REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
PURPOSE & IMPORTANCE

A LITERATURE REVIEW:
WHAT IS AND WHAT’S NOT?

Directions: Find a pair and classify the
following statements between what a literature
review may be or what a literature review may
not be. (1/2 crosswise)

A LITERATURE REVIEW

LITERATURE REVIEW
a collated information taken from books,
scholarly articles, journals, reports, or working
papers
outline the sources gathered while researching
a particular topic and to establish to the
readers how the research correlates with the
study

LITERATURE REVIEW
selecting and citing a literature review is an
initial step that the researcher must take upon
in doing the research paper

PURPOSE OF WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW
(1) providing an overview of pre-existing
information about a topic and assess the
strength of the evidence on that topic;
(2) correlating the relationship of each work to
the work of others in the same context;

PURPOSE OF WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW
(3) revealing any gaps in the existing literature
reviews;
(4) resolving conflicts on previous studies
which seems to be in contradiction

PURPOSE OF WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW
(5) ensuring the duplication of effort may be
prevented; and
(6) pointing ways if there is a need for
additional research

2 MAIN SOURCES FOR THE LITERATURE REVIEW
the library
the online computer searches (i.e. database
access to literature and studies/journal
publications)

2 MAIN SOURCES FOR THE LITERATURE REVIEW
In choosing the sources to be used in writing
the literature depends on the chosen topic or
subject.
The researcher may opt to choose either or
both of these sources depending on the
information needed to support the evidence
claims in the research.

PARTS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
A literature review consists of various parts
which include the introduction, body,
conclusion, and references.

PARTS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
The introduction intends to explain the focus
and establish the importance of the subject.

PARTS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
The body summarizes and evaluates the
current state of knowledge in the field and
presents arguments presented by the
researchers.

PARTS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
The conclusion provides a summary of the
evidence presented and its implication and
explains the current state in the field as shown
in the review.

PARTS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
The references present a list of sources cited in
the study.

STEPS IN WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Choose a research topic and define the
research question.
The literature review should be guided by a
focal research question. It is not merely a
collection of studies in a certain field, instead
represents a background and research
developments related to a specific research
question. This must be interpreted and
analyzed in a synthesized manner.

STEPS IN WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW
2. Decide on the scope of the review.
- Do I need to look at several studies?
- Do I need to look at comprehensive studies?
For how long the literature was conducted?
Hence, the literature review depends on the
study.

STEPS IN WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW
3. Choose the databases that will be utilized to
conduct the searches.
Prepare a list of the databases you need to
search for. Try to include comprehensive
databases.

STEPS IN WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW
4. Conduct your searches and find the literature.
Keep track of your searches.
Review the abstracts of research studies
carefully. This will save you time.
Note down the literature reviews that you have
searched to prevent duplication of work.

STEPS IN WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW
4. Conduct your searches and find the literature.
Keep track of your searches.
Locate other works that correlate to your
research study using bibliographies and
references.
If you missed to note keywords in the chosen
field, ask the assistance of your research
adviser.

STEPS IN WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW
5. Review the literature.
Some questions to help you analyze the research:
 Do the research questions of the study you are
reviewing correlates to the study you are
conducting? What do you think are the authors
trying to discover?
 Do you think the research funding might have
influenced the findings?

STEPS IN WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW
5. Review the literature.
Some questions to help you analyze the
research:
What were the research methodologies in the
study? Check the literature review, the samples
and variables used in the study, and the
conclusion. Do you think it is complete and
was conducted properly? Do you think there is

STEPS IN WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW
5. Review the literature.
Some questions to help you analyze the
research:
Do you think the study has contradicting
ideas? Why do you think so?
What are the reputations of the authors? Has
the study been cited already? How was it

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
Citing your sources and references properly
prevents you from plagiarizing and eliminates
people's doubts about your honesty and
reputation (Fraenbel 2012; Ransome 2011).

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
Answer the questions below comprehensively. (1/2
crosswise)
1) What are the possible sources in writing a
literature review?
2) Describe a literature review?
3) What is the role of a literature review in writing
your research project?

CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
The search for related literature plays a vital role
in doing research.
Writing a research paper begins with a thorough
review of related literature that is relevant to the
chosen research topic.

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
This is done to determine if the topic for the
research has not been adequately exhausted yet;
prevents a wasteful repetition of work; it can help
suggest or recommend possible topics, problems,
and approaches for future research.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RELATED LITERATURE
Must be as recent as possible
Should have been written in the last 5 years (or
10 years)
Must be related to the existing study

SOURCES OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Journals (laws and constitutions)
Books, and other general reference materials
grey literature such as working papers,
conference proceedings, and reports from
seminars, manuscripts, monographs and
memoirs
official reports from the government, as wells as
records of schools

WHERE TO LOCATE THE SOURCES OF RELATED LITERATURE
Libraries
Government offices
Schools
Private institutions and corporations
International institutions
Electronic journals

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A LITERATURE
REVIEW

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Choose a topic
must be aligned to the research objective,
problem or issue to be discussed

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW
2. Identify databases and resources related to
the chosen topic
describe listing of the available materials or
summaries

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW
3. Search for and define the materials
seek information by way of scanning the
literature efficiently, using either manual or
computerized methods
identify useful journal articles and other
reference materials

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW
4. Read and analyze the articles
appraise critically the different studies by
applying principles in identifying and analyzing
objective and valid studies

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A LITERATURE REVIEW
5. Writing the literature review
summarize and organize the literature review
into units that present themes, identifying
trends, and relevant concepts
 instead of listing all the materials published, synthesize,
and evaluate them according to the direction of your
thesis concept or research question

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
You need to have a clearly defined topic before
starting to search for relevant literature. After
constructing or building up a well-defined topic,
make a set of research questions to guide you in
searching up for related studies.

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
Since you are still in the initial stage of writing your
research paper, you will need to search for
literature that is related to your topic of interest or
your research problem and question/s.

TIPS FOR A BETTER EXPERIENCE OF
SEARCHING FOR RELEVANT LITERATURE

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
Make a list of keywords
Begin searching by making a list of keywords
related to your research question. You may
include every key concepts or variable that are
involved in your study and write any synonyms
and related terms.
Example:
• Efficacy, insecticide, plant, extracts

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
 Search for relevant sources
1. Make use of the keywords to begin searching
for sources.

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
 useful databases to search for journals and
articles:
• EBSCO – research database, e-journals, etc.
• Google Scholar
• Inspect (physics, engineering, & computer science)
• Journal Storage (JSTOR) – leading journals across
many academic disciplines
• Medline (Life Sciences and Medicine)

ETHICAL STANDARDS IN LITERATURE-REVIEW WRITING
 Search for relevant sources
2. You can utilize Boolean operators to help you
narrow down your search. Boolean operators are
the words that include “AND”, “OR” and “NOT”.
These words if used in library databases by typing
them in between your keywords would make your
searching more precise and saves time.