LDRS 612: Systems Thinking - Writing a Literature Review: Step 1: Getting Started

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Make sure you understand the nature of the assignment by reviewing these questions. Please see the course assignment in D2L/Brightspace.

• How long (in total pages) should your review be?  4-5 pages (Research log, literature review, annotated bibliography for 6 sources, additional sources do not need annotation).
• How many sources should be included?  6-10 sources
• What types of sources (books, journal articles, websites, etc.) are permitted?
            All of the above and at least: 2 scholarly articles, 2 books, 2 trade publications or websites
• Is there a publication date requirement (for example, published in the last 10 years)? No.
• Should you summarize, synthesize, or critique the sources? Yes.
• Should you evaluate the sources? Yes.
• Should you provide other background, such a definitions or a historical overview?  Yes, and overview of the Baldrige Award Criteria.  Please see the course assignment in D2L/Brightspace.

Article databases index popular, professional/trade, and scholarly journals (or peer reviewed). Peer reviewed or refereed articles refers to the process in which articles are reviewed by professionals in a field of study before being published. A journal's website should explain the publishing process and if it is peer reviewed or not. Many times, professors use the term peer reviewed and scholarly articles synonymously.

CRITERIA	SCHOLARLY	POPULAR	PROFESSIONAL/TRADE
AUTHOR	Researcher, scholar, or specialist with expertise in the subject; author's credentials are provided	Journalist or staff writer; paid to write articles; may or may not be an expert in the subject	Usually practitioners and professionals in the field (has subject expertise)
AUDIENCE	Experts, scholars, researchers, professors and students in the field	General public	Professionals in the field; may appeal to the general public
PURPOSE	In-depth report of original research/findings written by the researcher; communicate scholarship	Current events and general interest stories; may report about other's research; to entertain and inform	Report current news, trends, and products about a specific industry; share practical information for professionals in the field
TONE	Scholarly or technical jargon or terminology	Accessible and readily understood by a larger audience.	Professional jargon or terminology
REFERENCES	Sources are cited in a bibliography, references, endnotes, or footnotes	Rare	Few, if any, sources cited
REVIEW	Refereed or reviewed by scholars in the field	Editor	Editor
LENGTH	Usually 5+ pages; often includes an abstract, goals and objectives, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion	Usually short, a few pages	Usually short, a few pages
ADVERTISING	Little to none; occasional ads for professional organizations or publications	Numerous ads for a variety of products and services	Many ads for products, services, and organizations related to the profession or trade
FREQUENCY	Issues published quarterly, semi-annually, or annually	Issues published weekly or monthly	Issues published weekly or monthly
EXAMPLES
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION	A book review or editorial published in a scholarly journal does not fit the criteria for a scholarly article.

This chart will help you determine whether an article is scholarly or popular in nature.

Faculty usually require scholarly articles for a literature review project.  They may use the following terms interchangably to identify scholarly journals.

• peer-reviewed articles
• refereed articles or journals
• juried articles or journals

Once you have a full understanding of the assignment, it's time to choose a topic.  Here are a few general suggestions to get you started.  Additional suggestions are found in Step 2.

• Choose a strong topic, and one that you are interested in.  Avoid topics that are too narrow, or have little or no published research.  Make sure you are interested enough in the topic to be able to live and breathe it for several months.
• Brainstorm for ideas.  Write down ideas as they come to mind.  What topics have you studied in class that pique your interest?  Are there issues in your work environment that would be interesting to study?
• Once you have a list of several potential topics, narrow it down to three, and do some exploratory searching for information on each one.
• Know when to broaden or narrow the topic.
  • broaden: not finding enough resources
  • narrow: finding too many resources
• If you are having trouble with the exploratory searches, make an appointment with a librarian for help.
• You may also want to visit with your professor for help in defining a topic.