How to Master at Literature Mapping: 5 Most Recommended Tools to Use
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After putting in a lot of thought, time, and effort, you’ve finally selected a research topic . As the first step towards conducting a successful and impactful research is completed, what follows it is the gruesome process of literature review . Despite the brainstorming, the struggle of understanding how much literature is enough for your research paper or thesis is very much real. Unlike the old days of flipping through pages for hours in a library, literature has come easy to us due to its availability on the internet through Open Access journals and other publishing platforms. This ubiquity has made it even more difficult to cover only significant data! Nevertheless, an ultimate solution to this problem of conglomerating relevant data is literature mapping .
Table of Contents
What is Literature Mapping?
Literature mapping is one of the key strategies when searching literature for your research. Since writing a literature review requires following a systematic method to identify, evaluate, and interpret the work of other researchers, academics, and practitioners from the same research field, creating a literature map proves beneficial. Mapping ideas, arguments, and concepts in a literature is an imperative part of literature review. Additionally, it is stated as an established method for externalizing knowledge and thinking processes. A map of literature is a “graphical plan”, “diagrammatic representation”, or a “geographical metaphor” of the research topic.
Researchers are often overwhelmed by the large amount of information they encounter and have difficulty identifying and organizing information in the context of their research. It is recommended that experts in their fields develop knowledge structures that are richer not only in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of the links between this knowledge. This knowledge linking process is termed as literature mapping .
How Literature Mapping Helps Researchers?
Literature mapping helps researchers in following ways:
- It provides concrete evidence of a student’s understanding and interpretation of the research field to share with both peers and professors.
- Switching to another modality helps researchers form patterns to see what might otherwise be hidden in the research area.
- Furthermore, it helps in identifying gaps in pertinent research.
- Finally, t lets researchers identify potential original areas of study and parameters of their work.
How to Make a Literature Map?
Literature mapping is not only an organizational tool, but also a reflexive tool. Furthermore, it distinguishes between declarative knowledge shown by identifying key concepts, ideas and methods, and procedural knowledge shown through classifying these key concepts and establishing links or relationships between them. The literature review conceptualizes research structures as a “knowledge production domain” that defines a productive and ongoing constructive element. Thus, the approaches emphasize the identity of different scientific institutions from different fields, which can be mapped theoretically, methodologically, or fundamentally.
The two literature mapping approaches are:
- Mapping with key ideas or descriptors: This is developed from keywords in research topics.
- Author mapping: This is also termed as citation matching that identifies key experts in the field and may include the use of citations to interlink them.
Generally, literature maps can be subdivided by categorization processes based on theories, definitions, or chronology, and cross-reference between the two types of mapping. Furthermore, researchers use mind maps as a deductive process, general concept-specific mapping (results in a right triangle), or an inductive process mapping to specific concepts (results in an inverted triangle).
What are Different Literature Mapping Methods?
The different types of literature mapping and representations are as follows:
1. Feature Mapping:
Argument structures developed from summary registration pages.
2. Topic Tree Mapping:
Summary maps showing the development of the topic in sub-themes up to any number of levels.
3. Content Mapping:
Linear structure of organization of content through hierarchical classification.
4. Taxonomic Mapping:
Classification through standardized taxonomies.
5. Concept Mapping:
Linking concepts and processes allows procedural knowledge from declarative information. With a basic principle of cause and effect and problem solving, concept maps can show the relationship between theory and practice.
6. Rhetorical Mapping:
The use of rhetoric communication to discuss, influence, or persuade is particularly important in social policy and political science and can be considered a linking strategy. A number of rhetorical tools have been identified that can be used to present a case, including ethos, metaphor, trope, and irony.
7. Citation Mapping:
Citation mapping or matching is a research process established to specifically establish links between authors by citing their articles. Traditional manual citation indexes have been replaced by automated databases that allow visual mapping methods (e.g. ISI Web of Science). In conclusion, citation matching in a subject area can be effective in determining the frequency of authors and specific articles.
5 Most Useful Literature Mapping Tools
Technology has made the literature mapping process easier now. However, with numerous options available online, it does get difficult for researchers to select one tool that is efficient. These tools are built behind explicit metadata and citations when coupled with some new machine learning techniques. Here are the most recommended literature mapping tools to choose from:
1. Connected Papers
a. Connected Papers is a simple, yet powerful, one-stop visualization tool that uses a single starter article.
b. It is easy to use tool that quickly identifies similar papers with just one “Seed paper” (a relevant paper).
c. Furthermore, it helps to detect seminal papers as well as review papers.
d. It creates a similarity graph not a citation graph and connecting lines (based on the similarity metric).
e. Does not necessarily show direct citation relationships.
f. The identified papers can then be exported into most reference managers like Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, etc.
