research methods

Chapter 3: Reviewing the Literature

Introductory Comments

No topic of study is completely new. One of the most important first steps in the research process

is doing a thorough search in the social science literature for information about your research

topic. This is to prepare you for writing a concise and informative literature review that will

appear in your final paper. While the particular research question you wish to explore may not

have been studied exactly in the way you are approaching it, more often than not someone

somewhere has researched at least part of what you are investigating. Each new study adds a

little more to our understanding of a topic. For this reason it is crucial that we understand what

has already been done on our topics before proceeding with our own work. Often at least 50% of

a new researcher’s time is spent reading and reviewing the work of others researchers. This is

part of what makes a researcher an ‘expert’ in a particular research area. Thus, while researchers

spend considerable time gathering and analyzing new information, a lot of energy also goes into

the study of what has already been done. This is central to the idea of research as an ongoing

conversation with a community of people who have similar interests. In order to take part in the

conversation, we need to know what to talk about.

A literature review is a short, written summary of previous research in a particular topic. You

include this summary as part of your final paper. The placement of a literature review in a final

study varies from study to study. In some cases, scholars will place a brief review of relevant

literature in the introduction to their papers to justify the importance of their topics. This is

entirely appropriate since the fact that scholars are interested in a topic gives it more legitimacy

for continued study. Additionally, positioning part of a literature review in the introduction to a

paper allows the reader to see exactly how the present study ‘fits’ within the broader scope of

literature. In many cases, scholars will also present a more thorough review of the literature a

separate section of the final paper, usually shortly after the introduction. Creating a separate

space for a thorough literature review is a common and traditional way of demonstrating a

scholar’s expertise to a reader and situating the study within the literature. Finally, many

scholars also utilize a paper’s conclusion to situate the study’s findings. Here literature that was

not mentioned previously may be referenced to give a reader an idea of where to find similar

studies, and what the author believes is appropriate for future research.

The Importance of a Literature Review

One of the main functions of a literature review is to establish the credibility and expertise of the

researcher. Additionally, the literature review helps the researcher identify the trajectory of ideas

for the topic under investigation. From the literature, a researcher can trace the history of where

ideas came from and how they developed over time. A researcher can also, with an effective

literature review, situate his or her own study within the literature. After all, if the goal of

research is dissemination to a larger audience, each research project should present itself as part

of a larger whole, a piece of a puzzle, or a next step in our understanding of something. Only a

thorough literature review can help the researcher identify which topics have already been

studied, what the methods and conclusions of those studies were, and what the literature leaves

unresolved. In addition, the literature may contain valuable ideas about how future researchers

can approach their subjects and how future researchers might answer their own research

questions. As a result, a good literature review can:

 situate your study in the broader scope of academic research

 give you an idea of how many researchers are interested in your topic and how they answered their questions

 provide insight and ideas on how to approach your topic

Using the best sources

The first step is to identify the literature that is most relevant to your research interests. To do

this effectively, you must first distinguish among different types of sources. This is important

because not all types of information are the same – some are ‘better’ than others. This results in a

quality hierarchy.

TIER 1: TIER 2: TIER 3:

PEER REVIEWED ACADEMIC REPORTS NEWS MAGAZINES

RESEARCH ARTICLES

ACADEMIC BOOKS WORKING PAPERS NEWSPAPERS

Tier 1: Peer Reviewed Research Articles and Academic Books

Generally, the best sources for academic research come from peer reviewed research articles

and/or academic books, published by university or academic presses. Peer review is crucial for

high quality. A published article or book that has been peer reviewed has been evaluated by

outside experts in the field and has met the high standards of quality set by the publisher. Not all

submitted research articles are published. Only a small number of articles and books make their

way into print, given the intense competition that most scholars face for a limited number of

publication outlets. Since publishers receive a large number of submissions, the peer review

process ensures that only the best work makes its way into print. As a result, peer reviewed

journal articles and university and academic press books are the first tier on the quality hierarchy.

Publishing in a journal

When a scholar wants to publish a paper in a journal, he or she sends the paper (per the

instructions provided by the journal) to an editor at that journal. The paper is usually

accompanied with a business letter to introduce the paper and its main findings. If the editor,

based on what is called an internal review, believes that the paper could eventually be included

in the journal based on the paper’s topic, quality of methods, and conclusions, the editor will

send the paper out for a blind external review. This means that the editor will ask political

scientists who have expertise in some area related to the paper’s overall topic to read and

comment on the paper without knowing who wrote it. Journals usually maintain long lists of such

experts. It is expected that Political Scientists working in academia will, at some point in their

careers, review papers for academic journals. It is likely that the instructor for your course has

served in this capacity. Once the reviewer has reads papers, he or she writes up detailed

comments on the paper, and returns this information to the editor along with a recommendation.

For most journals, the possible recommendations are accept, conditionally accept, revise and

resubmit, or reject. A recommendation of accept is exceptionally rare. This recommendation

means that the reviewer has determined that the paper meets all the standards and requirements

for a specific journal. More often than not, however, a reviewer will have at least some

suggestions for how the paper can be made stronger. When this is the case, a reviewer may

recommend to conditionally accept a paper, which means that a paper can be accepted for

publication once the recommended changes are made. But even this is rare. Most journals have

very low acceptance rates and as a result recommendations such as revise and resubmit or reject

are more common. A revise and resubmit paper usually has several areas of weakness that the

author must fix before it can be considered for publication. Once changes have been made, the

author sends the paper back to the editor so the paper can be considered again. At this point, the

editor may make a final determination based on the changes, send the paper back to the original

reviewers for a second evaluation, or choose new reviewers to make a final decision on the

paper. If the changes are acceptable, the paper may be given the green light for publication. But

if the changes do not convince the reviewers of the paper’s merit, a second revise and resubmit

or a rejection may be decided. When a paper is rejected, it will no longer be considered for

publication at that particular journal. At that point, the researcher may choose to make additional

changes and send the article to another journal where the peer review process will start again.

