How to write a Literature Review? Structure, Examples, & Best Practices

17 Sep 2022

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Writing a literature review is more than a summary of books and articles. It's more about telling a structured story. Moreover, students should always start with a clear research question. After that, use academic sources like Google Scholar to find up-to-date research and what to include in your writing. Furthermore, keeping their focus on recent studies from the last 2 to 3 years is the most sensible route to take. Likewise, identifying these "5 Cs" is critical for students to understand how to write a literature review:

• Cite - Credit authors
• Compare - Similar findings
• Contrast - Different findings
• Critique - Find Errors
• Connect - Link it to your work

What Is a Literature Review?

A literature review is a complete survey of current work from scholars on a specific topic. It is a complete narrative of the study instead of just a summary. Moreover, students should follow the core component religiously. The core components for the literature review structure are Synthesis, critical analysis, and finding gaps. These core components can help students combine sources to explain a concept. While the purpose of writing a literature review is to set the stage for your research by understanding the previous research that has been done. It's like building your own pyramid on top of the old one.

How to Use it Effectively?

• Find trends and patterns in the research
• Find gaps that need further research
• Show your understanding of the topic

In academic assignments like dissertations, research papers, and theses. A literature review gives the base for your research statement, making sure your research builds on concrete evidence.

How to Structure a Literature Review?

Structuring a literature review is all about assembling the research into a clear map for the reader. Every review commonly follows an Introduction, body, conclusion, and framework. Moreover, organising the body in a structured manner can make or break your argument.

The Core of the literature review format-

The core format of a literature review consists of an intro, a body, and a conclusion. Moreover, think of it as a narrative story you want to tell, keeping your argument in focus. Furthermore, make it interactive and grasp the reader's attention through your storytelling. Moreover, writing a dissertation can be a complex task. We all think sometimes that I wish someone could do my homework.

1. Introduction - Sets the stage, introduces the topic, scope of the review, and the why? behind the research objective.

2. Body - Action on the Stage, Present the main themes. This section helps to group sources by themes of date, understand trends, debates and gaps in research.

3. Conclusion - Final Act, Summarise key findings, highlight gaps in research and link your research.

Maintain a clear flow throughout your literature review. Each section should smoothly transition into the next. Use transition phrases like "In contrast", "similarly" or "consequently". This helps the reader surf from one study to the next without drowning.

There are different formats for literature review that you can choose from. These formats help you organise the review by topic/debate, by time/development or by research methods. It all depends on the user what they feel most comfortable with and what their goal of research is -

Example of Literature Review

Literature review is a critical part of an academic essay. To understand the literature review, here is a case study on "Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler's work on individual psychology". Both worked in psychology, but with different understandings of the human mind. To write a case study on a contrasting topic. Moreover, writing a whole dissertation can sometimes be a mundane task, and students may look for resources to help them on their learning journey. If you, too, are looking for a glimpse of hope for your academic essay, cling to the Dissertation writing service online.

• Introduction: Define both their work and their impact on the generation to come
• Theme 1: Importance of Sigmund Freud's work
• Theme 2: The importance of Alfred Adler's work
• Theme 3: Their contrasting views related to human psychology
• Conclusion: The literature suggests that Adler's work is more influential for an individual to grow out of his/her past.

There are multiple ways to approach a literature review. Here are some common types:

1. Narrative - Narrative literature review gives a summary of the topic and current research.

• Example: A summary of "meditation" by Marcus Aurelius.

2. Systematic - A systematic literature review uses a strict process to answer a particular question.

• Example: Is AI beneficial for students or not?

3. Scoping - Scoping literature review, maps the size and breadth of a new field, without giving importance to a particular question. Helps to connect social theory with medical data.

• Example: Role of mental health in sports.

4. Argumentative - Review the literature to support or deny a specific point of view, and to examine the research.

• Example: Capitalism is better than communism.

Why Is a Literature Review Important in Academic Writing?

A literature review is the primary foundation for finding research gaps that exist. Without it, it's like trying to thread a needle in the dark. Moreover, it can help shape your research question by checking Google Scholar or the JSTOR Database to verify if your research hasn't been done multiple times. Furthermore, it helps shape the research question by highlighting what has been done and where your research can add new insights. It helps justify the research need and what is the purpose of a literature review.