2. Inciteful
a. Inciteful is a customizable tool that can be used with multiple starter articles in an iterative process.
b. Results from multiple seed papers can be imported in a batch with a BibTex file.
c. Inciteful produces the following lists of papers by default:
- Similar papers (uses Adamic/Adar index)
- “Most Important Papers in the Graph” (based on PageRank)
- Recent Papers by the Top 100 Authors
- The Most Important Recent Papers
d. It allows filtration of results by keywords.
e. Importantly, seed papers can also be directly added by title or DOI.
a. Litmaps follows an iterative process and creates visualizations for found papers.
b. It allows importing of papers using BibTex format which can be exported from most reference managers like Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley. In addition, it allows paper imports from an ORCID profile.
c. Keywords search method is used to find Litmaps indexed papers.
d. Additionally, it allows setting up email updates of “emergent literature”.
e. Its unique feature that allows overlay of different maps helps to look for overlaps of papers.
f. Lastly, its explore function allows finding related papers to add to the map.
4. Citation-based Sites
a. CoCites is a citation-based method for researching scientific literature.
b. Citation Gecko is a tool for visualizing links between articles.
c. VOSviewer is a software tool for creating and visualizing bibliometric networks. These networks are for example journals, may include researchers or individual publications, which can be generated based on citation, bibliographic matching , co-citation, or co-authorship relationships. VOSviewer also offers text mining functionality that can be used to create and visualize networks of important terms extracted from a scientific literature.
5. Citation Context Tools
a. Scite allow users to see how a publication has been cited by providing the context of the citation and a classification describing whether it provides supporting or contrasting evidence for the cited claim.
b. Semantic Scholar is a freely available, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature.
Have you ever mapped your literature? Did you use any of these tools before? Lastly, what are the strategies and methods you use for literature mapping ? Let us know how this article helped you in creating a hassle-free and comprehensive literature map.
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Literature Mapping in Scientific Research: A Comprehensive Review
Accelerate scientific research with Literature Mapping: a comprehensive tool for knowledge discovery and data-driven insights.
Literature mapping is a process that involves analyzing and visualizing the scientific literature on a particular topic to identify research gaps, improve collaboration, and inform decision-making.
In this article, we list five benefits of literature mapping for scientists and researchers and show you types and tools to save your time and help you find better evidence.
What is Literature Mapping?
Literature mapping is a process that involves analyzing and visualizing the scientific literature on a particular topic. It includes systematically searching, collecting, and reviewing relevant studies, articles, and books published in a specific field or discipline.
The purpose of literature mapping is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on a topic, identify gaps in the literature, and potential areas for future research. It can be useful for those who seek to conduct a systematic review, develop a research proposal, or explore new research areas.
Benefits of Literature Mapping
Here are five benefits of literature mapping for scientists and researchers:
- Identify research gaps : Literature mapping helps researchers to identify gaps in the existing research and to determine areas that require further investigation.
- Visualize the research landscape : By creating visualizations of the scientific literature, researchers can see the relationships between different research topics.
- Save time : Literature mapping can help researchers save time by providing an overview of the literature on a particular topic, including relevant studies and duplicated work.
- Improve collaboration : Literature mapping can help researchers to collaborate more effectively by providing a shared understanding of the research landscape. This improves communication, and facilitates the workflow between different disciplines.
- Inform decision-making : Literature mapping can help researchers to make assertive decisions. This can be especially useful for policymakers and other decision-makers who need to make decisions based on scientific evidence.
Types of Literature Mapping
Feature mapping.
Feature mapping is a technique used primarily in data analysis and machine learning to identify patterns and relationships between features of a dataset. It involves analyzing the data and plotting the relationships between different features of the dataset on a map or chart.
Some of the main features include:
- Identification of relationships : Feature mapping can help identify the relationships between different features or variables in a dataset. This can allow for better modeling and prediction of outcomes.
- Pattern recognition : By plotting the relationships between features of a dataset, feature mapping can help identify patterns and anomalies that may not be immediately apparent in the raw data.
- Visualization : Feature mapping often involves creating visual representations of the relationships between features of a dataset. This can help make the data easier to understand and interpret.