The peer review process is thus lengthy and tedious but it does guarantee most of the time that

only the best research papers get published. The acceptance rate for the most prestigious journals

is quite low, sometimes as low as 10% of all submissions. In addition, the fact that most peer

review is blind means that reviewers can be as objective as possible in the reviewing process.

Below are some of the well-known journals in political science, arranged by subfield. 1

General Political Science

American Political Science Review

American Journal of Political Science

Journal of Politics

British Journal of Political Science

Perspectives on Politics

International Relations

International Organization

World Politics

International Studies Quarterly

Comparative Politics

Comparative Political Studies

Comparative Politics

1 For a more complete list of highly rated journals, see McLean, Iain et al. 2009. “Comparative Journal Ratings: A

Survey Report.” Political Studies Review. 7:1, 18-38.

Public Administration

Public Administrative Review

Theory

Political Theory

Publishing a university press book

The process of publishing university press books is very similar to the publication of journal

articles. When a researcher decides to publish a book on a particular topic, he or she writes a

proposal and sends it to the editor of a university press. The editor does an internal review to

assess the overall quality of the proposal and to see if the subject of the proposed book fits with

the press’s overall publication mission. If the internal review is successful, the editor will then

send the proposal out for external peer review. The peer review process works similarly to the

peer review process of journal articles and usually guarantees that only the most relevant,

interesting, and academically rigorous books get published.

Below are some of the more well-known university presses in political science. A few non-

academic presses are also included in the list. These presses are known to publish good academic

books as well. 2

Cambridge University Press

Princeton University Press

Oxford University Press

University of Chicago Press

Harvard University Press

Cornell University Press

University of Michigan Press

Yale University Press

Tier 2: Academic Reports and Working Papers

Sources from academic reports and working papers constitute the second tier of sources on the

quality hierarchy. These are sources written by scholars who work for universities, think tanks,

research organizations, or government agencies. Usually academic reports and working papers

involve preliminary research that has not yet been formally published. The major difference

between these sources and first tier sources is that academic reports and working papers usually

have not been peer reviewed. Nonetheless, the quality from tier two sources is usually high, and

oftentimes the work eventually finds its way into an academic journal or book. Researchers often

use such reports and papers in literature reviews.

Tier 3: News Magazines and Newspapers

2 For a more complete list of publishers, see James C. Garand and Micheal W. Giles, 2011. “Ranking Scholarly

Publishers in Political Science: An Alternative Approach.” PS: Political Science and Politics. 44:2, 375-383.

The last tier of the quality hierarchy consists of sources from news magazines and newspapers.

This type of work tends to be shorter and often contains valuable information that can be used

effectively to understand the details of a particular case. However, a researcher should be aware

that information from news magazines and newspapers tends to more journalistic than academic,

which means that there could be ideological bias in what is presented to the reader. This is not to

say that the other types of sources are not biased to some degree. In reality, all work is biased. In

addition, news stories do not usually involve the construction of generalizable theory; they

provide a narrative and analysis about something that happened.

Though the three tiers of sources do not comprise the entirety of what is available for use, most

political scientists generally use them for their literature reviews. Beginning with these sources

and using them extensively will ensure that your literature review contains the most relevant and

complete information possible. It is up to the researcher to choose sources carefully to ensure

that high quality information is included in the literature review.

Finding sources

The first step in finding sources is to think of the different ways a topic could have been studied

by others. Since we are using computer databases to identify materials, it is essential that we

have a working idea of how our topics can be identified in the literature. For example, let’s

assume your research question asks how socioeconomic status (the independent variable)

influences political participation (the dependent variable) among people in Australia (the unit of

analysis). With this question there are different ways to approach your literature search.

1) Determine if there are any studies that focus on your research question by using the same terms that you plan on using. To do this, use a search engine in which you enter

“socioeconomic status” AND “political participation” AND “Australia” so that the search

engine searches for articles that include all three terms.

a. If the search engine returns a large number of hits for your first search, scroll through them to determine which results might be the most interesting for you to

read. With most databases, you can order the articles according to publication

date. This way you can review the most recent research that has been produced on

your topic first. Scroll through the articles to determine which appear to be the

most helpful for understanding your topic. (But keep in mind that a precise

search like the one above will not usually return a large number of hits. Do not let

this worry you. Unless a number of researchers have written papers about your

A word about e sources:

Many students have begun to utilize sources found on the web, such as Wikipedia. While

Wikipedia can provide specific pieces of information, it is incumbent on a researcher to verify

any information taken from the web.

precise topic, it is unlikely that you will get many hits when you use all of your

variables and the unit of analysis in your search.)

b. If the first search does not return a large number of hits, start thinking about how other scholars might have thought about and phrased your topic. The reality is that

most search terms have several synonyms that other researchers may have used in

their work, and if your search parameters are too narrow, you may not retrieve all the

possible studies on your topic. Socioeconomic status could be income or livelihood.

Political participation could be engagement or involvement. Instead of Australia, you

could try democracies. Even though your precise research question may be on

political participation in Australia, research on democracies may contain information

about Australia. Be flexible, and try as many different terms as possible while looking

for literature. Doing multiple searches with the different ways your topic could be

phrased will guarantee that you find as much information as possible.

2) If a precise search on your research topic, even using multiple synonyms, does not produce a useful list of results, try searching only on the dependent variable and the unit

of analysis you have identified. For example, you could try political participation and

Australia (but not socioeconomic status) to see if other researchers have tried to explain

political participation in Australia using other independent variables. In addition, keep

using different ways to represent your search terms to ensure you retrieve all the most

relevant literature on your topic.

