Telling a Research Story: Writing a Literature Review

Feak, Christine B.; Swales, John M.

doi:10.3998/mpub.309338

Cited by 113 publications

(81 citation statements)

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“…To understand both the SLR approach and how it differs from traditional 'narrative' approaches, we examine the aims and underlying assumptions of both. Table 1 summarizes and compares key characteristics derived from the SLR literature (Knipschild, 1995;Atkins and Louw, 2000;Kitchenham, 2004;Kitchenham andCharters, 2007, Okoli andSchabram, 2010;Cruzes and Dybå, 2011) and those from a broad literature on literature reviews in IS and beyond (Hart, 1998;Webster and Watson, 2002;Finn, 2005;Levy and Ellis, 2006;Schwarz et al, 2007;Ridley, 2008;Feak and Swales, 2009;Machi and McEvoy, 2012;Bandara et al, 2011;Wolfswinkel et al, 2013;Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic, 2014).…”

Section: Slrs Vs Traditional Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In addition, in contrast to medicine where well-established quality criteria exist for medical trials, in the social sciences methodological diversity does not clearly place some research approaches above others (Denyer and Tranfield, 2009). Furthermore, the aim of literature reviews, as numerous works and guidelines on literature reviews explain, is not merely the 'extraction of facts' from a set of publications, but the development of understanding that will allow the formulation of insightful research questions that are thoroughly argued on a basis of a critical assessment of relevant knowledge (Hart, 1998;Webster and Watson, 2002;Finn, 2005;Levy and Ellis, 2006;Davies and Beaumont, 2007;Schwarz et al, 2007;Ridley, 2008;Feak and Swales, 2009;Machi and McEvoy, 2012;Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic, 2014). It is therefore fair to say that it is impossible to 'objectively' select and integrate results from different and diverse studies as part of a review, in a way that is independent of researchers' subjective judgment and understanding (Hammersley, 2001).…”

Section: Systematic Literature Reviews (Slrs)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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On being ‘Systematic’ in Literature Reviews in IS

Boell

Ćećez-Kecmanović

2015

Journal of Information Technology

300

218

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General guidelines for conducting literature reviews often do not address the question of literature searches and dealing with a potentially large number of identified sources. These issues are specifically addressed by so-called systematic literature reviews (SLRs) that propose a strict protocol for the search and appraisal of literature. Moreover, SLRs are claimed to be a 'standardized method' for literature reviews that is replicable, transparent, objective, unbiased and rigorous, and thus superior to other approaches for conducting literature reviews. These are significant and consequential claims that -despite increasing adoption of SLRs -remained largely unnoticed in the information systems (IS) literature. The objective of this debate is to draw attention of the IS community to SLR's claims, to question their justification and reveal potential risks of their adoption. This is achieved by first examining the origins of SLR and the prescribed SLR process and then by critically assessing their claims and implications. In this debate, we show that SLRs are applicable and useful for a very specific kind of literature review, a meta study that identifies and summarizes evidence from earlier research. We also demonstrate that the claims that SLRs provide superior quality are not justified. More importantly, we argue that SLR as a general approach to conducting literature reviews is highly questionable, concealing significant perils. The paper cautions that SLR could undermine critical engagement with literature and what it means to be scholarly in academic work.

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Section: Slrs Vs Traditional Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Systematic Literature Reviews (Slrs)mentioning

confidence: 99%

On being ‘Systematic’ in Literature Reviews in IS

Boell

Ćećez-Kecmanović

2015

Journal of Information Technology

300

218

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…While the research story can be another term for literature review (Feak, Swales 2009), in this case it refers to encapsulating the key aspects of a research project in a way that non-academics, as well as academics, can fully appreciate the significance. The inherent difficulty is epitomised by Krueger's (2015) comment that "Canada's social scientists and humanists have traditionally struggled to communicate their world-class research beyond academic circles".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Research Impact Through the Use of Media

Czaran

Wolski

Richardson

2017

Open Information Science

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Increasingly researchers and academic research institutions are being asked to demonstrate the quality and impact of their research. Traditionally researchers have used text-based outputs to achieve these objectives. This paper discusses the introduction and subsequent review of a new service at a major Australian university, designed to encourage researchers to use media, particularly visual formats, in promoting their research. Findings from the review have highlighted the importance of researchers working in partnership with in-house media professionals to produce short, relatable, digestible, and engaging visual products. As a result of these findings, the authors have presented a four-phase media development model to assist researchers to tell their research story. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for the institution as a whole and, more specifically, libraries.

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“…Literature review is "a defining feature of nearly all academic and research writing" (Feak & Swales, 2009), whose communicative purpose is to convince the reader of the worth of the writer's study (Bunton, 2002). A large number of previous studies on literature reviews (e.g., Hart, 1998;Boote & Beile's, 2005;Machi & McEvoy, 2009;Dawidowicz, 2010) concern how to assess literature reviews or provide guidance about literature review writing for novice academic writers, and all these studies emphasize the importance of evaluation and coherent argument in literature reviews.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation in Moves: An Integrated Analysis of Chinese MA Thesis Literature Reviews

Xie¹

2017

ELT

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The ultimate communicative purpose of literature reviews is to convince the reader of the worthiness of the writer's research, which is realized stage by stage and evaluation plays an important role in achieving this end. However, concerns about evaluation demonstration in novice academic writers' literature reviews have been repeatedly voiced in academia. This study examines how Chinese English-major MA students utilize evaluative resources in different rhetorical stages in thesis literature reviews and whether in a way that facilitates building a coherent argument for their own studies. To achieve this, an integrated appraisal analysis applying Martin and White's (2005) appraisal framework with a move analysis based on Kwan's (2006) model of the move structure of thesis literature reviews is undertaken. Results show that the Chinese students generally manipulate evaluative resources in a way that is beneficial for realizing the purposes of different rhetorical stages in thesis literature reviews. However, they also have problems in deploying generic structure and constructing evaluative stances, which hamper weaving a strong argument in the texts. Findings of this study provide implications for teaching English academic writing in China and in other L2 contexts as well.

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Telling a Research Story: Writing a Literature Review

Cited by 113 publications

References 0 publications

On being ‘Systematic’ in Literature Reviews in IS

On being ‘Systematic’ in Literature Reviews in IS

Improving Research Impact Through the Use of Media

Evaluation in Moves: An Integrated Analysis of Chinese MA Thesis Literature Reviews

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