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Graduate Writing Workshop Tools

Graduate Writing Workshop,Summer 2023

Literature Reviews

Below are examples of literature reviews slides, handouts and video!  Resources listed are courtesy of Raya Samet, our CEHHS librarian.

What is a Literature Review?

This brief 10-minute video explains what a literature review is, and techniques for getting started. (It's just a good resource for anyone doing a literature review, even if they aren't a graduate student.)

(VIDEO) Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students (from North Carolina State University)

Literature review summary handout

Slide Deck presentation - Raya Samet

Synthesis matrix - compare and contrast ideas/theories

A synthesis matrix helps you record the main points of each source and document how sources relate to each other.  After summarizing and evaluating your sources, arrange them in a matrix to help you see how they relate to each other, and apply to each of your themes or variables.  By arranging your sources in a matrix by theme or variable, you can see how your sources relate to each other, and can start thinking about how you weave them together to create a narrative.

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