Writing a Literature Review Dr. Chris Staff University of Malta Department of Intelligent Computer Systems [email protected] 1

Writing a Literature Review

Dr. Chris StaffUniversity of Malta

Department of Intelligent Computer [email protected]

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Overview

• Report Writing (for ICT)– The purpose of a report– Chapter/Section Overview

• Writing a Literature Review– How to read efficiently:-)– How to use the literature to find literature– How to take notes and combine them into a review

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Report Writing

• The purpose of a report– To communicate your work to an audience– To demonstrate your understanding of a domain and

how your work fits into/contributes to/extends (as appropriate) a domain

– To back up your claims through appropriate evaluation

– To discuss the significance of the results of your evaluation

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Report Writing

• Implications– Report should be free from spelling mistakes and

grammatical errors– Ideas should be communicated clearly (simple sentences,

etc.) and in an appropriate style– There should be a logical structure to the way you present

your argument– Each chapter/section should introduce what’s coming up and

conclude with the significant points you want to make – There should be no secrets! Early disclosure is expected.

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Report Writing

• Implications– You are expected to read relevant work of others…– … and report on it (be critical!)– Clearly distinguish between your own work and the

work of others– Reference properly and consistently

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Report Writing

• Implications– You must back up your claims (either by citing the

work of others, or by referring to the results of your own evaluation)

– Results should be presented in a manner appropriate for the domain (e.g., how is relevant work evaluated?)

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Report Writing

• Implications– You must demonstrate that you understand how

your work fits into the domain• both in terms of how it fits into the literature and in terms

of the results you obtain

– Ideally, compare your results to results of other similar work

• Easiest to do if you have access to shared test/evaluation data or can replicate experiments done by others and compare performance metrics (measurements)

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Report Writing

• Typical structure of a report– Abstract – Tables of contents (figures, tables, etc.)– Introduction– Background/Literature Review– Design/Implementation– Evaluation & Testing– Discussion of Results– Conclusions and Future Work– References Section!

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Report Writing

• Abstract– To describe concisely the problem you tackled, the

method you employed, the results you obtained, and a critical statement about the outcome

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Report Writing

• Table of Contents (figures, tables, etc.)– …

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Report Writing

• Introduction– What is the problem you’re trying to solve?– What is your research question?– Why is it an important problem?– What’s your motivation for solving it?– What are your objectives?– What are your main/secondary contributions?– What were your main/overall results?– Chapter/Section overview

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Report Writing

• Background/Literature Review– Normally, assume that reader is someone with your

experience/knowledge *before* you did the current work

• However, if work incorporates more than one domain, you are likely to have to give a brief background to each domain

– What prior work is relevant to yours?– And why?

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Report Writing

• Background/Literature Review– In your report you are trying to convince reader that

your approach is sensible• You’re going to demonstrate that your approach builds on

the work of others, though you shouldn’t refer to your current work here

• You should be critical of the work of others• You’re also trying to show that you haven’t missed

anything significant/important

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Report Writing

• Background/Literature Review– I like to structure my Lit Review on a ‘model’

(system) architecture to solve the problem I’m working on

– What significant “processing steps” are needed to solve the problem?

• What are the different approaches to each processing step, and which systems use each approach? With what costs? success?

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Report Writing

• Background/Literature Review– Lit Review should be a cross-section of the literature, rather

than a sequential description of systems– Keep description of other systems high-level– Don’t underestimate the importance of the Lit Review

• Shows that you’ve thought about the problem; been exposed to different approaches to embrace those that work, avoid those that don’t; acquired a certain depth of knowledge; are able to share that knowledge critically

• Stick to peer-reviewed articles/books. Avoid wikipedia, magazines, newspapers!

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Report Writing

• Design/Implementation– Now you can talk about your approach, and reasons

for it• It can follow the ideal ‘model’ you presented in the Lit.

Review• You can, and indeed should, cross-reference to the Lit.

Review• Systems on which you’ve based your approach can be

described in more detail here

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• Design/Implementation– Remember to justify every decision that you make!– Remember to adequately reference technologies you

use– Don’t go overboard with system schematics (most

of these can go into an appendix), unless it is appropriate to do so

– Write and describe, don’t just draw!

Report Writing

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Report Writing

• Design/Implementation• Especially in implementation chapter, talk about major data

structures and operations on them, rather than organise it by function! How do major data structures interface?

• What technologies did you use and why?• If you’ve used code developed by someone else,

reference it!– Do give screen shots (remember to no. figures,

tables, etc., and to refer to them in the text)

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Report Writing

• Evaluation– What claims are you making, and how are you

going to ‘prove’ them?– How are these types of system normally evaluated?

(Give a small lit review, if there are several acceptable approaches, and remember to provide references)

– Are you able to follow normal evaluation, or do you have to do things differently (because of cost/time/etc)?

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Report Writing

• Evaluation– Describe your evaluation set-up or simulation

environment• Equipment, participants (how many? What skills? How did

you get them to participate? etc.), duration, location, etc.

– Describe your experiments/simulation and or experimental details, and the results you obtained (be objective! Don’t discuss the implications yet)

– Use tables, graphs, charts, etc. to describe results, but don’t present the same results in different ways

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Report Writing

• Evaluation– Describe the results, as well as presenting them– Draw attention to anomalous results– If required and/or appropriate, you should also have

a section on testing – discuss with your supervisor• This should include a test plan and the test results

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Report Writing

• Discussion of Results– Objectively explain the significance of your results

• Both independently and in comparison to similar systems

– Explain why you obtained the results you obtained• Including any anomalous results

– If you don’t get the results you expected/hoped for, don’t be afraid to explain why this may have happened

• "Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good; it's only necessary that, if they do fail, they do so in an interesting way" - Robert Rosen

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Report Writing

• Conclusion– More than just a summary!– Draw conclusions from your work (was it a

worthwhile approach? What would you do differently? Etc.)

