Searching the Literature

“It is the framework which changes with each new technology and not just the picture within the frame.” -- Marshall McLuhan (Canadian communications theorist Educator, Writer and Social Reformer, 1911-1980)

Serious researchers know that the first step in any new area of research is to see what has already been done.  In other words, it requires a search of the literature.

As an experienced researcher, you know how to conduct a comprehensive literature search.  But how about your research assistant?

Save yourself some time and frustration … have your research assistant read the following article.  It is directed at people in the Information Systems arena, but the basic principles are broadly applicable.

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Excerpts from:
Informing Science Journal Volume 9, 2006
A Systems Approach to Conduct an Effective Literature Review in Support of Information Systems Research
Yair Levy and Timothy J. Ellis
Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences,
Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA
levyy@nova.edu ellist@nova.edu
Free Full Text Source: http://www.scs.ryerson.ca/aferworn/courses/CP8101/CLASSES/ConductingLiteratureReview.pdf

Abstract
This paper introduces a framework for conducting and writing an effective literature review. The target audience for the framework includes information systems (IS) doctoral students, novice IS researchers, and other IS researchers who are constantly struggling with the development of an effective literature-based foundation for a proposed research. The proposed framework follows the systematic data processing approach comprised of three major stages: 1) inputs (literature gathering and screening), 2) processing (following Bloom’s Taxonomy), and 3) outputs (writing the literature review). This paper provides the rationale for developing a solid literature review including detailed instructions on how to conduct each stage of the process proposed. The paper concludes by providing arguments for the value of an effective literature review to IS research. 

What is a Literature Review?
Novice researchers tend to approach the literature review as nothing more than a collection of summaries of papers or an elaborated annotated bibliography of multiple research manuscripts. A meaningful literature review is much more … Webster and Watson defined an effective literature review as one that “creates a firm foundation for advancing knowledge. It facilitates theory development, closes areas where a plethora of research exists, and uncovers areas where research is needed”
An effective and quality literature review is one that is based upon a concept-centric approach rather than chronological or author-centric approach. Bem noted that “authors of literature reviews are at risk for producing mind-numbing lists of citations and findings that resemble a phone book – impressive case, lots of numbers, but not much plot.”

With the increased use of electronic resources for library services, the speed at which researchers can find relevant literature increased dramatically. However, novice researchers should be fully competent in using such electronic resources in order to produce an effective literature review.

Keyword searching presents a classic cold-start problem for the novice researcher; how can one identify the applicable keywords for an unknown domain. The best source for keywords is, of course, the literature base for the domain and all articles reviewed should be read with an eye for potential keywords. Locating the first article can, however, be a considerable challenge … The keyword search should be just the initial, not the main step for a literature search. A common mistake by novice researchers … is to assume that the keyword search yields all that is available from the literature.

How to tell when you are done with the literature search? By default, the literature search process should continuously be done during the course of the study. As noted previously, the use of backward and forward literature search techniques should provide additional valid references as the search progresses. However, it may appear to novice researchers that this process is a never-ending one. From a practical perspective, one needs to stop the search and move on to the processing and writing (output) of the literature review. Thus, the question arises: “At what point should the process of gathering additional relevant literature end?” Leedy and Ormrod noted that one common rule of thumb is that the search is near completion when one discovers that new articles only introduce familiar arguments, methodologies, findings, authors, and studies.

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