[{"id": 395935, "created": "2024-06-05T06:58:25.556798", "project_id": 193, "task_id": 453399, "user_id": 300, "user_ip": null, "finish_time": "2024-06-05T07:07:02.521447", "timeout": null, "calibration": null, "external_uid": null, "media_url": null, "info": {"answer": "Identify and define the topic that you will be reviewing. ... \nConduct a literature search. ... \nRead through the research that you have found and take notes. ... \nOrganize your notes and thoughts; create an outline. ... \nWrite the literature review itself and edit and revise as needed.", "data_id": "781031966cddd117f117806d41ff69b9", "category": "literature", "question": "How do we write a literature review?", "answer_URLs": "https://psychology.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-program/undergraduate-resources/academic-writing-resources/writing-research-papers/writing-lit-review.html", "answer_type": "correct", "input_query": "What is the meaning of literature review?", "is_reliable": "very_reliable", "edited_answer": "When writing a literature review, it can be helpful to rely on the following steps.  Please note that these procedures are not necessarily only for writing a literature review that becomes part of a larger article; they can also be used for writing a full-length article that is itself a literature review (although such reviews are typically more detailed and exhaustive; for more information please refer to the Further Resources section of this page).\n\nSteps for Writing a Literature Review\n\n1. Identify and define the topic that you will be reviewing.\nThe topic, which is commonly a research question (or problem) of some kind, needs to be identified and defined as clearly as possible.  You need to have an idea of what you will be reviewing in order to effectively search for references and to write a coherent summary of the research on it.  At this stage it can be helpful to write down a description of the research question, area, or topic that you will be reviewing, as well as to identify any keywords that you will be using to search for relevant research.\n\n2. Conduct a literature search.\nUse a range of keywords to search databases such as PsycINFO and any others that may contain relevant articles.  You should focus on peer-reviewed, scholarly articles.  Published books may also be helpful, but keep in mind that peer-reviewed articles are widely considered to be the \u201cgold standard\u201d of scientific research.  Read through titles and abstracts, select and obtain articles (that is, download, copy, or print them out), and save your searches as needed.  For more information about this step, please see the Using Databases and Finding Scholarly References section of this website.\n\n3. Read through the research that you have found and take notes.\nAbsorb as much information as you can.  Read through the articles and books that you have found, and as you do, take notes.  The notes should include anything that will be helpful in advancing your own thinking about the topic and in helping you write the literature review (such as key points, ideas, or even page numbers that index key information).  Some references may turn out to be more helpful than others; you may notice patterns or striking contrasts between different sources; and some sources may refer to yet other sources of potential interest.  This is often the most time-consuming part of the review process.  However, it is also where you get to learn about the topic in great detail.  For more details about taking notes, please see the \u201cReading Sources and Taking Notes\u201d section of the Finding Scholarly References page of this website.\n\n4. Organize your notes and thoughts; create an outline.\nAt this stage, you are close to writing the review itself.  However, it is often helpful to first reflect on all the reading that you have done.  What patterns stand out?  Do the different sources converge on a consensus?  Or not?  What unresolved questions still remain?  You should look over your notes (it may also be helpful to reorganize them), and as you do, to think about how you will present this research in your literature review.  Are you going to summarize or critically evaluate?  Are you going to use a chronological or other type of organizational structure?  It can also be helpful to create an outline of how your literature review will be structured.\n\n5. Write the literature review itself and edit and revise as needed.\nThe final stage involves writing.  When writing, keep in mind that literature reviews are generally characterized by a summary style in which prior research is described sufficiently to explain critical findings but does not include a high level of detail (if readers want to learn about all the specific details of a study, then they can look up the references that you cite and read the original articles themselves).  However, the degree of emphasis that is given to individual studies may vary (more or less detail may be warranted depending on how critical or unique a given study was).   After you have written a first draft, you should read it carefully and then edit and revise as needed.  You may need to repeat this process more than once.  It may be helpful to have another person read through your draft(s) and provide feedback.\n\n6. Incorporate the literature review into your research paper draft.\nAfter the literature review is complete, you should incorporate it into your research paper (if you are writing the review as one component of a larger paper).  Depending on the stage at which your paper is at, this may involve merging your literature review into a partially complete Introduction section, writing the rest of the paper around the literature review, or other processes.", "question_type": "good", "location_related": "no"}}]