Case Study
Lab Report
Reflective Writing
Literature Review
Prepared by University of Waterloo
Section D: Critical Writing Skills
This section provides you with an overview of important writing skills that will help you write your literature review.
What will I learn?
By the end of this section, you will be able to
- apply critical writing skills to write concisely using an academic tone,
- use academic language appropriate to the literature review genre,
- know when to use analysis, synthesis, description, summary, comparison, and critique; and
- integrate evidence using summary, paraphrase, and quotation.
Although we have already examined the structure and organization of the literature review itself, we need to discuss the language, tone, writing style, and verb tenses that you will use in the writing process.
Writing Concisely
Concise writing uses the fewest words necessary to accurately convey an idea to a reader. Writing concisely is challenging because you must reflect on word choice, sentence structure, and organization, but will increase a text's overall clarity when achieved. Writers should not be overly concerned about writing concisely while drafting their work. Instead, they should pay careful attention to the conciseness of their writing while revising.
Consider these four areas of writing to help you write concisely:
Cut Meaningless Words and Phrases
Avoid clichés, idioms, and colloquial expressions
WORDY
Rather than taking the bull by the horns, she was quiet as a church mouse.
CONCISE
She avoided confrontation by remaining silent.
WORDY
The bridge is unstable due to the fact that it was constructed with inferior material.
CONCISE
The bridge is unstable because it was constructed with inferior material.
Avoid filler words, all-purpose words, and unnecessary qualifiers
WORDY
All things considered, climate change should be given more attention, in my opinion.
CONCISE
Climate change should be given more attention.
Avoid vague words in favour of specific words
WORDY
Engineering is comprised of many aspects.
CONCISE
Engineering is subdivided into many disciplines.
Cut unnecessary repetition
Avoid repeating the same word within a sentence when used in two different ways
WORDY
He was right to assume his subjects are right-handed.
CONCISE
He correctly assumed his subjects are right-handed.
Avoid redundancy of ideas
WORDY
Subjects with little technical training tend to perform poorly due to their lack of technical experience.
CONCISE
Some subjects' lack of technical experience resulted in a poor performance.
Eliminate words and phrases that express an idea that another word implies
(e.g. added bonus, and etc., basic necessities, brief in duration, combine together, close scrutiny, disappear from sight, past history, etc.)
WORDY
As already stated above, beluga whales use sounds and echolocation to hunt in dark or turbid waters.
CONCISE
As stated above, beluga whales use sounds and echolocation to hunt in dark or turbid waters.
Simplify Sentences
Eliminate unnecessary uses of expletive constructions
(such as "It is", "There is", and "There are", at the beginning of the sentences by rephrasing)
WORDY
It is challenging to read Shakespeare.
CONCISE
- Shakespeare is challenging to read.
- Reading Shakespeare is challenging.
Replace verb + noun clusters with a single verb
WORDY
The researchers conducted an investigation of the effects of caffeine on students writing timed examinations.
CONCISE
The researchers investigated the effects of caffeine on students writing timed examinations.
Replace verb clusters with a single strong verb
WORDY
Many young people today make the decision to live with their parents during university.
CONCISE
Many young people today decide to live with their parents during university.
Eliminate unnecessary helping verbs
WORDY
The teacher could understand why her students failed the test.
CONCISE
The teacher understood why her students failed the test.
Join short, related sentences
WORDY
Many of his fabrications lay in plain sight for years. One of them was published in the respected Journal Science.
CONCISE
Many of his fabrications, one of them published in the respected Journal Science, lay in plain sight for years.
Use the active voice
WORDY
The findings were published by researchers at the University of Waterloo.
CONCISE
University of Waterloo researchers published the findings.
Rewrite Jargon
Use plain language whenever possible
WORDY
The author’s expostulation impugns litterateurs of yore.
CONCISE
The author’s argument disproves earlier scholars.
Explain a technical term if you must use it
WORDY
The photographer fixed the negative.
CONCISE
The photographer removed unexposed silver from the negative in a solution of chemicals, so ‘fixing’ the negative.
Tone and Language
Any literature review written for academic purposes adheres to formal writing conventions. To practice academic writing, try to rewrite the following sentences to adhere to the recommendations for formal writing listed below:
Recommendation: Academic writing requires direct and unbiased arguments
Question 1
Rewrite the sentence to avoid generalizations
Since the beginning of time, humans have wanted to visit the moon.
