Writing a literature review can be a challenging task, requiring a comprehensive understanding of the

research topic and a critical analysis of existing literature. It involves several steps to ensure that the
review is thorough, well-structured, and contributes meaningfully to the field of study. Here are five
essential steps in writing a literature review:

1. Define the Scope: Clearly define the research topic and the specific research question(s) that
the literature review will address. Identify key concepts, theories, and variables that are
relevant to the topic.
2. Search for Relevant Literature: Conduct a comprehensive search of academic databases,
journals, books, and other sources to find relevant literature. Use keywords and search terms
that are closely related to the research topic.
3. Evaluate and Analyze the Literature: Critically evaluate the literature to determine its
relevance, credibility, and significance to the research topic. Analyze the key findings,
methodologies, and theoretical frameworks used in the studies.
4. Organize the Literature: Organize the literature into thematic categories or chronological
order, depending on the research question(s) and the nature of the literature. Identify
common themes, patterns, and gaps in the existing research.
5. Write the Literature Review: Write the literature review in a clear, coherent, and structured
manner. Start with an introduction that provides an overview of the research topic and the
purpose of the literature review. Then, discuss the key findings, methodologies, and
theoretical frameworks of the reviewed studies. Finally, conclude with a summary of the
main findings and their implications for future research.

In conclusion, writing a literature review requires careful planning, thorough research, and critical
analysis. It is a complex and time-consuming process that can be challenging for many students and
researchers. If you need assistance with writing a literature review, consider ordering from ⇒
StudyHub.vip ⇔, a reputable academic writing service that can provide expert guidance and support.
Thematic Organization Group related studies by themes rather than chronology. The Charting
Method utilizes a chart-structure as a way of organizing your notes. Writing a literature review can
be overwhelming when starting out and if it is your first literature review. Make certain that each
section links logically to the one before and after. Thank you for this whole literature writing
review.You have simplified the process. As you write, make sure to follow these tips: Summarise and
synthesise: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent
whole. Instead of shallowly researching, how about you seek literature review writing help. The first
step is to hunt down the relevant literature. Again, you can use this to make an argument about gaps
in the research. Are the conclusions validly based upon the data and analysis. Are your sources all
prescribing to one specific theory. So, if you have a 10,000-word research paper, the minimum word
count could be 1500. A body, which divides your literature review into different sections. A different
set of eyes can locate mistakes you may not have seen, ask questions you didn't realize were left
unaddressed, or seek clarification on the foggier points. A Literature Review: Function of Bats as
Disease Vectors Across Fragmented Habitats (a theoretical review). It is an ideal method if the
research you are doing doesn’t contain data collection or analysis. If you are noticing patterns in your
sources, arranging them by the trends they suggest may be the most obvious structure. The goal of
the Lit Review is not to list as many books, papers, and reports as feasible. You can use it to discuss
various theories, models, or definitions of key theories. What is the situation or disease you are
interested in. He suggests that the physical environment in the more public spaces of the building did
not have much impact on their perceptions. This way, by the time you have read the literature you
selected, you will already have a rough draft of the review. Using student-created research has a
number of drawbacks: 1) they are frequently unpublished and only available through interlibrary
loan; 2) the student conducting the research may not be a seasoned researcher. Take notes that you
can later incorporate into the text of your literature review. Make sure to read the abstract to find out
whether an article is relevant to your question. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can
follow below. By: Andrew P. Johnson. Sources for the Literature Review. All the materials from our
website should be used with proper references. But before you go, Six Online Tools for Easy
Literature Review Evaluating literature review: systematic vs. This link opens in a new window
Contact a Librarian Ask a Librarian Definition: A literature review is a systematic examination and
synthesis of existing scholarly research on a specific topic or subject.
If you are a working student or a student parent, you might not have enough time to conduct your
research. Demonstrate how each piece of research contributes to the overall understanding of your
chosen topic. It requires extensive reading, plus you have to consider market trends and
technological and political changes, which tend to change in the blink of an eye. However, most
people end up merely listing and summarizing their sources in chronological order. I am at a stage
where I need to start writing my one. Literature reviews are most commonly found in theses and
dissertations. Is the research incomplete, imprecise, biased, or inconsistent. This will only drive you
crazy and you can never start, actually. It should have a summary of the main points you have taken
from the literature. This may be necessary to some extent, but in this case a focused review would
only deal in detail with those studies at the interface between epidemiology and the spread of ideas.
Some databases to search for journals and articles include: Your university’s library catalogue
Google Scholar Project Muse (humanities and social sciences) Medline (life sciences and
biomedicine) EconLit (economics) Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science) You can use
boolean operators to help narrow down your search: Read the abstract to find out whether an article
is relevant to your question. You’ll invariably end up wasting huge amounts of time re-writing and
re-shaping, or you’ll just land up with a disjointed, hard-to-digest mess. If you have any questions,
please leave us a comment below that we’ll be happy to answer. Does your introduction clearly
convey the purpose of the literature review. Give your interpretation of how and why certain
developments occurred. The best way to assess this is to ask them to explain the chapter back to you.
There is also a downloadable PDF version. 5 Types of Thesis Statements Learn about five different
types of thesis statements to help you choose the best type for your research. There is an increasing
interest in the visual aspects of social media. So rather than trying to fetch every detail, you have to
analyze and decide which research sources resemble closest and appear relevant to your chosen
domain. It is assumed that by mentioning a previous work in the field of study, that the author has
read, evaluated, and assimilated that work into the work at hand. They are an essential part of the
research process. You can arrange the sources chronologically, by publication, or even thematically.
Additionally, you must spend surplus time assessing the quality and relevance of resources. You will