3) It is a good idea to think generically about your topic and search for literature on political participation alone (and its synonyms) to determine how scholars, generally, have

approached your topic. Research on political participation in the United Kingdom or the

United States may have relevance for political participation in Australia. The key is to

understand the various ways other scholars have approached your topic as

comprehensively as possible so that you can find and retrieve the most helpful sources to

review.

Common ways to search for literature

Below are some of the more common literature databases utilized by researchers around the

world.

A FEW TRICKS:

When entering a search term, you can cut the last few letters of the term and add an ‘ * ’

so that the search engine will look for all results that contain at least the first part of the

term. For example, by entering ‘democra*’, the search engine will return results that

contain the terms ‘democracy,’ ‘democratization,’ and ‘democratizing’.

When you get your results, you can look at the different ways the author specified their

research topic in the article’s reported “keywords” to provide ideas about how to search.

This can be particularly helpful if you are having trouble identifying synonyms for

search terms. Oftentimes researchers will use different terms for the same idea.

TIER ONE: peer reviewed research articles and academic books

Academic Search Premier searches through more than 3,000 journals for articles and studies

using search terms that you enter through the online interface. Once you access the database,

there are several boxes in which research terms related to your research project can be entered.

With Academic Search Premier, you can also request that the results include studies that have

been peer reviewed and works that have the full text attached. In the beginning of the research

process, it is a good idea to select both filters because of the limited time frame in an academic

semester. 3 Once you have selected to filter the results by peer review and full text, think about

what you want to find. Since your questions are posed as analytic questions using independent

and dependent variables, first try to find studies that reflect your topic. To do this, utilize various

synonyms or conceptions of each variable in each search box. Using the example from 1b above,

if the independent variable is socioeconomic status, enter socioeconomic status OR income OR

livelihood in the first search box since income and livelihood are synonymous with

socioeconomic status. Since there are other ways to conceive of socioeconomic status, you could

put “socioeconomic status or income or livelihood” all in the first line. Allow the search engine

to look for this term in all text (use the Select a Field drop down box). Be aware that you could

limit where the engine searches for the terms you enter by filtering the search by abstract, author,

title, journal name, etc, but by all text you ensure that the search engine will not miss articles

where your search terms may be hiding in the articles. Be sure not to use AND as the connector

for these first three synonyms of the independent variable because then the search engine will

include only the articles that contain all three terms, and the search will probably not result in

many hits. For the next search box, if the dependent variable is political participation, enter

political participation OR political engagement OR political involvement. Again, be sure to use

the connector OR in the search box for the dependent variable. Important: The Academic Search

Premier search engine interface wants you to select a connector BETWEEN the first and second

search boxes, in effect BETWEEN your independent and dependent variables. The connector the

search engine defaults to is a Boolean Operator. AND is the default and it is all right to use this

operator because you want your independent variable to relate to your dependent variable.

Depending on whether or not you are satisfied with the initial search results, you could do a

second search and remove the world political. The second search box of this second search

would contain terms participation OR engagement OR involvement. You could manually read

through the results to ensure that only political types of participation, engagement, or

involvement are used in your literature review. This is more work, but this method has the

potential to improve the quality of your literature review.

If you don’t get too many hits with this approach, try searching on the dependent variable alone

to see what other work has been done on your general topic, since variation in your dependent

variable is what you wish to explain. To do this, enter only the terms of your dependent variable

in the first search box and no terms in the second search box. Most likely you will find research

that utilizes additional factors to explain variation in the dependent variable. If this approach is

not fruitful, try searching on one or more of the independent variables alone to see if those

3 For more complete work you could potentially include studies that do not have the full text attached. In theory you

can locate the text of these additional studies, either in print in your university’s library or in an electronic format

that is not included in Academic Search Premier. In the case that your library does not own a copy of the work, most

studies can be obtained through Interlibrary Loan, a service that most major universities now utilize.

variables are related to dependent variables other than yours. Eventually, by being flexible and

doing multiple searches in various ways, you should find some research that has been done on

your topic. This approach will ensure that you have as much relevant information as possible as

you approach the next steps of the literature review. These search methods will work for almost

all research questions.

For academic and university press books, using the traditional library catalog and going on an

actual trip to the library can be very helpful. Your library should have an online interface through

which you can find the most relevant books on your topic. Again, be flexible and try several

different ways to express your terms in the interface to see what work has been published as a

book on your topic. Once you identify the call number for a specific book and find the book on a

library shelf, take some time to peruse the books around the book you found. Call numbers refer

to topics. This means that similar books are grouped together at the library. Thus, even though

your catalog search may not have returned a particular title, it is possible to find related material

simply by looking to the left and right of the book that the catalog search engine did return. In

addition, using the index, glossary, and bibliography of any relevant book you find could direct

you to additional areas of related material.

TIER TWO

For academic reports and working papers, CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online) and

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) provide access to journals, but the databases return

results consisting of academic reports and working papers produced by academic and research

institutions around the world. These databases are particularly helpful for identifying the most

current research that is being done on your topic almost everywhere. Sometimes researchers will

write a report or working paper before submitting the work to peer review. By searching for your

topic through these interfaces, you will have access to the most current work available. The

interface for PAIS looks a lot like the interface for Academic Search Premier, and after

conducting your search you can filter the results according to peer reviewed work. For CIAO,

you can search on one line only, but you can filter the results according to the type of work –

working paper, policy brief, case study, etc.

TIER THREE

For news sources, LexisNexis Academic provides access to news stories published in a wide

variety of commercial sources. The LexisNexis Academic database has advanced search options

where you can enter your search terms with the Boolean AND/OR connectors. Your can limit the

time frame for the news stories you wish to study and choose to search for news stories only in

English. For news searches, it is useful to choose a specific geographic location that you wish to

study It is also possible to do a search based on research theme. For example, for the research

question that assesses the relationship between socioeconomic status and political participation,

you may want to understand political participation in a particular area of Australia. However, it

is highly unlikely that there will be specific news stories on this particular research question. You

may get better results by identifying different types of political participation such as voting or

campaigning, and searching on those terms for particular areas. For news searches, using more

refined, descriptive, and detailed search criteria will likely find the most useful sources.

