Elements of the Review Of Literature

Overview
A review of literature is a summary of all the information you have gathered in your area
of research. This is important to guide you through the kind of work that others in your
field have done. By having this information, you are better equipped to do your own
research. For example, if you are working on new software, you need to know the type of
software that is available in the filed before you can convince people that your software
has better or newer functions. In addition, it lets the experts in your filed know that you
are familiar with the research that has been done to date. This will lend more credibility
to your work.
ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE REVIEW
There are four main elements in the Review of Literature section of a report, often
sequenced in the following order:

General Statement [What is this section about?]

Reference to previous research [What has been done before in this area?]

Gap in research [What is missing from the previous research?]

Link to present research [What does this study plan to achieve?]

Element I General Statement

[What is this section about?]
This is usually a general statement or statement of fact leading to the rest of the
discussion in this section of the report. Write about the topic of your research.
e.g. Use of women in advertisements
Today it is not uncommon to find an advertisement for fragrances or shampoo
featuring female models.

Points of Language
VERB TENSE :Present & Present Perfect
The Simple Present Tense is commonly used in writing the general statement.
e.g. Today it is not uncommon to find an advertisement for fragrances or shampoo
featuring female models.
Sometimes, the Perfect tense is used where a time frame is involved.
e.g. Several limit equilibrium methods for the analysis of soil-nailed structures
have been proposed since the late 1980s.

Element II Previous Research

[What has been done before in this area?]
Give :

The name of the researcher[s] ,

Title of their research

Details of their participants

Location /whre the research was conducted

Methodology used

Major findings

In this part, you need to write about all relevant research done in your particular area
of study to show that you are familiar with work done in this area. To present
previous research, you can either quote direct or paraphrase the information. Such
reference to works done by others within your text is called In-text reference.

In-text reference
If you want to refer to a source in your report, it should appear at the appropriate
point, citing the authors or authors surname(s) and the year of publication. You can
either quote the information exactly as the author has stated it(direct quote) as part of
your text, or you can paraphrase the information and then cite it.
Direct Quote

When to Quote
Direct quotes are used when the actual words by the authors are esse4ntial in
developing an idea, illustrating appoint or expressing the original point-ofview. This can be done by quoting a few words/ a sentence or more from the
original text. Note that you must be accurate when quoting directly. You
cannot build your text by using quotes alone.

How to quote
When you quote,
-

provide the authors surname, year of publication and specific page

citation(where appropriate) in the text).

Incorporate the quote into your text and enclose it in quotation marks.

Write it as a block quote if the quote is long and exceeds two typewritten lines. A block quote is written by indenting the lines and
setting it separately from the rest of your text but without quotation
marks.

Use the three ellipsis points ( ), if you use only parts of a quotation.

If you need to insert your own comment, clarification or modification

in the quote, this must appear in square brackets [ ].
Simulation kernel for a Keycaps
Insertion Line

According to Kee (1996), a good simulation

Use of Quotation

library must be flexible enough to permit a

marks to quote
parts of

wide variety of systems to be modelled

(p.9). In addition, they must be efficient

information within
your own text.

Use of ellipsis
() when

without

being

too

concerned

about

parts of a

maximising the time-run performance. He quote is

adds, A [simulation] library that allow new

combined.

Use of brackets to
clarify the word
library.

modules to be incorporated if required are

Watkins and Simpak libraries. According to
Watkins, the base functionality of a
Doublesimulated library has features such as

Quote of more than

two lines to be
blocked and set
separate from the
main text.

spaced.

a random number generation which

helps to soordinate insertion, an entity
modelling, a resource modelling, a queue
modelling,
scheduling
and result Single-spaced.
collection as well as analysis. The result
modelling is in fact a very crucial feature
in a simulated library.
(1993, p. 57)
Year and page
number.

Paraphrasing Information
When you paraphrase someones work, you need to
-

First, read the text a few times, understand it and then provide
words/phrases/ synonyms containing the same meaning in the sentences.

Then, re-write the sentences using the words/phrases/synonyms that you

have provided.

Next, check to make sure that your text and the original text have the same
meaning.

When you paraphrase information from someone else, you can choose to
emphasize either the information first or the author first.

