What is tinjauan pustaka in English?

Tinjauan pustaka means literature review. In a skripsi it is normally Bab II (Chapter 2). It reviews the theories behind your variables and the earlier studies related to your topic, and it leads to your framework and hypotheses.

What is the difference between tinjauan pustaka, kajian pustaka and landasan teori?

They are names that different faculties give to the review chapter or to parts of it. Tinjauan pustaka and kajian pustaka both mean a review of the literature. Landasan teori and kajian teori mean theoretical basis. Among the guidelines cited in this guide, one faculty titles Bab II Kajian Teori dan Hipotesis Penelitian for quantitative work and Kajian Pustaka dan Kerangka Konseptual for qualitative work, another titles it Kajian Pustaka, and a third source uses Landasan Teori. Use the title your faculty's pedoman specifies.

How many previous studies (penelitian terdahulu) do I need?

Your faculty decides. As one example, the Faculty of Economics at Universitas Negeri Gorontalo requires at least five relevant studies, presented in a table. Other faculties set their own number or none. Choose studies that share your variables or your object of research.

How recent must my sources be?

Rules differ by faculty. As one example, the Universitas Negeri Gorontalo Faculty of Economics guideline asks for journal articles no older than four years, books no older than seven, and skripsi no older than three, and it exempts historical research from its up-to-dateness principle. Read your own pedoman for the numbers that apply to you.

Can I cite sources in English in a skripsi written in Indonesian?

Yes. The Universitas Negeri Gorontalo Faculty of Economics guideline, for example, names reputable national and international journal articles as sources for the theory review. You paraphrase the source in Indonesian and cite it in the normal way.

What citation style does a skripsi use?

It depends on the faculty. Some use APA, Vancouver or IEEE, and some use a local author-year format that adds the page after a colon. The Universitas Negeri Gorontalo Faculty of Economics guideline gives the example (Sadono, 2019:17). Follow the examples in your own pedoman exactly.

Tinjauan Pustaka (Bab II): A Guide to the Skripsi Literature Review

Indonesian undergraduates complete a skripsi, and its second chapter is the literature review. Depending on the campus, that chapter is called tinjauan pustaka, kajian pustaka, kajian teori or landasan teori. This guide explains the chapter in English, keeps the Indonesian terms you will see in your faculty's guideline, and links to the general method guides on this site.

A note on language: Wonders does not yet publish guides in Bahasa Indonesia. If you are writing your skripsi in Indonesian, the structure and method here still apply.

The terms

Indonesian term	Meaning	Where it appears
Skripsi	Undergraduate (S1) thesis	The whole document
Bab II	Chapter 2	The review chapter
Tinjauan pustaka / kajian pustaka	Literature review	A title used for Bab II
Landasan teori / kajian teori	Theoretical basis, theory review	Title of Bab II, or its first subsection
Penelitian terdahulu / penelitian yang relevan	Previous or relevant studies	Subsection, usually a table
Kerangka pemikiran / kerangka berpikir / kerangka konseptual	Research framework	Subsection with a diagram
Hipotesis	Hypotheses	Last subsection, quantitative studies
Daftar pustaka / daftar rujukan	Reference list	End of the skripsi
Pedoman penulisan skripsi	Faculty thesis-writing guideline	The document that overrides everything in this guide

How Bab II is structured

The Faculty of Economics at Universitas Negeri Gorontalo (UNG) divides the body of a skripsi into five chapters, with the review as Bab II. For quantitative research it titles that chapter Kajian Teori dan Hipotesis Penelitian and prescribes these sections:

2.1 Kajian Teori
2.2 Kajian Penelitian yang Relevan
2.3 Kerangka Pikir Penelitian
2.4 Hipotesis Penelitian

For qualitative research the same guideline titles the chapter Kajian Pustaka dan Kerangka Konseptual and drops the hypothesis section. The Faculty of Science and Technology at Universitas PGRI Kanjuruhan Malang titles Bab II Kajian Pustaka and lists research hypotheses as its last section, "jika diperlukan" (if needed). In the guidelines cited here the order is the same: theory first, previous studies next, then the framework, with hypotheses last.

Part 1: The theory review

Write one subsection for each variable or core concept, starting with the variable that carries the research problem. For each one, cover the definition according to several authors, its dimensions or indicators, and the factors that influence it.

A weakness to avoid is a chain of definitions: "Menurut A ..., menurut B ..., menurut C ..." followed by nothing. After presenting definitions, compare them and state which one your study adopts and why. The indicators you settle on here should be the ones you measure in Bab III. The UNG guideline describes this as synthesizing relevant theory to give the variables conceptual legitimacy, and it asks students to rely on primary sources, with secondary sources as support.

Part 2: The penelitian terdahulu table

The UNG guideline asks for at least five relevant studies, set out in a table. The Kanjuruhan guideline states the purpose plainly: explain the link between your research and other studies on the same topic. The UNG guideline adds a second purpose, which is to prevent duplicated or plagiarized research.

A workable layout:

No	Researcher, year	Title	Method	Findings	Similarities	Differences
1	Putri & Wahjudi (2022)	Pengaruh literasi finansial, inklusi keuangan, teman sebaya, dan kontrol diri terhadap perilaku menabung mahasiswa	Questionnaire, Accounting Education students (2018 cohort), Universitas Negeri Surabaya, multiple linear regression	Financial inclusion had a positive partial effect on saving behavior. Financial literacy, peers and self-control had no significant partial effect. The four variables together explained 58.2% of the variation	Same dependent variable and same independent variable (financial literacy)	One study program at one university. This study adds pocket money as a variable
2	Mustofa (2022)	Literasi keuangan syariah dan perilaku menabung mahasiswa	Descriptive quantitative survey, 100 students, Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta	Islamic financial literacy was low (32% not literate, 38% less literate, 30% sufficiently literate). Most students held accounts at commercial banks	Same population (university students) and topic	Descriptive only. Does not test the effect of literacy on saving behavior

These two studies are real and the table describes them from their published abstracts. Full references are at the end of this guide. The Similarities and Differences columns are written for the sample study used in this guide. Your table must contain the studies you have found and read yourself.

