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Preparing the literature review

Tips and tricks that I both teach and practice - Part 2 of 2

Stephanie Decker FAcSS FBAM

Jun 20

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Last, we discussed finding the literature (snowball metaphors included). But realistically, whether you are a student or an experienced (interdisciplinary) researcher, there is one thing that remains a problem…

There’s too much to read!

Most students don’t know that reading academic texts strategically will help them speed up their reviewing — and that AI is not necessarily quicker, or indeed better.

So here is the advice I give students — and which I received as an undergraduate at the University of Cologne, back in the days where the library catalogue was still on paper…

File:Schlagwortkatalog.jpg - Wikimedia Commons — Ah the “Zettelkatalog” — that used to be our Google Scholar back in the day… Image from Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schlagwortkatalog.jpg

Don’t read from start to finish — academic books and articles are not novels
Start with the abstract, followed by the introduction and conclusion (if the abstract seemed relevant)
Once you have read these sections, you decide whether to read the article or if you are only reading some sections
The same applies to books, which may not have an abstract, but certainly have an introduction and a conclusion (most of the time…)
Learn to speed-read, and only read closely when you have identified something relevant

But, while that is all well and good, how to remember all the relevant sections, and integrate them into a coherent review?

How to take notes on your reading

The rest of the blog looks at a range of note-taking techniques, including resources and templates for the well-known Cornell method, which uses three different sections: the main notes, the “cues”, and the summary.

Referencing software, which is pretty essential in my view, also has note-taking functions, and depending on which one you use, you can combine approaches quite easily.

If you need something more systematic, the post includes a structured Excel template for you to download, which provides a clear approach to summarising a large body of literature.

Finally, some tips and tricks to put all these notes together into a coherent and convincing literature review that’s easy to follow and that sets up your ideas and contributions just so...