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runaway lit review
- Thread starter sockit
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Does anyone have general advice for staying on track during a literature review? (It's like a terrible candy store. Terrible in that the candies all look great, but there are millions of them to choose from. You start out looking for gumballs and find yourself deep in the licorice aisle, while you're eyeing the chocolate almonds by the wall.)
Also, if anyone is trying to avoid using paper, what do you use to manage and annotate references?
Also, if anyone is trying to avoid using paper, what do you use to manage and annotate references?
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My first rule is to use articles less than 5yrs...or 10yrs old (unless you are referencing seminal and/or classic literature).
2nd, use maybe your top 25 articles per construct (Is this for dissertation or scientific paper? Even if it is not, you have to impose some arbitrary limits on yourself based on content and the points you are trying to convey.)
3rd use articles that have more than one reference point (i.e., you can reference the intro section, methods, and results; perhaps avoiding some articles that have only one point of reference).
And last, I save pdfs of all my articles (so I can eliminate paper) and use a word document (sometimes a excel spreadsheet) to annotate my articles. So far my dissertation has about 50-75 references, but I'll add more maybe before it's all said and done....but I have about 125 RELEVANT articles saved on my hard-drive, so we all have runaway lit reviews (in private), but I don't know where I picked up the tip to narrow it down to those articles that fully support my writing, and also do realize that when I'm searching & searching for more info...it may be avoidance behaviors that are preventing me doing th actual writing (which is the hard part, right?). Lit reviews are fun, time-consuming and important, but there comes a point when you have to sh-- or get off the pot...ha, know what I'm sayin'?
Good luck, sockit!
2nd, use maybe your top 25 articles per construct (Is this for dissertation or scientific paper? Even if it is not, you have to impose some arbitrary limits on yourself based on content and the points you are trying to convey.)
3rd use articles that have more than one reference point (i.e., you can reference the intro section, methods, and results; perhaps avoiding some articles that have only one point of reference).
And last, I save pdfs of all my articles (so I can eliminate paper) and use a word document (sometimes a excel spreadsheet) to annotate my articles. So far my dissertation has about 50-75 references, but I'll add more maybe before it's all said and done....but I have about 125 RELEVANT articles saved on my hard-drive, so we all have runaway lit reviews (in private), but I don't know where I picked up the tip to narrow it down to those articles that fully support my writing, and also do realize that when I'm searching & searching for more info...it may be avoidance behaviors that are preventing me doing th actual writing (which is the hard part, right?). Lit reviews are fun, time-consuming and important, but there comes a point when you have to sh-- or get off the pot...ha, know what I'm sayin'?
Good luck, sockit!
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And remember: Stick to the gumballs...the chocolates & almonds are interesting, but not what you set out for when you entered the candy store...allow yourself just a few pieces of tidbits from the other aisles, but only if it supports your main thesis...otherwise those 'other candies' become subsidiaries of your main point.
Thank you, CheetahGirl!! Amazing tips, all of them -- super appreciated!!!
Sorry not to have given a sense of the scope -- this isn't for a thesis, no; it's for an assignment for an upper-level seminar. My peers have got, max, ~40-50 references for theirs. I have so far accumulated (not yet read) about 250 articles :/ (see below for why!!!) I've read about 40 properly, and I'm worried that the relevant stuff is really further down my list. As I'm reading, I"m finding that although I thought I wanted a gumball, signs are suggesting the almonds are a better bet.
BUT, applying your suggestion to get an article that hits a couple of points at once, maybe it'd be ok if I used 2-3 references that covered, say, general neuro processes and related process A-2, instead of 15 for those ones. That makes a ton of sense
Thanks again!!
Sorry not to have given a sense of the scope -- this isn't for a thesis, no; it's for an assignment for an upper-level seminar. My peers have got, max, ~40-50 references for theirs. I have so far accumulated (not yet read) about 250 articles :/ (see below for why!!!) I've read about 40 properly, and I'm worried that the relevant stuff is really further down my list. As I'm reading, I"m finding that although I thought I wanted a gumball, signs are suggesting the almonds are a better bet.
BUT, applying your suggestion to get an article that hits a couple of points at once, maybe it'd be ok if I used 2-3 references that covered, say, general neuro processes and related process A-2, instead of 15 for those ones. That makes a ton of sense
Thanks again!!
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I struggled immensely with this early in my training. Still do to some degree. Literature search and data analysis are the two things I feel can always go on indefinitely...there is always another relevant paper to read or a modification to the analysis that will give you a slightly different answer than before. Eventually you just learn to say "F it" and move on. Successful scientists don't agonize over those things...because if you do you will never publish anything.
I don't think there is a set number of articles when you can say "done" and wish I could give you some particular constraints to make things more manageable. Instead I'd just say, read enough til you feel you have a command of the topic. Recently published and well-done review papers are a gold mine. You'll never find everything and no published study in even the best of journals cites all relevant literature. Most barely cite a fraction of it. If you feel you have a general sense of the overarching themes on a particular topic...that's probably enough. Don't get bogged down in details...lit reviews that read like "A used B method and sound C. D used E method and found F, etc." are terrible. Remember that in the grand scheme of things, missing a study or two is not a big deal if you get the big picture. The trick is feeling you have read enough that you have a solid foundation and an interesting conceptual approach to take.
