Literature review is a compulsory component in a research procedure. The most significant factor is the researchers should empathize 'the importance of proper literature review and how to perform the literature review'. Unfortunately, many researchers believe that the literature review means but go through the existing literature and summarize them to be included in the literature review chapter. The purpose of this paper is to describe the nature of literature review, to explicate the importance of literature review, identify how to perform a proper literature review process in a enquiry report and to talk over the concept of Cooper'southward Taxonomy of Literature Review.

Bring together for complimentary

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Literature Review and Academic Research

T. L. Sajeevanie

Senior Lecturer

Department of Human Resources Direction

University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Literature review is a compulsory component in a research process. The most significant factor is the

researchers should sympathize 'the importance of proper literature review and how to perform the literature

review'. Unfortunately, many researchers believe that the literature review means just go through the existing

literature and summarize them to be included in the literature review chapter. The purpose of this newspaper is to

describe the nature of literature review, to explain the importance of literature review, identify how to perform

a proper literature review process in a research report and to discuss the concept of Cooper's Taxonomy of

Literature Review.

Indexed terms: Importance, Literature review, Perform, Purpose, Research Process,

I. Introduction

literature review can be identified as "the choice of bachelor documents (both published and unpublished)

on the topic, which incorporate information, ideas, information and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfill

certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to exist investigated, and the

constructive evaluation of these documents in relation to the research beingness proposed" (Hart, 1998, p.thirteen).

Conducting a literature review has many purposes. Every bit explained by Randolph (2009) "Conducting a literature

review is a means of demonstrating an author's knowledge about a item field of study, including

vocabulary, theories, key variables and phenomena, and its methods and history" (p.2). A first review of the

academic literature will helps to narrow down the wide problem and to develop a clear and specific problethousand

statement. A second review of the literature or critical literature review is essential in most research projects.

In both inductive and deductive research, a review of the literature volition assist to develop a conceptual or

theoretical groundwork. In deductive research, a literature review will also help the researcher to develop a

theoretical framework and hypotheses. In inductive research, it is not required to develop a theoretical

framework. A review of the literature will thus help the researcher to get familiar with relevant cognition

related to the problem that aims to solve (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). In addition to that, Randolph (2009)

has explained that literature review plays a role in; identifying the research problem, seeking new lines of

inquiry, avoiding fruitless approaches, gaining methodological insights, identifying recommendations for

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further research and seeking support for grounded theory. Further the author has quoted Hart (1998, p.27) as

Hart contributes additional reasons for reviewing the literature, including; identifying what has been done and

what needs to be done, finding out importance variables relevant to the topic, identifying new perspective,

identifying relationship between ideas and practices, establishing the context of the topic or problem,

rationalizing the significance of the problem, enhancing and acquiring the subject vocabulary, empathise the

structure of the subject, relating ideas and theory to applications, identifying the principal methodologies and

research techniques that accept been used and placing the enquiry in a historical context to prove familiarity

with state-of-the art evolution.

Still, the verbal purpose of a critical literature review depends on the research approach that is taken. In

general, a literature review ensures that:

The inquiry endeavor is positioned relative to existing knowledge and builds on this cognition.

One does not run the hazard of "reinventing the bicycle "; that is wasting endeavor on trying to rediscover

something that is already known.

Conducting a literature review is essential for developing a inquiry idea, to consolidate what is

already known about a discipline and to enable you to identify any noesis gaps and how you research

could contribute to further understanding (Winchester and Salji, 2016).

The background is available to enable you lot to look at a trouble from a specific angle, to shape your

thinking.

A articulate idea emerges equally to what variables will exist important to consider, why they are considered

important, and how they should be investigated to solve the problem.

The researcher is able to introduce relevant terminology and to provide guiding definitions of the

concepts in the theoretical framework.

The researcher is able to provide arguments for the relationships between the variables in a

conceptual model.

Testability and replicability of the findings of the electric current inquiry are enhanced.

(Sekaran and Bougie, 2016)

Writing a literature review requires a range of skills to gather, short, evaluate and summaries peer-reviewed

published data into a relevant and informative unbiased narrative. There are many sources like digital admission

to inquiry papers, academic texts, review articles, reference databases and public data sets. A formal

literature review is an evidence- based in depth analysis of a subject. Similarly a formal literature reviews are

a critical appraisement of a subject and are not only an bookish requirement just essential when planning a

research project and for placing research findings into context (Randolph, 2007).

