Literature survey is the documentation of a comprehensive review of the published and

unpublished work from secondary sources data in the areas of specific interest to the
researcher. The library is a rich storage base for secondary data and researchers used to
spend several weeks and sometimes months going through books, journals, newspapers,
magazines, conference proceedings, doctoral dissertations, master's theses, government
publications and financial reports to find information on their research topic. With
computerized databases now readily available and accessible the literature search is much
speedier and easier and can be done without entering the portals of a library building.

The researcher could start the literature survey even as the information from the
unstructured and structured interviews is being gathered. Reviewing the literature on the
topic area at this time helps the researcher to focus further interviews more meaningfully on
certain aspects found to be important is the published studies even if these had not surfaced
during the earlier questioning. So the literature survey is important for gathering the
secondary data for the research which might be proved very helpful in the research. The
literature survey can be conducted for several reasons. The literature review can be in any
area of the business.

Literature survey guidelines

Literature survey is a background work that is made personally. It is based on
books and academic publications. The topics of literature surveys are selected so
that they support the assignment.
The main goal of a literature survey is to gather a basis for the practical work and
to show that the student is familiar with existing literature and research on the
topic. It is not smart to re-invent the wheel, i.e., one has to know what has
already been done.

Example of the content of a literature survey

• Title and author

o name, student id and other information as usual
• Abstract (summary)
• Keywords
• Introduction
o Background of the topic, importance, content etc.
• Background (Definitions for relevant concepts)
o Possible competiting definitions
o Concepts that might cause misunderstandings and confusion
o Possiple approaches
• The actual content with appropriate titles
o E.g. introduction and comparison of technologies, models and
approaches or examples of applications.
• Conclusions
o Most important discoveries and conclusions
o Proposals for further research
 • References
o A good list of reference is important
o Has to follow some known referencing practice (E.g. Harward
referencing)

It is not necessary to directly follow the previous example. Please do apply it

according to your topic!
Additional information about technical writing can be found from the library. You
can also ask for more guidance.
Please notice!

• English is strongly recommended as a writing language!

• Please supply copies of the references.
• Remember that the literature survey will be a part of your project
document. It is required that the language of the literature survey is the
same as the language of the rest of the documentation.

Guidelines for presenting the survey

We have listed all sorts of things here but you are also allowed to use common
sense :-)

• Practical matters
o Everyone has 20-30 minutes for the presentation.
o Next performer prepares him-/herself for the presentation while the
ending questions of the previous presentation - of course without
disturbing others.
o Slides have to be located in the BSCW workspace until 10.00 of the
presentation day.
• General stuff about the presentation
o Articulate clearly so that everybody can hear you
o Talk to the audience, not to the wall
o Keep your slides simple. About 5 (+-2) keypoints per slide)
o Use a simple font such as Helvetica, Arial or Geneva. Times is a
bad choise.
o Use large fonts. At least 18 pixels.
o Pictures are recommended as they usually illusterate the point very
well
o Make sure beforehand that all the needed devices (such as video
projectors etc.) work
• Content of the presentation
o Structure should develop from introduction to the more spesific
information.
o Important concepts have to be defined.
o You don't have to include all the content of the paper version.
 It is possible to just select the most important points or

choose a viewpoint for the presentation.
o The wholeness is important (the big picture)
o Concentrate on the keypoints of the survey.
o You have to make a difference between your own toughts and
thoughts of others (references).
 Because this is a literature survey, you don't have to include
own ideas. Refering to others is enough.
 References in the slides also (remember references for the
pictures).
o Slides in english
o Presentation in english. If you really need an exception, please
contact us asap.
• Equipment
o You can use additional illustration devices such as video projector,
document camera, video
o Ask and suggest more devices if you have some ideas
• Common mistakes
o Rushing into details too quickly and forgetting to tell about objects
and motivations of the work.
o Trying to cover the lack of content of the work with bad jokes
o Screensaver turns on

What is a literature review?

A literature review is a survey and discussion of the literature in a given area of study. It is a
concise overview of what has been studied, argued, and established about a topic, and it is
usually organized chronologically or thematically. A literature review surveys scholarly
articles, books and other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory,
providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. A literature
review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational
pattern and combines both summary and synthesis to give a new interpretation of old
material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression
of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature
review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.

A literature review is written in essay format and groups related works together and
discusses trends and developments rather than focusing on one item at a time. It is not
a summary; rather, it evaluates previous and current research in regard to how relevant
and/or useful it is and how it relates to your own research. The format of a review of literature
may vary from discipline to discipline and from assignment to assignment. A review may be a
self-contained unit -- an end in itself -- or a preface to and rationale for engaging
in primary research.