To develop a theory or evaluate an existing theory
To summarize the historical or existing state of a research topic
To identify a problem in a field of research
When writing a prospectus or a thesis/dissertation
When writing a research paper
When writing a grant proposal
In all these cases, you need to dedicate part of these works to explore what has already been written about your research topic and to point out how your own research will shed new light on the existing scholarship.
Attribution
Baumeister, R.F. & Leary, M.R. (1997). Writing narrative literature review," Review of General Psychology, 1(3), 311-320.
Your findings are your evaluation of the literature reviewed: what you consider the strengths and weakness of the studies reviewed; the comparison you did between studies; research trends and gaps in the research that you found while researching your topic, etc...
Common/contested findings
Important trends
Influential theories
If you only quote from every single author you found, then you are not showing any original thinking or analysis. Use quotes judiciously. Use quotes to highlight a particular passage or thought that exemplifies the research, theory, or topic you are researching.
Restate the main ideas of a paragraph or section to highlight, in your own words, the important points made by the author.
This is different from paraphrasing since you are not re-stating the author's words but summarizing the main point of what you are reading in a concise matter for your readers.
In all cases, do not forget to give credit to these sources since they are not your original ideas but someone else. Check the specific citation style you are using for the appropriate in-text citation format)
A great site that explains when to paraphrase vs when to summarize when writing your paper
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