2. Importance of Literature review

Conducting a literature review is essential for developing a inquiry idea, to understand what is already known

about a subject and to enable you to identity any noesis gaps and how the enquiry could contribute to

further understanding (Winchester and Salji, 2016). Similarly, a comprehensive literature review helps, to

identify a knowledge gap, to introduce a theoretical framework, to develop a conceptual framework, to discuss

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the findings of the study. Furthermore, it tin be explained the importance of literature review as, to develop

a research idea, (to identify what is already known and identify a knowledge gap), to evaluate the research

findings (support to identify other research findings that align or corroborates the findings and results that

differ, enabling to position the research in the field, literature review is also important for obtaining findings

to support research. Majority of literature reviews will focus on the findings of prior research, at that place are some

situations where literature reviews need to focus on the methodology of prior research. When conducting a

research report relevant theory/s need to be identified. Theory is a highly form of reasoning for why certain

events occur. There are two directions that the theory section can have once an overview of why the theory

pertains to the current research topic has been discussed. The 2d possible direction is to argue why a new

theory should be used and the shortcomings of other theories (Boote & Beile, 2005).

The importance of literature review in grounded theory research

Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss in 1967, (Ciaran Dunne, 2011) first proposed grounded theory, a research

methodology primarily associated with qualitative research. Grounded theory researchers are not focused on

testing hypotheses taken from existing the theoretical frameworks, but rather develops a new 'theory'

grounded in empirical data collected in the field. Within the field of grounded theory inquiry, the use of

existing literature represents a polemical and disruptive issue, which continues to spark debate.

In their original publication, The Discovery of Grounded Theory, Glaser and Strauss (1967) Explicitly

advised against conducting a literature review in the substantive area of search at an early stage of the

research process: 'An effective strategy is, at first, literally to ignore the literature of theory and fact on the

surface area under study' (1967, p.37) (Ciaran Dunne, 2011, p113).

There are many issues to discuss nether the topic of importance of literature review in grounded theory

research. In nutshell, that can be pointed out as "information technology is not very clever to rediscover the wheel, and the student

or researchers who is ignorant of the relevant literature is always in danger of doing the equivalent' (Coffey

& Atkinson, 1996).

III. How to conduct a literature review

As explained by Randolgh (2009, P.4) the stages for conducting and reporting a literature review parallel the

procedure for conducting a master research. Thursdayeast commencement step of a literature review involves the identification of

the diverse published and unpublished materials that are bachelor on the topic of interest, and gaining access

to these. The quality of a literature review depends on a careful selection and reading of books, academic and

professional person journals, reports, thesis, conference proceedings, unpublished manuscripts, etc. Academic books

and journals are in general, the most useful sources of information. The sources of resources need to make up one's mind

based on the nature and the objectives of the enquiry project. Following are the some of the sources available

for literature review.

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(1) Textbook

Textbooks are a useful source of theory in a specific expanse. An advantage of textbooks is that they can cover a

wide range of topics. Moreover, textbooks can encompass a topic much more thoroughly than articles can. A

disadvantage of textbooks is they tend to exist less up to date than journals.

(2) Journals

Both academic and professional person journals are important sources of up-to-appointment information. Articles in academic

journals take generally been peer-reviewed: This hateful that articles have been subject to the scrutiny of

experts in the same field before existence accustomed for publication. Research articles are very useful considering they

provide an overview of all the important enquiry in a specific area.

Review manufactures

Summarize previous research findings to inform the reader of the state of existing research. (They may or

may not contain a meta-analysis: a blazon of data analysis in which the results of several studies are combined

and analyzed as if they were the results of i large written report). Review articles are very useful they provide an

overview of all the of import researches in a specific area.

Research articles

Are reports of empirical enquiry, describing one or a few related studies. The conceptual background department

of a research commodity provides a meaty overview of relevant literature. Research articles also provide a

detailed description of the purpose of the report, the method(s) used, and results of the study.

(three) Conference Proceedings

Conference proceedings tin be useful in providing the latest research, or research that has non been published.

