How many resources should be in an academic paper?


Note: this post was written by guest editor Alison Foster. Thanks Alison! – HC

If we received this question at the library desk, our first response is always: “ask your prof.”  They’re the ones grading your assignments and are the ultimate authority. That said, students will often ask us for our “professional opinion,” so I’ll give a few tips below.

In my experience, there is no set number of resources required for a paper. Often, scholars will include a large volume of resources, in order to address the major points made in their research paper and support their argument/thesis. In the case of student assignments, you will often be asked to include a minimum number of assignments, but rarely asked to limit yourself (always check your assignment guidelines!). Overall, my response is: include as many resources as you need to support your ideas!

A great way to determine if you have included an appropriate amount of resources is to ask yourself these questions:

  1. Have a backed up all of my key points with relevant and credible resources? Are there any gaps or unsupported statements in my essay?
  2. Am I relying too heavily on a source? Do I have 2-3 sources to back up each of my key points?
  3. If I have some unsupported points in my essay, could I back them up using resources that I have already cited/read?
  4. If my paper addresses a controversial issue or topic, have I included resources that address both sides of the issue?

Looking over your work for information gaps is a valuable skill that will help you in your present and future research!

How do I write a Literature Review?


This blog post was co-written by Alison Foster.  Thanks Alison!

How do I write a Literature Review?

The guidelines for writing a literature review are generally the same for most disciplines, but the practice may be different for each professor or subject. Read your assignment instructions, as they may differ from the guidelines below.

What is a Literature Review?

In general, a literature review is an overview of what has been published on a particular topic by credible researchers and scholars. Literature reviews can be stand-alone assignments, the first step of a research project, or a chapter in a thesis or dissertation. They are not the same as annotated bibliographies or systematic reviews (check back for a blog post on how to write a systematic review).

A literature review includes:

  • An overview of your research topic and a clear statement of your research objective (usually a hypothesis or research questions you’re trying to answer)
  • A description of your topic’s main ideas or issues
  • A critical analysis of the resources you find (for example, are certain aspects of your topic controversial or less-supported by researchers in that field of study?)
  • Questions for further research or investigation

How to Prepare your Literature Review

  1. Make sure you clearly understand your topic, and your research objective (a.k.a. what is the scope of your literature review? What publication dates are you going to include?  What is the purpose of your assignment? What are you hoping to prove?)
    • Example: Your topic is “depression in adolescents”.
      • What concepts are you going to review: the role of adolescents’ families on their depression? Genetics? Peer pressure and social influences? Substance abuse? The outcomes of depression?
      • What dates are you going to cover?  The last 5 years? 10?  Do your assignment instructions say?
      • Do you have to provide an argument or thesis?
  2. Conduct your research.
    • Search systematically, or have some sort of plan. My suggestion is to look for big, overarching resources first and then work down (see a librarian if this part is confusing):
      • For arts and social sciences disciplines, start with books or resources that will give an overview on your topic.  For scientific disciplines, including psychology, see if there are systematic reviews or meta-analyses on your topic.  Look first for resources that tell you “what is accepted as fact, or truth, about my topic?”
      • Then read the literature review sections of other books or journal articles: do they align with the other things you’ve read?
      • Finally, look for the more controversial or recent research on your topic (journal articles are often the place to find this type of information).
    • Use a wide variety of resources.  Don’t just rely on journal articles, or just books.  Your prof will give you details on their expectations (e.g. some assignments may require you to include grey literature) but make sure you’re not missing important research by just looking at one type of resource.
    • Search in a wide variety of places.  At least use the Shared Library Catalogue and two subject specific databases.  Follow this up with either a Summon search or a Google Scholar search to see if you missed anything.
    • Ask for help. Researching is often the most time-consuming (but rewarding!) step in this process; check out these blog posts on how to start your research and tips on searching or ask a librarian for assistance in making a research plan.
  3. Evaluate the resources that you have found; only include materials that offer significant, credible information on your topic. Again, for most literature reviews you shouldn’t talk about every resource you’ve found, but only the main findings or major conclusions about your topic. (See more information on evaluating resources for credibility in this blog post).
  4. Analyze your research. Look for key points about your topic, or common themes, so that you can give a complete account of what is and what is not known about your topic. In addition, you might point out areas of controversy in the literature.  If your literature review is supposed to have an argument, spend time reading for evidence to support this argument.
  5. Prepare to write your literature review. Make sure to be clear on your assignment instructions, including whether you’re supposed to argue or prove something (which is usually the case). There are a few ways you can organize your literature review:
    • Chronologically, or by historical development
    • Order of importance
    • By theme
    • By methodology
    • Different perspectives, or viewpoints on a controversial issue

