Chemical Literature Review project
Chemical Literature Review project – Guidance
The description below is in addition to the General Guidance Document provided for this
module on Learning Central.
A Chemical Literature Review should provide an in-depth description of important topics in the
chemical sciences. It should give an account of the subject matter and a balanced assessment
of the current primary literature. The implications of recent developments for the wider
scientific community should be discussed and emphasised. A literature review does not
contain unpublished research.
Good sources of information for a chemical literature review are review articles, such as in the
Chemical Society Reviews and Chemical Reviews journals, as well as other sources of the
primary literature.
Report (50%) – Advice on writing the report should be sought from supervisors. The headings
under which your report will be marked are described below along with the weighting of marks
each category receives.
Abstract/Introduction/ References: 30 marks
Outlook/ Conclusions: 20 marks
Discussion: 40 marks
Quality of Presentation: 10 marks
Total: 100 marks
The following structure for the report is suggested. If you feel this structure is inappropriate
you must discuss the matter with your supervisor prior to adopting an alternative report
structure. This structure is recommended for your guidance but also gives your assessors a
standard by which reports in different areas of the subject may be judged.
The following should be used as a guide during the preparation of your report. You should consult
with your supervisor on the finer details as different areas of chemistry require different styles of
presentation (cf. synthetic organic chemistry vs computational chemistry). The report should
contain the following sections:
Title page – This has been prepared for you and should be downloaded from the module folder
on Learning Central. Insert your name, your supervisors’ name(s), and your project title in the
spaces indicated. The section indicated should be filled with graphical representation of your work.
This could be a reaction scheme, an image or model of a compound, or a relevant graph.
Table of Contents/Acknowledgements/Abstract – The abstract is the first part of your report
that your assessors and readers will see. It will help them to quickly get an idea of the subject of
the report. Therefore, it is important that it clearly and concisely summarises the main discussion
points of the report and why they are important.
The abstract is a single paragraph which should:
• Be no more than 200 words; concise and easy to read with recognisable words and
phrases. For representative examples of abstracts refer to papers relevant to your field.
• Set out the main objectives and results of the work; it should give the reader a clear idea
of what has been achieved
• Emphasise (but not overstate) the potential impact of the research and why it is important
(compared to other research in its field)
• Avoid including detailed information on findings; this should be described in the main part
of the report
Introduction – An introduction should ‘set the scene’ of the work. It should clearly explain both
the nature of the problem under investigation and its background. It should start off general and
then focus into the specific research question you are investigating. Ensure you include all
relevant references. All literature must be suitably referenced (see below).
Results and discussion – This is arguably the most important section of your report. Your
findings should be organised into an orderly and logical sequence. Only the most relevant results
should be described in the text; to highlight the most important points. Figures, tables, and
equations should be used for purposes of clarity and brevity; they should be your own
reproductions and not directly copied from the literature source. Data should not be reproduced
in more than one form, for example in both figures and tables, without good reason.
The purpose of the discussion is to explain the meaning of your findings and why they are
important. You should state the impact of the work presented and relate it back to the problem or
question you posed in your introduction. Ensure claims are backed up by evidence and explain
any complex arguments. The style adopted in the papers used for your introduction will act as a
guide.
Outlook – Based on the current literature presented in the main part of the report, an account of
the possible future developments of the subject under review should be included.
Conclusions – This is for interpretation of the key results and to highlight the significance of the
presented work. The conclusions should not summarise information already present in the main
part of the report or abstract.
References – All references listed numerically in the sections above (as superscripts) should be
given in RSC style, i.e.
- J.Bloggs and U.T.Cobbley, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1999, 38, 666.
Project Report Style: Type written on A4 single-sided paper (margins top/bottom/left = 2.5 cm,
right = 2 cm), font no less than 11 pt, one and a half line-spacing, pages numbered. Chemical
structures should be prepared in ChemDraw (or equivalent). All spectra, graphs etc that are
included, irrespective of whether they are in the main body of the report or the appendix, should
be clearly and carefully labelled, in type. Spectra should also be labelled with a structure of the
compound used.
Project Report Length: The Introduction/ Discussion/Outlook/ Conclusions sections should be
in the order of 25 to 30 typed pages, excluding spectra and appendices, etc but including diagrams
and tables. Please note this is a guideline, if the nature of the project is such that a longer report
is thought to be necessary, then advice should be sought from supervisors.
