Review
Using full search on the literature database (dtSearch is excellent) and the searches in Google Scholar 1 find all relevant literature that discusses the topic your are intending to review
Example Workflow
For example, to reserach 'plants as persons'
- Start with some obvious search terms:
plant* [within five words from] person*
plant* [within five words from] intelligen*
plant* [within five words from] cognition
rights
sentience
community
individuality
- Capture search terms in a table
- Compile results in a table
| Frame, Position, or Field | Definition or Explanation | Examples and Evidence | Benefits | Criticism or Weakness | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Label this grouping | Describe briefly | Why can they claim this? | What is the need for this position and what are its benefits? | Who disagrees, and how? What are the drawbacks? |
- Group positions/conceptions (by discipline, attitude, etc.), also in a table
- Identify a list of literature for review: 10 books + 10 articles. At this stage focus on textbooks, handbooks, encyclopedia articles, and review articles
- Review the literature and add to the table
- Explore the references and add to the table
- See who cites the identified literature, review and add to the table
- Update the definitions in the table, split, merge, and organise as needed
Make sure you do not just add citations, look at the abstracts, chapter titles and read where definitely relevant.
Note down the evidence where it exists (numerical or otherwise), not just opinions or names of authoritative authors. Drill down to find the sources of primary evidence.
Further Tools
To continue, consider triangulating your search using other tools. Do not expect the tools to define your ideas. All they can do is to point you to some directions and grouping for your own further analysis.
See the tools here.
References
Read this to consider what type of review you will be doing.
Snyder, Hannah. “Literature Review as a Research Methodology: An Overview and Guidelines.” Journal of Business Research 104 (2019): 333–39. https://doi.org/10/ggcpgx.
Foo, Yong Zhi, Rose O’Dea, Julia Koricheva, Shinichi Nakagawa, and Malgorzata Lagisz. “A Practical Guide to Question Formation, Systematic Searching and Study Screening for Literature Reviews in Ecology and Evolution.” Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2021. https://doi.org/10/gkdmdh.
Footnotes
Backlinks