Questions tagged [literature-review]
Questions about evaluating the current state of research on a topic by searching published material.
49
votes
6answers
10k views
How should I respond to a reviewer's complaint about self-citation?
Recently, I submitted an article and got a response from a reviewer that I cited 6 of my own articles out of 44. The reviewer said that it’s a cheap act of self promotion.
If I do not cite my own ...
1
vote
0answers
38 views
How to use a case study in a literature review?
I am writing a literature review and I may need to include three case studies. What is the best way to go about it? Am I allowed to include the whole case study for the reader's review and then ...
2
votes
1answer
42 views
Is it common to cite information from a think tank into one's literature review?
As I was researching information on topic X, I found a paper published by a Think Tank. Interesting enough, said paper supports the policy pushed by the Think Tank. So far, all sources used in my ...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
Equivalents of PubMed in other fields
I work in biomedical sciences, and whenever I need to look up an article - or find recent references about a certain field of biology - I just go to PubMed, because it collects information from the ...
2
votes
2answers
52 views
When writing a literature review, more specifically writing a summary for a source, is the use of quotes frowned upon versus paraphrasing?
Whereas I normally paraphrase information when I use a source for my literature review, I occasionally insert quotes (not to emphasize the information within the quote). All the reviews I've looked at ...
5
votes
1answer
109 views
What tense should we use when referring to a paper or experiments from other researchers?
While writing the literature review section, I am confused about which tense should I use (past, present perfect, or present) while referring to other people's work.
I understand that established ...
3
votes
1answer
71 views
When mentioning a source in my literature review, how much detail should I add?
After reading several literature reviews, I noticed how quick to the point authors were when they mentioned a study. By that I mean they only discussed the results found within that study and didn't ...
13
votes
4answers
3k views
When mentioning the author of a journal I am using in my Literature Review, should I mention author's credentials?
In my Literature Review, I mention the authors of the published papers I use and the results found in their study. My question is whether I should reference the author's credentials alongside the ...
2
votes
1answer
64 views
When summarizing my sources methodology for my literature review, must I add a citation?
My professor told me to critically summarize and evaluate each work (for its premise, methodology, and conclusion) I am including in my Literature Review. I understand that I should provide in-text ...
12
votes
2answers
354 views
MathSciNet reviews license
I have been asked to become a MathSciNet reviewer. I personally find the database very useful, but I am a bit held back by the fact the database is kept behind a paywall.
What is actually the ...
0
votes
2answers
116 views
Alternatives to Google Scholar for citation / lit search / BibTex entries? [closed]
Simple question: What alternatives are there to Google Scholar for finding citations, doing lit searches, and most importantly, downloading citation data in BibTex?
There are lots of specialized ...
27
votes
5answers
4k views
Should I cite a really bad research paper published in my small research area?
I am working on a special topic in applied math. We are trying to explore a new and largely unexplored area in our line of research. Our hope is to be the first researchers to have solid results in ...
3
votes
1answer
87 views
How to write/represent the state-of-the-art analysis in a research paper?
I have found that one of the most common remarks from the reviewers is regarding the "state-of-the-art". Especially in terms of applied research. Something like:
The authors have not discussed the ...
2
votes
2answers
59 views
How to find a list of all articles published by a particular journal?
My colleagues and I are looking into ways to get a list of all articles published for the history of a given journal. Primarily, we are looking to for a list that includes title, authors, year, ...
1
vote
2answers
53 views
Referring to previous literature review
How valid is to refer to previous literature reviews in other papers to 'create' a thorough review?
The thing is that I am working in a new methodology, which I will compare with the current state-...
0
votes
1answer
87 views
How to read without specific purpose?
Posting for a friend, but in first person for simplicity.
I am a research master student in linguistics of a particular language. In my bachelor thesis and some coursework I specialised on a very ...
5
votes
3answers
174 views
Comparison of current work to the state of the art in a (journal) paper
My last paper evaluations in journals (rejects/major reviews decisions) emphasized I should make more clear the novelty and strengths of my work in comparison to the state of the art.
Which style is ...
3
votes
2answers
197 views
Literature Review Tables: Plagiarism or Fair Use
I am in a debate regarding tables developed for a literature review which include Author, Year, Type of Study, Methods, and Results. I believe all components of the table should be paraphrased, but a ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Thematic synthesis in a systematic review paper [closed]
I have been currently conducting a systematic review. I used the classification framework approach, and I organized the articles in my field into three main categories (e.g. A, B, C). However, I am ...
1
vote
1answer
114 views
How to write literature review when several systematic reviews already exist
I'm currently getting stuck into writing the literature review for my PhD thesis. (Provisional literature review anyway, given that it's my first year.) In my field, there are two or three published ...
3
votes
3answers
259 views
Whom to cite when describing an argument in another paper that builds upon yet another paper?
There is a research Paper Y which presents some experimental result. The author has cited Paper X to justify and explain the reason of that result. I am writing a review paper and included the result ...
0
votes
2answers
64 views
Using the author's reasoning of experimental observations in literature review
I am writing a review paper and I came across many research articles in which the author tries to explain the cause of the experimental observation, where the observation was the aim and main output ...
3
votes
2answers
115 views
Writing a review article on a similar topic already published by other authors
There is already one review article on a topic of interest published few years ago. I want to write a review paper on that broad topic with some new insights.Can I cite the papers that are already ...
2
votes
2answers
84 views
Expected size of search results for a meta-analysis?
I'd like to perform a meta-analysis on the efficacy of web-based counsellor interventions across different modalities (text counselling, video counselling, etc.)
To do so I created the following ...
24
votes
2answers
4k views
Should I use only SI units of measurements in review papers?
