GUIDELINES
We'll refer to this sample paragraph from a literature review about sexism and language to illuminate the following discussion.
However, other studies have shown that even gender-neutral antecedents are more likely to produce masculine images than feminine ones (Gastil, 1990). Hamilton (1988) asked students to complete sentences that required them to fill in pronouns that agreed with gender-neutral antecedents such as "writer," "pedestrian," and "persons." The students were asked to describe any image they had when writing the sentence. Hamilton found that people imagined 3.3 men to each woman in the masculine "generic" condition and 1.5 men per woman in the unbiased condition. Thus, while ambient sexism accounted for some of the masculine bias, sexist language amplified the effect. (Source: Erika Falk and Jordan Mills, "Why Sexist Language Affects Persuasion: The Role of Homophily, Intended Audience, and Offense," Women and Language19:2.
USE EVIDENCE
In the example above, the writers refer to several other sources when making their point
In a literature review (as in any other academic research paper), your interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence to demonstrate the validity of your point of view.
BE SELECTIVE
Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review
The type of information you choose to mention should relate directly to your focus. You want to prove your point rather than confuse your reader.
USE QUOTATIONS SPARINGLY
Less is more
Falk and Mills do not use any direct quotations because the survey nature of the literature review does not allow for in-depth discussion or detailed quotes from the text. If you want to emphasize a point or if an author's phrasing simply cannot be rewritten in your own words, you may use a direct quotation. Notice that Falk and Mills do put certain terms that were coined by the author or taken directly from the study in quotes.
SUMMARIZE & SYNTHESIZE
WHY YOU ARE CITING THIS PARTICULAR WORK?
Remember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each paragraph as well as throughout the review. The authors here repeat important features of Hamilton's study, but then synthesize it by rephrasing the study's significance and relating it to their own work.
MAINTAIN YOUR OWN VOICE
Your voice (the writer's) should remain front and center
Notice that Falk and Mills weave references to other sources into their own text, but they still maintain their own voice by starting and ending the paragraph with their own ideas and their own words. The sources support what Falk and Mills are saying.
PARAPHRASE CAREFULLY
Represent the author's words accurately and in your own words
In the preceding example, Falk and Mills either directly refer in the text to the author of their source, such as Hamilton, or they provide ample notation in the text when the ideas they are mentioning are not their own, for example, Gastil's. For more information, please see our Research Guide on Avoiding Plagiarism.
