Literature Reviews

Maximise the quality, scope and appropriateness of the literature you review. When commencing a search:

• Determine key concepts and issues surrounding them
• Establish terminology so you can develop lists of key words and synonyms to use in your search
• Encyclopedias and key articles will often introduce topics and provide lists of key references

Reviewing a good range of the available literature on your topic is an important consideration. The tips below may be useful in helping you search for literature, and decide what literature to include in the scope of your review: 

• Consider the age of resources as appropriate for your review
• Use a variety of resources - books, journal articles, theses, conference papers and reports
• Search by keyword, subject, and also author
• Evaluate the information - is a journal refereed (peer-reviewed)? Is a source authoritative?
• Develop good referencing skills
• You can broaden your search by looking laterally for literature in related fields

Online guides that may help with your literature search

Research Essentials: Want to revisit the fundamentals of library research? The Research Essentials guide is a good starting point.

Finding Thesis: Looking for examples of other theses to learn from and be inspired? The Finding Theses guide is highly recommended, especially for PhD students.

Staying Current: Want to keep up-to-date with the latest research? Visit the Staying Current guide for tips and tricks to setup alerts and manage information flows for you as a researcher.