In scientific work, literature review is an important part. Literature review contains references to previous studies with similar objects, problems, or theories to our work.
Literature is supporting material for a study. Therefore, researchers are required to read many sources of literature to have broader insights and references in developing their study. Here are some easy ways to write a literature review that Pruf Ritz has summarized for you.
Take advantage of technology
In writing a literature review, you need to read many credible books, journals, or conference proceedings. Fortunately, now we can take advantage of technology to find some references on Google Scholar, the website of the national library, or campus websites containing reports of students’ scientific works.
After collecting some references, you should filter them to fit your study topic by making a simple mind map or concept map. You can also enter the right keywords to find data sources and relevant literature easily. Entering specific keywords may be helpful, too. For example, when you are looking for information on media analysis, enter keywords about a specific media to be analyzed to get the right results.
Last, the time-based search filter can help you find the references you want. You can set the search filter to only display references from the last few years or months to get the most recent literature.
Compile existing data
The next step is to compile the data obtained from previous studies. You need to organize them to help you understand and rewrite them easily in the literature review section.
Group the literature by theme, method, or theory used. Then, you can use Zotero, Mendeley, or My EBSCOhost to manage and store data sources, compile footnotes, and write a bibliography more easily.
Analyze the collected data
At this stage, you need to compile and compare the data obtained from the previous stage. You can start finding the connection between one data to another and group them. Double-check all data and analysis and sort them out as needed. Don’t forget to write down the citations or literature sources to acknowledge the authors of these sources. This way, we can avoid plagiarism.
Writers often compile literature reviews only to complement their study, so most of the time it seems like they only review a piece of literature and be done with it. The correct thing to do is to carry out an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the literature and the study so that the readers can clearly understand what the researcher describes in his study. Literature review basically provides justification and supports the methodology, results, and conclusions of the study.
Find sources in foreign languages
Don’t be afraid to use sources in foreign languages if data sources in the local language are still limited and the study topics have not been found. Writers can actually find new deeper things with the help of sources in foreign languages. Limiting literature sources based on language can actually hinder the development of the study you are doing.
Find foreign language journal websites using keywords that have been translated into foreign languages. If you find it difficult to understand the journals due to language limitations, you can use a translation service.
Pruf Ritz can help you translate the foreign language data you need so that you can write scientific works more easily. Pruf Ritz aims to help more people express their bright ideas by using language as a powerful tool in establishing strong communications.