- Dimension reduction : When dealing with large datasets with many features, feature mapping can help reduce the dimensionality of the data. This can help simplify the data and make it easier to analyze.
- Data clustering : Feature mapping can also help identify groups or clusters of data points that share similar features. This can allow for more targeted analysis and modeling of specific groups within the dataset.
- Feature selection : Feature mapping can aid in the selection of the most important features from a dataset. By identifying the relationships between features, researchers can determine which features are most relevant to the outcomes they are trying to predict.
Topic Tree Mapping
Topic tree mapping is a technique used to visualize and organize the relationships between different topics or themes within a larger subject area. It involves creating a hierarchical structure of topics, with more general topics at the top and more specific subtopics branching out below.
Content Mapping
Content mapping is the process of creating a visual representation or map of the content of a document, website, or other information source. It involves breaking down the content into its constituent parts, organizing it according to a logical structure, and presenting it in a user-friendly and easily accessible way.
Taxonomic Mapping
Taxonomic mapping is the process of assigning different taxonomic categories to specific objects or organisms based on their characteristics, traits, and other distinguishing features. This mapping enables the organization and identification of different species and helps researchers and scientists to conduct various studies and experiments related to their classification, evolution, and diversity.
Concept Mapping
Concept Mapping is a visual representation of the relationships between concepts and ideas in a particular field. It involves identifying key concepts, and organizing them into a hierarchical structure. It can help to identify gaps in knowledge and aid in the development of new theories.
Rhetorical Mapping
Rhetorical mapping is a process used in communication studies and critical discourse analysis to analyze the structure and content of discourse. It involves creating a visual representation or diagram of a text or speech that identifies its various components, such as arguments, claims, evidence, and rhetorical strategies used to persuade the audience. Rhetorical mapping allows researchers to understand how the speaker or writer uses language and persuasion techniques to influence the audience’s beliefs and attitudes.
Citation Mapping
Citation Mapping involves tracing the citation history of a particular article, and identifying the articles that have cited it. This can help to identify the impact of the article on the field, and identify related research.
Tools for Literature Mapping
- Citation Gecko : Citation Gecko is a web-based tool that allows users to quickly and easily search for and download citation data from various academic databases. It streamlines and simplifies the process of finding and organizing citations for research projects.
- Inciteful : Inciteful is a literature-mapping tool that visualizes citation networks and identifies key authors and articles within a particular field of research. It can be used to explore the literature on a specific topic, as well as to identify gaps in current research.
- OpenKnowledge : OpenKnowledge is an online platform for sharing and discovering research papers and other scholarly materials. It enables users to search for and download documents, as well as to connect with other researchers who are working in the same field.
- ConnectedPapers : ConnectedPapers is a search engine that allows users to explore citation networks and discover the most influential papers and authors in a particular field. It uses citation information to uncover relationships between different papers and to suggest potentially relevant articles to read.
- LitMaps : LitMaps is a mapping tool that allows users to explore the relationships between different articles and concepts within a particular field of study. It visualizes the connections between different scholarly articles and helps users to develop a deeper understanding of the underlying themes and concepts within a particular field.
- Local Citation Network : Local Citation Network is a tool for mapping the relationships between different articles and authors within a particular geographic area. It allows users to explore the research in progress in a particular region and to identify potential collaborators and sources of funding.
- CoCites : CoCites is a literature-mapping tool that identifies the most frequently cited articles and authors within a particular field. It allows users to explore the relationships between different papers and to identify key areas of research.
- VOSviewer : VOSviewer is a tool for visualizing citation networks and identifying key authors, papers, and concepts within a particular field of research. It allows users to explore the relationships between different papers and to identify areas of overlap and potential collaboration.
- ResearchRabbit : ResearchRabbit is a web-based research tool that allows users to search for and collect scholarly articles and other research materials. It streamlines the research process by helping users to find relevant articles and to organize and annotate their findings.
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Creating a Comprehensive Literature Review Map: A Step-by-Step Example
- backlinkworks
- Writing Articles & Reviews
- October 16, 2023
A literature review is an essential component of any academic research paper or thesis. IT involves examining existing literature, scholarly articles, books, and other sources related to your research topic. A literature review map acts as a visual representation of the concepts, studies, and theories that have been covered in the literature. In this article, we will guide you through the process of creating a comprehensive literature review map, step-by-step, to help you structure and organize your literature review effectively.
