EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER28 In their article “Scholars Before Researchers: On the Central-ity of the Dissertation Literature Review in Research Prepa-ration ” (Educational Researcher, August/September 2005),

is the fundamental task of dissertation and research preparation. They claim that doctoral students receive minimal formal train-ing, and little guidance from faculty or published sources, in how to analyze and synthesize research literature (p. 5). As a result, they argue, most dissertation literature reviews are poorly con-ceptualized and written (p. 4), and “Doctoral students may not be learning what it means to make and justify educational claims ” (p. 9). They conclude that “Literature reviewing should be a central focus of predissertation coursework, integrated throughout the program ” (p. 12). Many of Boote and Beile’s claims are consistent with my ex-perience in teaching and advising doctoral students, and the authors perform a valuable service in raising important, and often neglected, issues that bear on conducting a literature review for a doctoral dissertation in education. I agree with their assessmen