Abstract
The purposes of this study were to examine the extent to which literature was used to discuss findings in selected papers from Zimbabwe Journal, and to compare the quality of reviews in this journal with other international journals. The study was largely qualitative in nature and used convenient sampling. In the study, the Zimbabwe Journal was chosen because of easy access. Three papers were conveniently selected based on personal interest and areas previously studied. Content analysis was used to compare the quality of discussion of literature in the sampled papers. Findings suggest that authors cite relevant literature extensively in the background to the study but use the same literature sparingly in the discussion of their results. Further, in the discussion of findings, the use of literature was limited to confirming what was already known, and does not show how the new studies reported contribute to knowledge. The study concluded that the journal studied was failing to attract authors who write high quality papers. Perhaps the journal should broaden its brief and target an international audience, because at present as evident in the three cases cited, the journal can only reach out to practitioners within (Southern) Africa. Key words: Literature review, information and communications technology (ICT), mentoring, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Highlights
Literature reviews are important in dissertations and journal articles
For purposes of the review, the author decided to look at three papers namely: „Integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in teaching and learning‟ (Paper_1); „role of mentors‟ (Paper_2); and „teaching science‟ (Paper_3)
This review argues that it would have been more worthwhile to locate literature cited by others and make direct quotations
Summary
Literature reviews are important in dissertations and journal articles. In dissertations candidates are expected to demonstrate a formal understanding of literature in their field, intellectual independence, information fluency, and ability to continually reappraise ideas and practices (Boote and Beile, 2006). A more complete review of related literature should take the form of a critical discussion, showing insight and an awareness of differing arguments, theories, and approaches (Boote and Beile, 2005). It should be a synthesis and analysis of the relevant published work, linked at all times to own research purpose and rationale. Literature review is the selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfil certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed (www.sagepub.com/upmdata/28728_LitReview_hart_Ch apter_1.pdf). How good is quality of papers published in Zimbabwe Journal compared to other international journals?
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