These are very upwards to date and not every manuscript presented at a briefing, publish in an academic journal;

hence information technology is required critically assess the quality of this information source.

As listed past Berg (2009, P. 389) the relative value order of these sources can be presented equally follows:

(ane) Scholarly empirical articles, dissertations, and books.

(2) Scholarly, non-empirical articles and essays

(three) Textbooks, encyclopedias, and dictionaries.

(four) Trade journal manufactures.

(5) Certain nationally and internationally recognized "good" newsmagazines.

Four. Evaluating the literature

The quality of the literature review is mainly depends on the quality of the source. Hence, it is required to

select carefully the relevant books and manufactures. A glance at the title of the articles or books volition indicate which

of them may be pertinent and which others are probable to be peripheral to the contemplated study. The abstruse

of an commodity usually provides an overview of thursdaydue east study purpose general enquiry strategy, findings, and

conclusions. An commodity'southward introduction besides provides an overview of the trouble addressed by the inquiry

and specific research objectives. The tabular array of contents and the kickoff affiliate of a book may assist you to assess

the relevance of the book. Similarly, a good literature review needs to include references to the fundamental studies in

the field. Articles and books that are often cited by others must be included in a skilful literature review, even

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if these manufactures and books were written 30 or even xl years ago. Work that is more recent should besides should

be incorporated in a adept literature survey.

In society to assess the quality of a research article information technology is required to inquire the following questions:

i. Is the principal research question or problem argument presented in a clear and analytical fashion?

2. Is the relevance of the inquiry question made transparent?

iii. Does this study build straight upon previous research?

4. Will the study make a contribution to the field?

5. Is there a theory that guides the enquiry?

6. Is the theory described relevant and is it explained in an understandable, structured, and convincing manner?

7. Are the methods used in the study explained in a clear manner?

8. Is the option of certain methods motivated in a convincing way (Justification of methods)?

9. Is the sample appropriate?

x. Are the enquiry design and/or the questionnaire advisable for this study?

11. Are the measures of the variable valid and reliable?

12. Has the author used the appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques?

13. Do the conclusions result from the findings of the study?

14. Exercise the conclusions requite a clear answer to the principal research questions?

xv. Has the author considered the limitations of the written report?

16. Has the author presented the limitations in the article?

The quality of the journal that published an article tin also be used equally an indicator of the quality of an commodity.

Moreover, it is important to consider the following questions in this respect:

• one. Is the periodical peer-reviewed (that is, do all articles have to undergo a review procedure before they

are published?)

• ii. What is the bear upon factor of the journal?

Five. Documenting the literature review

Documenting the literature review is important to convince the reader that, the researcher is knowledgeable

most the problem area and has done the preliminary homework that is necessary to comport the research and

a theoretical framework (in deductive inquiry) volition be structured on work already done and will add to the

solid foundation of existing knowledge.

Ethical Problems

When incorporating others work into our enquiry work, it is required to maintain advisable upstanding standers.

Following are the some important aspects that we should pay attention relating to ethics.

1. Purposely misrepresenting the work of other authors- that is, their viewpoints, ideas, models, findings,

conclusions, interpretations and so on.

ii. Plagiarism – the use of some other's original words, arguments, or ideas equally though they were your own even

if this is done in skillful religion, out of carelessness, or out of ignorance.

• Plagiarism is a blazon of fraud that is taken very seriously in the academic world, mainly because using

the work of others every bit if it were your ain does not convey much respect for the efforts that other people

take put into their work.

• There are many forms of plagiarism above and across copying and pasting text your own work.

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Table 01: Common forms of plagiarism

"The Ghost Writer"

The writer turns in another's work, word-for-word, equally his or her own.

"The Photocopy"

The author copies meaning portions of text directly from a single source,

without alteration.

"The Potluck Paper"

The writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sourcesouthward,

tweaking the sentences to make them fit together while retaining most of the

original phrasing.

"The Poor Disguise"

Although the author has retained the essential content of the source, he or she

has contradistinct the paper's appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases.

Sources cited (only still plagiarized)

"The Forgotten Footnote"

The author mentions an author's name for a source, but neglects to include

specific information on the location of the material referenced. This often masks

other forms of plagiarism by obscuring source locations.

"The Misinformer"

The author provides inaccurate information regarding the sources, making information technology

impossible to find them.