Tips on writing your Literature Review

  • A literature review is meant to be a discussion of the themes and trends associated with your research objective, not a list of the resources that you have reviewed. Make sure that you are organizing your review in a way that is offering a synthesis of the resources you chose, rather than a list of the resources.
  • Based on your research, you may include a few questions for further investigation on your research area. For example, a literature review of a recent discovery in clinical nutrition may include information on past research, current developments and controversies, and the implications of these studies on future research of this topic.
  • Make sure that you are being unbiased in your research and, subsequently, in your literature review. Presenting only one side of an issue can weaken an otherwise informative literature review. You may have to ask yourself, “is there another side to this issue?” and “does my literature review present both sides of my research objective in an objective, unbiased manner?”
  • The research step can often be the most time-consuming but rewarding aspect of this process! If it seems like the resources available on your topic are not credible or you are having trouble finding resources, talk to your professor or a librarian.

Where to get extra help

Sample Literature Reviews

Can I access library resources after I graduate?


Typically when students ask this question, they’re wondering about journal articles.  But to be thorough, I have to give the whole answer here.

Alumni are able to use special alumni accounts to borrow regular library material, like books.  You can do this by bringing in your old student card to any library.

Where you run into limitations are on short-term loan items (e.g. course reserve materials) and on items that require a subscription. This means that, after graduation, you will not be able to access our online databases, including journal articles, from off campus.

You’re not without options, though.

  1. Firstly, our copyright tariffs allow on-site users to have reasonable access to our journal subscriptions.  So, come into a library on campus and the staff there can set you up with a computer in order to access the journals you need.
  2. Secondly, there are a variety of open-access journals that are still quite prestigious.  Access these through the Database of Open Access Journals.  For science students you can also try PubMed Central for other free journals.
  3. Ask your employer: academic research is an important part of many professions, so you may have access to resources you didn’t know about (especially if you work in a hospital system, school system, for a large corporation or chain, etc).
  4. Joining professional associations often will provide you with access to important journals in your field.  Examples of these associations could include the Ontario College of Teachers or  Dietitians of Canada.
  5. And don’t forget to talk to your local public librarian!

For more information, see Western Libraries’ website: http://www.lib.uwo.ca/borrowing/alumni.html

What is impact factor (IF)?


This article was written by guest editor Alison Foster.  Thanks Alison! – HC

When working with articles from scientific journals, you may be asked assess the authority of a journal using that journal’s impact factor. But what exactly is impact factor?

To put it simply, impact factor is a measure of the frequency with which the “average article” in a journal has been cited in a particular year, or period. Here is a more thorough definition of impact factor:

“The journal impact factor is a qualitative measure of journal quality in the form of an index that charts the frequency with which articles from a journal are cited. The impact factor is a simple calculation that covers a 3-year period calculating the average number of times published papers are cited for up to two years after publication.”

So for example, the impact factor for a journal in 2005 would be calculated using this formula:

  • Journal Impact factor for 2005 = A / B, where
  • A = the total number of times articles published in 2003-2004 were cited in articles published in 2005
  • B = the total number of articles, reviewers, proceedings, or notes published from 2003-2004.
  • [from The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, available in the Beryl Ivey Library Reference Collection: H61.S12 2008].

Other factors that should also be considered in relation to impact factor include:

  • The size of the publication (small- vs. large-scale publishing companies).
  • The field of specialization of the journal-could the journal be considered obscure or specific?

For more information of impact factor and some examples of impact factor, visit http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/free/essays/impact_factor/.

How do you write an annotated bibliography?


The theory is the same behind all annotated bibliographies, but the practice may be different for each professor.  Above all: read your assignment instructions!  They may be slightly different from my rough guidelines below. 

In general, annotated bibliographies contain two things:

  1. The full citation, in proper citation format, of each resource you are annotating (e.g. books, articles, websites, etc).
  2. One paragraph (or “annotation”) of each source, underneath the full citation.

What should be included in your annotations?  This is where your professors may disagree.  But commonly students are asked to include:

  1. A VERY brief description of the resource’s content.  This is often just 1-2 sentences summarizing the main argument of the source.
  2. A critique of the source.  Things you could look at:
    • Currency
    • Author credentials
    • Author Bias/Perspective/Holes in their argument
    • Bibliography/References used by the author
    • Comparison between this source and the other ones in your annotated bibliography
    • Overall assessment of strengths and weaknesses
  3. A description of how your source is useful for your assignment.  This could include how this resource contributes to your overall understanding of your topic

Again, the above three points are usually done in just one paragraph.

Here are some super helpful handouts on writing annotated bibliographies:

Need help practicing your annotations?  Here is a worksheet from Western (and my personal knock-off for a Foods and Nutrition class):

Some sample annotated bibliographies to get you started: