Food Wastage and the Environment
Literature Review Guidelines
Adapted from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Writing Center: http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html
What is a Literature Review
Generally, the purpose of a review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles.
Writing the Introduction
In the introduction, you should:
Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern, thus providing an appropriate context for reviewing the literature.
Point out: overall trends in what has been published about the topic; or conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps in research and scholarship; or a single problem or new perspective of immediate interest.
Establish the following:
Sequence: organization of the review
Scope: state why certain literature is or is not included (scope).
Tip: It is often useful to write the introduction last. that way, you have already written the body of the review, and you have a more clear view of the scope, sequence and overall flow of the review.
Writing the Body
In the body, you should:
Group research studies and other types of literature (reviews, theoretical articles, case studies, etc.) according to common denominators such as: qualitative versus quantitative approaches, conclusions of authors, specific purpose or objective, chronology, etc.
Summarize individual studies or articles with as much or as little detail as each merits according to its comparative importance in the literature, remembering that space (length) denotes significance.
Provide the reader with strong "umbrella" sentences at beginnings of paragraphs, "signposts" throughout, and brief "so what" summary sentences at intermediate points in the review to aid in understanding comparisons and analyses. Good transitions help create ease of reading.
Writing the
Adapted from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Writing Center: http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html
What is a Literature Review
Generally, the purpose of a review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles.
Writing the Introduction
In the introduction, you should:
Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern, thus providing an appropriate context for reviewing the literature.
Point out: overall trends in what has been published about the topic; or conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps in research and scholarship; or a single problem or new perspective of immediate interest.
Establish the following:
Sequence: organization of the review
Scope: state why certain literature is or is not included (scope).
Tip: It is often useful to write the introduction last. that way, you have already written the body of the review, and you have a more clear view of the scope, sequence and overall flow of the review.
Writing the Body
In the body, you should:
Group research studies and other types of literature (reviews, theoretical articles, case studies, etc.) according to common denominators such as: qualitative versus quantitative approaches, conclusions of authors, specific purpose or objective, chronology, etc.
Summarize individual studies or articles with as much or as little detail as each merits according to its comparative importance in the literature, remembering that space (length) denotes significance.
Provide the reader with strong "umbrella" sentences at beginnings of paragraphs, "signposts" throughout, and brief "so what" summary sentences at intermediate points in the review to aid in understanding comparisons and analyses. Good transitions help create ease of reading.
Writing the
Citations: You should use in-text citations following the APA Guidelines: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/students/intext.html