Example rewritten sentence:
Humans first visited the moon in 1969, but there is substantial documentation to suggest that their interest predated their ability to do so.
Question 2
Rewrite the sentence to avoid unnecessary qualifiers and emotions
In my opinion, it is disheartening to see that so many exceptionally good athletes fall victim to the enticing pull of steroid use.
Example rewritten sentence:
Many professional athletes use steroids despite knowing the harmful side effects.
Question 3
Rewrite the sentence to avoid personal pronouns or addressing the reader
As you can see, the results clearly demonstrate that I have followed appropriate protocol for titration. I think this method was appropriate.
Example rewritten sentence:
Appropriate protocol for titration was followed, as it is the most appropriate method.
Recommendation: Academic writing requires a formal tone
Question 1
Rewrite the sentence to avoid slang
A lot of guys become cops.
Example rewritten sentence:
The police force is predominantly male.
Question 2
Rewrite the sentence to avoid contractions
The experiment didn’t have the expected results and therefore couldn’t be replicated.
Example rewritten sentence:
The experiment did not have the expected results and therefore could not be replicated.
Recommendation: Academic writing requires careful consideration of the words you use to explain your analysis
Question 1
Rewrite the sentence to avoid antiquated and inflated language
The amalgamation of apropos inquisitions vanished after one researchist absconded with the communiqué, causing quite a conundrum.
Example rewritten sentence:
The collected research disappeared after one researcher took the reports, causing a disturbance.
Question 2
Rewrite the sentence for an academic audience
Nowadays, teens just can’t walk into jobs like before when they could.
Example rewritten sentence:
Entering the job market has become increasingly more challenging for most adolescents.
Question 3
Rewrite the sentence using more accurate words
Plants were kept in the cold overnight.
Example rewritten sentence:
Rosa blanda were stored in a freezer at -5° C for 8 hours from 10 pm to 6 am.
Grammatical Considerations
Verb Tenses
Verb tenses are a way to give your reader more information about the source you are discussing. These are standard guidelines that may differ depending on your discipline or your professor’s specifications.
Past Tense
Use the past tense to report what authors or researchers have said or done. Use it while discussing what a researcher has completed.
Example:
Lee argued that space is a relevant category of analysis, whereas Ali suggested that more emphasis should be placed on culture.
Present Tense
Use the present tense to discuss your analysis of a source or to generalize the accepted knowledge in the field. Literary works should also be discussed in the present tense because they are still in a state of being.
Example 1:
Moby Dick is about a large white whale.
Example 2:
The small sample size limits the study’s reliability and validity.
Present Perfect
Use the present perfect to generalize about past literature.
Example:
Scholars have found that social networks in rural Ontario were complex and multifaceted.
Active vs. Passive Voice
Active voice emphasizes the performer of the action: The subject of the sentence performs the action. The active voice is direct, clear, and concise. The reader knows who is responsible for the action.
Example:
Participants completed the survey and returned it to the researcher.
Passive voice emphasizes the receiver of the action: The subject of the sentence receives the action. The passive voice is indirect, unclear, and wordy. The reader may know who performed the action (if the “by” phrase is included).
Example:
The survey was completed by participants and returned to the researcher.
Using active or passive voice is a matter of style, and you should consider why you are using either to ensure your choice best reflects your meaning. The following comparison can help you choose appropriately:
Active Voice
- Concise
- Direct
- Used to emphasize the subject of a sentence
- Used to show readers who performed the actions
Passive Voice
- Wordy
- Weak
- Used to emphasize a certain topic rather than a person
- Used when readers do not need to know who performed the action or when the performer is unimportant
- Used when considering word location to keep the subject and focus consistent throughout a passage
Inserting Quotations
Quotations must be grammatically consistent with their surrounding sentences. Rather than treating the quotation in isolation, it must be considered as part of the overall sentence structure. Consider the following questions when integrating a quotation:
- Does each independent clause have only one subject?
- Is the quotation in the same tense as the rest of the sentence?
- Does it flow when read out loud as part of its surrounding sentence?
- Does the quotation logically fit in its surrounding sentence?
The following example contains two quotations that were not integrated into their surrounding sentence properly. Use the questions above to guide you while rephrasing it.