– In Introduction, you asked your ‘research question’ and you stated your objectives. Answer the question and state whether you met your objectives

– Future work…

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• How to read efficiently :-)• How to use the literature to find literature• How to take notes and combine them into a

review

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• How to Read Efficiently– Read abstract– If paper is relevant, read introduction and

conclusion– If still relevant, read literature review and

approach/overview– If relevant, read evaluation and results– Only if absolutely necessary, read detailed

design/implementation

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• How to Read Efficiently– Chicken and Egg

• If you know the problem you’re trying to solve, your reading can be focussed

• If you’re looking for a problem to solve, your reading strategy must change (initially)

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• How to use the literature to find literature– If a paper is relevant, it should have a relevant

literature review– Read it, and track down and read the papers it refers

to– Use system like CiteSeer to find other papers that

refer to:• The paper you’re reading• Significant papers that the paper you’re reading refers to!

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• How to take notes– If the paper is relevant, write down its bibliographic

reference (entry should be complete) and give it an id

– Jot down notes of anything (statements/opinions) that is relevant/interesting (in the sections you’re reading)

– Remember to put direct quotations (sentences/ phrases/unusual terminology) into quotes!

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• Based on your research, build a model of the (reasonably high-level) processing steps needed

• Organise your notes around the model– You should end up with a series of statements

related to each processing step about each paper you read

– Remember to use the ref id with each statement!• You can now make statements about groups of

papers

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• Example… Document Fusion Literature Review…

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• Write up your literature review!– Length will vary according to publication

• Short for a (2-page) poster; longer for a (10-page) conference or journal paper; longer still for a research publication (e.g., report, dissertation, thesis), 10% of report length

• So choose most important/significant claims for shorter pieces

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• Referencing your sources– Every time you make a claim, you need to provide a

reference• At the point in your report at which you make the claim• And full referencing details of the source in the references list

– For more information see:• ‘Plagiarism… and How to Avoid it’• JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service, “A Quick Guide to Referencing”

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Language Style Guide 1

• Consider writing in the first person singular (e.g., “I”)• You can use an active, rather than passive, voice• It shows you identify with what you have done, so it

may be easier for the reader to engage with your writing

• It is less “dry”

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• Tense• Use the present tense throughout, except when

referring to material in earlier chapters, when you can use the past tense.

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• Figures, Diagrams, etc.• Use the past tense to describe what you did.

However, you can use present and future tense when appropriate. Limit mixing tense in the same paragraph.

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• Figures, Diagrams, Tables, etc.• Start numbering from e.g., Figure 1, Table 1,

Diagram 1, etc., and increase number throughout report

• Can also restart numbering in each chapter e.g., Figure 5.1 is the first figure in chapter 5.

• Always give figure, diagram, etc., a caption• Always place the figure, etc., before the first

reference to it in the text• Always refer to the figure, etc., in the text 36


• Always follow your supervisor’s advice!

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Giving a Presentation 1

• The point of the presentation is to explain, in your allotted time:• what problem you were attempting to solve; • what other approaches have been taken to solve

similar problems; • how you designed and implemented your solution; • your evaluation results (how good is your system at

solving the problem); • and your conclusions.

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• Do not assume your examiners know anything about the problem domain, or if you are making assumptions then say so.

• Include screen shots of your system working in the presentation, and use screen shots early in your talk so that your audience gets a feel for what you're talking about

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• Use a large font size - 30 points minimum is a good size.

• You can refer to hand-held cards or notes to remind you what you want to cover, but please don't just read off the notes.

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• Don't dump large amounts of text onto slides. • Try to look at your audience when explaining

the content of slides, and try to avoid giving your back to your audience.

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• If you feel nervous, don't worry about it - it's natural. Just take a deep breath. Once you get into your stride you'll be fine.

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• Use diagrams and screen shots, not just text.• BE ON TIME - if you're late, you will lose

minutes from your presentation. If you miss your slot, you'll get a 0.

• DO NOT OVERRUN YOUR TIME - when you are asked to stop, please stop, otherwise you will lose additional marks.

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• Also do not finish too early - try to pace your talk to fill up the time available.

• Speak at a normal speed - it's not a race!• Start with an introduction to the problem

domain, and then give a quick overview of the structure of your talk.

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• Practice, practice, practice, but please remember Einstein's Theory of Relativity - time works differently under pressure (even on the same planet) :-)

• Have a working clock/stopwatch with you so that you can keep an eye on time - expand on points if you're going to fast, and skip things if you're going too slowly.

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• When you are asked questions, take time to • let the examiner finish the question, and • listen to the question.

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• If you are not sure that you understand what you've been asked, then say so (politely). It's also ok to begin to answer a question by saying "I think I've been asked xyz…" and give the examiner a chance to address any misunderstandings.

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• If you don't know the answer to a question, don't try to bluff… examiners are pretty good at spotting stuff like that :-)

• It is ok to take a while to think about the answer to a question or to seek clarification. Examiners are there to try to get you to expose what you know about your topic.

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More Links

• Comrie, A. C., Scientific Report Writing.• UW-Madison Writing Center, 2006, Scientific

Reports• Report Tips• Dolphin, W. D., Writing Lab Reports and

Scientific Papers• JISC, A Quick Guide to Referencing

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Documents

Writing a Literature Review Dr. Chris Staff University of Malta Department of Intelligent Computer Systems [email protected] 1