Improving the Literature Review Process:

Owned by Darlene Edgar
Nov 25, 2023
2 min read

Lubke, J., Britt, V. G., Paulus, T. M., & Atkins, D. P. (2017). Hacking the literature review: Opportunities and innovations to improve the research process. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 56(4), 285-295. https://search.proquest.com/docview/1916977696?accountid=142373

  1. Call for Improvement:

    • Advocacy for less biased and more systematic literature reviews.

    • Emphasis on the role of digital tools in scholarly publication workflows.

  2. Challenges with Physical Paper Literature Reviews:

    • Distribution of papers in digital format but the final submission is often in digital form.

    • Transitioning between physical and digital environments is cumbersome.

    • Citation management systems (CMS) play a crucial role.

  3. Librarians' Role:

    • Librarians should better understand digital workflows to support scholars.

  4. Use of PDFs:

    • PDFs are the norm and can be marked up with notes in a single text file for topic searches and visualization.

  5. Concerns with Cloud-Based Solutions:

    • Some scholars have privacy and security concerns.

    • Challenges include technology skills, organization, avoiding information overload, file format changes, storage options, familiarity bias, and discipline-specific concerns.

  6. Integration Challenges:

    • Integrating search and retrieval with organizing and archiving poses a challenge.

  7. Digital Tools Disintegration:

    • Scholars sense disintegration when using digital tools.

  8. Qualitative Data Analysis Software:

    • Utilized for documenting the process and literature analysis.

Implementation Stages:

  1. Stage One - CMS Selection:

    • Choose a digital tool (CMS or cloud storage) for source organization.

    • Factors for CMS selection include availability, cost, online storage capacity, collaboration features, PDF annotation support, and discipline-specific concerns.

    • Back up sources, preferably in the cloud.

  2. Stage Two - Annotation:

    • Annotate sources on a digital reader or mobile device.

    • Consider notating PDFs outside the CMS and then importing.

    • Use digital readers, tablets, or mobile devices for easier annotation.

    • Flatten PDFs to make annotations readable on other devices.

  3. Stage Three - QDAS Program:

    • Upload annotated sources to a qualitative data analysis software (QDAS) program for synthesis.

    • Choose software supported by your institution.

    • Read and annotate before uploading for clearer analysis.

    • Use coding or labeling for systematic retrieval and analysis.

    • Utilize features like a network view and memo tool to understand the argument and capture insights.

    • Save analysis in an archival and shareable file.

  4. Back to CMS for Meta-Data Extraction:

    • Return to the CMS to extract meta-data from the sources.