How to structure your literature review
Your Literature review will have specific sections/chapters which should be identified within the contents page. Although apparently separate they must flow from one to another. This will help to promote overall cohesiveness within your completed project.
REMEMBER AT EVERY STAGE YOU MUST JUSTIFY YOUR
DESCISONS & ACTIONS.
Abstract (300 words NOT INCLUDED IN THE WORD COUNT, compulsory)
?What the project set out to do.
?What themes you identified in the literature.
?How you integrated these themes to reach your conclusions.
?What conclusions did you draw?
Introduction
An overview of what will be in the main body must be presented
?Rationale for choice of topic area.
?Include why the topic is important, interesting, problematic or relevant.
?The parameters of your topic – (what it includes and excludes?).
Determining your project themes:
Your project themes provide the focus for the review and for the issue you are investigating.
After you have finished reading the literature/research and you embark on writing your review from your notes, you will want to revisit these themes and use them as a framework for your discussion.
With your theme, you are defining your topic not just describing the topic of your research.When developing your theme you will be comparing and contrasting and critically analysing.
Search & Selection
? An accurate and detailed description of how & where you searched, and how you selected your resources.
? You may want to include a chart (can put in appendix) to show your key terms (search vocabulary)/ hits/limiters. You will also need to support your actions /choices with literary evidence.
? you will be also discussing Boolean operators
? you need to present how physical items were searched for
Each stage will need to be supported with research evidence
Literature Review
?A more narrow and focused review of previous, relevant work done on your topic area.
?You must compare and contrast the material presented, highlighting similarities and differences as well as showing progress to the understanding within the evidence-base.
?You can approach this in various ways including chronologically or thematically, the choice is yours so long as you justify it.
?You need to comment on the quality of the research and support this.
?Your aim is??
To develop and discover new meaning and insight into the subject area, each insight of knowledge or information should be presented in the context of other information.
?Your line of argument needs to be developed logically in paragraphs.
?You can express your opinion through the evidence and examples.
?Include, and comment on, evidence of literature which contradicts your argument in order to demonstrate depth
?Demonstrate your ability to critically evaluate the literature by commenting on its strengths and weaknesses.
?Remember your discussions need to have detail, a salient point, making sure it is explicit enough to demonstrate comprehension.
?Conclusions/ Recommendations
?Do not underestimate the importance of the conclusion – it is the last thing the reader reads. It should give your writing a sense of completeness and leave a lasting impression on the reader.
?There is no one correct way to write a conclusion but you might think about the following:
?Show how your ideas, your examples and your references have combined to support your line of argument.
Conclusion cont.
?Bring your paper full circle by echoing the introduction. Talk about the topic now with the hindsight of having developed your ideas in the body of your review.
?Acknowledge where there are opposing viewpoints which might qualify your argument.
?Pose questions which still remain to be answered or further explored or require further study.
?Emphasise key material.
?Point out the importance of the implications and recommendations for the future, which came out of the review
References (Evidence based references only. Not too much website references e.g. No Nursing times or patient.com instead NMC,NICE and relevant Journals,books and articles)
?Must use current Harvard Guidelines available at:
http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/referencing.htm
?Include details of all the sources you used in your project.
?Remember that you should include ONLY the references you used in your project and NOT all the sources you read but might not have included in your work these can be catalogued within a ?bibliography?.
Writing the Literature Review
?Always begin with an introduction to the review & end with a summary
?Make the connection for the reader between the subtopics & the topic
?Use direct quotations infrequently
?Always cite your sources
?Present your knowledge on the topics & subtopics
?Summarize each subtopic
?Include a transition paragraph from one subtopic to the next
For example if the subject you choose is
?The nurse?s/social carers role in managing care for a patient with long term conditions?
Sub-headings maybe:
1. What is a long term condition:
Within this sub-heading you with need to cover all aspects of this subheading, using a wide range of literature from a wide range of sources including: Books, articles, commentaries, policy, recommendations, National Service Frameworks, Acts of Parliament, standards, research studies (please note the methods of the studies will need to be critiqued briefly demonstrating you understanding of the research process, the critique should be supported with evidence from research literature LO3).
2. Care needed for a patient with a long term condition:
Within this sub-heading you with need to cover all aspects of this subheading, using a wide range of literature from a wide range of sources including: Books, articles, commentaries, policy, recommendations, National Service Frameworks, Act of Parliament, standards, research studies (please note the methods of the studies will need to be critiqued briefly demonstrating you understanding of the research process, the critique should be supported with evidence from research literature LO3).
3. The role of the nurse/health or social care practitioner or course specific:
Within this sub-heading you with need to cover all aspects of this subheading, using a wide range of literature from a wide range of sources including: Books, articles, commentaries, policy, recommendations, National Service Frameworks, Act of Parliament, standards, research studies (please note the methods of the studies will need to be critiqued briefly demonstrating you understanding of the research process, the critique should be supported with evidence from research literature LO3).
The example above is meant as a guide only and you should discuss you chosen topic and the subheadings with you tutor in individual or group supervision.
