PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR WRITING EFFECTIVE LITERATURE REVIEWS

Course Description

The purpose of a literature review is to provide the foundation on which your research is built. It involves a discussion of the relevant theories and concepts that underpin the research and pinpoints gaps in the research of a particular field. It assists in gaining insight into relevant and previous research and the emerging trends. Literature review helps identifying contradictory results and opposing findings; and provides supporting evidence that your research questions and objectives are worth researching (justifies the significance).

Target Audience

Masters and doctoral students

Importance of the Course

By the end of the course the student should be able to:

• define the types of commonly used literature review.
• discuss literature search strategies.
• describe methods to critically appraise the resulting literature.
• define ways of synthesizing the evidence into a useful and relevant review.
• identify ways of writing a readable (and publishable) literature review.
• understand what is meant by plagiarism.
• be able to reference the literature found accurately.
• be able to apply the knowledge, skills and understanding gained to your own research project.

Course Facilitator

Prof Ashley Mutezo

Ashley Mutezo is a Professor in the Department of Finance, Risk Management and Banking at the University of South Africa. She holds a Doctor of Commerce Degree in Business Management from Unisa (2015). She served as the Acting Chair of the Department of Finance, Risk Management and Banking from January to June 2017. She is a member of the Research Ethics Committee in the College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS).

Ashley is a member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), the Institute of Risk Management in South Africa (IRMSA), and the Institute of Operational Risk (IOR). Her research interests are Risk Management, Banking, SME Financing and Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL). Ashley has published in accredited journals and presented several papers at domestic and international conferences. She has supervised and graduated several masters and doctoral students. She has co-authored a book chapter on climate change. Ashley is an examiner and moderator for several universities and a peer reviewer for a few journals.