Research literacies for researchers: conceptualising the literature review

At the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), research degree students are supported through the UTS Framework for Doctoral Education, which provides the opportunity to take up modules and subjects across a relevant discipline area, research methods and methodologies as well as research practice such as ethics, communication skills, intellectual property and commercialisation. One of the most important aspects of this experiential support is the Graduate Research School’s (GRS) Research Literacies program which aims at developing students’ knowledge of the research process and the appropriate and relevant skills for communicating their own research in spoken or written form and according to accepted academic conventions. A core element of the Research Literacies program at GRS is to assist research students to move from a basic informational and analytical interpretation of the literature they have collected and read, to one which conceptualises the reading and allows them to write their literature reviews in a synthesised way. This paper discusses the important issues to do with the literature review that arise in the Research Literacies program at UTS, and presents a sampling of the practical strategies that are used in workshop sessions