What to do once you have identified the literature

Identifying the most relevant literature for your topic is the first step, reading and understanding

it is the second. At this step it pays to develop some skills regarding reading. You do not read

scholarly research the same way you read a novel. With a novel, readers usually start on the first

page and read consecutively until the end of the book. Reading scholarly work is different. Start

with the journal article’s abstract. If the abstract contains information that you find relevant for

your topic, read the introduction of the article. If the information in the abstract and introduction

do not help you understand some part of your topic, set the article aside and choose a different

article to read. You will want to make sure that each scholarly work you read provides as much

information as possible for your topic. If an article is too far afield from your general topic and

research question, it should not be used in the literature review.

If the abstract and introduction compel you to keep reading, skim the next several pages quickly

to see what else is contained in the article. How are the subheadings organized? What is coming

next? Once you are familiar with the article’s organization, skip ahead to the results or

conclusion section to learn the main findings of the article. Then go back and read the study from

start to finish. If you have an idea of what the article’s findings are, rereading the entire article

will be much easier and more informative.

As you read the studies, you may find that the assumptions you have about your topic are

challenged by different ways of thinking. This is all part of the process. Do not necessarily throw

out your ideas, but let the literature guide how you think about them. For example, it is entirely

possible that others have considered exactly what you are thinking, but threw out those ideas

when they discovered empirical inconsistencies and faulty reasoning. Be flexible in how you

change your own ideas when you think it is appropriate to do so. Nothing in the research world is

permanently set in stone. All ideas are subject to change with the incorporation of new and better

information. This is how we grow within the academic world.

When reading scholarly works, a general rule of thumb is to read the most recent studies first.

This is particularly helpful because each study will most likely include a thorough literature

review that you can use to identify the studies that you should read next. Literature mining is a

common way to find resource materials. If a good article referenced a particular study, it is

probably important for you to read that study, too. This method of finding sources can be helpful

if your searches in the standard databases are not producing relevant material.

Staying organized

Once you have read the literature you want to include in your literature review, it pays to be

highly organized. In the academic world it is positively essential that you take detailed notes on

everything you read. The amount of scholarship that has been produced is immense. Perhaps you

were surprised when you saw the number of results you found when you looked for literature. It

would be impossible for a single person to read and remember everything that is relevant for his

or her topic. As a result, maintaining a database of your own notes is an important part of the

research process. There are several programs that you can use to organize your notes. Programs

such as Endnote, Evernote, and Onenote are popular choices for organizing material. Endnote is

particularly useful because it allows a researcher to include bibliographic information for the

articles, books, and other sources you read as a savable file that grows with each entry you add.

You can also include your own notes in each bibliographic entry thereby creating your own

database as you add entries. Endnote will also create a bibliography (works cited page) once you

are finished with your paper. Though Endnote is available for purchase, many schools offer a

free online interface through the university library.

Annotated Bibliographies

Writing your literature review begins with writing an annotated bibliography for each source you

will include in the literature review. An annotated bibliography is a summary of each article that

you read. The summary should be as complete as possible and include at least the following:

 The study’s research question

 The reason the author argues the question is important

 The methods and data the author uses to answer the research question

 The main results and conclusions of the study

 In addition, consider including particularly insightful quotes that you might eventually include in

the text of your research paper. When you copy the quotes as part of your notes, be sure to

include the page number(s) on which the original quote appeared in the source. By doing this,

you will not have to return to the original source when creating citations in your paper. If done

properly, your annotated bibliography will contain all the information you need when you write

your literature review.

Again, you should write an annotated bibliography for each individual piece of scholarship that

you read. Once it is complete, enter the bibliographic information and text of your notes into the

program that you are using to keep track of your notes (Endnote, Evernote or Onenote). By doing

this, you create a searchable database of your own notes.

The Literature Review

Annotated bibliographies are a tool for you and you alone. The text of your notes will not appear

directly in the final text of your research paper. Once you have compiled a number of annotated

bibliographies, the real work on the literature review begins. Writing a good literature review in

many ways is more of an art than it is a systematic task and this is where good organization and

creative writing skills meet in the development of an informative but streamlined integration of

all the literature you find relevant for your research topic.

Writing an effective literature review is not easy. Usually it takes several tries before a researcher

is satisfied that the literature review is as complete and concise as possible. It must be complete

because it needs to cover as much literature as possible. Yet it must also be concise because the

literature review is not the main focus of research papers. The literature review merely

establishes the credibility of the researcher and presents how other scholars have approached

similar topics. It must be done in a way that does not take too much away from the main event,

your original work that you are presenting in your paper.

The best way to begin an effective literature review is to thoroughly study your annotated

bibliographies. If you have carefully taken complete notes, you will not have to return to the

original research articles you used in order to write the literature review. Rather, the condensed

notes you took for each source should suffice for your purposes at this point as you begin to

organize and write your literature review.

As you read your annotated bibliographies, look for patterns among the sources. Do different

studies approach similar questions in different ways? Are the findings of these studies mostly

consistent? Are there areas of significant disagreement? How have similar research questions

been answered through time? What was the progression in our understanding of a particular

idea? You should pour over your annotated bibliographies several times to see what patterns

emerge. Make a flow chart or a map or a diagram to keep the material organized. Once you

believe you understand how to present all your sources in one document as a united whole you

should begin writing.