Example: If the research on the impact of socio-economic factors is already done, but no one has studied how and what leads to the reason, it can be used as a gap in research, on which you can build your dissertation.

To understand what a literature review in a dissertation is, look for -

Tips to Write a High-Scoring Literature Review

Writing a high-scoring literature review requires moving beyond a simple summary of sources to provide a critical summary that can identify gaps in research. A top-tier review must show understanding with a well-structured argument.

• Start Early - A literature review needs regular reading, so start early to give yourself enough time to understand the research.

• Be critical - Instead of using a summary of the research. Understand the outcome and how it connects to your research.

• Be clear and Precise - Avoid unnecessary use of complex language and make sure that the paragraph can logically follow the previous, without breaking the structure. Moreover, use tools like Mendeley and Zotero to keep track of citations and sources.

Preparation

• Define the topic
• Create a research Question
• Define the Scope of Research and its Use
• Use Different Sources

Reading and Organisation

• Create a table or spreadsheet to track the sources, themes and key outcomes.
• Organise the literature into themes. Instead of just listing out the author
• Use the 5 C's: Cite, Compare, Contrast, Critique and Connect

Take notes: While reading or during research. Note down what you understand from the literature.

How to Write for Better Grades

• Do not, and I repeat, do not use language like Author A said this and Author B said this. Group them into themes. For example, “several studies show or indicate”.

• Keep a clear Objective and Critical tone, Point out the flaws in the research and build from that.

• Follow the upside-down pyramid: Start with a broad idea of the topic and then slowly narrow down to a specific theme and research. Moreover, for further guidance, search for Dissertation writing services.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Literature Review

One of the most common literature review mistakes is giving a summary of studies instead of understanding the research question and finding the research gaps. Moreover, your writing should only focus on the research question and make sure it doesn't wander around. "A wandering soul can never reach its destination", no matter how hard you try. To give a safe space to your wandering soul and give it a little guidance to go through the academic journey, look for English assignment help online and stop your wandering into a restful spot. Furthermore, while writing a literature review, most students tend to make the same mistake that can lead to low grades. To avoid these pitfalls, make sure that the review is critical, organised, and can stand academic demands.

Accepting Outcomes as Facts:

Every published research isn't based on facts

• The Mistake: Descriptive writing that says " Edgar Wright (1995) found an ' X'. Always ask how they concluded.

• How to Fix: Understand the sample sizes, biases, and outdated data that are no longer true as time has gone by.

Relying on Low Quality Sources:

• The Mistake: Citing blogs, news articles or a summary of research done by another individual. Instead of a peer-reviewed paper.

• How to Fix: Use an academic database like JSTOR or Science Direct to find primary research. Look for research done in the last 5 years.

Poor Citation and Referencing:

• The Mistake: Unclear format, missing in-text citation for ideas ( not only just quotes), or use of too many citations (a list of five authors' names at the end of a sentence, without any explanation about who and why they said that)

• How to fix: Use a reference manager and use an assigned style like APA or MLA from the start. Moreover, if you want tools for further guidance, search for an online plagiarism checker.

Key takeaways

Writing a literature review is a critical step in any project that is based on research.

To wrap everything up for a high-scoring literature review, which is more than just a summary. Moreover, it's a strategic argument that proves Why, Your research is crucial, and why? It matters.

Key Findings:

• Synthesis over summary: Rather than just listing out the authors. Use the 5 Cs of synthesis dummy. To show how sources interact, disagree and evolve into new findings. This is critical for students to understand how to write a literature review.

• Find the Gap in Research: The primary purpose is to find the gap in research. Always look for what has not been done before, so you can justify your ideas.

• Strategic structure: Choose a structure (Thematic, Chronological, or Methodological) that can fit in your research topic. Most research papers use a Thematic approach to group the key findings by their core concepts.

• Critical Evaluation: Instead of taking every research at face value. Critique the methods of research and the limitations of the source to show that you know what you are talking about.

• Technical precision: Avoid unreliable sources and keep a clear academic tone. Use a digital tool to help find referencing errors and for the initial draft.

Read More - What is Primary Market Research: Its Uses and Examples

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