怎样写Literature Review

估计很多刚到外国读书的同学和我有一样的体会：第一次接触literature review，根本无从下笔。今日看到一篇帖子写的很好，故转给各位看看，希望有所帮助。

首先需要将“文献综述（Literature Review）”与“背景描述（Backupground Description）”区分开来。我们在选择研究问题的时候，需要了解该问题产生的背景和来龙去脉，如“中国半导体产业的发展历程”、“国外政府发展 半导体产业的政策和问题”等等，这些内容属于“背景描述”，关注的是现实层面问题，严格讲不是“文献综述”。“文献综述”是对学术观点和理论方法的整理。

其次，文献综述是评论性的（Review就是“评论”的意思），因此要带着作者本人批判的眼光（critical thinking）来归纳和评论文献，而不仅仅是相关领域学术研究的“堆砌”。评论的主线，要按照问题展开，也就是说，别的学者是如何看待和解决你提出的 问题的，他们的方法和理论是否有什么缺陷？要是别的学者已经很完美地解决了你提出的问题，那就没有重复研究的必要了。清楚了文献综述的意涵，现来说说怎么 做文献综述。虽说，尽可能广泛地收集资料是负责任的研究态度，但如果缺乏标准，就极易将人引入文献的泥沼。

技巧一：瞄准主流。主流文献，如该领域的核心期刊、经典著作、专职部门的研究报告、重要化合物的观点和论述等，是做文献综述的“必修课”。而多数 大众媒体上的相关报道或言论，虽然多少有点价值，但时间精力所限，可以从简。怎样摸清该领域的主流呢？建议从以下几条途径入手：一是图书馆的中外学术期 刊，找到一两篇“经典”的文章后“顺藤摸瓜”，留意它们的参考文献。质量较高的学术文章，通常是不会忽略该领域的主流、经典文献的。二是利用学校图书馆的 “期刊数据库检索”，能够查到一些较为早期的经典文献。三是国家图书馆，有些上世纪七八十年代甚至更早出版的社科图书，学校图书馆往往没有收藏，但是国图 却是一本不少。

技巧二：随时整理，如对文献进行分类，记录文献信息和藏书地点。做论文的时间很长，有的文献看过了当时不一定有用，事后想起来却找不着了，所以有 时记录是很有必要的。同时，对于特别重要的文献，不妨做一个读书笔记，摘录其中的重要观点和论述。这样一步一个脚印，到真正开始写论文时就积累了大量“干 货”，可以随时享用。

技巧三：要按照问题来组织文献综述。看过一些文献以后，我们有很强烈的愿望要把自己看到的东西都陈述出来，像“竹筒倒豆子”一样，洋洋洒洒，蔚为 壮观。仿佛一定要向读者证明自己劳苦功高。我写过十多万字的文献综述，后来发觉真正有意义的不过数千字。文献综述就像是在文献的丛林中开辟道路，这条道路 本来就是要指向我们所要解决的问题，当然是直线距离最短、最省事，但是一路上风景颇多，迷恋风景的人便往往绕行于迤逦的丛林中，反面“乱花渐欲迷人眼”， “曲径通幽”不知所终了。因此，在做文献综述时，头脑时刻要清醒：我要解决什么问题，人家是怎么解决问题的，说的有没有道理，就行了。

A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Occasionally you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment (sometimes in the form of an annotated bibliography--see the bottom of the next page), but more often it is part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.

Besides enlarging your knowledge about the topic, writing a literature review lets you gain and demonstrate skills in two areas:

information seeking: the ability to scan the literature efficiently, using manual or computerized methods, to identify a set of useful articles and books
critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid studies.
A literature review must do these things:

be organized around and related directly to the thesis or research question you are developing
synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known
identify areas of controversy in the literature
formulate questions that need further research

1. Introduction

Not to be confused with a book review, a literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic.