The first line in a literature review should contain some form of introductory statement that

broadly summarizes as much of the literature as possible. Usually a researcher will begin with a

discussion of the dependent variable and provide a summary of how other scholars have studied

it. For example, below are some possible introductory sentences for a hypothetical study that

assesses the role that electoral systems (plurality vs. proportional) play on the number of parties

in a party system.

(If scholars mostly agree with regard to a particular outcome)

Scholars who concentrate on how electoral systems affect the number of parties in party system

are mostly unified in their assertion that proportional electoral systems generally lead to more

parties while electoral systems based on plurality generally produce fewer parties in a party

system (citations needed here).

(If scholars have come to differing conclusions)

Scholars who concentrate on how electoral systems affect the number of parties in a party system

have reached differing conclusions about how proportional and plurality electoral systems matter

for the number of parties in a party system. Specifically, some studies show that electoral

systems are the primary determinant of party fragmentation (citations needed here), while others

suggest that social variables such as cleavages matter more (citations needed here).

(If scholars have used widely different approaches to their studies)

Scholars who concentrate on electoral systems have utilized different approaches to

understanding the effects that electoral systems have on the number of parties in a party system.

Some have studied the effect of electoral systems on party systems across several countries at the

same time (citations needed here), while others have conducted in-depth case studies by

investigating a single election in a single country (citations needed here) or subnational unit

(citations needed here).

(If our understanding of a particular idea has increased progressively throughout time)

Scholars who have endeavored to understand how electoral systems matter have made

refinements in how the number of parties in a party system has been measured over time

(citations needed here).

After each clause that describes how the literature can be summarized, you should include

citations for the studies that match what you have said. In many political science journals, this

involves a ‘parenthetic citation’ that states the author’s last name followed by the year of

publication. (Some bibliographic styles include a comma between the author’s last name and the

year of publication.) You cite authors anytime you write about any work that is not your own.

Even if you do not quote a specific part of an article, you should still use parenthetical references

to direct the reader to the articles you are referencing. More about citation styles will be covered

later in this chapter.

Once you have created an effective introductory statement based on your assessment of how the

sources view your topic, the next task is to write the literature review itself. The introductory

statement in many ways is the key to understanding what comes next. This is not to say that your

literature review will be one-dimensional (there could be agreement for example in some areas,

disagreement in others). The introductory statement – and the introductory statements to the

different sections within the literature review – will be a guide to how the literature will be

presented.

Below are paragraphs from different papers in political science that serve as examples of how to

organize literature concisely. By studying these you can begin to get a sense of how literature

can be integrated into a single narrative. The best reviews are concise and provide information

about how other studies inform your topics. Note that the bibliographic information for each

article is listed first.

Morgan, Jana and Melissa Buice. 2013. “Latin American Attitudes toward Women in Politics:

The Influence of Elite Cues, Female Advancement, and Individual Characteristics.” The

American Political Science Review. 107 (4): 644-662

This paper argues that elite cues in Latin American countries influence men’s attitudes toward

women as political leaders. This is an important topic, especially in newer democracies, where

women’s participation in politics, and gender equity in general, may be underdeveloped. The

paragraph below presents some of the literature on the authors’ general topic appears on the

second page of the article under a subheading entitled “Contextualizing Attitudes about Women

in Politics”.

This article develops a theory of attitudes regarding women in

politics, integrating explanations at both the contextual and

individual levels. A growing literature has demonstrated the

significance of context for explaining gender gaps in political

engagement and efficacy (Atkeson 2003; Desposato and Norrander

2009; Hansen 1997; Schwindt-Bayer and Mishler 2005), and

previous research hints at the idea that the political, economic, and

cultural environment has important effects on gender attitudes by

establishing that cross-national differences in these attitudes cannot

be explained by individual-level factors alone (Banaszak and

Plutzer 1993a). But apart from a few notable exceptions (e.g.

Banaszak and Plutzer 1993b; Inglehart and Norris 2003; Moore

and Vanneman 2003), little research has explored how context

shapes gender values, and virtually no studies have theorized about

contextual effects on feminist attitudes in developing democracies.

Here we take on the important task of theorizing and testing how

context influences support for women in politics.

The first sentence is about

the study itself. Here is the encompassing

summary sentence about the

literature. Morgan and Buice

note that many scholars are

working in this area by

putting a number of citations

in the same line. They do not

need to elaborate on each

study. Instead they have

managed to create a

summary statement that

integrates them together. If

we were to look up each of

the studies listed here, they

would all the same general

topic to which this present

study will be added in future

work.

And here is the justification

for the study—this part of

the literature review reveals

the ‘gap’ that this study

hopes to fill. Specifically,

the study concentrates on

how contextual factors

influence support for

women in politics in

developing democracies.

Bartels, Koen P.R., Cozzi Guido, and Noemi Mantovan. 2013. ““The Big Society,” Public

Expenditure, and Volunteering.” Public Administration Review. 73 (2): 340-351.

This article challenges the claim that volunteering should increase as the size of the public sector

shrinks. Rather, the authors suggest precisely the opposite. As public spending decreases, they

suggest, volunteering will also decrease because of the lack of support structures and training for

volunteers. The paragraph below summarizes the general literature on why people engage in

volunteering activities.

The literature provides important insights about the determinants

of voluntary work for the total population or specific segments.

Studies focusing on the total population showed that people can

decide to volunteer, or give money to charity, because of pure

altruism or warm-glow altruism (Andreoni 1990), a desire to

personally “make a difference” (Duncan 2004), impatience to

receive a certain good (Bilodeau and Slivinski 1996), social

pressure (Della Vigna, List and Malmendier 2011), obliging social

norms (Olken and Singhal 2009), or because giving can enhance

their well-being (Meier and Stutzer 2008). The decision to

volunteer can also be influenced by the socioeconomic or ethnic

composition of the neighborhood community (Alesina and La

Ferrara 2000; Atkinson and Kintrea 2001; Goodlad and Meegan

2005). All of these variables together create a complex picture of

individuals with multiple motivations for volunteering (Clary,

Snyder, and Stukas 1996).

