Learning Goals

• Identify the elements of a literature review
• Conduct a literature review
• Apply IEEE referencing style to various documents and presentations

Summary of the Chapter

The chapter demonstrates the value of conducting a literature review, offers effective methods for conducting a literature study, and explains IEEE style and standards when writing a research paper. It is critical to establish consistency in ethics, productivity, and credibility as you proceed through your career. One approach is to refer to various sources and give them proper credit. However, it is crucial to investigate their authority, usefulness, and trustworthiness before using any sources. Failure to give someone credit for their contribution can be detrimental. To ensure uniformity in citations and references in this e-resource, we adhere to the IEEE style and structure. A variety of tools available can help simplify establishing these IEEE-compliant references.

Considerations for Lesson Planning

In the course that inspired this e-resource, many students will complete a Master’s thesis. Part of creating a thesis is conducting a literature review. In some cases, it can be useful to the learners’ larger goals (i.e., Master’s thesis) to guide them through producing an academically sound literature review.

However, the experience of conducting a scholarly review of literature can be helpful in industry and business environments as well. Consider creating a scenario where learners must provide a report to the CEO of their organization. In this report, the CEO has asked for the learners to provide a broad overview of other companies and studies focused on a particular topic (i.e., one that the instructor chooses for the exercise). As part of the activity, learners will need to engage their understanding of the rhetorical situation to produce effective documentation while also adhering to the conventions of formalized literature reviews and IEEE formatting style.

Note that it can also be useful to invite librarians or other writing support staff from an institution to conduct workshops on research, literature review processes, and formatting. While instructors can certainly lead these sessions, it can be helpful to include additional voices that will underscore the value and necessity of appropriate, academic research pursuits.

Assessment Strategies

The most common way to assess for learners’ understanding of IEEE and formatting is to have them generate documents and communications that require research and create a scoring rubric (or feedback, if scoring is not desirable in a given circumstance) that reflects the learners’ application of the IEEE standards.

In some cases, it can be useful to discuss the institutional policies on academic integrity thereby encouraging learners to recognize that incorporating appropriate citations and references is part of the academic community’s expectations, not only a requirement for a course.

Consider, also, how appropriate citation and reference style can be used to increase the writers’ credibility and make correlations to the rhetorical situation (Chapter 1). One way to build ethos is to ensure that resources are cited and referenced appropriately.

Suggested Resources

Health Sciences Library JABSOM, Zotero Quick Start, (May 15, 2020). [Online Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OvKsCrW4hM. [Accessed Nov. 06, 2021].

S. Keshav, “How to Read a Paper.” ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review, 37(3), 83-84, 2007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1273445.1273458 [Accessed Jan. 01, 2022].

Technological University of the Shannon, “Literature Review – What is a Literature Review, Why It is Important and How It is Done: Evaluating Literature Reviews and Sources”, LIT Library Guides, 2021, https://lit.libguides.com/c.php?g=664499&p=4701470. [Accessed Jan. 01, 2022].

University of South Carolina, “Literature Review: Purpose of a Literature Review”, Uscupstate.libguides.com, 2021, https://uscupstate.libguides.com/c.php. [Accessed Jan. 01, 2022].

University of West Florida, “Literature Review: Conducting & Writing: Steps for Conducting a Lit Review”, Libguides.uwf.edu, 2021, https://libguides.uwf.edu/c.php?g=215199&p=1420520. [Accessed Jan. 01, 2022].

Victoria University, IEEE Referencing – The Basics, (Jun. 09, 2017). [Online Video]. https://vimeo.com/220916942. [Accessed Nov. 05, 2021].

L. Wahlin, Fundamentals of Engineering Technical Communications, (n.d.), https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/feptechcomm/  [Accessed 18 February 2022].