Endnote is great for everything. Can lit search right within it, set it to download articles automatically (no more clicking through a chain of 6 links to get to each article off the library website!), take notes on the article, search by the article or by your notes, sort them, and do the reference section automatically. Most universities have it for free or for a massively discounted price ($10 at my grad school, free at my internship). There's plenty of alternatives reference managers out there if you prefer and always the good ole-fashioned excel spreadsheet with links to things saved on your local hard drive with comments/highlighting done with the full version of Acrobat.
I don't think there is a set number of articles when you can say "done" and wish I could give you some particular constraints to make things more manageable. Instead I'd just say, read enough til you feel you have a command of the topic. Recently published and well-done review papers are a gold mine. You'll never find everything and no published study in even the best of journals cites all relevant literature. Most barely cite a fraction of it. If you feel you have a general sense of the overarching themes on a particular topic...that's probably enough. Don't get bogged down in details...lit reviews that read like "A used B method and sound C. D used E method and found F, etc." are terrible. Remember that in the grand scheme of things, missing a study or two is not a big deal if you get the big picture. The trick is feeling you have read enough that you have a solid foundation and an interesting conceptual approach to take.
Endnote is great for everything. Can lit search right within it, set it to download articles automatically (no more clicking through a chain of 6 links to get to each article off the library website!), take notes on the article, search by the article or by your notes, sort them, and do the reference section automatically. Most universities have it for free or for a massively discounted price ($10 at my grad school, free at my internship). There's plenty of alternatives reference managers out there if you prefer and always the good ole-fashioned excel spreadsheet with links to things saved on your local hard drive with comments/highlighting done with the full version of Acrobat.
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Another good tip: Figure out your seminal articles, and know them (b/c everyone who is writing on your topics does), and construct those impressive scientific sentences:
X (as operationally defined by A et al.) has been found to influence Y in several key areas: 1) Blah (B et al.; C et al.; D et al.), 2) Blah (E et al.; F et al; G et al.), 3) More Blah (H et al.; I et al.; J et al.) and 4) Blah ( K et al.; L et al.).
Twelve (12!) references for one sentence! But we all know, it's not the number of references....it's what you do with them that counts, right?
X (as operationally defined by A et al.) has been found to influence Y in several key areas: 1) Blah (B et al.; C et al.; D et al.), 2) Blah (E et al.; F et al; G et al.), 3) More Blah (H et al.; I et al.; J et al.) and 4) Blah ( K et al.; L et al.).
Twelve (12!) references for one sentence! But we all know, it's not the number of references....it's what you do with them that counts, right?
So, 1) anchor my reading in review articles and seminal papers, 2) read enough recent studies to know what I'm on about, and through 1 & 2), 3) iteratively generate overarching themes, while 4) developing a point of view.
I really can't thank you both enough. I haven't had a strategy, as such, which I think has been contributing to the lost-in-the-candy-store feeling. Your advice is hugely, hugely helpful.
I have Zotero, which I think is pretty good -- has a tagging system as well as folders, making it possible to group things in different ways --but it doesn't like my university library's proxy. I'll see about Endnote.
That is a great example of a fancy summary sentence, CheetahGirl. I'm kind of prone to waffley, bloated writing and overly complicated sentence structures. Really nice to see what a concise and well constructed sentence should look like
Thank you both, really
I really can't thank you both enough. I haven't had a strategy, as such, which I think has been contributing to the lost-in-the-candy-store feeling. Your advice is hugely, hugely helpful.
I have Zotero, which I think is pretty good -- has a tagging system as well as folders, making it possible to group things in different ways --but it doesn't like my university library's proxy. I'll see about Endnote.
That is a great example of a fancy summary sentence, CheetahGirl. I'm kind of prone to waffley, bloated writing and overly complicated sentence structures. Really nice to see what a concise and well constructed sentence should look like
Thank you both, really
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...Or an intro sentence to frame your piece.
(I love logic, philosophy & critical thinking...and there are so many rules to the English language only, not to mention Farsi or Cantonese.).
My last favorite tip is NO TYPOGRAPHICAL and minimal grammatical errors (or make clean break from the Candy Store..nothing broken, no readers lost.) Takes away from all the Hard Work put in already. Double check it all at least once.)
(I love logic, philosophy & critical thinking...and there are so many rules to the English language only, not to mention Farsi or Cantonese.).
My last favorite tip is NO TYPOGRAPHICAL and minimal grammatical errors (or make clean break from the Candy Store..nothing broken, no readers lost.) Takes away from all the Hard Work put in already. Double check it all at least once.
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I sort my articles by subtopic and then assign them rankings. I also print them all up as that helps my sorting and ranking and reading process. I start with piles and write numbers and brief phrase or sentence on first page of each article to capture why I want it and then put them into manila folders for each subtopic. Although that could be viewed as a waste of paper, it is a necessity for me in order to be able to effectively synthesize and organize vast quantities of data.
CheetahGirl - yes, thank you, good point - I sort of meant a "summary" sentence, in the sense that it might be a summary of what in my hands is likely to be three paragraphs of waffle Good tips on proofing, for sure
smalltownpsych: Ranking is brilliant. I shall find a way to rank. I won't judge you on the paper use, either; I am really struggling with establishing a sensible workflow on my laptop.
erg923: like a proposal type thing
Good tips on proofing, for sure smalltownpsych: Ranking is brilliant. I shall find a way to rank. I won't judge you on the paper use, either; I am really struggling with establishing a sensible workflow on my laptop.
erg923: like a proposal type thing
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