Jumpstart Your Thesis/Dissertation Conference 2023

Covering All the Bases

Getting a Great Start on Your Literature Review

Scott Curtis & Dr. Jason Alston

Features image from CC BY-NC-ND Corey Templeton

What is a Literature Review?

Literature Reviews are more than a bibliographic listing or a simple summary of sources.

The literature review structure usually include both summary and synthesis.

• Summary: Recap of important information
• Synthesis: Re-organization of information, providing a contextual interpretation of your research, or tracing the development of the theories and research in a given discipline

For more tips like this, see the handout Literature Reviews (CC BY-NC-ND The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Features image of Waseda University Team (Japan, 1921), catcher J. Nagano and second baseman J. Kuji, from Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Consult with your Team

Talking with your advisor and other research team members can help you

• Get a few starter reference sources
• Identify some keywords
• Refine your topic/research statement

Talking with UMKC Librarians (getting a Research Consultation, for example) can help you

• Identify more keywords
• Find subject-specific databases
• Locate open access repositories
• Create discipline-specific search strategies

• Work with sources in the Graduate Writing Resources research guide.

Features image from CC BY Ted Kerwin

Use the "Snowball Technique"

When you find a great article...

1. Check the "References" or bibliography section for other interesting articles to check out
2. If the database has a "Cited By" link, click on it to see who has cited this great paper and how they've been using it in their research

Features image from CC BY-NC-ND Big West Conference

Set Up an Alert for New Research

EBSCO databases make this easy!

1. Conduct your search in an EBSCO database
2. Click on "Share"
3. Click on "Email Alert"
4. Set how frequently you want the search to be run - you will then receive e-mail updates on new results according to that schedule

Features CC0 (Public Domain) image of Archie Ware of the Cleveland Buckeyes (Negro American League), 1948

Keep a Record of How You Conducted Your Search: Search Methods

Include things like this that help you document your search process.

1. Name of database/discovery tool
2. Keywords used
3. Search strategy, eg. "keyword1 in Subject" and "keyword2 in Abstract" in "This database"

"If you don't know here you are going, you might wind up someplace else." - Yogi Berra

Features Image from CC BY Paul L Dineen

Keep a Record of How You Conducted Your Search: Key Findings

The gems you find can be used to generate more searches by using metadata like:

1. Journal titles
2. Book titles
3. LC Classification numbers and ranges of books of interest
4. Prominent authors doing research in my field
5. Common subject headings associated with articles you like

Features a Public Domain image (via WikiCommons) of a baseball scoring book scoring a game between County Engineers and City Treasurers,, Seattle, Washington, U.S., 1930.

Cover the Bases...with Your Notes!

Take lots of notes while reading! Write down things like:

• Interesting pieces of information
• Insights on how to structure your review
• Thoughts/reflections on what you are reading and how you might use this resource in your writing
• You can do Notes within Zotero to keep things organized

Features CC0 (Public Domain) image via PxHere

Keep Focused, but Don't Overdo It!

Don't include any resources just for the sake of including them - the resources need to have a story to tell in terms of you research (e.g. background theory, analytical methods, earlier experimental results, important literary criticism, etc.)

Balance that focus against the need to include enough resources (and context) to make the review intelligible to practitioners who aren't sub-discipline specialists.

Features Public Domain image (via WikiCommons) of Thelma “Tiby” Eisen, who played outfield in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1944-1952. Here with the Grand Rapids Chicks, 1945.

Be Critical, Be Consistent

"Reviewing the literature is not stamp collecting. A good review does not just summarize the literature, it discusses it critically, identifies methodological problems, and points out research gaps."

(See “Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Literature Review” by Marco Pautasso for more of these tips, with a STEM focus)

Features a Public Domain image (via WikiCommons) of Luis "El Mulo" Padrón Otorena playing for the Long Branch / Jersey City / Poughkeepsie Cubans, the first U.S. minor league baseball team composed almost entirely of Cubans., 1916.

A Note on Currency of Sources

Find the most up-to-date literature on our topic, including preprints or in-press articles if possible, but don't neglect the older studies that show a field of inquiry's overall direct and achievements.

Features a CC0 (Public Domain) image of Charlie Bastian and Denny Lyons, players with the Philadelphia Quakers (later called the Phillies), circa 1887, via picryl

Advice From Someone Who's Done It

• Interlibrary loan: use it!
• Consider copy editor just for lit review
• There could always be more
• Visit other libraries if possible
• Google Scholar: Friend or foe?
• Reach out to various archives

Swing for the Fences!

Way to connect with UMKC Librarians:

E-mail us!

Use the Chat service!

Schedule a meeting for a Research Consultation with a librarian!

Features image "Playing Baseball". 1991 Artist: Sieger Hartgers. via National Archives NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive

Any Questions?

Features image of Duke Ellington and band members playing baseball in front of  the “Astor Motel,” their segregated lodgings, while touring in Florida, 1955 via LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection (Library of Congress, Rights Information)