THE LITERATURE REVIEW

1. THE LITERATURE REVIEW Political Science 102 Introduction to Political Inquiry Lecture 10

2. WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW? A body of research and writing on a particular topic. E.g. �the literature on public opinion and foreign policy� or �the literature on democratic stability� A literature review is a systematic examination and interpretation of a literature Created to inform and shape subsequent research There are no set �boundaries� for literatures Overlap in complex ways No categorization scheme for research into �literatures� Necessary scope for each literature review is idiosyncratic and determined by the research topic

3. PURPOSES OF A LITERATURE REVIEW Learning about what others have discovered Ensure we don�t reinvent the wheel Narrowing or focusing a research topic Motivating and developing a specific research question Discovering the data, methods, and research strategies others have used Identifying research questions that have not been answered Define the original contribution of current research

4. SOURCES FOR THE LITERATURE REVIEW Research topics may come from many sources: Personal sources (your own experiences) Non-scholarly sources (news media) Scholarly sources (academic books or journals) Literature review may begin with non-scholarly sources Motivate research question and spark reader�s interest But literature must move from non-scholarly literature to scholarly research Demonstrates state of current scientific knowledge Ensures current research is part of a scientific dialogue

5. WHAT IS �SCHOLARLY RESEARCH?� Defining characteristic of scholarly research is peer review Scientific knowledge cumulates through public dialogue and replicability Best check we have against error and fraud Ensures research evolves as a conversation Peer review is generally a double-blind process Scholars submit research in anonymous form and editors send it to scholars who send in anonymous reviews Process is slow and can be idiosyncratic Closest thing we have to a �fair� process Multiple journal outlets help correct for bias and idiosyncracies

6. WHAT ARE THE PEER REVIEWED OUTLETS? Many journals and presses are peer reviewed Some have obvious academic names (e.g. American Political Science Review, Princeton University Press) But you can�t tell just by the title When in doubt � check the website! Peer reviewed publications WILL identify themselves If the outlet does not self-identify as peer reviewed � not a �scholarly� outlet. Non-scholarly does not mean �wrong� or �bad� Works are appropriate for literature review But literature review should build beyond them to peer reviewed work

7. FINDING SCHOLARLY LITERATURE Electronic databases are a great resource Google Scholar (not just a Google search) Web of Science (SSCI) JSTOR (for anything more than 5 years old) Begin with simple keyword searches Then search for work cited in the work you find SSCI feature: Citation trees Reading article abstracts, book prefaces, and book or literature reviews are also useful Google Books and� your very own Duke Library are great for finding books.

12. STRUCTURING A LITERATURE REVIEW NOT a series of article or book summaries �Boxcar� approach Make a conceptual �storyline� for the literature What are key concepts and causal claims? How have they evolved? First goal is to integrate previous research conceptually and methodologically Second goal is to explain how this new research both complements and moves beyond previous work

13. ENOUGH ALREADY? Common questions: �How many sources are necessary in a literature review?� There is no single answer to this question Answer depends on scope of project and state of literature But there are some broad goals First goal is appropriate scope Have you articulated the key concepts and causal claims the new research examines? Second goal is balance If the concepts or causal claims are debated, have you articulated the competing perspectives?