(Developed based on Sekaran and Bougie, 2016)

6. Referencing

Acknowledging the sources of the literature review is a very serious and an essential part in the inquiry

process. A bibliography is a list of work that is relevant to the chief topic of research interest arranged in

alphabetical order of the last names of the authors. A reference list is a subset of the bibliography, which

includes details of all the citations used in the literature review and elsewhere in the newspaper, arranged, again,

in alphabetical lodge of the final names of the authors. In that location are many modes of referencing are followed in

business research. Eg: APA Style (American Psychological Clan), Harvard Style. Main nosotros tin can refer

difficult copies of the relevant sources or soft copies of the relevant source. It is mandatory to cite all these sources

in the in-text references and finish-text references.

VII. Cooper's Taxonomy of Literature Reviews

Cooper suggests that literature reviews can exist classified according to v characteristics: focus, goal,

perspective, coverage, organization, and audience (Randolgh, 2009). Every bit shown in tabular array 2 the first

characteristic is the focus of the review. Cooper (1988) identifies four potential types of focus: enquiry

outcomes, research methods, theories, and practices or applications. The second characteristic is Goal. A

literature review has many goals. Cooper explains mainly two types of goals; Integration and Criticism

(critically analyzing the literature). The 3rd feature is perspective. The perspective taken depends

largely on whether the review is conducted in the quantitative or qualitative traditions. The fourth

characteristic is coverage. Cooper proposes iv coverage scenarios. The fifth characteristic is organization.

There are many formats in which to organize a review. Three of the most common are thursdaye historical format,

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the conceptual format, and the methodological format. The final characteristic of Cooper's (1988) Taxonomy

of Literature Reviews is audition. Eg: for a dissertation, the supervisor and reviewers of theastward dissertation are

the primary audition. The scholars within the field that the dissertation relates to are the secondary audition

(Randolgh, 2009).

Table 2: Cooper'due south Taxonomy of Literature Reviews

Source: Randolgh (2009). A guide to writing the dissertation literature review. Practical Assessment,

Enquiry and Evaluation, Vol xiv (13)

Determination

As explained above conducting a enquiry is a very significant task. Mainly, this task can exist performed in two

ways chosen quantitatively or qualitatively. There are some researchers who adopt to follow both this aspects

that category tin exist identified as mixed method. However, literature reviews vary depending on thdue east blazon of

inquiry questions being investigated past a report. The near of import factor is each of these mention categories

of researches, the success is depend on a disquisitional literature review procedure. Hence, in guild to avert the task

of 'reinvention of wheel' every researchers should understand the importance of proper literature review.

Thus, doing the literature review properly, and report the literature review results ethically and successfully,

are very serious steps in the research process.

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References

[one] Ciaran Dunne, 2011. The place of the literature review in grounded theory research, International Periodical

of Social Research Methodology, xiv:ii, 111-124.

[ii] Coffey, A., and Aktinson, P. 1996. Making sense of qualitative information: Complementary research strategies.

Thousand Oak.s, CA: Sage

[3] Berg, B.L. 2009. Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (7th ed.) Boston, MA: Allyn &

Salary.

[four] Boote, D.N., and P. Beile. 2005. Scholars before researchers: On the Centrality of the dissertation literature

review in enquiry preparation. Educational Research 34(6), 3-15

[5] Nathaniel, A.K. 2006. Thoughts on the literature review and GT. Grounded Theory Review, 5(2/3), 35-41

[6] Parris, D.L. and Peachey, J.W. 2013. A Systematic Literature Review of Servant Leadership Theory in

Organizational Contexts. Periodical of Business concern Ideals, Vol 113 (3), pp.377-393

[7] Randolph J.J. 2007. Meta-analysis of the effects of response cards on student achievement, participation,

and intervals of off-task behavior. Journal of Positive Behaviour Interventions, ix(2), 113-128.

[eight] Randolph J.J 2009. A guide to writing the dissertation literature review. Practical Cess, Research

and Evaluation Vol 14 (13).

[ix] Sekaran U and Bougie R 2016. Research Methods for Concern: A Skill-Edifice Arroyo, John Wiley

& Sons, Ltd, New Delhi.

[ten] Winchester C. and Salji M. 2016. Writing a Literature Review. Journal of Clinical Urology. Vol 9(5),

308-312.