Step 1: Define Your Research Topic
The first step in creating a literature review map is to clearly define your research topic. Be specific and narrow down your focus to ensure that you have a manageable scope for your literature review. Take into consideration the research objectives or guiding questions that will shape your review.
Step 2: Identify Relevant Keywords
Once you have defined your research topic, identify the keywords and search terms that are most relevant to your study. Brainstorm a list of potential keywords that are commonly used in the literature related to your topic. These keywords will help you locate relevant sources during your literature search.
Step 3: Conduct a Thorough Literature Search
Using databases and search engines specific to your field of study, begin conducting a thorough literature search using the identified keywords. Take note of the key articles, books, and studies that are relevant to your research topic. In this step, IT is important to evaluate the credibility and quality of the sources to ensure that you are referring to reputable and reliable information.
Step 4: Read and Analyze the Literature
After collecting a substantial number of sources, carefully read and analyze each one. Highlight key concepts, methodologies, and findings that are relevant to your research. As you progress, make notes or annotations to help you remember important details and connections between different sources.
Step 5: Organize the Literature
Now that you have read and analyzed the literature, IT ‘s time to organize the information into a coherent structure. One effective way to do this is by using a literature review map. Start by creating categories or themes based on the concepts or theories that emerge from the literature. Group together similar ideas or findings to create a visual representation of the interconnectedness of the sources.
Step 6: Create the Literature Review Map
With your categorized information, you can now create the literature review map. This can be done using software such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or dedicated mind mapping tools. Start with your main research topic in the center and branch out with subcategories based on the themes or concepts identified earlier. Connect relevant sources to each subcategory, illustrating how they contribute to the overall understanding of your research topic.
Step 7: Revise and Refine
Review your literature review map for coherence and completeness. Ensure that all the key sources are accurately placed within the appropriate category or subcategory. Check for any gaps in your coverage and make sure that the map represents a comprehensive overview of the literature on your research topic.
Q: How many sources should I include in my literature review map?
A: The number of sources you include will depend on the requirements of your research and the depth of analysis you aim to achieve. However, IT is generally recommended to thoroughly examine a range of sources, including both seminal texts and recent publications, to ensure a well-rounded and comprehensive literature review.
Q: How do I determine the credibility of the sources for my literature review?
A: Evaluating the credibility of your sources is crucial to ensure that you are basing your review on reputable information. Consider the author’s qualifications, the credibility and reputation of the publishing outlet, the presence of citations within the article, and the overall coherence and consistency of the research findings.
Q: Can I use a literature review map for disciplines outside of the humanities and social sciences?
A: Absolutely! While literature reviews are commonly associated with humanities and social sciences, they are applicable to any academic field. Whether you are conducting research in the sciences, engineering, or any other discipline, a literature review map will help you organize and present the relevant scholarly literature specific to your research topic.
By following these step-by-step guidelines, you can create a comprehensive literature review map that will serve as a valuable tool throughout your research. Remember to regularly update and refine your map as you progress in your studies. A well-organized literature review will not only demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the field, but also provide a solid foundation for your own research and contribute to the wider scholarly conversation.
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You are here, structuring your ideas: creating a literature map.
It is important to have a plan of the areas to be discussed, using this to indicated how these will link together. In the overall structure of the literature review, there should be a logical flow of ideas and within each paragraph there should be a clear theme, around which related ideas are explored and developed. A literature map can be useful for this purpose as it enables you to create a visual representation of the themes and how they could relate to one another.
A literature map (Cresswell, 2011) is a two dimensional diagrammatic representation of information where links are made between concepts by drawing arrows (which could be annotated to define the nature of these links). Constructing a literature map helps you to:
- develop your understanding of the key issues and research findings in the literature
- to organise ideas in your mind
- to see more clearly how different research studies relate to one another and to group those with similar findings.
Your map can then be used as a plan for your literature review.
As well has helping you to organise the literature for your review, a literature map can be used to help you analyse the information in a particular journal article, supporting the exploration of strengths and weaknesses of the methodology and the resultant findings and enabling you to explore how key themes and concepts in the article link together.
It is important to represent the different views and any conflicting research findings that exist in the literature (Newby, 2014). There is a danger of selective referencing, only including literature that supports your own beliefs and findings, disregarding alternative views. This should be avoided as it is based on the assumption that your views are the correct ones, and it is possible that you could miss key ideas and findings that could take your research in new and exciting directions.
- research methods
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How To Structure Your Literature Review
3 options to help structure your chapter.