2. Components

Similar to primary research, development of the literature review requires four stages:

Problem formulation—which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues?
Literature search—finding materials relevant to the subject being explored
Data evaluation—determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic
Analysis and interpretation—discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature
Literature reviews should comprise the following elements:

An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review
Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)
Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others
Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research
In assessing each piece, consideration should be given to:

Provenance—What are the author's credentials? Are the author's arguments supported by evidence (e.g. primary historical material, case studies, narratives, statistics, recent scientific findings)?
Objectivity—Is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is contrary data considered or is certain pertinent information ignored to prove the author's point?
Persuasiveness—Which of the author's theses are most/least convincing?
Value—Are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the work ultimately contribute in any significant way to an understanding of the subject?

3. Definition and Use/Purpose

A literature review may constitute an essential chapter of a thesis or dissertation, or may be a self-contained review of writings on a subject. In either case, its purpose is to:

Place each work in the context of its contribution to the understanding of the subject under review
Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration
Identify new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in, previous research
Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies
Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort
Point the way forward for further research
Place one's original work (in the case of theses or dissertations) in the context of existing literature

　　首先需要将“文献综述（Literature Review）”与“背景描述（Backupground Description）”区分开来。我们在选择研究问题的时候，需要了解该问题产生的背景和来龙去脉，如“中国半导体产业的发展历程”、“国外政府发展 半导体产业的政策和问题”等等，这些内容属于“背景描述”，关注的是现实层面问题，严格讲不是“文献综述”。“文献综述”是对学术观点和理论方法的整理。

　　其次，文献综述是评论性的（Review就是“评论”的意思），因此要带着作者本人批判的眼光（critical thinking）来归纳和评论文献，而不仅仅是相关领域学术研究的“堆砌”。评论的主线，要按照问题展开，也就是说，别的学者是如何看待和解决你提出的 问题的，他们的方法和理论是否有什么缺陷？要是别的学者已经很完美地解决了你提出的问题，那就没有重复研究的必要了。清楚了文献综述的意涵，现来说说怎么 做文献综述。虽说，尽可能广泛地收集资料是负责任的研究态度，但如果缺乏标准，就极易将人引入文献的泥沼。

　　技巧一：瞄准主流。主流文献，如该领域的核心期刊、经典著作、专职部门的研究报告、重要化合物的观点和论述等，是做文献综述的“必修课”。而多数 大众媒体上的相关报道或言论，虽然多少有点价值，但时间精力所限，可以从简。怎样摸清该领域的主流呢？建议从以下几条途径入手：一是图书馆的中外学术期 刊，找到一两篇“经典”的文章后“顺藤摸瓜”，留意它们的参考文献。质量较高的学术文章，通常是不会忽略该领域的主流、经典文献的。二是利用学校图书馆的 “期刊数据库检索”，能够查到一些较为早期的经典文献。三是国家图书馆，有些上世纪七八十年代甚至更早出版的社科图书，学校图书馆往往没有收藏，但是国图 却是一本不少。

　　技巧二：随时整理，如对文献进行分类，记录文献信息和藏书地点。做论文的时间很长，有的文献看过了当时不一定有用，事后想起来却找不着了，所以有 时记录是很有必要的。同时，对于特别重要的文献，不妨做一个读书笔记，摘录其中的重要观点和论述。这样一步一个脚印，到真正开始写论文时就积累了大量“干 货”，可以随时享用。

　　技巧三：要按照问题来组织文献综述。看过一些文献以后，我们有很强烈的愿望要把自己看到的东西都陈述出来，像“竹筒倒豆子”一样，洋洋洒洒，蔚为 壮观。仿佛一定要向读者证明自己劳苦功高。我写过十多万字的文献综述，后来发觉真正有意义的不过数千字。文献综述就像是在文献的丛林中开辟道路，这条道路 本来就是要指向我们所要解决的问题，当然是直线距离最短、最省事，但是一路上风景颇多，迷恋风景的人便往往绕行于迤逦的丛林中，反面“乱花渐欲迷人眼”， “曲径通幽”不知所终了。因此，在做文献综述时，头脑时刻要清醒：我要解决什么问题，人家是怎么解决问题的，说的有没有道理，就行了。
　　范文百度文库有很多，你可以去看看。