PSYC 221, Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (Andrea Hughes): Doing a Lit. Review

The UFV Academic Success Centre offers advice on academic writing. Individual help is obtained booking an appointment. In Abbotsford, the Academic Success Centre is in G126; in Chilliwack,  A1204.

They also provide a variety of handouts.

• Gather examples of current research.
• Read the articles thoroughly.
• Make notes, noticing the trends of research that will become clear as you read.
• Summarize each article into a line or two and group similar articles together.
• Write a first draft with introduction, body of essay and conclusion.
• The body of the essay will be a discussion of current research trends using the summarized articles that you have found.
• Try to use vocabulary that is academic, using keywords from the article.
• Read your work aloud or to someone else to see if everything makes sense
• Consolidate ideas and make corrections.
• Write final draft.

To find examples, go to PsycINFO and use the literature review limiter (near the bottom right hand corner). See screenshot.

PLEASE NOTE: Limiting to literature review helps you see what type of paper you are trying to write. Do not use these as part of your literature review.

You are trying to find articles that are related about your subject and that are research studies.

There is one type of article that can pose a trap in your review. It is the systematic review. It is a literature review (the type of article that you are not allowed to review) but it looks like a research study.

Here is an example:

If you look at the article you will see headings for method, results, and conclusion; but you need to also notice that it is looking at several studies and comparing them:

"Six studies in dementia, two studies in VaD (one study reported both dementia and VaD) and two meta-analyses met the selection criteria."

When you come to review the articles for your assignment,  you will find yourself getting confused. You are not just reviewing 4 articles but you are reviewing 10 that are hidden in one.