ABSTRACT

This chapter illustrates the process used by many professional writers and researchers in getting started. Any kind of academic writing is to decide what students will write about, but the specific path they follow in working through this step will vary depending on their purpose for writing a literature review. The several steps are: define students general topic; familiarize themself with the basic organization of thier selected online database; begin their search with a general keyword, then limit the output and identify narrower topic areas if students initial list of search results is too long. The steps also include: increase the size of students reference list, if necessary; consider searching for unpublished studies; start with the most current research, and work backward; search for theoretical articles on their topic and look for review. The steps further include: articles identify the landmark or classic studies and theorists and assemble the collection of sources students plan to include in their review.