Ӛзбекстан Республикасы Жоқары ҳәм орта арнаўлы билимлендириў министрлиги Әжинияз атындағы

 
GUIDE FOR LITERATURE REVIEW ON ENVIRONMENTAL 
RESEARCH 
 
M.J.Matchanov, S.J. Abdireymov, O.J. Matchanov
Urgench State University, Karakalpak State University 
The aim of the practical course:
 
This practical course is more theoretical and 
will help students to understand why a literature review is essential. The aim of this 
exercise is to teach how to conduct a literature review in case of environmental 
protection. Students will learn where and how to search necessary information and 
how to evaluate them according their needs. The main focus of interest is Central 
Asia.
A literature review focused on a research question, trying to identify, appraise, 
select and synthesize all high-quality research evidence and arguments relevant to 
that question (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature_review). It is an evaluative 
report of information found in the literature related to your selected area of study. 
The review should describe, summarize, evaluate and clarify this literature. It 
should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the author) determine 
the nature of your research (https://libguides.library.cqu.edu.au/litreview). 
Preparation: There are many literatures showing how to conduct a literature 
review. These practical course materials based on below indicated literature and 
they strongly recommend to further read. 1. Nicholas Clifford, Shaun French and 
Gill Valentine. Key Methods in Geography. Printed by MPG Books Group, 
Bodmin, Cornwall.-2010.-568 p. Some books, journals, articles and newspapers on 
the Central Asian environmental protection and ecology will be available in a 
classroom, an internet connection will be provided.
 
Report: You have to submit to written information that includes: 
-
Name of the topic of your interest and with short justification. 
-
Key terms with definition. 
-
Try to summarize idea and results by time /or logical sequence from relevant 
literature.
-
Draw the table and evaluate the literature. 
-
Show what you have find that is not clear or need to do for further? Evaluate 
given information according your understanding.
-
Make conclusion.
Task 1:
 
Write down your interest about environmental protection according to 
the real problem to your notebook (which is an important). Then explain and 
discuss an importance of your topic with the others. Record all comments and idea 
will be given to you. Listen the others area of interest and clarify how intersect 

---

202 
yours with the other. If you find someone who has same area of interest creates a 
small group.
Task 2: Identify key terms. Write any related key terms according to your 
knowledge and give definition before reading any other source.
For example: Your interested topic is :
Dust storms in Aral Sea region
. Key 
terms can be: Dust: 
dry dirt in the form of powder that covers surfaces inside a 
building, or very small dry pieces of earth, sand or other substances 
(Cambridge 
advanced learners dictionary)
. 
A dust storm: 
A dust storm is a strong, violent wind 
that carries fine particles such as silt, sand, clay, and other materials, often for 
long distances. The fine particles swirl around in the air during the storm. A dust 
storm can spread over hundreds of miles and rise over 10,000 feet. They have wind 
speeds of at least 25 miles per 
hour (
"Dust Storms Chapter"
 
(PDF)
. Emergency 
Management Plan. State of Oregon. Archived from 
the original
 
(PDF)
 on 2013-10-
21
)
.
This task helps to generalize and describe the terms, understand how deep 
your primary knowledge is, and to identify search terms. Additionally, it can serve 
you as search/key word while you looking from internet. Now, you will search key 
terms from a literature and compare with previous terms. Topic: Dust storms, dust 
transfer and depositions in the southern Aral Sea region (Ilkhomjon A., Christian 
O., Michael G., 2013). New terms can be: Dust deposition; Aeolian processes; sand 
storms; desert landscape; wind speed etc.
Number of new terms depends on your previous your knowledge gained by 
lectures, independent readings.
Task 3: Where to look a related literature? Choose two of following categories 
of sources from where you can find information of your interest. Some of following 
sources may not be useful to your purpose. For example, if you are looking for 
governmental documents to see whether there any related rules to environmental 
protection then you need visit www.lex.uz or www.gove.uz in Uzbekistan.
- Books. 
- Library catalogues. (WorldCat:www.worldcat.org, The library catalog of the 
Royal Geographical Society: www.rgs.org, www.bl.uk, www.loc.gov) 
- Abstracts and reviews. (Geobase, Science Direct, LexisMexis, Progress in 
Physical Geography, and Environmental Complete).
- Citation indexes (ISI Web of knowledge) 
- Bibliographies (GIS Bibliography, Bibliography of Aeolian Research) 
- Websites/internet (Google Scholar, Google, Alta Viesta, Dogpile) 
- Periodic reports of Environmental protection organizations in CA 
- Others.
Books and articles:

How to find a book is relevant to your interest and how do 

you review it? Methods: 

- Read a name and an annotation/abstract and introduction of the book. 

- Read about authors; to which research area they are belong. Are they 
environmentalists, ecologists or geographers?
- Identify which of the chapter or part of content is more relevant to your 
interest. 

---

203 
- Write any new terms and give definition, then keep it in your dataset 
(notebook, computer etc.). 
- Read carefully the intended chapter and summarize what is written.
- Read conclusion. 
- Try to criticize what have written. Give your own idea and prove your 
position! 
Write them down on a paper
.
- What have you learned from research methods and their application in 
practice?