Presentation of Literature Surveys for Projects

The following notes are intended to provide ideas and suggestions — they do not provide the correct presentation or the only way of presenting literature surveys. 

The literature survey is a review of the important information available which is relevant to the particular project topic. It may include information available in books, encyclopedias, lecture notes, journal articles, reports (both government and company), doctoral theses, standards, patents, and personal communications. It is important to identify and include relevant information only, and to state at the start of the survey what kind of information is required. 

The literature survey of a report is not an essay. It must provide clear and concise bibliographical information about the publications themselves, and summarise the relevant information they contain. 

The literature survey must include an introductory statement making clear what kind of information is required for the particular project. 

The presentation of the literature survey will depend upon the type ofproject being undertaken, e.g. laboratory based or a theoretical study. The presentation will also depend upon the number of publications to be discussed, i.e. a few papers can be reviewed in detail whereas a large number of publications (usually) require more selective discussion. 

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