The discursive construction of literature review : an examination of Chinese PhD students' information behaviour

Information behaviour is a pertinent practice throughout students' research work. However, research students, particularly those with English as an additional language, experienced challenges and complications when studying in a western university. Issues relating to their information behaviour during the research process has largely been under-addressed and/or overlooked in both the fields of library and information science (LIS) and higher education. As part of a larger research project, this paper focuses on four Chinese PhD students' information behaviour in literature review practices. Semi-structured interviews were analysed through Foucault's concepts of discourse, knowledge and power. The paper argues that the PhD students' literature review practices, in terms of searching and synthesising relevant articles, are subject to two forms of discursive practices" the problem-based and resource-based practices. This study provides insights for research educators and students in the discourse of research education to weigh the practical consequences of different discursive practices in the construction of researchers' scholarly work.