PLS201 - Foundations of Political Science

This Course Guide has been designed to assist you in doing library research for your research paper. Contact Professor Josefine Smith's information below for additional assistance, or use our Ask us Anything chat or email services to speak with a librarian.

The Process of Writing a Literature Review

Mastering synthetic writing is key to a successful literature review. Use these resources to learn how to analyze the articles you want to use for your literature review, keep track of common themes using an article analysis matrix, and how to convert the notes in the analysis matrix into a piece of synthetic writing.

Think of working on your literature review as a multi-step process:

Identify a topic.
Find research articles on that topic.
Read and analyze each article. (Use the Individual Article Analysis Worksheet)
Compare all of the themes addressed in the articles. (Use the Article Analysis Matrix)
Use your notes from the article analysis matrix to decide how to organize your literature review (make an outline).
Write your literature review by discussing one theme at a time--how is this theme covered in the literature?
Your literature review will also need an introduction and a conclusion. Some students like to start with the introduction, while others find it is easier to write the introduction after they have written the body of their literature review.
Don't forget to include References at the end of your paper (and to cite them properly within the text)!

Individual Article Analysis Worksheet
Use this to analyze each of your articles. Focus on questions #4 - #6. These will help you identify the major themes/main ideas in each article you read.
Article Analysis Matrix
After completing the Individual Article Analysis Worksheet for each of your articles, use this Article Analysis Matrix to compile all of the information you have gathered. Use the Example Article Analysis Matrix below as a guide to get started.
Detailed Synthesis Matrix

Synthetic Writing

A literature review is not the same as a research paper. The point of a literature review is to synthesize the research of others without making a new argument or scholarly contribution. A literature review is also not an annotated bibliography. You should not write about each study you are reviewing in turn, but instead write synthetically to highlight the current state of the literature.

Key Points to Consider:

The purpose of a literature review is to report the current state of the topic. Literature reviewed should be relatively recent, unless you are delving into the history of the topic.
Discuss different themes within your literature review rather than individual articles. It will help if you pull information from 2-3 articles for each theme you discuss.
All works cited should be both in the text of the literature review and the bibliography
Avoid passive voice (ex: It was found that...); Use active voice ("Smith (2013) reported that...")
Report what the literature says and how different research relates to each other, not what you think

Sample Articles

THE (RE)DEFINITION OF FREE SPEECH
The article discusses research on how U.S. college and university presidents define the concept of free speech based on the public statements they delivered on campus. Topics discussed include the distinction between the Traditionalist and New Democratic approaches to defining free speech, the theory of sensemaking which tend to focus on discourse and linguistics, and the way the public role of colleges and universities may be reflected on how their presidents perceive constitutional values.
Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in Higher Education in England
This article considers the context, development, and significance of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. The Act was relatively unusual in aiming to increase the normative strength of freedom of speech.
Free speech: civic value or partisan weapon?
Rather than dying out from weariness, disputes over free speech and academic freedom have revived now that government has joined in. Doyle's short essay is best taken as a short, fervent statement of the libertarian right's case in its free speech quarrels with an identitarian left. Doyle is a comedian and free speech campaigner with a literature doctorate from Oxford University. It proclaims the basic worth of free speech and academic freedom.
Rather than dying out from weariness, disputes over free speech and academic freedom have revived now that government has joined in. Doyle's short essay is best taken as a short, fervent statement of the libertarian right's case in its free speech quarrel
this article addresses two objectives: (a) to explore and comment on the state of the art on freedom of expression in social networks and its deontological limitations to prevent hatred against nationalities (EU legislation, scientific research, Twitter, and Instagram deontological limitations); and (b) to study the emergence of possible cases of Russophobia, in a mediatized form, through the news of Spanish media and the comments they generated on their Facebook and Instagram sites.
Exploring the Threat of Fake News: Facts, Opinions, and Judgement
This article explores how fake news, variously described as misinformation, disinformation, malinformation, and post-truth threatens our pluralistic democratic life. We ask, how does fake news function in constructing a world of meaning that destabilises the conditions under which we are able to render valid political judgements in democratic life?

PLS201: Foundations of Political Science

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PLS201 - Foundations of Political Science

The Process of Writing a Literature Review

Synthetic Writing

Sample Articles

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