to save your results.

In evaluating your search results, you must find ways to conclude what you have read. Synthesizing the literature is not summarizing it but creating a cohesive assessment of the current state of knowledge. The synthesis is part of the research process in that it may reveal additional research that needs to be conducted. There are multiple ways of organizing your literature review:

• Historical. Can you organize it by publication date or the topic's history?
• Themed. Is there a recurring theme or significant argument? What are the key concepts in the literature?
• Identification of a gap. What is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?
• Methodological approaches. How was the topic researched in the past (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods)?
• Explore how previous work shaped your study (using the CRAAP evaluation model of previous work, minimizing bias). How can existing knowledge connect to recent discoveries? Can the research be contextualized through new data, theories, or recent insights that expand on what is already known?

Our team of research librarians is available to help you if you have a question or get stuck in your research. You can either submit your question to us through our email Ask Us service or schedule a one-on-one Teams video chat appointment with a librarian.

• The Reviewing the Literature section of the Sage Research Methods Project Planner walks you through the literature review process and answers questions about researching the literature.
• Use Ulrichsweb to identify peer-reviewed journals. Look for the referee shirt icon to indicate that the journal is peer-reviewed.
• Use the Tips for Effective Research Checklist to make sure you don't miss any steps in your research process.