Primary Research vs.  Review Articles 

**Remember, you want to focus on finding a related primary research article, NOT a review article...

Reading articles

Scholarly articles often follow a similar format. This makes it easy to hop around the article and gather the most important information. Here are some tips for getting started.

1. Read the abstract, introduction and methodology
   By reading these sections first, you should be able to identify the objective of the study and how the study was conducted (the method).
    
2. Read the discussion and conclusion (at the end)
   The conclusion and discussion will tell you a broad overview of the study findings, but also why those finding are significant.
    
3. Read literature review and results
   If the article seems relevant, go ahead and read the rest of the article. From the literature review you will better understand the 'research gap' that this article fills and the details of the study results. Reading the results can take time, especially if the article uses statistical methods.

What is a literature review?

It describes and evaluates the research that has been done in a particular area of research. 

• In general, a literature review should be a clear, concise, cohesive, and comprehensive discussion of a narrow, well-defined research question.
• The goal is usually to identify relationships, contradictions, gaps,  and potential next steps in the research.

What is it for?

• It gives you ideas for your research topic
• It helps you understand the big picture and background to your topic so that you can identify where your proposed research fits in the existing body of knowledge.
• It gives your reader a sense of the sources examined and what research is being drawn upon, and it demonstrates your knowledge of the topic.

Literature reviews should synthesize and compare studies that discuss different aspects of your topic, depending on your purpose (for example, you might compare experimental methods, populations studied, theoretical frameworks, etc.).

Introduction to Literature Reviews - Monash University

The Literature Review - A Few Tips on Conducting it - University of Toronto

Examples of how to organize your literature

Ashkar, P. J., & Kenny, D. T. (2008). Views from the inside: Young offenders' subjective experiences of incarceration. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 52(5), 584-597.

Ardabili, B. R., Pazho, A. D., Noghre, G. A., Katariya, V., Hull, G., Reid, S., & Tabkhi, H. (2024). Exploring Public's perception of safety and video surveillance technology: A survey approach. Technology in Society, 78, 102641.

Hulley, J., Bailey, L., Kirkman, G., Gibbs, G. R., Gomersall, T., Latif, A., & Jones, A. (2023). Intimate partner violence and barriers to help-seeking among Black, Asian, minority ethnic and immigrant women: A qualitative metasynthesis of global research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 24(2), 1001-1015.

For more information about conducting literature reviews, please see the Conducting Literature Reviews guide on the Undergraduate Research page.

A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts. ... Academics use a variety of terms and language to describe this: "peer-reviewed," vetted academic, or "refereed". They all mean essentially the same thing and refer to the editorial and publication process in which scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published, checking for validity, originality, and quality. 

1. What are the author’s credentials? Is it written by an expert?
2. Published in a journal (is there a DOI?) If you are not sure if it is a journal article enter the title of the publication into Ulrichs Web
3. Academic language
4. Includes reference list
5. Length
6. A "Received" and "Accepted" date
7. Is it an actual article? Sometimes other types of content are included in scholarly publications, such as editorials/opinion pieces and book reviews.  Make sure you are looking at an article. 

Citation Chaining or citation mining is search strategy to utilize when you are beginning your literature search. Citation chaining can be used to create a concise list of how each article has cited sources or has been cited by others.

• Once you have identified an article or group of relevant articles, see what papers the author(s) have cited in the bibliographic record.
• Explore how your primary group of articles have been cited since their publication. 

Google Scholar contains a built-in citation mining tool. It enables researchers to locate how an article has been cited since its publication. 

Library Search contains links in the bibliographic record that enable researchers to discover what other papers have been published by the author(s). It also has a similar feature to Google Scholar that allows researchers to trace what sources were cited, and who has cited the source.

Some article databases also have these features.  Scopus is a good example. 

For the following exercise, first, take 5 minutes and consider these questions on your own.  Open the article and jot down what you can answer. Join the group that matches your birthday and complete the exercise.   Discuss among yourselves and answer the questions as a group.  I will provide you with some markers to write your responses on a whiteboard somewhere in the room so we can share the article with the rest of the class.

Group 1 (your birthday is in January, February, March)

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full)

Consider the following:

• What is the method used in this study?
• Does the author(s) refer to any methods texts, literature or any studies that have used the same method for data collection or analysis?
• If the author does cite a method text, can you find another published study that also cites that text?
• If the author does not cite a reference text, can your group find an appropriate text to cite? You can use some of the sources/ways we have talked about today. 
• Can you find other studies that explore this topic? What methods do they use?

Group 2 (your birthday is in April, May, June

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full)

Consider the following:

• What is the method used in this study?
• Does the author(s) refer to any methods texts, literature or any studies that have used the same method for data collection or analysis?
• If the author does cite a method text, can you find another published study that also cites that text?
• If the author does not cite a reference text, can your group find an appropriate text to cite? You can use some of the sources/ways we have talked about today. 
• Can you find other studies that explore this topic? What methods do they use?

Group 3 (your birthday is in July, August, September)

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full)

Consider the following:

• What is the method used in this study?
• Does the author(s) refer to any methods texts, literature or any studies that have used the same method for data collection or analysis?
• If the author does cite a method text, can you find another published study that also cites that text?
• If the author does not cite a reference text, can your group find an appropriate text to cite? You can use some of the sources/ways we have talked about today. 
• Can you find other studies that explore this topic? What methods do they use?

Group 4 (your birthday is October, November, or December)

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full)

Consider the following:

• What is the method used in this study?
• Does the author(s) refer to any methods texts, literature or any studies that have used the same method for data collection or analysis?
• If the author does cite a method text, can you find another published study that also cites that text?
• If the author does not cite a reference text, can your group find an appropriate text to cite? You can use some of the sources/ways we have talked about today. 
• Can you find other studies that explore this topic? What methods do they use?

• Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.
• Referencing Webinars: APA & MLA. Referencing Webinars are 75 minutes long.  Registration is required.
• Online Appointments: Personalized online 30-minute appointments with a Learning Strategist.

New SLS APA Referencing Tutorial on D2L

This self-paced 90-minute tutorial covers the same content as our live workshop—why citation is important along with the basics of in-text citations and reference entries in APA Style. Students who complete the tutorial will gain access to a form they can fill out and submit as proof of completion.

Access the tutorial on D2L: Using Google Chrome as your web browser, log in to D2L (learn.mru.ca) with your @mtroyal.ca account. Click the “Discover” tab, then type “APA” in the search bar. Click on the “APA Referencing Tutorial” link and then the “Enroll in Course” button.