Like the previous

example, note how the

first sentence in this

paragraph provides a

summary statement about

the literature in general.

These two sentences

manage to integrate a

number of studies by

listing the topic of the

study followed by its

citation. If someone

wanted to know more

about the determinants of

volunteering, reading the

literature summarized in

these two sentences would

be a good place to start.

Notice that there is a

citation after every

summary theme – that is

because each study dealt

with volunteering in a

different way.

Ryan, Timothy J. 2014. “Reconsidering Moral Issues in Politics.” The Journal of Politics.76(2):

380-397.

In this article, Ryan investigates how the moral conviction of individuals influences citizen

behavior in politics. Ryan finds that one’s moral conviction matters even for issues that are not

usually considered moral, such as collective-bargaining laws, military involvement abroad, and

redistribution. The following paragraph appears as part of the paper’s literature review and

presents studies that have examined the distinction between moral and non-moral issues.

Despite abundant attempts to employ a distinction between moral

and non-moral issues, there is a not a settled understanding of what

the distinction is, as various efforts have defined moral issues in

very different ways. Mooney and Schuldt, for instance, emphasize

the politics that surround an issue, writing that moral issues are

ones where “at least one advocacy coalition involved in the debate

defines the issue threatening one of its core values, its first

principles” (Mooney 2001a, 4; see also Mooney and Schuldt 2008,

201). Similarly, Haider-Markel and Meier define morality politics

as those where “at least one advocacy coalition … portray[s] the

issue as one of morality or sin and use[s] moral arguments in its

policy advocacy (1996, 333). A second approach defines the moral

sphere not in terms of political strategy, but citizen psychology.

Thus, for instance, Biggers suggests that moral issues elicit

attitudes “based on core values rooted within an [sic] citizen’s

system of beliefs and primary identity, especially religion, which

serves as the basis of their most fundamental values” (Biggers

2011, 8, citations omitted; see also Glick and Hutchinson 2001). A

third approach suggests that morality is intrinsic to particular

issues, defined by their essential characteristics. In this vein,

Studlar argues that moral issues are nontechnical and easy to

understand (Studlar 2001, 39) while Englei, Green-Pedersem and

Larsen write that “the defining aspect of morality issues … [is]

being about fundamental decisions related to death, marriage and

reproduction” (2012a, 24; see also Tavits 2007).

This first sentence

begins with the

recognition that there

is debate regarding

how to define the

distinction between

moral and non-moral

issues are.

In this section, Ryan grouped

the literature pertaining to the

distinction between moral and

non-moral issues into three

main “approaches.” Two

studies (Mooney and Shuldt

2001 and Haider-Markel and

Meier are examples of the first

approach, Biggers 2011 and

Glick and Hutchenson 2001

are examples of the second

approach and Studlar 2001,

Englei, Green-Pedersem and

Larsen 2012, and Tavits 2007

are examples of the third.

Furthermore, unlike the other

examples, in this paragraph

Ryan decided to devote more

attention to the presentation of

individual studies, using

carefully selected quotes to

present each study’s main

point about the difference

between moral and non-moral

issues.

The author must include

a page number

whenever direct quotes

or specific information

is used.

Reynolds, Andrew. 2013. “Representation and Rights: The Impact of LGBT Legislators in

Comparative Perspective.” The American Political Science Review. 107 (2): 259-274.

This article investigates whether the presence of LGBT legislators in national parliaments

influences variation in laws that grant homosexual citizens the same rights as heterosexuals.

Since this is a relatively new topic in political science, Reynolds borrows insights from the

literature that assesses the efficacy of other politically marginalized groups in society in the

policy making process, women or ethnic minorities for example. He begins his article with the

following paragraph.

Over the last 20 years, the inclusion of women and ethnic

minorities in national parliaments has increasingly been seen as an

indicator of the strength of democracy in established democracies

and as a sine qua non of democratization in the developing world.

Much has been written about the growing numbers and influence

of women members of parliament (MPs) in the legislatures of the

world (for example, see Baldez 2003; Krook 2009; Wolbrecht,

Baldez and Beckwith 2008). In 2012, the Inter Parliamentary

Union identified 7,443 female members of national lower houses

(20% of the total). A similar literature is emerging on the existence

and influence of ethnic minority MPs in national legislatures. One

of the largest surveys to date of minority MP presence covers 50

nations and identifies more than a thousand MPs with an ethnic

minority background (see Reynolds 2006). Such descriptive

(sometimes called “passive” or “symbolic”) representation does

not necessarily imply that the group members vote together or that

individual representatives see themselves as primarily “women

MPs” or “minority MPs.” But without some visible inclusion of

the faces and voices of the historically marginalized, it is unlikely

that the interests of such groups will be at the forefront of decision

makers’ minds.

The literature on openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender

(LGBT) MPs in national parliaments is undeveloped. Although

there have been important studies of their presence in individual

national parliaments (see Rayside 1998 on Britain, the United

States and Canada) as well as analyses of gay legislators in U.S.

state legislatures (see Haider-Markel 2007; 2010; Haider-Markel,

Joslyn, and Kniss 2000) there is very little cross-national research

on the existence and influence of openly LGBT MPs in national

parliaments…

Since very little

literature centers on

LGBT legislators in

the policy process,

Reynolds includes

studies about female

and minority

representation.

The beginning of

this second

paragraph claims

that the literature on

LGBT legislators is

not very developed,

providing

legitimacy to this

study on the effect

of LGBT legislators

on policy outcomes.

Baldez 2003, Krook 2009,

Wolbrecht, Baldez and

Beckwith 2008 must all

deal with increasing

numbers of women in

national legislatures.