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.

  • Ciarán Dunne Ciarán Dunne

For those employing grounded theory every bit a inquiry methodology, the effect of how and when to appoint with existing literature is frequently problematic, especially for PhD students. With this in mind, the current article seeks to offer some clarity on the topic and provide novice grounded theory researchers in detail with advice on how to approach the issue of the literature review in grounded theory. This is done by reviewing the origins of grounded theory, exploring the original stance taken past the founders of the methodology with regard to the literature review, tracking how this position has changed over time, outlining the rationale associated with specific positions and discussing ideas for reconciling opposing perspectives. Coupled with this, the writer draws on his own feel of using grounded theory for his PhD inquiry to explain how extant literature may be used and discusses how the nature of engagement with existing literature may affect upon the overall written presentation of a grounded theory study.

A thorough, sophisticated literature review is the foundation and inspiration for substantial, useful enquiry. The circuitous nature of teaching research demands such thorough, sophisticated reviews. Although doctoral didactics is a key means for improving education enquiry, the literature has given curt shrift to the dissertation literature review. This article suggests criteria to evaluate the quality of dissertation literature reviews and reports a report that examined dissertations at 3 universities. Acquiring the skills and noesis required to be education scholars, able to analyze and synthesize the enquiry in a field of specialization, should be the focal, integrative activeness of predissertation doctoral education. Such scholarship is a prerequisite for increased methodological sophistication and for improving the usefulness of education inquiry.

  • Catherine Winchester Catherine Winchester
  • Marker Salji

Formal literature reviews are a critical appraisal of a field of study and are not but an academic requirement but essential when planning a enquiry projection and for placing enquiry findings into context. Understanding the landscape in which you are working will enable you to brand a valuable contribution to your field. Writing a literature review requires a range of skills to gather, sort, evaluate and summarise peer-reviewed published data into a relevant and informative unbiased narrative. Digital access to research papers, academic texts, review articles, reference databases and public data sets are all sources of information that are available to enrich your review.

  • Denise Parris Denise Parris
  • Jon Welty Peachey

A new research area linked to ethics, virtues, and morality is servant leadership. Scholars are currently seeking publication outlets as critics debate whether this new leadership theory is significantly distinct, viable, and valuable for organizational success. The aim of this study was to place empirical studies that explored servant leadership theory past engaging a sample population in order to appraise and synthesize the mechanisms, outcomes, and impacts of retainer leadership. Thus, nosotros sought to provide an evidence-informed answer to how does servant leadership work, and how tin nosotros employ information technology? Nosotros conducted a systematic literature review (SLR), a methodology adopted from the medical sciences to synthesize research in a systematic, transparent, and reproducible mode. A disciplined screening process resulted in a final sample population of 39 appropriate studies. The synthesis of these empirical studies revealed: (a) there is no consensus on the definition of retainer leadership; (b) servant leadership theory is beingness investigated beyond a variety of contexts, cultures, and themes; (c) researchers are using multiple measures to explore servant leadership; and (d) servant leadership is a viable leadership theory that helps organizations and improves the well-existence of followers. This study contributes to the development of servant leadership theory and practice. In addition, this study contributes to the methodology for conducting SLRs in the field of management, highlighting an constructive method for mapping out thematically, and viewing holistically, new research topics. We conclude past offer suggestions for future research.

Authors Amanda Coffey and Paul Atkinson underscore the variety of approaches at the disposal of the qualitative researcher past using a single data set up—doctoral students and faculty members in social anthropology—that they analyze using a number of techniques. [This book] is not intended as a comprehensive cookbook of methods: Information technology describes and illustrates a number of key, complementary approaches to qualitative data and offers practical advice on the many ways to analyze data, which the reader is encouraged to explore and savour. [It is a] resource [for] students and professionals in qualitative and research methods, sociology, anthropology, communication, management, and didactics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Thoughts on the literature review and GT

  • A Thou Nathaniel

Nathaniel, A.K. 2006. Thoughts on the literature review and GT. Grounded Theory Review, 5(ii/iii), 35-41

A guide to writing the dissertation literature review

Randolph J.J 2009. A guide to writing the dissertation literature review. Applied Assessment, Research and Evaluation Vol xiv (thirteen).