Doctoral Residency Week

Table of Contents

1. Literature Review 2. Searching 3. Literature Review Tools 4. Synthesis Matrix 5. Worksheet

Introduction

This guide accompanies an in-class workshop about literature review.

OBJECTIVE: draft a working plan for reviewing the literature.

1. Literature Review

THE PRODUCT: A literature review is a survey of research about a particular topic.

• It's specific - focuses on a research question.
• It's selective - includes a curated selection of research.
• It's a synthesis - brings together discussions from across the research.
• It's a starting point - identifies where your research fits into the picture.
• It shows accountability - demonstrates how you're tuning-in to others' work and voices responsibly.

THE PROCESS: There are different ways to review literature. Your methods need to fit your goals for the project at hand.

• Where types of literature are you looking for?
• What keywords will get you good results?
• What search tactics will help you identify relevant studies?

The rest of this guide covers THE PROCESS to help you move toward your literature review goals. There's a lot of literature out there … and in different places! Some research is published through formal channels (journals), some is unpublished (conference papers, theses), some is in alternative formats (podcasts), some is ephemeral (conversations, seminars), some is indexed in structured databases, some is discoverable through search engines, some is behind paywalls.

Figure 1

Three Goals for Reviewing the Literature

2. Searching

a. Article Databases

There is a list of databases relevant to Social Work. Choose databases to search for your topic based on the descriptions.

• Limit results to peer-reviewed.
• Discover key articles.
• Recognize key scholars.
• Avoid missing important results.
• Cut out irrelevant results.

b. Keywords

What are the major concepts in your topic? What are some synonyms or alternate terms you can use? 

• Consider the terms typically used in research literature.
• Google "synonyms for ..."
• If you have an on-topic article ("seed article"), see what terms get used in the title/abstract.

c. Field Searching

• Use the drop-down beside a search box to find terms in specific areas of results. Codes beside each field tell the database where to search for a term.

Example: ti("adverse childhood experiences") in PsycINFO (all results will have the term in titles).

d. Limits

• You can limit results to peer-reviewed or scholarly.
• A date limit is also sometimes useful.

e. Search Tactics

Try using some of the following database search tactics to get better results.

f. Subject Headings

• These are controlled terms from a database thesaurus that are assigned to articles.
• Different databases have different thesauri, which affects the subjects you use.
• Note: you'll usually see a link to the "Subject Headings" or thesaurus in a database's menu.

3. Literature Review Tools

a) Citation Management Software

• Zotero is a free citation management tool.
  • Manage all sources in one place.
  • Create folders and subfolders for projects.
  • Store, read, annotate PDFs.
  • Save screenshots from websites.
  • Access sources from any browser.
  • Create group libraries.
  • Create and update in-text citations and references automatically.

b) Citation Mapping

Citation mapping is a way of tracking conversations across the literature. Try Citation Tree is one example. Tools like this can help you visualize citation relationships between articles. 

Figure 2

"The Use of Adventure Therapy in Community-Based Mental Health" Citation Map

c) AI Tools for Literature Review

There are specific Generative AI (GenAI) tools intended to facilitate different parts of literature review, such as:

• Brainstorming topics
• Refining research questions
• Finding connected sources
• Summarizing information

You’ll find examples of AI tools for these activities in this guide: Emerging AI Tools for Literature Review (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology).

There are several important reasons why you should avoid relying on the well-known free tools as a primary or sole source for academic research.

1. Limited language model
   • GenAI queries a large language model made up of public, freely available data (web pages, Wikipedia, etc.), and does not include much academic or peer-reviewed content. As of August 2025, Reddit and Wikipedia now dominate ChatGPT citations.
2. Lack of source transparency
   • GenAI doesn’t cite sources unless explicitly asked, and even then, it can generate fake or inaccurate citations. This makes it unsuitable for producing verifiable, citable academic content.
3. Potential for inaccuracy
   • While GenAI is generally reliable, it can produce confident-sounding but incorrect or misleading information, especially in niche or rapidly evolving fields.
4. Lack of critical analysis
   • GenAI summarizes well but does not engage in deep, critical thinking or original analysis, which is essential for high-quality academic work.

You should acknowledge AI if you use it for your literature review process. There are acknowledgement templates in Laurier’s Generative AI Guidelines.

4. Synthesis Matrix

Adapt a synthesis matrix like the one linked below to compare studies across the literature.

• Synthesis matrix template (Google Doc).

5. Worksheet