Doctoral Seminar

Introduction

This guide will help you curate a reading list that shows how you’re identifying, deciphering, and assembling conversations in the literature about your area of research interest. It accompanies a search plan template.

1. Doing a Literature Review

For a research paper or dissertation, the overarching goal is to figure out what scholarship exists about your area of research interest so you can:

• track the narrative to date,
• identify where your research fits,
• make contributions to knowledge in your field. 

Doing a narrative literature review isn't about finding some articles, it's about tuning into ongoing conversations in the literature.

From the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), "scholarship as conversation" involves:

• citing the work of others
• critically evaluating others' contributions
• summarizing changes in perspectives over time
• identifying the contribution that different works (articles, books, etc.) make to disciplinary knowledge
• contributing in different domains (e.g. local online community, guided discussion, peer-reviewed publication, creative output)

Figure 1

Goals for Narrative Literature Review

It can be challenging because:

1. You don’t yet know the plot when you’re just starting out. There can be deep uncertainty to sit with as you figure out how the pieces fit together.
2. There are many possible narratives to tell. Two people doing a review on the same topic can continue the narratives in different directions.
3. There is so much 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Some research is published through formal channels (journals), some is unpublished (conference papers, theses), some is in alternative formats (podcasts), some is ephemeral (conversations, seminars), some is indexed in structured databases,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.

2. Drafting a Search Plan for Peer-Reviewed Articles

A search plan details the databases, terms, and tactics you'll use to uncover literature. Documenting what you do as you go will help manage the three challenges listed above. It will also help you:

• you save time,
• feel confident that your review is thorough,
• explain how you got your results.

Tip! Do You Have Any Seed Articles?

Seed articles represent the kind of research you want to find. They're key works that directly relate to your area of research interest. You can use them to do the following.

Figure 2

4 Things You Can Do With Seed Articles

Choose Your Databases

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

Identify Search Terms

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, see what terms get used in the title/abstract.

Use Database Search Tactics

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

Use 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. Citation Mapping

Citation mapping is a way of tracking conversations across the literature. The example below shows the citation activity within a group of articles about adventure therapy.

Figure 3

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

Why not try Citation Tree with an article you're currently reading! Tools like this can help you visualize citation relationships between articles.

4. Synthesis Matrix

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

• Synthesis matrix template (Google Doc).