- Example: Although Pierre Elliot Trudeau was said to be, “Trudeau is an internationally respected leader and excellent spokesman,” he was nevertheless, “‘a little self-centred,’ said the contemporary cabinet minister.”
- Rephrased: Although Pierre Elliot Trudeau was said to be “an internationally respected leader and excellent spokesman,” his cabinet minister considered him “a little self-centred.”
Formatting Considerations when Quoting Texts
Omitting Information
When omitting a section of a quoted text, use an ellipsis to replace the words you removed. Be sure to include a space before and after the ellipsis.
Before:
“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.”
After:
“Words can be like X-rays … You read and you’re pierced.”
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Clarifying Information
When adding clarifying information, enclose the new material in brackets.
If the original text is, “as a recursive process, it must be treated as a discussion,” define what “it” is in your quotation.
Then the clarified text would be:
As Smith states, “as a recursive process, [writing] must be treated as a discussion.”
Mistakes
If there is a mistake in the original text, use [sic] to show that you are aware of the error and quoting accurately.
Example:
As Smith states, “writing is a recurrsisive [sic] process.”
Literature reviews require you to weave the research story together by explaining ideas across studies, identifying patterns and themes that emerge from the sources, and examining the intersections and relationships across sources. Evaluating sources and contributing to the scholarly conversation around a topic is considered engaging in the discourse in the field. Discursive literature review writing moves away from simply providing a list of sources and instead towards an analytical discussion on how the works in the field talk to each other and collectively build a conversation around a specific topic.
Discursive Writing
Discursive writing starts with identifying points of discussion among the current literature (Figure D.1). Then, while writing your review, contribute to the scholarly conversation by integrating your sources into a wider conversation instead of treating them in isolation. In other words, intersperse your discussion of different sources throughout your review rather than reviewing them one by one as separate items.
This type of writing draws upon your analysis, synthesis, description, summary, comparison, and critique skills.
Figure D.1: Locating Scholarly Discourse
Scholarly discourse constitutes the areas of overlap between published academic studies. Address these intersections by examining how studies build on or conflict with each other.
© University of Waterloo
Step by Step guide to Discursive Writing
- Start with an argument
- Tell the reader the conclusion you have reached from the sources.
- Emphasize analysis instead of description.
- Use words like because, although, through, due to, by, or despite to help you take a position.
Examples:
The most robust and compelling finding for the positive impact of physical activity on cognition is the production of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) following acute aerobic exercise.
The impact of physical activity on cognition has been examined thoroughly in the aging population, but scarce evidence exists for this relationship in preadolescents.
- Support the argument using evidence
- Consider the source beyond just the facts it contains.
- Demonstrate that you have examined the sources in relation to one another.
- Compare, evaluate, and synthesize sources rather than examining each source in isolation.
Example:
Even though the positive impact of exercise on the body is known, we still lack an understanding about how acute aerobic exercise changes the brain (Luck et al., 2009). In the past decade, researchers have started to apply neuroscience techniques to answer questions about cognition in related fields like kinesiology and psychology (Luck & Hillyard, 2010; Luck, Woodman, & Vogel, 2012). This shift to a more psychophysiological perspective includes measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) to study attention following exercise. Although ERPs have been used since the 1960s to study attention, several methodological and conceptual advancements have allowed these fundamental questions to be examined in a more comprehensive and reliable manner (Helfrich-Forester, Nitabach, & Holmes, 2011; Smith, Johnson, & Mohari, 2010).
- Provide sufficient detail
- Make conclusions and generalizations supported by more than one study.
- Compare studies according to your Matrix.
- Use summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting techniques.
Example:
Similarly, George Sheppard’s article “‘God Save the Green': Fenianism and Fellowship in Victorian Ontario” and David Wilson’s “Fenianism in Montreal, 1862-68” each examined Fenian circles in one Canadian location. Conducting such microstudies allowed for Sheppard and Wilson to connect the movement to Canadians in a much more direct way because they were better able to examine the social context in which Canadian Fenians operated. In his discussion on the importance of examining Canadian Fenians, Sheppard goes so far as to say that, “Fenianism in Canada West was not merely a product of Irish nationalism but also a response to the social conditions of Victorian Ontario’s urban areas,” linking the movement to specific and unique Canadian attributes (Sheppard 130).
