Narrow your topic. Writing a literature review about all scholarly works that pertain to human movement would be an impossible task. Focus on limiting your topic to a specific idea that is rigidly defined. This will help you decide how many sources you want to include. Remember, the assigned length determines how many works you should include. For example, if you are only expected to write 1,500 words, it would be impossible to include 50 published arguments.
Use search tools to gain an overview of your topic. For graduate schools, you need to focus on scientific publications that have been peer reviewed. Libraries, online search engines and Google Books are great places to start. Journal databases are an excellent tool for discovering what others have written about your topic and provides an overview of the scientific discourse. For human movement, Human Kinetics Journals online offers several periodicals that focus on scientific inquiry relevant to the field. Search engines like Google Scholar will highlight major contributors' names, making it easier to track what they have written.
Read an overview. This will provide insight into what has already been written about your topic. Furthermore, most overviews begin with a literature review, offering an excellent example for you to follow. Journal articles are an excellent resource for overviews, as they provide detailed information in a shorter, summarized version. Graduate school is where you learn the fundamentals of writing a literature review and you can familiarize yourself with the requirements for scientific inquiry by reading overviews.
Establish a focal point. A literature review is a central argument about your sources, not merely a list about what others have said. Your literature review should find a thread that connects the information you have collected. This can include the methodologies, theories or results presented by other authors in the field. Choose a certain debate that is relevant to your area of human movement and use this to guide your literature review.
State your thesis. In your thesis statement you should present your argument about the literature, highlighting the focus that you have selected to write about. Many people forget that literature reviews are essentially an argument about an insight into what others have written. For example, if you are focusing on the new toning shoe trend, you could present a common thread in scholarly works about the shoe and your thesis statement could reflect this core focus by emphasizing that scientists have primarily dismissed claims made by manufacturers. You can include previous experiments or investigations into the shoe's health benefits, focusing on the scientific findings about the shoe.
Organize your information. A literature review should follow that standard outline for a paper, including an introduction, body and conclusion. Your introduction should present your thesis and a basic overview of the topic, which may include a history of research into the topic, what early scholars believed and the current prominent interpretation. The body should outline what others have written about the topic, including how and what they say. The conclusion should summarize what you have already presented and may also include directions for future scientific investigations.
Manage your sources. Group your sources into categories based on the information they present. This can be done based on methodology, chronology, theory or results. The key is to ensure that you write in narrative form, identifying the scientific discourse.Your paper will be evaluated based on how well you remain focused on your argument and thus it is important not to veer off topic. This will help you to write a coherent literature review. Be sure to summarize what others have said and to cite where the information came from. Failure to cite a source can result in accusations of plagiarism and may also result in being dismissed from your graduate program.
Proofread your work. Scientific research requires proper grammar and presentation style. Ensure that your work follows the established guidelines. Make sure your citations use the correct format. These small adjustments make the difference between an acceptable and an unsuccessful literature review.