The Differences column matters most. Read down that column when the table is complete and you have your research gap, often called the kebaruan or novelty of the study. Follow the table with two or three paragraphs that summarize the pattern in words. Our guide on how to find research gaps goes deeper.

Part 3: The kerangka pemikiran

The kerangka pemikiran shows how your variables relate, based on the theory and previous studies you just reviewed. The UNG guideline asks for a schema or chart. For a simple quantitative study it is a diagram with a box for each variable and arrows for each proposed effect:

Literasi keuangan (X1) → Perilaku menabung (Y)
Uang saku (X2) → Perilaku menabung (Y)

Below the diagram, write a paragraph for each arrow that explains, with citations, why you expect that relationship.

Part 4: Hypotheses

For quantitative research, each arrow in the framework becomes a hypothesis:

H1: Literasi keuangan berpengaruh positif terhadap perilaku menabung mahasiswa.
H2: Uang saku berpengaruh positif terhadap perilaku menabung mahasiswa.

Each hypothesis should follow from the theory and the previous studies. Qualitative skripsi normally have no hypotheses.

Rules on sources

Recency. Guidelines talk about the prinsip kemutakhiran, the principle of being up to date. UNG's Faculty of Economics limits journals to four years, books to seven and skripsi to three. Your faculty's numbers may differ.
Primary over secondary. Journal articles and research reports come first. Textbooks support them.
International sources. The UNG guideline asks for reputable national and international journal articles, and for its journal-article format it sets a share of international articles among the references. Check whether your pedoman has a similar rule.
Journal standing. SINTA (Science and Technology Index) is the national system that reports on the performance of researchers, institutions and journals in Indonesia. If your pedoman or supervisor asks for accredited journals, look the journal up there.
Cite the original. If you find a study through a blog, Wikipedia or a document-sharing site, trace it to the published version and cite that.

Where to find sources

Garuda (Garba Rujukan Digital). Describes itself as a platform for discovering scholarly publications in Indonesia, managed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek). It covers Indonesian journals and conference proceedings.
SINTA. Use it to look up a journal.
Neliti. A hosting platform that Indonesian institutions use for their repositories, journals and conferences. It now describes itself as a website builder and CMS rather than a repository of its own, so treat it as a way into the collections it hosts.
University repositories. Many Indonesian universities run open repositories of skripsi and theses, which helps with penelitian terdahulu.
Perpusnas e-Resources. The National Library's e-resources portal. It requires a Perpusnas membership, which you register for online.
International indexes. Google Scholar, DOAJ, and Wonders, which searches 320M+ scholarly works from OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar, has a Boolean builder, and lets you filter by year to fit your faculty's recency rule. Add "Indonesia" to a query to surface studies conducted locally. Wonders is a paid tool with a 14-day trial and no free plan.

Whichever tool you use, read the paper before you cite it. Wonders is a research workspace and does not write Bab II for you.

Citing in a skripsi

Follow the examples in your pedoman to the character. If it names a standard style, see our guides to APA 7th edition, Vancouver or IEEE. Some faculties use a local author-year format with the page number after a colon, as in (Sadono, 2019:17), the example given in the UNG guideline. Rules for Indonesian names without a family name also vary, so copy your pedoman's pattern.

If your campus runs a similarity check before the defense (sidang), the allowed percentage is set locally, so ask your faculty. Whatever the threshold, paraphrase in your own words and cite every idea that is not yours.

Common mistakes

Listing definitions without comparing them or choosing one.
Building the penelitian terdahulu table but never discussing it.
A kerangka pemikiran whose arrows are not supported by anything in the theory review.
Indicators in Bab II that do not match the questionnaire in Bab III.
Sources older than the guideline allows, with no justification.
Citing a source seen only in another skripsi, without reading the original.

References

Fakultas Ekonomi, Universitas Negeri Gorontalo. (2019). Pedoman penulisan karya tulis ilmiah. https://repository.ung.ac.id/get/kms/20230/Pedoman-Penulisan-Karya-Ilmiah-FE.pdf
Fakultas Sains dan Teknologi, Universitas PGRI Kanjuruhan Malang. (2020). Pedoman penulisan skripsi dan artikel ilmiah. https://psti.unikama.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2021/01/Pedoman-Skripsi-FST-.pdf
Mustofa, M. (2022). Literasi keuangan syariah dan perilaku menabung mahasiswa. Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pendidikan, 18(2), 183–191. https://doi.org/10.21831/jep.v18i2.49299
Putri, E. B., & Wahjudi, E. (2022). Pengaruh literasi finansial, inklusi keuangan, teman sebaya, dan kontrol diri terhadap perilaku menabung mahasiswa. Jurnal Pendidikan Akuntansi (JPAK), 10(3), 217–231. https://doi.org/10.26740/jpak.v10n3.p217-231
UPT Jurnal, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara. Menyusun proposal penelitian: Bab II landasan teori, kerangka berpikir dan hipotesis. https://uptjurnal.umsu.ac.id/menyusun-proposal-penelitian-bagian-bab-ii-landasan-teori-kerangka-berfikir-dan-hipotesis/

For the general method behind any literature review, see how to start a literature review and how to organize academic literature.