To cite or not to cite

In your literature review and indeed in all of your writing, you must cite any work in which you

present an opinion or idea that is not your own. Sometimes new writers worry about when they

need to include a citation. Not providing a citation for an opinion or idea you have borrowed

from an outside source is a very serious matter and can lead to charges of plagiarism. The best

rule of thumb would be to cite if you are unsure. That way you protect yourself. Your instructor

should also be able to work with you when you are unclear about when to cite something. But

when in doubt, cite. In addition you must always cite a source when you have included a direct

quote. The citation should include the page number or numbers where the quote appears in the

original article.

It is important that you develop an understanding of the difference between an accepted fact or

detail (which does not require a citation) and someone else’s opinion or idea (which does require

a citation).

Consider the difference among the following:

 A fact/historical detail: The United States utilizes a plurality electoral system for the election of Congress.

No citation needed. It is an established fact that the United States utilizes a plurality electoral

system for the election of Congress.

 An opinion/idea: The use of the plurality electoral formula generally leads to a two-party system (Downs 1957).

Citation needed. You must cite this statement since it is a hypothesis that Downs developed in

his book An Economic Theory of Democracy.

 A fact/historical detail: Voting is one manifestation of political participation. No citation needed. This is a fact – voting is indeed one way that people participate in the

political arena – it does not need to be cited.

 An opinion/idea: Lower voter turnout in the US does not mean that Americans do not participate in politics because different ways of participating have been evolving over

time (Norris 2002).

Citation needed. Since this is a hypothesis explored in Norris’ 2002 book, Democratic Phoenix:

Reinventing Political Activism, it must be cited.

 A fact/historical detail: Per capita income is higher in advanced industrial democracies than in developing countries.

No citation needed. This is a fact – it has been well documented that per capita income is higher

in advanced industrial democracies than in developing democracies.

 An opinion/idea: High per capita income is generally linked with post-materialist values, which include a concern for the protection of individual expression and enhancement of

the quality of life (Inglehart 1997).

Citation needed. This is not a fact. Rather, it is a conclusion in Inglehart’s 1997 book,

Modernization and Postmodernization, that studied many different societies at the same time.

 A fact/historical detail: The French, Russian, and Chinese Revolutions began in 1789, 1917, and 1911 respectively.

No citation needed. These are facts – historical details like this do not require citation.

 An opinion/idea: Despite their differences, the French, Russian, and Chinese Revolutions bear striking similarities that can be studied in a single research design (Skocpol 1979).

Citation needed. This observation is not a historical fact. Rather, it is the conclusion of an

elaborate research process presented in Skocpol’s 1979 book, States and Social Revolutions: A

Comparative Analysis of France, Russia and China, that identified remarkable similarities

among different revolutions in different contexts.

Bibliographic and Citation Styles

There is no one universal bibliographic or citation style that all journals and book presses use.

Journals and book presses provide precise instructions on how they want authors to create

bibliographies and citations. For journals, this information is usually found either online or

somewhere in the journal itself (for example inside the front cover). For books, this information

is either found online or it is sent to the author once a book proposal has been accepted. A good

rule of thumb is to develop a uniform bibliographic and citation style for use as you write your

work. The bibliographic and citation style for The American Political Science Review is one that

many authors use and is somewhat common among journals and books in political science, and it

is a straightforward citation style to learn.

Citations

Any time you reference someone else’s work in your text, you must provide some form of

citation. Many political scientists utilize parenthetic citations somewhere in the sentence where

the citation is needed. Parenthetic citations include the authors’ last names, the year of

publication, and the page number where appropriate, according to the following rules:

One author (Smith 2012)

Two authors (Smith and Jones 2012)

Three authors (Smith, Jones and Adams 2012)

Four or more authors (Smith et al. 2012)

Quote with page number (Smith 2012, 1)

Let’s revisit some of the sentences from the literature review excerpts presented earlier in this

chapter.

A growing literature has demonstrated the significance of context

for explaining gender gaps in political engagement and efficacy

(Atkeson 2003; Desposato and Norrander 2009; Hansen 1997;

Schwindt-Bayer and Mishler 2005), and previous research hints at

the idea that the political, economic, and cultural environment has

important effects on gender attitudes by establishing that cross-

national differences in these attitudes cannot be explained by

individual-level factors alone (Banaszak and Plutzer 1993a).

The literature provides important insights about the determinants

of voluntary work for the total population or specific segments.

Studies focusing on the total population showed that people can

decide to volunteer, or give money to charity, because of pure

altruism or warm-glow altruism (Andreoni 1990), a desire to

personally “make a difference” (Duncan 2004), impatience to

receive a certain good (Bilodeau and Slivinski 1996), social

pressure (Della Vigna, List and Malmendier 2011), obliging social

norms (Olken and Singhal 2009), or because giving can enhance

their well-being (Meier and Stutzer 2008).

Similarly, Haider-Markel and Meier define morality politics as

those where “at least one advocacy coalition … portray[s] the issue

as one of morality or sin and use[s] moral arguments in its policy

advocacy (1996, 333).

Since each study deals

with a different theme

within the overall topic,

the authors of this paper

presented them

separately in this

sentence.

Notice that several

studies are presented at

the middle of this

sentence, while another

study is presented at the

end. This is because the

authors are presenting

separate ideas in different

parts of the sentence. The

‘1993a’ at the end of the

last citation reflects the

fact that these authors

published multiple

studies in 1993 and were

included somewhere in

the paper.

Multiple citations in

the same phrase are

usually separated by a

semicolon.

In this sentence, a quote

is used. Since the authors

introduce this single

study in the beginning of

the sentence, they do not

need to repeat the

authors’ names in the

parenthetical citation.

Rather, they include only

the publication year and

the page number on

which the quote appears,

separated by a comma.