By: Amy Rommelspacher (PhD) | Reviewer: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | November 2020 (Updated May 2023)
Writing the literature review chapter can seem pretty daunting when you’re piecing together your dissertation or thesis. As we’ve discussed before , a good literature review needs to achieve a few very important objectives – it should:
- Demonstrate your knowledge of the research topic
- Identify the gaps in the literature and show how your research links to these
- Provide the foundation for your conceptual framework (if you have one)
- Inform your own methodology and research design
To achieve this, your literature review needs a well-thought-out structure . Get the structure of your literature review chapter wrong and you’ll struggle to achieve these objectives. Don’t worry though – in this post, we’ll look at how to structure your literature review for maximum impact (and marks!).
But wait – is this the right time?
Deciding on the structure of your literature review should come towards the end of the literature review process – after you have collected and digested the literature, but before you start writing the chapter.
In other words, you need to first develop a rich understanding of the literature before you even attempt to map out a structure. There’s no use trying to develop a structure before you’ve fully wrapped your head around the existing research.
Equally importantly, you need to have a structure in place before you start writing , or your literature review will most likely end up a rambling, disjointed mess.
Importantly, don’t feel that once you’ve defined a structure you can’t iterate on it. It’s perfectly natural to adjust as you engage in the writing process. As we’ve discussed before , writing is a way of developing your thinking, so it’s quite common for your thinking to change – and therefore, for your chapter structure to change – as you write.
Need a helping hand?
Like any other chapter in your thesis or dissertation, your literature review needs to have a clear, logical structure. At a minimum, it should have three essential components – an introduction , a body and a conclusion .
Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
1: The Introduction Section
Just like any good introduction, the introduction section of your literature review should introduce the purpose and layout (organisation) of the chapter. In other words, your introduction needs to give the reader a taste of what’s to come, and how you’re going to lay that out. Essentially, you should provide the reader with a high-level roadmap of your chapter to give them a taste of the journey that lies ahead.
Here’s an example of the layout visualised in a literature review introduction:
Your introduction should also outline your topic (including any tricky terminology or jargon) and provide an explanation of the scope of your literature review – in other words, what you will and won’t be covering (the delimitations ). This helps ringfence your review and achieve a clear focus . The clearer and narrower your focus, the deeper you can dive into the topic (which is typically where the magic lies).
Depending on the nature of your project, you could also present your stance or point of view at this stage. In other words, after grappling with the literature you’ll have an opinion about what the trends and concerns are in the field as well as what’s lacking. The introduction section can then present these ideas so that it is clear to examiners that you’re aware of how your research connects with existing knowledge .
2: The Body Section
The body of your literature review is the centre of your work. This is where you’ll present, analyse, evaluate and synthesise the existing research. In other words, this is where you’re going to earn (or lose) the most marks. Therefore, it’s important to carefully think about how you will organise your discussion to present it in a clear way.
The body of your literature review should do just as the description of this chapter suggests. It should “review” the literature – in other words, identify, analyse, and synthesise it. So, when thinking about structuring your literature review, you need to think about which structural approach will provide the best “review” for your specific type of research and objectives (we’ll get to this shortly).
There are (broadly speaking) three options for organising your literature review.
Option 1: Chronological (according to date)
Organising the literature chronologically is one of the simplest ways to structure your literature review. You start with what was published first and work your way through the literature until you reach the work published most recently. Pretty straightforward.
The benefit of this option is that it makes it easy to discuss the developments and debates in the field as they emerged over time. Organising your literature chronologically also allows you to highlight how specific articles or pieces of work might have changed the course of the field – in other words, which research has had the most impact . Therefore, this approach is very useful when your research is aimed at understanding how the topic has unfolded over time and is often used by scholars in the field of history. That said, this approach can be utilised by anyone that wants to explore change over time .
For example , if a student of politics is investigating how the understanding of democracy has evolved over time, they could use the chronological approach to provide a narrative that demonstrates how this understanding has changed through the ages.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you structure your literature review chronologically.
- What is the earliest literature published relating to this topic?
- How has the field changed over time? Why?
- What are the most recent discoveries/theories?
In some ways, chronology plays a part whichever way you decide to structure your literature review, because you will always, to a certain extent, be analysing how the literature has developed. However, with the chronological approach, the emphasis is very firmly on how the discussion has evolved over time , as opposed to how all the literature links together (which we’ll discuss next ).
