Workshop slides.

1. Compiling
Literature Reviews
in the Life Sciences
Amanda Werhane
Steenbock Library
steenbock.library.wisc.edu

2. Agenda
1. Introductions
2. About Literature Reviews
3. Literature Sources
4. Tools & Strategies
5. For More Information

3. Introductions
• Name?
• Department?
• Why are you here today?
• Previous library workshops?

4. Companion Workshops
• Writing Literature Reviews (Writing Center)
• “Everything You Need to Know” (Libraries)
• “Keeping Up With the Literature” (Libraries)
• “Publishing Your Research” (Libraries)
• Workshops on specific databases (Libraries)
• Workshops on citation managers (Libraries)

5. Definitions
• “A literature review is a written document that
presents a logically argued case founded on a
comprehensive understanding of the current state of
knowledge about a topic of study. This case
establishes a convincing thesis to answer the study’s
question.”
- Literature review: Six steps to success (Machi,McEvoy)
• Introduces theories
• Shares results of related studies & identifies gaps
• Locates your research & results within dialogue
- Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method
approaches (Creswell)

6. Know your Goal
• What is expected of me?
• Does my research make a unique contribution?
• Is it feasible?
• Do I understand the context?
• What are the key methodologies, issues, or
controversies?
• Do I need to modify my topic?
• Time management:
– Dissertation & assignment calculators

7. Seek out Examples
• Primary research articles
• Review articles, meta-analyses
• Theses & dissertations
– Databases
• Ask yourself:
– How long?
– How many sources?
– Placement?

8. Identify Sources
• Books
– Start with: Encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks
• Journal articles
– Start with: Review articles, meta-analyses
• Conference proceedings
– Start with: Big international conferences
• Other
– Gov’t documents, technical reports, white papers…
• How to find = Databases (see handout)

9. Searching Databases
• AND, OR, NOT
• “Phrases in quotes”
• Truncation, wildcard symbols * ?
• Limits:
– Article Title
– Journal / Source / Publication Title
– Subject / Descriptor / Classification
– Many more...
• Obtaining full text of articles: “Find It”

10. Follow Citations
• Backwards + forwards
• Web of Knowledge / Web of Science
– “References”
– “Times Cited”
– “Cited Reference Search”
• Journal Citation Reports (JCR)
– “Impact Factor”

11. Document your Research
• Read, take notes, & map sources
– Concept map tools (see Wikipedia)
• Compile & map search terms:
– Synonyms, broader, narrower, and related terms
– Thesauri, taxonomies, ontologies (ex: MeSH, LCSH)
– Scientific terms (ex: Latin names, chemical names)
– Historical terms
– International terms / alternate spellings
• Manage citations, documents & notes
– http://library.wisc.edu/citation-managers

12. Stay Current
• Email alerts & RSS feeds:
– Journal issue tables of contents
– Keywords
– Citations

13. Ask a Librarian
• Your Liaison Librarian
- http://library.wisc.edu/directory/liaisons
• Drop in (desk or office)
• Chat
• Phone
• E-mail
• Appointments

14. Good Luck!
• Thank you for coming 
• Evaluation (Grad Student Collaborative)
– http://grad.wisc.edu/gsc/evals