In this vein, Studlar argues that moral issues are nontechnical and

easy to understand (Studlar 2001, 39) while Englei, Green-

Pedersem and Larsen write that “the defining aspect of morality

issues … [is] being about fundamental decisions related to death,

marriage and reproduction” (2012a, 24; see also Tavits 2007).

Bibliographies

A bibliography is an alphabetical listing of all sources referenced or cited. It appears at the end of

a study or research paper. A bibliography is sometimes called a works cited page. Many journals,

including The American Political Science Review, utilize the Chicago Manual of Style for

formatting sources. Since it would be difficult to list all scenarios here, please refer to the

APSR’s website for the full list of how to format different types of sources (e.g. journals, books,

lectures, websites etc.)

https://www.apsanet.org/media/PDFs/Publications/APSAStyleManual2006.pdf

Below is the formatting style for some of the most common sources.

Books:

One author

Last name, First name. Year. Book title. City of Publication: Press.

Two authors

Last name first author, First name first author, and First name second author Last name second

author. Year. Book title. City of Publication: Press.

Three authors

Last name first author, First name first author, First Name second author Last Name second

author, First Name third author Last Name third author. Year. Book title. City of Publication:

Press.

Three or more authors

Last name first author, First name first author, et al. Year. Book title. City of Publication: Press.

A direct quote is not used

in the beginning of this

sentence, but the author

of the study has indicated

that Studlar’s treatment of

how moral issues are

nontechnical and easy to

understand is on page 39

of the study.

At the end of this sentence,

a direct quote is used and

cited appropriately. The

use of brackets in the

sentence tells the reader

that this is not an exact

quote. Rather it was

broken into two parts and

made to be grammatically

correct by the addition of

the ‘is,’ which did not

appear in the original

citation. The author also

suggests that Tavits 2007

might also be helpful for

understanding this topic.

Edited book:

One editor

Last name, First name, ed. Year. Book title. City of Publication: Press.

Two editors

Last name first editor, First name first editor, and First name second editor Last name second

editor, eds. Year. Book title. City of Publication: Press.

Chapter in an edited book:

Last name, First name. Year. “Chapter Title.” In Book Title, ed. First Name Last Name of Editor.

City of Publication: Press, first page number of chapter – last page number of chapter.

Articles:

Last name, First name. Year. “Article title.” Journal title. Volume number (Edition number):

first page number of article – last page number of article.

Follow same format for multiple authors as for books.

Newspapers:

If the author name is known

Last name, First name. Year. “Title of piece.” Newspaper Title, Month, day number.

If the author’s name is not known

“Title of piece.” Year. Newspaper Title, Month, day number.

Concluding remarks

A good literature review serves everyone. For the researcher, reviewing the work of other

scholars can help refine a topic and suggest ways to proceed. In addition, a good literature review

establishes the researcher as a legitimate speaker for a particular topic. For the reader, the

literature review situates the study within a broader context and provides immediate access to the

most important conclusions other authors have reached regarding the research topic. In addition,

a good literature review can identify what we should next read.

EXERCISES:

Go to the library and find a recent copy of a mainstream Political Science Journal. Some good

examples are: The American Political Science Review, The American Journal of Political

Science, The Journal of Politics. Go through the articles and study how the authors constructed

their literature reviews. Articles may or may not have subheadings to identify the article’s

literature review, but you should be able to find the article’s literature review from the article’s

content. Make notes of how the introductory summary statements were written. Was there

agreement in the literature? Have several authors studied similar topics and reached different

conclusions?

Your study:

By now, you should have a topic for the research paper you will write as you progress through

this book. The dependent variable should be one of the seventeen possible topics listed in

Chapter 2. You should also have three independent variables to explain variation in your

dependent variable. Before you continue with your analysis, you should begin a literature review.

Start by using one of the mainstream search engines most likely available through your school’s

library. Try to find journal articles and/or academic books that pertain to your research topic.

Start by searching for studies that assess your independent and dependent variables for your unit

of analysis. If this approach does not result in many usable studies, try searching on the

dependent variable and the unit of analysis. You can also try searching on the dependent variable

alone.

Make sure you try various manipulations of all the ways someone might phrase your variables to

ensure you find as much literature as possible. Also, if you happen to find a recent research paper

or book that concentrates on topic, you should read that study’s literature review carefully to

identify additional studies.

Once you identify a number of relevant studies, start reading through them and write up

annotated bibliographies for each one. Many students often ask how many studies they should

review for a paper. This is a difficult question. The answer depends on what you would like to do

with your paper once it is finished. If you are writing your paper for eventual publication, you

will need to review as many studies as possible. A common criticism in the review process is the

omission of important studies in the literature review. Therefore, being immersed as much as

possible in the literature, understanding how ideas have developed over time, and knowing what

scholars are concentrating on now is strongly advised. Identifying seminal studies is important,

too. There are certain studies within the different subfields with which all researchers should be

familiar. You may be able to identify these studies as you read through the articles and books

you find for your topic because most (if not all) researchers have also identified them in their

literature reviews. Making reference to such seminal studies in your own study further

establishes your credibility.

On the other hand, if you are writing this paper as an assignment for a course, your instructor

may have a minimum number of studies that you will need to read for your literature review. If

this is the case, you should ensure that the studies you include are as relevant and informative as

possible.

After writing annotated bibliographies, the hard work begins. Now you must incorporate all of

the studies you have read into an integrated literature review, which, for your paper, will be

presented in its own section called Literature Review. Try to make the literature review as

complete and concise as possible. It shouldn’t be too short (one or two paragraphs is probably

not enough) but it shouldn’t be too long. You will know you have completed the literature

review when you have exhausted the information from your annotated bibliographies and feel

that you’ve been as concise, but as complete as possible. And once your literature review is

complete, it is time to move on to the next step, concept measurement.