Option 2: Thematic (grouped by theme)
The thematic approach to structuring a literature review means organising your literature by theme or category – for example, by independent variables (i.e. factors that have an impact on a specific outcome).
As you’ve been collecting and synthesising literature , you’ll likely have started seeing some themes or patterns emerging. You can then use these themes or patterns as a structure for your body discussion. The thematic approach is the most common approach and is useful for structuring literature reviews in most fields.
For example, if you were researching which factors contributed towards people trusting an organisation, you might find themes such as consumers’ perceptions of an organisation’s competence, benevolence and integrity. Structuring your literature review thematically would mean structuring your literature review’s body section to discuss each of these themes, one section at a time.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when structuring your literature review by themes:
- Are there any patterns that have come to light in the literature?
- What are the central themes and categories used by the researchers?
- Do I have enough evidence of these themes?
PS – you can see an example of a thematically structured literature review in our literature review sample walkthrough video here.
Option 3: Methodological
The methodological option is a way of structuring your literature review by the research methodologies used . In other words, organising your discussion based on the angle from which each piece of research was approached – for example, qualitative , quantitative or mixed methodologies.
Structuring your literature review by methodology can be useful if you are drawing research from a variety of disciplines and are critiquing different methodologies. The point of this approach is to question how existing research has been conducted, as opposed to what the conclusions and/or findings the research were.
For example, a sociologist might centre their research around critiquing specific fieldwork practices. Their literature review will then be a summary of the fieldwork methodologies used by different studies.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself when structuring your literature review according to methodology:
- Which methodologies have been utilised in this field?
- Which methodology is the most popular (and why)?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the various methodologies?
- How can the existing methodologies inform my own methodology?
3: The Conclusion Section
Once you’ve completed the body section of your literature review using one of the structural approaches we discussed above, you’ll need to “wrap up” your literature review and pull all the pieces together to set the direction for the rest of your dissertation or thesis.
The conclusion is where you’ll present the key findings of your literature review. In this section, you should emphasise the research that is especially important to your research questions and highlight the gaps that exist in the literature. Based on this, you need to make it clear what you will add to the literature – in other words, justify your own research by showing how it will help fill one or more of the gaps you just identified.
Last but not least, if it’s your intention to develop a conceptual framework for your dissertation or thesis, the conclusion section is a good place to present this.
Example: Thematically Structured Review
In the video below, we unpack a literature review chapter so that you can see an example of a thematically structure review in practice.
Let’s Recap
In this article, we’ve discussed how to structure your literature review for maximum impact. Here’s a quick recap of what you need to keep in mind when deciding on your literature review structure:
- Just like other chapters, your literature review needs a clear introduction , body and conclusion .
- The introduction section should provide an overview of what you will discuss in your literature review.
- The body section of your literature review can be organised by chronology , theme or methodology . The right structural approach depends on what you’re trying to achieve with your research.
- The conclusion section should draw together the key findings of your literature review and link them to your research questions.
If you’re ready to get started, be sure to download our free literature review template to fast-track your chapter outline.
Psst… there’s more!
This post is an extract from our bestselling short course, Literature Review Bootcamp . If you want to work smart, you don't want to miss this .
28 Comments
Great work. This is exactly what I was looking for and helps a lot together with your previous post on literature review. One last thing is missing: a link to a great literature chapter of an journal article (maybe with comments of the different sections in this review chapter). Do you know any great literature review chapters?
I agree with you Marin… A great piece
I agree with Marin. This would be quite helpful if you annotate a nicely structured literature from previously published research articles.
Awesome article for my research.
I thank you immensely for this wonderful guide
It is indeed thought and supportive work for the futurist researcher and students
Very educative and good time to get guide. Thank you
Great work, very insightful. Thank you.
Thanks for this wonderful presentation. My question is that do I put all the variables into a single conceptual framework or each hypothesis will have it own conceptual framework?
Thank you very much, very helpful
This is very educative and precise . Thank you very much for dropping this kind of write up .
Pheeww, so damn helpful, thank you for this informative piece.
I’m doing a research project topic ; stool analysis for parasitic worm (enteric) worm, how do I structure it, thanks.
comprehensive explanation. Help us by pasting the URL of some good “literature review” for better understanding.
great piece. thanks for the awesome explanation. it is really worth sharing. I have a little question, if anyone can help me out, which of the options in the body of literature can be best fit if you are writing an architectural thesis that deals with design?
I am doing a research on nanofluids how can l structure it?
Beautifully clear.nThank you!
