Writing a Literature Review: Keeping Track of Information

• To avoid plagiarism
• Give proper credit to the authors of the information you use
• Allow readers to find your sources
• Avoid serious academic consequences

It is good practice to keep a record of your search results, methodology and strategy, so you don't have to go through them repeatedly.

• Start with the newest research.  This often points to useful older research.
• Read the abstract, introduction and conclusion.
• Scan the item to see if you can see how it's organized.
• Document any quotations you'd like to save for later. Use quotation marks and note the complete citation and page number for the quote.
• Paraphrase or summarise some main points.

Below is an example of a "synthesis matrix" by Jennifer Lim.  You can create a table like this to help keep track of the ideas generated by the sources you're using.