Research Project Preparation Course Writing Literature Reviews (part 1) Slides prepared by Marwah Alaofi
Outlines of today s session Strategies for finding research projects What is the literature review The role of the literature review Strategies for locating related literature Exploring library resources 2
Finding Research Projects Appropriate research projects do NOT fall from trees and hit you on the head. Following are a few strategies that are often helpful for novice and expert researchers alike: look around you: In many disciplines, questions that need answers phenomena that need explanation are everywhere
Finding Research Projects (cont.) Read the literature: Little can be gained by reinventing the wheel! Your research project might: Address the suggestions for future research that another researcher has identified Replicate a research project in a different setting or with a different population Seek the advice of experts What needs to be done? What burning questions are still out there? Attend professional conferences If not possible, you can, at least, have a look the students posters
Motivations vs. Objectives
Literature Review Why? All research, whatever the discipline, needs to be situated in relation to what has already been done in the field. So the first step in any project is "research about research". This might mean: finding out what is already known about a topic, in order to locate gaps and justify the research being undertaken locating the work of important theorists whose ideas will inform the research identifying useful methodologies, methods and documentary sources to provide background information needed to understand the study; 6
Where is the literature? 'Literature' can include a range of sources like: journal articles conferences proceedings dissertations
What Are Academic Sources? In researching for essays and other academic tasks, you will usually be looking for relevant information in academic sources. Academic (or scholarly) The quality of a work of writing which seeks to clarify, explain and extend concepts belonging to the topic and discipline. An equivalent term is scholarly. Academic works include: journal articles, monographs, books of edited readings, conference papers, working papers and theses. Peer reviewed (or refereed) articles You might be required to use academic journal articles that are peer reviewed. Peer review is a formal quality control process whereby a scholarly article submitted to a journal is evaluated by several recognised experts in that discipline. These judge whether it makes a sufficient contribution to knowledge in the discipline and is of a sufficient standard to justify publication. Academic book manuscripts and many conference papers are also commonly peer reviewed.
How to Identify Academic Sources? Abstract: The first page of an academic article usually includes an abstract (summary) Length: They are usually substantial (eg at least 8 pages) References: Extensive reference to past research is a key feature of academic works. References are recorded in footnotes or in a reference list at the end of the article. Author affiliations and qualifications: Does the author hold a position in a university or a recognised research organisation relevant to the discipline? Author information, often including contact details, is usually included on the first or final page of an article. Often an article has more than one author. In a monograph of readings there may be a separate section with brief details on the contributors. Appearance and format: Academic articles are text based, and can include tables, figures and charts, but little other illustration or advertising. The body of the document is divided in to sections such as: Introduction; Literature Review; Methodology; Results; Discussion; Conclusion; References Publisher: Is the publisher an academic publishing house, university, research organisation, professional body or other recognised authority producing research?
Key Databases in IT-related Areas These databases are useful starting points: ACM Digital Library: Full-text journals and proceedings of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) since the 1950s. AIS electronic library (AISel): Provides access to ten highly regarded information systems journals and access to AIS conference proceedings. Business Source Complete: This business database also covers business related ICT academic and professional literature. IEEE Explore: Comprehensive covearage of IEE and IEEE publications including journals, transactions and conference proceedings since 1994. Includes all current IEEE Standards. Proquest Computing: Wideranging coverage of academic and professional literature in the ICT discipline. Also includes product reviews.
Google Scholar Google Scholar is a subset of Google which searches specifically for scholarly material on the web. It locates journal articles, theses and dissertations, books, conference papers and other research material from a variety of sources. Strengths: Accesses multiples types of documents (articles, books, conference proceedings) Helps identify who is publishing in particular areas of research Results are ranked by relevancy Be aware that: Content is not always equivalent to the scholarly or peer-reviewed content in databases Difficult to perform a specific search with precise results Citations can be incomplete, and can only be exported one at a time
Tips for Using Google Scholar Refine your search by publication name, authors and date. Create Alerts. Make use of the cited by feature!
Using Taibah University Library to Locate Academic Sources 1.Locating books in the library catalogue. 2.Locating books in the digital repository. 3.Locating journal articles and conference papers in academic databases
Locating Books in the Library Catalogue 1 2
Locating Books in the Library Catalogue 3
Locating Books in the Digital Repository
Locating Journal Articles and Conference Papers
Searching Databases Effectively What is the topic? What are the key concepts? Are there other ways to express these key concepts, in order to widen the search? Link each key concept set with AND, to obtain records which contain at least one of the terms from each concept set: Evaluate the records retrieved, and modify the search accordingly
References Leedy, P.D., Ormrod, J.E. (2005): Practical Research: Planning and Design. 8th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J. Library guides at Monash University. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2015, from http://guides.lib.monash.edu/index.php