Lucid! Thankyou!
Brilliant work, well understood, many thanks
I like how this was so clear with simple language 😊😊 thank you so much 😊 for these information 😊
Insightful. I was struggling to come up with a sensible literature review but this has been really helpful. Thank you!
You have given thought-provoking information about the review of the literature.
Thank you. It has made my own research better and to impart your work to students I teach
I learnt a lot from this teaching. It’s a great piece.
I am doing research on EFL teacher motivation for his/her job. How Can I structure it? Is there any detailed template, additional to this?
You are so cool! I do not think I’ve read through something like this before. So nice to find somebody with some genuine thoughts on this issue. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This site is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a little originality!
I’m asked to do conceptual, theoretical and empirical literature, and i just don’t know how to structure it
Asking questions are actually fastidious thing if you are not understanding anything fully, but this article presents good understanding yet.
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Literature Mapping Tools
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Head, Research and Engagement
Literature Reviews: A Working Definition
A literature review is a methodical or organized review of the published literature on a specific topic or research question designed to analyze--not just summarize--scholarly writings that are related directly to your research question. That is, it represents the literature that provides the context for your research and shows a correspondence between those writings and your own work.
Before you get started...
The past few years have seen an explosion of online tools designed to automate the process of doing literature reviews. These tools generally work by asking you to identify a relevant article (often called a "seed article") and use the metadata attached to articles (such as authors and keywords), or citations and reference lists to find related articles. Most tools offer some type of visualization feature to trace the connections between papers, and increasingly, tools offer summaries of the research content. These tools provide researchers with an option to at least partially automate some of their literature review work which can save a lot of time.
Things to keep in mind:
- Very little independent research has been done to test the reliability, scope, and accuracy of these tools
- In our own testing of tools that provide summaries of articles, we have sometimes found that summaries do not reflect the same key take-aways that we have identified
- Reproducibility of searches is questionable so they may not be the best choice for things like systematic reviews
- Because of the reliance on citation chaining, there is a built in bias towards heavily cited works which ends up creating a feedback loop that may cause you to miss relevant and/or newer materials
- Not everything is indexed in the data sets used by a given tool; this is particularly the case in the arts and humanities which are more oriented towards books
- Both the tools themselves, many of which are open access projects, and the indices they rely on may stop being updated/maintained, or go offline for a variety of reasons
- You still need to use a library to access full text in a majority of cases
NOTE: This is a rapidly evolving field and we will be updating this guide on a regular basis.
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How to Construct Literature Maps
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This LibGuide will help you
This LibGuide will help you locate resources for constructing a literature map. If you need more assistance please click on the 24/7 Chat service or contact me using the links on the left hand side of the page.
Resources for Creating Literature Maps
- Owl English's Resource for Literature Mapping This resource provides an overview of stasis theory and what you can do with it to help you conduct research, compose documents, and work in teams.
- Wilson Library's "Sage Research Methods" Resources on Literature Mapping This resource provides suggestions for books, articles, videos and more for designing literature maps.
Visual of How to Create a Literature Map
- Sample Look at a Literature Map (scroll to bottom of page) This is an example of the literature review process, and in particular, literature mapping (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Sample Charts for Designing Literature Review
- Sample Designs for Literature Mapping
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- Literature review toolkit for policy studies
Literature review toolkit for policy studies: Concept mapping
Why create a concept map.
A concept map is a visualization of key idea in your research and the relationships between them. To create a concept map, pick out the main concepts of your topic and brainstorm everything you know about them, drawing shapes around your concepts and clustering the shapes in a way that's meaningful to you. How can this help?
- Helps you pull back to see the broader concepts at play.
- Can help identify the subject-based tool where literature can be found.
- Helps clarify both what you already know and where you have gaps in your knowledge.
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COMMENTS
Here are the most recommended literature mapping tools to choose from: 1. Connected Papers. a. Connected Papers is a simple, yet powerful, one-stop visualization tool that uses a single starter article. b. It is easy to use tool that quickly identifies similar papers with just one "Seed paper" (a relevant paper). c.
06/06/2023. Literature mapping is a process that involves analyzing and visualizing the scientific literature on a particular topic to identify research gaps, improve collaboration, and inform decision-making. In this article, we list five benefits of literature mapping for scientists and researchers and show you types and tools to save your ...
Step 1: Define Your Research Topic. The first step in creating a literature review map is to clearly define your research topic. Be specific and narrow down your focus to ensure that you have a manageable scope for your literature review. Take into consideration the research objectives or guiding questions that will shape your review.
