UEII language features of a literature review

General comments on the relevant literature

• The literature on X has highlighted several ...
• Much of the literature concerns X rather than Y.
• Different theories exist in the literature regarding ...
• To conclude this section, the literature identifies ...

Previous research: a historical perspective

• Prior to the work of Smith (1983), the role of X was largely unknown.
• Early examples of research into X include ... (Smith, 1962; Jones, 1974).
• Over the past decade, most research in X has emphasised the use of ...
• More recent attention has focused on the provision of ...

Previous research: area investigated as the sentence object

• Various studies have assessed the efficacy of ...
• A number of authors have considered the effects of ... (Smith, 2003; Jones, 2004).
• Numerous studies have attempted to explain ... (for example, Smith, 1996; Jones, 1998; ...).
• In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on ...

Previous research: area investigated as the sentence subject

• Factors thought to be influencing X have been explored in several studies.
• X appears to be positively related to both Y and Z (Smith, 2010; Jones, 2011).
• The geology of X has been addressed in several small-scale investigations and ...
• Researchers attempted to evaluate the impact of …

Previous research: approaches taken

• Most researchers investigating X have utilised ...
• Using this approach, researchers have been able to ...
• The majority of previous studies on X are based on ...
• The roles of X have been studied extensively (Jones, 1989; Johnson, 1994; Smith, 1998).

Previous research: what has been established or proposed

• Data from several studies suggest that ...
• Recent evidence suggests that ... (Smith, 1996; ...).
• It is now well established from a variety of studies that ...
• Several systematic reviews of X have been undertaken.

Stating what is currently known about the topic

• There is an unambiguous relationship between X and Y (Smith, 1998).
• X is significantly reduced during the first months of ... (Smith, 2000; Jones, 2010).
• GM varieties of X are able to cross-pollinate with non-GM varieties (Smith, 1998; Jones, 2009).
• A number of studies have postulated a convergence between ...

Reference to previous research: important studies

• Perhaps the best known study using this approach was carried out by Smith (1988).

• One well-known study that is often cited in research on X is that of Smith (1972), who found ...

• The way in which X is regulated was studied extensively by Smith and colleagues (Smith et al. 1995).

• A relationship exists between an individual’s working memory and their ability to ... (Jones, 2002).

Referring to a single investigation in the past: time prominent

• In 1990, Smith et al. demonstrated that replacement of H2O with heavy water led to ...
• Thirty years later, Smith (1974) reported three cases of X which ...
• In the 1950s, Gunnar Myrdal pointed to some of the ways in which ...
• In one of the earliest studies in this field, Smith (1961) found ...

Referring to a single investigation in the past: investigation prominent

• A small scale study by Smith (2012) reached different conclusions, finding no increase in …
• The study by Jones (1990) offers probably the most comprehensive empirical analysis of ...
• In an analysis of X, Smith et al. (2012) found ...
• In 1990, Smith et al. reported a new and convenient synthetic procedure to obtain ...