When you emphasize the author, the authors surname appears first,
followed by the year of publication. The year of publication appears in
parenthesis after the surname.
e.g. Samson (1993)found that males have better quantitative ability and
visual-spatial ability than females whereas females have better verbal
ability and verbal creativity.

Some commonly used reporting verbs are:

e.g. Say, find, claim, argue, maintain, state, assert, discover, demonstrate,
prove
The choice of verb must reflect the attitude or stand taken by the researchers
cited. E.g. If an idea is proposed, it would be false to report that it is proved.

Points of Language
When emphasizing the author(s), you should consider the following:
a)

Whether the finding of the study is a fact.

b)

Whether the finding is limited to a particular

study and cannot be extended to all similar situations.

c)

Whether the author is only suggesting or

proposing.

In all cases, the reporting verb is often in the Past Tense.

VERB TENSE (emphasis on author)
a) When the finding is a fact, the reporting verb is in the Past Tense but
the complement is in the Simple Present Tense.
e.g. Stanley (1998) observed that examinations are usually held in very
low-temperature rooms in most parts of Asia.
b) When the finding is a suggestion, the reporting verb is in the Past Tense
and the complement uses modal auxiliaries/verbs.
e.g. Tan (1987) suggested that examination halls should be warmer as
the warmth stimulates thinking.

When you emphasize the information, the authors surname and year of
publication appear in brackets at the end of the information. In the case of
citing from journals, the pages from ehich the information is taken, must
appear as well.

e.g. Most examination halls throughout the world have been found to be too cold
for good mental stimulation (Andersen, 1993; Hartono, 1995); Brown, 1999).

Males in the USA consistently outscored females in the Maths portion of the
Scholastic Aptitude Test(Andersen, 1993, p.55).
Points of Language
Verb tense (emphasis on information)
a) When you are reporting facts that are generally accepted, use the Simple
Present Tense.
e.g. PCs are a common feature in most professional offices (Stanson, 1997,
p. 14)
b) When you use several authors to support one statement of fact which you
are emphasizing, you should use the Present Perfect.
e.g. Several studies have shown that there is a correlation between good
diet and brain development (Cheah, 1966; Burns, 1977; Swaminathan,
1997).
Element III Gap in Research
[What is missing from the previous research?]
This is a statement or two that sums up all previous research and pointing the gap that
needs to be addressed. There are several ways to show there is indeed a gap:

The research so far is inadequate because some elements have been left out.

There is a difference in opinion amongst researchers in what they have found so

far.

There is a possibility of new ideas in the same research area.

Points of Language
Signal Markers/Transitions

Certain signal markers/transitions are commonly used to indicate the beginning of this
element: Although, though, while, however, but

e.g. While mush research has been done on Y, little information is available on Z.
However, there is little known about the X-factor in character development.

Element IV Present Research

[What does this study plan to achieve?]
This part refers to what your study is going to be about i.e. the objective of your study.
e.g. Therefore, this study plan to evaluate the effectiveness of using a thimble to minimize
waste of water or water loss.
There are two ways to present this information:

State the objective under the Introduction

State the objective of the study as a final element in the Review of Literature
section.

To avoid confusion, state the objective clearly under the Introduction section and re-state
it in the Review of Literature section too.
Ordering of Information
There are several ways of organising your Review of Literature section:
1) Follow the chronological order. Information is presented from the earliest to the
latest.
e.g. A number of studies have been conducted on A (Smith, 1990; Hung, 1995;
Johnson, 2000) since the early nineties. Recently, Olsen (2001) also studied the
effects of A on B and discovered that .
2) Arrange your sources from the most distantly related information to the mostrelated information, or from general to specific.

e.g. Many studies have been done on volcano eruptions int South East Asia
(Karim, 1986; Winston, 1990, Suharjo, 1992). There have also been studies
conducted on the effects of these eruptions especially in Java (Samson, 1988;
Borno, 1989). In recent years, there has been a surge in the research on volcanic
activitites and its effects on crop cultivation
3) Organize information by comparing studies carried out in a particular field,
weighing the pros and cons.
e.g. Several studies have proven that A indeed has the power to control the mind
and take over the motions (Jung, 1956; Stan, 1972; Burton, 1980). In recent
years, B has been cited as the most powerful tool for mind control. Although
recent studies all support B, it has come under attack by several other researchers
who feel that it is unsafe to be aware of what is happening during the process
(Song, 1989; Kamal, 1995).