Literature mapping is a way of discovering scholarly articles by exploring connections between publications. Similar articles are often linked by citations, authors, funders, keywords, and other metadata. These connections can be explored manually in a database such as Scopus or by the use of free browser-based tools such as Connected Papers, L ...
An example of his literature map system is shown above which is extracted from Dr Drane's Doctorate. Impact and Strategic Importance Research occurs in a huge range of endeavours from academic research to competitive analysis, market and corporate strategy.
A literature map (Cresswell, 2011) is a two dimensional diagrammatic representation of information where links are made between concepts by drawing arrows (which could be annotated to define the nature of these links). Constructing a literature map helps you to: develop your understanding of the key issues and research findings in the literature
Demonstrate your knowledge of the research topic. Identify the gaps in the literature and show how your research links to these. Provide the foundation for your conceptual framework (if you have one) Inform your own methodology and research design. To achieve this, your literature review needs a well-thought-out structure.
A literature review is a methodical or organized review of the published literature on a specific topic or research question designed to analyze--not just summarize--scholarly writings that are related directly to your research question. That is, it represents the literature that provides the context for your research and shows a correspondence ...
An overview of tools for mapping scholarly literature. Litmaps creates interactive literature maps: collections of articles that make up your different research topics. Create maps for your research by searching our literature database; linking your reference manager; or through automatic generation from seed articles.
Resources for Creating Literature Maps. This resource provides an overview of stasis theory and what you can do with it to help you conduct research, compose documents, and work in teams. This resource provides suggestions for books, articles, videos and more for designing literature maps.
Articles & Research Databases Literature on your research topic and direct access to articles online, when available at UW.; E-Journals Alphabetical list of electronic journal titles held at UW.; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries Resources for looking up quick facts and background information.; E-Newspapers, Media, Maps & More Recommendations for finding news, audio/video, images, government ...
Concept maps may be simple designs illustrating a central theme and a few associated topics or complex structures that delineate hierarchical or multiple relationships. J.D. Novak developed concept maps in the 1970's to help facilitate the research process for his students. Novak found that visually representing thoughts helped students freely ...
There are just two basic items you need to know about concept maps in order to create one. First, you need to know what a concept is, and secondly, you need to know how the concepts are linked. This is pretty simple: A concept is an idea that we can label. It could be a noun, such as "cars" or "stars," or a description, such as "bright" or "fast."
Open Knowledge Maps. Calling themselves a "visual interface to the world's scientific community," their tool allows you to start with a few keywords to search for literature on a topic. Results display the main areas at a glance, and papers related to each area. In addition to giving you an overview of the area, it helps you identify ...
Example of literature review. Identify the research question or topic, making it as narrow as possible. In this example of a literature review, we review the anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) activity of Piper methysticum, or Kava. Let's walk through the steps in the process with this literature review example.
Inciteful. Inciteful is an innovative literature mapping tool that stands out in the field of academic research for its unique approach to visualizing citation networks. This tool is designed to make the process of literature review more intuitive and insightful, especially for researchers and scholars delving into new or complex fields.
Manual literature mapping is a method of locating an article that is highly relevant to your topic and using it as a starting point to connect you to other relevant literature. Below are the steps for manually mapping literature in the multidisciplinary database Scopus . Step 1: Find a highly relevant article on your topic.
We'll canvas five useful tools and apps for visualising and exploring scientific literature. They're all fun to play with, so give them a try! 1. Litmaps. Litmaps.co allows you to create ...
Concept maps or mind maps visually represent relationships of different concepts. In research, they can help you make connections between ideas. You can use them as you are formulating your research question, as you are reading a complex text, and when you are creating a literature review. See the video and examples below.
Concept Mapping - Literature Reviews - Research Guides at University of Michigan Library. A concept map or mind map is a visual representation of knowledge that illustrates relationships between concepts or ideas. It is a tool for organizing and representing information in a hierarchical and interconnected manner.
With all these settings, you can now visualise your literature maps in 6 × 2 × 2 × 4 × 3 = 288 different ways. We hope you find these features fun and valuable.
An example of a concept map used to elaborate on the concept of problem based learning (PBL) ... Although doctoral education is a key means for improving education research, the literature has ...
Download scientific diagram | 2 Literature map sample research from publication: Internet Research Analytics (Theories and Methods) | This chapter introduces the theories and methods for exploring ...