Geography Literature Review Challenge

You have probably read around your subject area before, so what makes academic literature different? Mostly, it is to do with how confident you can be in the information you are reading. Academic literature is peer-reviewed by other experts, to ensure that they agree with the conclusions the original author has made.

However, this does not mean that all academic literature is infallible! Researchers are humans who make mistakes, just like everyone else – therefore, whenever reading academically it is important to consider the strength of the evidence or argument presented to you. Do you agree with what is being said?

Being able to read academic literature, and engage with this critically, will be an important skill set in your higher education studies.

Watch the video series below on engaging critically with academic literature in Geography, and follow along by completing the activities in the worksheets. After you have watched the video series, you can apply what you have learnt to read and review one of the example articles (or another article of your choice), in an academic literature review challenge.

It is up to you how to use the video and worksheet series, but if you would like guidance on how to use your time this week to complete the series, and submit an academic literature review, see the ‘Managing your time’ section at the bottom of this page.

Your Challenge

We’d like you to produce a short review of a journal article of your choice, either on a topic you’re interested in or one of the suggested articles below.

Your review should be:

  • A short description of the article you have read, and a critique of this article.
  • Between 300 – 500 words long.
  • Saved in Microsoft Word or PDF format.
  • Properly referenced (include the article you have reviewed, and any others that you read to support your review).

You should submit your article by email to inspire@sjc.ox.ac.uk, following the instructions outlined here.

Suggested Journal Articles

Each of the examples below focuses on a different topic and uses a different method, so hopefully there is something for everyone! Read the title and abstract of all three to help you decide which one to focus on. Click the links below to download the journal articles.

Suggested Articles

• Angassa, A. (2014) Effects of grazing intensity and bush encroachment on herbaceous species and rangeland condition in Southern Ethiopia. Land Degradation and Development, 25 (5), pp. 438-451.

• Ellis, E. C., Beusen, A. H. W., & Goldewijk, K. K. (2020). Anthropogenic biomes: 10,000 BCE to 2015 CE. Land, 9(5), 8–10.

• Sternberg, T., Viles, H., and Cathersides, A. (2011) Evaluating the role of ivy (Hedera helix) in moderating wall surface microclimates and contributing to the bioprotection of historic buildings. Building and Environment, 46(2011), pp. 293-297.

Video Series

Whilst watching this video series, you should complete the activities in the accompanying activities booklet. You can download the booklet by clicking on the link below.

Click here to download the activities booklet

In some videos, there are some associated example articles for you to look at. Where this is the case, you can click the links below each video to download these. Please note, some of this material is copyrighted, and should only be used for personal learning on the Inspire Programme. Please do not share these materials.

Introducing Journal Articles in Geography

Reading Journal Articles: Part 1

Click here to download the example article
Reading Journal Articles: Part 2

Click here to download the example article
Critically Engaging with Journal Articles

Click here to download the example article

Managing your time

In order to watch the full video series, and complete your academic literature review challenge, you have a few different tasks to complete. You should plan how you will complete these tasks, to ensure you are able to submit your review at the end of the Summer School. A suggested task list for each day is provided here.

Monday 1st August/Day 1

  • Download the Activities Booklet.
  • Watch the video ‘Introducing Journal Articles in Geography’, and complete the activities related to this.

Tuesday 2nd August/Day 2

  • Watch the video ‘Reading Journal Articles: Part 1’, and complete the activities related to this.
  • Consider the titles of the challenge articles, and start to think about which one you will review.
  • OR – search using online tools to find an article you would like to review

Wednesday 3rd August/Day 3

  • Watch the video ‘Reading Journal Articles: Part 2’, and complete the activities related to this.
  • Start reading your challenge article, making some notes on important sections.

Thursday 4th August/Day 4

  • Watch the video ‘Critically Engaging with Journal Articles’, and complete the activities related to this.
  • Finish reading your challenge article, continuing to make notes.
  • You should also make notes on your opinion of the article!

Friday 5th August/Day 5

  • Write your academic literature review, following the guidelines above.
  • Check your reference list is complete.
  • Submit your academic literature review as a PDF or Word Document, following the guidelines here.
  • The deadline to submit your academic literature review is 31st August 2022.