I am writing a review paper and I came across a literature in which measurement of force is given in pounds and likewise for other quantities. In all the other papers, only the SI system of units is ...
7
votes
1answer
127 views
Postdoctoral grants for writing review papers
I am a PhD student in Bioinformatics at a big university in Canada working in the area of molecular biology and computational models. Due to the nature of medical research, we often approach very tiny ...
1
vote
1answer
49 views
Should patents be included in review articles?
If so, then how should one reproduce the patented drawings in the review articles without any copyright (IPR) violation ??
4
votes
2answers
113 views
How do I quickly describe the timeframe a topic became relevant?
In a single sentence in a homework for a historical overview I mention that:
Video games [in academia] became relevant only after the new milennium. Before that, topics concerning video games ...
1
vote
2answers
112 views
How do I reference a literature review?
I have a paper which is a literature review about a specific topic. How can I reference some texts from this literature review if I want to paraphrase that in my research proposal for PhD?
8
votes
4answers
681 views
Is it right to cite a retracted research article?
I was doing literature review and I came across a paper which is in the area of my interest but has been retracted because of duplicating the figures (technical drawings) of other papers.
Can I cite ...
5
votes
3answers
391 views
What is the minimum number of research articles that must be cited to write a review article?
I have extensively researched about a new area as part of my Doctoral research and want to write and publish a review article in some Science Citation Indexed (SCI) journal. But the problem is that ...
0
votes
1answer
89 views
Review article in an area already published few years ago [duplicate]
I want to write a review article in a particular narrow area of interest as part of my Doctoral research. But there is already a review article on that area published 2 years ago. So can I write a ...
37
votes
6answers
7k views
Is it reasonable to not study previous research to avoid bias?
I am currently a student at a tech school and otherwise unemployed. I’ve never been a scientist or published a paper.
So I am a little skeptical of some results I have been hearing about experiments ...
5
votes
1answer
121 views
Literature review and authorship
Let's say a research assistant has provided help on conducting a literature review and that some of the references are eventually used in a published paper. Would the research assistant normally get ...
36
votes
8answers
9k views
How to find a gap in knowledge, for my PhD? [closed]
I just started my PhD and this is my fourth week. I understand that as a PhD student, my main aim is to find a gap in the knowledge and then trace this gap by using scientific approaches that I might ...
7
votes
2answers
203 views
What strategies are there for finding literature for a literature survey when the terminology used is diverse?
I want to write a literature survey on a topic, let's say it's risk of crime due to a new technology, let's say due to the Gutenberg press. However, when I search for the overall theme (crime and "...
1
vote
2answers
60 views
Literature review both by keywords in title and sorting by publishing date
Is there any free online databases where I can do literature review by
(1) giving keyword(s) that occur in title
(2) at the same time, sorting by publishing date from newest to oldest?
I found ...
7
votes
2answers
399 views
Refuted papers: do they belong in a literature review?
I'm writing a detailed review article (for submission for publication) that aims to survey the various proposed explanations for a particular biological phenomenon. I'm aware of one explanation (that ...
0
votes
1answer
166 views
Tense for literature survey [duplicate]
I am writing a literature survey for papers from 2000 to 2017.
Should I use a present tense or past tense when I am describing methods that were used in those papers?
8
votes
2answers
582 views
How can I efficiently update a literature review (that got outdated due to being rejected three times)?
Two years ago a colleague and I conducted a full-text analysis-based systematic literature review regarding a specific topic in information systems. We’ve done it in the time span of three months. ...
2
votes
4answers
434 views
Can I cite an old book in my research proposal without having read it?
Here's a small dilemma. I have a few ideas that I am putting into the form of a research proposal. It borrows heavily from the insights of David Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage. Now, the ...
5
votes
1answer
154 views
How exhaustive should I be when enumerating works in a State of the Art
I'm currently writing my PhD thesis' State Of The Art.
I have subdivided the field of study. My problem is that I found my self on many occasions writing paragraphs as follows:
'Several authors ...
3
votes
2answers
131 views
Avoid plagiarizing other surveying authors when describing the work of a third
I'm currently writing the State of The Art chapter of my thesis.
To my advantage, there are many good surveys in my field. My views are not equal to other surveying authors, so the structure is not ...
1
vote
2answers
201 views
How do I go about writing a review?
I'm an agronomy major who's performing additional academic work as way of increasing my chances of getting into grad school.
This semester I'm going to be writing a literature review regarding plant ...
2
votes
1answer
328 views
What does “indicative” mean for the literature review
One reviewer of my paper commented the following:
The authors should clearly state that the literature they have
included in the introduction is indicative (both in the case of
experimental ...
0
votes
1answer
78 views
How to write summaries for literature survey? [closed]
My professor wanted me to write a short summary (one or two paragraphs max) on each paper. Focus on the salient of the method.
could I use the abstract sentences exactly or should I change the words ...
5
votes
3answers
387 views
Can reading book review substitute reading the whole book in a literature review?
This book has 570 pages, a lot of information about my research subject and several studies are included.
However, I don't want to spend my time reading it because one professor wrote already 12 pages ...
4
votes
2answers
179 views
Algorithms and review papers
Suppose a review of algorithms used to solve a particular problem is to be written. Is it considered plagiarism or malpractice if the algorithms to be reviewed are copied verbatim?
Do the algorithms ...
2
votes
2answers
429 views
Stylistically is it acceptable to include equations and formulae in a literature review?
I am writing a literature review as part of a master's thesis in mechanical engineering.
I am discussing the approach of one author and I was wondering whether or not it is acceptable to include ...
5
votes
2answers
613 views
How to identify the publications that cite two specific papers?
Finding the citations of any particular paper is straightforward.
But how do you identify the set of publications that cite two specific papers?
The reason I am asking this is because I am trying ...