- Avoid repetitive style
- Starting every sentence with the name of an author gets boring and encourages isolating sources instead of synthesizing them.
- If you need to examine the same source several times throughout your literature review, be sure to explain why you are doing so.
- Build on your analysis, paraphrases, and quotations instead of reiterating them.
In the example below, the writer has revised their original descriptive draft to limit repetition and build their analysis.
Before
C.P. Stacey wrote his article “Fenianism and the Rise of National Feeling in Canada at the Time of Confederation” in the 1930s. Stacey placed Fenianism as the cause of an increasing sense of Canadian nationalism and argued that “Fenianism provided a most beneficial influence upon the immediate and ultimate fortunes of [Confederation]…by engendering an atmosphere of patriotic enthusiasm eminently favourable to the success of an experiment in nation-building” (Stacey 238). W.S. Neidhardt published Fenianism in North America. In it, he showed that mid-nineteenth century Canadians took the Fenians extremely seriously and that their Canadian invasion attempt should not be regarded as, “a revolutionary movement of little or no consequence” (Neidhardt x). Hereward Senior published The Fenians and Canada in 1978, where he was primarily concerned with how Canada was to be appropriated to suit the Fenians’ plans and how Canadian Fenians and their sympathizers were more broadly connected to the pan-Atlantic movement. Many scholars have looked at the Fenians.
Too many instances of sentences being started with the author’s name.
No transition words to show the relationship between studies.
Not enough analysis or synthesis.
After
Interest in Canada’s Fenian movement began as early as the 1930s, when C.P. Stacey wrote his article “Fenianism and the Rise of National Feeling in Canada at the Time of Confederation.” In this work, he placed Fenianism as the cause of an increasing sense of Canadian nationalism and argued that “Fenianism provided a most beneficial influence upon the immediate and ultimate fortunes of [Confederation]…by engendering an atmosphere of patriotic enthusiasm eminently favourable to the success of an experiment in nation-building” (Stacey 238). The trend of examining Canadian Fenians escalated in 1975, when W.S. Neidhardt published Fenianism in North America. In it, he showed that mid-nineteenth century Canadians took the Fenians extremely seriously and that their Canadian invasion attempt should not be regarded as, “a revolutionary movement of little or no consequence,” thereby prioritizing Canadians’ reactions to the Fenians over the Brotherhood’s failed invasion attempts (Neidhardt x). By contrast, Hereward Senior published The Fenians and Canada in 1978, where he was primarily concerned with how Canada was to be appropriated to suit the Fenians’ plans and how Canadian Fenians and their sympathizers were more broadly connected to the pan-Atlantic movement. Senior helped direct attention to Canada’s relationship with the movement, but ultimately failed to mention how active the Fenians actually were within the country. Despite the titles of their works, all three authors treated Canadian Fenians as an unimportant faction of the larger American branch.
Contextualizes the first study published on the Fenians.
Shows a change over time and changes the sentence structure so that the author is not mentioned first.
Analyzes the quotation.
Establishes the relationship between the third author and the two previous authors.
Explains the importance of the work.
Evaluates and ties all three of the authors' works together.
Literature reviews require you to weave the research story by explaining ideas across studies, identifying patterns, and supporting your analysis while you do so. As such, using effective summary, paraphrase, and quotation techniques is integral to producing an insightful and convincing literature review. Use a combination of these three techniques, but be sure to consider which one best suits the evidence you’re incorporating and the point you’re making. Evaluate your evidence and integration technique based on the level of detail you want to include. Make sure you properly cite your evidence.
© University of Waterloo
Summary
Summaries reduce a work to an explanation of key ideas instead of specific details. Use your own words to explain the main points of a text so the reader can understand the material and how it relates to your argument. A summary can be several sentences to a paragraph in length.
Original Text:
The cognitive and optical costs associated with screen reading differ across mediums because of variations in line spacing, character size, and scrolling rate. Because the cognitive mechanisms of reading affect proofreading (Healy, 1980; Levy, 1983), it is an acceptable measure to compare screen reading performance with print reading performance. The existent literature indicates that screen reading is related to increased time and decreased accuracy when proofreading text (Muter et al., 1982). One reason for decreased accuracy when screen reading texts is that screens reduce the differentiation in word shape, making it difficult to discern a spelling error; spelling errors are easily detected when they disrupt the typical shape of the word (Munk & Hulme, 1983). Because word shape is a predictor of proofreading performance, the uniform nature of word processing on a screen will make proofreading text on a screen more difficult than proofreading text on paper.
