Whether you are being asked to review the literature for an assignment, thesis or for a standalone "systematic review", you need to know where to find authoritative resources, what the process involves and where to get support. A good starting point is your course handbook which outlines reference style and review criteria. Education students are generally not required to do systematic reviews but to be systematic or structured in their approach to conducting the review. Look at the Useful Links tab to read more about the different types of reviews.
General Library supports include training throughout the year, online and print resources on literature reviews and one to one or small group sessions with subject librarians. Please contact me for help using my email opposite. You should also take a look at the Student Learning and Development website for complementary resources in this area (e.g. time management, academic writing etc.)
We have just published two new library guides on Literature Reviews and Systematic Literature Reviews.
Quick link to ebooks on doing literature reviews (requires College ID to access off-campus).
Some of the information on other institution's pages may be useful but please note that their links to local resources will not apply.
What Works Clearninghouse (US) Video on Systematic Literature Searches in ERIC (1:04)
Video on systematic searching (Part 1) Part 2 (courtesy of Liz Dore, UL Library, 2019)
Evidence based education
Campbell systematic reviews(education)
Economic and Social Research Institute-Education (Ireland)
Education Endowment Foundation (UK)
Education Research Centre (Ireland)
EPPI Centre (systematic reviews Education, UK)
See Reference Management for information on how to reference using APA style.
If you decide to reference manually, the main Publication manual of the APA is available in the Library. There are print copies of the most recent 7th edition in the Library. There are particular websites which are useful for APA support:
Academic Writer Tutorial - basics of 7th edition APA style
University of South Caroline Aiken APA library support pages (7th ed)
Excelsior College APA support pages
Remember that in most databases you can use the cite feature within a record to copy the citation into your reference list. However, you will still need to manually create the intext citation within your document. See a quick clip here on how this works (EBSCO) (min 1:12 -1:52)
You may decide to use a reference manager software to automatically reference your material. Examples include Zotero, Mendeley, Refworks and Endnote. The Library supports Endnote. Please see our Endnote pages for download instructions and support information.
The Library tutorial on Endnote is available to view here
Additional links to proprietary guides from Endnote.com (Clarivate Analytics)
See these links to troubleshoot problems you may encounter using APA style in Endnote (courtesy of AUT university librarians).
Curtin Library Endnote pages are also very comprehensive.
Take a look at our Endnote pages to understand how the program works within the context of the literature review process.
Recent Library recorded webinars on Endnote are available to view here (versions X9 and 20).
Additional links to proprietary guides from Endnote.com (Clarivate Analytics)
See these links to troubleshoot problems you may encounter using APA style in Endnote (courtesy of AUT university librarians).
Curtin Library Endnote pages are also very comprehensive.
Take a look at this overview of the software from University of Victoria, Canada. Includes links to the Covidence Youtube channel and much more. Official Covidence videos and supports are also
Trinity has an institutional licence for Covidence. Access it from our databases page, sign up and get started. You can export search results from databases to Endnote and from there forward them as xml files to Covidence . You can invite other reviewers to collaborate with you (including from other institutions) or work on your own. See our library guide for more information. Take a look at the resource pages from the University of Victoria, Canada for an overview of the product.
