This Second Edition of Diana Ridley's bestselling guide to the literature review outlines practical strategies for reading and note taking, and guides the reader on how to conduct a systematic search of the available literature, and uses cases and examples throughout to demonstrate best practice in writing and presenting the review. New to this edition are examples drawn from a wide range of disciplines, a new chapter on conducting a systematic review, increased coverage of issues of evaluating quality and conducting reviews using online sources and online literature and enhanced guidance in dealing with copyright and permissions issues.

Diana Ridley is a Senior Lecturer at the TESOL Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, UK where she supervises research students in the fields of English language teaching and academic literacies

List of tables and figures	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. x
About the author	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
What is a literature review?	p. 2
The literature review at different degree levels	p. 4
Why is it important to undertake a literature review as part of your research?	p. 6
Where do we find the literature review in a dissertation or thesis?	p. 6
Structuring your literature review	p. 20
Task 1.1 Choosing a literature review approach	p. 20
Summary	p. 21
Overview	p. 21
The multiple purposes of a literature review	p. 23
The multiple purposes	p. 23
Historical background	p. 25
Contemporary context	p. 28
Theoretical underpinnings	p. 30
Definitions and discussion of terminology used in the research	p. 33
Signalling a gap in previous research and using this to justify your own	p. 35
The significance of a problem for research	p. 36
Task 2.1 Reflecting on your own research	p. 39
Summary	p. 40
Sources of information and conducting searches	p. 41
What is a literature search?	p. 41
What are the purposes of a literature search?	p. 42
Sources of information	p. 43
Evaluating online sources of information	p. 47
Different types of research	p. 48
Tools for finding relevant sources	p. 49
The process of conducting a literature search	p. 53
The use of key words and Boolean logic	p. 57
Keeping up to date: ESS feeds and email alerts	p. 58
Social bookmarking	p. 59
Task 3.1 Tracking and recording your search	p. 60
Summary	p. 61
Reading and note-taking strategies	p. 62
Techniques for reading efficiently	p. 63
Critical reading	p. 65
Increasing your reading speed	p. 66
Reasons for note taking	p. 67
Techniques for note taking	p. 67
Three main formats for note taking	p. 69
Your own comments	p. 69
Handwritten notes vs computer notes	p. 70
Making connections between different texts: using key words	p. 70
Making connections between different texts: a tabular comparison	p. 72
Techniques for writing a summary	p. 73
Task 4.1 Applying the principles to your field	p. 78
Summary	p. 78
Reference management: keeping records and organising information	p. 79
Managing the process	p. 79
A record of key word searches	p. 80
A record of bibliographic details	p. 81
A personal library	p. 84
Copyright legislation	p. 84
Bibliographical software packages	p. 86
Task 5.1 Record keeping for your own research	p. 96
Summary	p. 96
Structuring the literature review	p. 98
The processes involved in the creation of a literature review	p. 98
Beginning to write	p. 99
The structure of the literature review	p. 100
Developing the structure of your review	p. 104
Task 6.1 Structuring your own literature review	p. 106
The relationship between the introduction and the literature review	p. 107
Task 6.2 Reflecting on your own research field	p. 116
Summary	p. 117
In-text citations	p. 118
Why do we reference?	p. 119
What is plagiarism?	p. 119
What type of information requires a reference?	p. 122
Referencing systems	p. 123
Integral and non-integral references	p. 124
Disciplinary difference in reference type	p. 127
Types of citation	p. 128
Disciplinary difference in citation type	p. 131
Choice of reporting verb	p. 132
Disciplinary difference in reporting verbs	p. 132
Tense of reporting verb	p. 133
Choice of tense in the clause or sentence where the information is reported	p. 135
Effective and unacceptable citations	p. 136
Text matching software: Turnitin	p. 139
Task 7.1 Analysing reference techniques in your own research field	p. 140
Summary	p. 140
Being critical	p. 141
The difference between critical reading and critical writing	p. 141
Being critical in writing	p. 142
How different researchers adopt a critical approach in their writing	p. 144
Task 8.1 Critical writing in your own research field	p. 156
Summary	p. 156
Foregrounding writer voice	p. 157
What is writer voice?	p. 157
The organisation of the text	p. 159
Unattributed assertions followed by support from citations	p. 159
Making explicit connections between citations	p. 160
Summary and evaluation of source material	p. 160
Overall summary at end of section or chapter	p. 162
The use of personal pronouns	p. 162
The choice of citation pattern	p. 167
The evaluative potential of different reporting verbs	p. 169
Evaluative adjectives, adverbs and phrases	p. 171
A mixture of evaluative strategies	p. 172
Task 9.1 Reflecting on the writer's voice in your own research	p. 174
Summary	p. 174
The continuing process	p. 175
The literature review process	p. 175
Referring to the literature in your discussion chapter	p. 177
Task 10.1 Reflecting on making the connections in your own research	p. 187
Findings support an existing theory	p. 178
Comparing a new model and an existing theory	p. 179
Explaining a finding using the literature	p. 180
Contribution of current research to existing theory	p. 181
Interpreting the data using the literature	p. 183
Application of theory to the findings	p. 184
Summary	p. 187
A systematic literature review	p. 188
What is a systematic literature review?	p. 188
The process of conducting a systematic literature review	p. 190
What is a meta-analysis?	p. 192
Narrative synthesis	p. 195
An example of a systematic review	p. 198
Appraisal of a systematic literature review	p. 200
Task 11.1 Searching for and critiquing a systematic literature review in your field	p. 201
Summary	p. 201
Further reading	p. 202
Conclusion	p. 203
Electronic guides	p. 204
References	p. 207
Index	p. 211
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