Text adapted from original article: Wright, P., & Lickorish, A. (1983). Proof-reading texts on screen and paper. Behaviour & Information Technology, 2(3), 227-235. doi: 10.1080/01449298308914479
Summary of Above Text:
Editing from screens takes longer and is less accurate than reading from paper. It is more challenging to find spelling mistakes on a screen due to the standardization of fonts and formats (Wright and Lickorish, 1983).
Paraphrase
Paraphrasing a text gives your reader the same level of detail as the original text, but in your own words. They should reiterate a specific detail of the original text accurately but avoiding its exact language. Paraphrases should be no more than two or three sentences in length.
Original Text:
The existent literature indicates that screen reading is related to increased time and decreased accuracy when proofreading text (Muter et al., 1982).
Possible Paraphrasing of Above Text:
Longer duration and less precision are disadvantages associated with correcting writing on electronic displays (Muter et al., 1982).
Quotation
Quotations are repetitions of the exact words and language used by the original author of the text you’re using as evidence. Quotations should only be used when the exact way an author phrases their material is just as important as the information they’re conveying. Place short quotations between quotation marks and format longer quotations as block quotations. Consult your style guide for citation information and for the exact length quotations must be before they need to be treated as a block quotation.
"As long as people think they can fight city hall, they won't be plotting to tear it down." (Loo, 1994).
Strategies to paraphrase and summarize
Maintaining academic integrity while paraphrasing and summarizing can be accomplished through rewriting the original material in your own words and properly citing the text you consulted. Use a combination of the following strategies while paraphrasing or summarizing:
- Read the text thoroughly, then try writing 3 to 5 sentences that summarize the text’s main ideas without looking at the text itself.
- Replace words with synonyms unless they are technical terms.
- Modify parts of speech by writing in the past tense, the past perfect tense, or the present tense.
- Rearrange sentences from active to passive voice, or from passive to active voice.
- Rearrange the sentence structure by switching dependent and independent clauses or by rearranging the order of information presented if the original order is irrelevant.
Useful Evaluative and Object Words
Reporting Verbs
Reporting verbs can be used to add more evaluation or description to evidence integration by showing the reader how you are using the material. Some verbs carry an objective connotation and can therefore be used to introduce evidence without adding any evaluation. On the other hand, including some sense of evaluation is sometimes beneficial, so consider using reporting verbs that support your overall analysis of a text when an evaluation is necessary.
Reporting verbs can indicate your evaluation of the information, arguments, or research presented within a text. As such, consider the connotations implied by the verbs you use.
Connotations associated with Signal/Reporting Verbs
| Positive | Negative | Neutral |
|---|---|---|
| finds | claims | states |
| shows | implies | reports |
| demonstrates | assumes | studies |
Other Common Reporting Verbs
Analyze, Argue, Demonstrate, Describe, Develop, Discuss, Examine, Expand, Explain, Find, Focus, Give, Identify, Indicate, Note, Observe, Point out, Propose, Provide, Publish, Report, Say, Show, Study, Suggest, Use
Key Takeaways
- Consider word choice, tone, language, and verb tense when writing your literature review.
- Use paraphrase, summary, and quotation techniques to effectively analyze sources to write your literature review.
- Engage in discursive writing by identifying arguments and supporting those arguments with sufficient detail and analysis.
References
Acheson, C., & Bond, C. (2011). Writing a Literature Review [PDF document].
Retrieved from http://hedc.otago.ac.nz/hedc/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Writing-a-literature-review.pdf
Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (2004). Academic Writing for Graduate Students (2nd ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Swales, J. M., & Christine B. Feak. (2012). Academic Writing for Graduate Students (3rd ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
University of Waterloo. (2016). Locating Scholarly Discourse [Illustration], Created October 17, 2016.
University of Waterloo. (2016). Integrating evidence arrow [Illustration], Created October 17, 2016.
Next Section Overview
In Section E: Revising Your Work , you will learn key reviewing and editing strategies.