most likely not be able to read absolutely everything that is out there on the topic. Step 1 to writing a
literature review Search for relevant literature You must formulate a clearly defined topic before you
start searching for literature. Provide, in a brief and concise way, the context of the study. What
flaws do you believe should be addressed in your paper. When conducting a meta-analysis, you take
into account patterns and relationships you find, and then draw your conclusions. You can use it to
discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.
For this, we apply inclusion and exclusion criteria defined in the protocol to obtain the final list of
primary studies that will be considered in the review. That way you will be better able to identify
where you need punctuation marks to signal pauses or divisions within sentences, where you have
made grammatical errors, or where your sentences are unclear. For example, if you are reviewing
literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy,
language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access. However, most people end up
merely listing and summarizing their sources in chronological order. Conducting the Literature
Review The conduct of the review must strictly follow the protocol that was developed. It
demonstrates to your readers how your research fits within a larger field of study. It will help you
order your thoughts into an organized presentation, making the paper ultimately easier to write. Key
to your literature review is a critical analysis of the literature collected around your topic. A literature
review may be a stand alone work or the introduction to a larger research paper, depending on the
assignment. This lays a solid basis for the rest of your paper. Avoid making uncited or overly
generalized claims. If you feel a generalization is warranted, you must follow it up with multiple,
specific examples to justify such generalization. Constant scrutiny: Concepts or theories that
repeatedly went under examination. This thorough analysis is then used to state in what ways the
field can be improved and what are the next steps. Don’t be afraid to do more research if you
discover a new thread as you’re writing. Chronological The simplest approach is to trace the
development of the topic over time. It was found that physical structures, such as standardized
furniture, heating that could not be individually regulated, and no possession of a house key for
residents limited their feelings of independence. If you’re working with Grad Coach, this is a good
time to have your Research Specialist review your chapter. If you are employing a thesis statement,
place it toward the end of your introductory paragraph. Social Posts Create on-brand social posts
and Articles in minutes. In addressing these points, you argue for your place in the conversation,
which tends to make the lit review more compelling than a simple reporting of other sources. A
critical part of the review, these questions are used to build strings (keywords) to search for articles in
the bibliographic databases. Rule 4: Choose the Type of Review You Wish to Write After having
taken notes while reading the literature, you will have a rough idea of the amount of material
available for the review. With everything said as clear as day, does it flow together. Your literature
review format depends heavily on the kind of manuscript you are writing — an entire chapter in case
of doctoral theses, a part of the introductory section in a research article, to a full-fledged review
article that examines the previously published research on a topic. There are so many issues in
contemporary science that you could spend a lifetime of attending conferences and reading the
literature just pondering what to review. How do they want your name, headings, and subheadings.
So instead of focusing on the content, it focuses on the method used in data analysis. If there are
conflicting studies, why do you think that is. However, you can lessen them a bit on following the
expert’s advice. Demonstrate how each piece of research contributes to the overall understanding of
your chosen topic.
Simply indicating what an author claims or has found is not sufficient. By: Andrew P. Johnson.
Sources for the Literature Review. Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing
practices. The analysis will explore relationships, major themes, and any critical gaps in the research
expressed in the work. You can make an annotated bibliography by gathering complete reference
information and writing an analysis of each source to remember everything and save more time.
Conclusion: Summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their
significance Connect it back to your primary research question How should I organize my lit review.
Ensure you understand the research topic inside out, or else seek clarifications. This is his 4th edition
published in Boston, MA by Pearson Education, Inc. The exact keywords can be extended to widen
your research over other databases and academic search engines like: Google Scholar Microsoft
Academic Science.gov Besides, it is not advisable to go through every resource word by word. Rule
10: Be Up-to-Date, but Do Not Forget Older Studies Given the progressive acceleration in the
publication of scientific papers, today's reviews of the literature need awareness not just of the
overall direction and achievements of a field of inquiry, but also of the latest studies, so as not to
become out-of-date before they have been published. It will also help them to choose the most
appropriate method for their own study. 4. How to cite a literature review in APA format. Many
student writers struggle to synthesize because they feel they don’t have anything to add to the
scholars they are citing; here are some strategies to help you: It often helps to remember that the point
of these kinds of syntheses is to show your readers how you understand your research, to help them
read the rest of your paper. Also, you can discuss the conclusions which were arrived at as you
compare results from qualitative and quantitative research. If you are noticing patterns in your
sources, arranging them by the trends they suggest may be the most obvious structure. To cite a
literature review in APA style, you need to provide the author's name, the title of the article, and the
year of publication. This is the case when a progression revealed from study to study and the
practices of researchers have changed and adapted due to the new revelations. You likely won’t be
able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to
evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question. The practice of citing a source
that you haven’t read directly is known as “grandfathering,” and it’s not allowed. To put it bluntly, if
you don’t understand the function and purpose of the literature review process, there’s no way you
can pull it off well. If you need help with assessing the credibility of any article, or with finding
relevant research in general, you can chat with one of our Research Specialists. Once you find a
useful article, check out the reference list. When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature
review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Knowledge gaps: What exactly does
it fail to address, and how to bridge them with further research. It was found that physical structures,
such as standardized furniture, heating that could not be individually regulated, and no possession of
a house key for residents limited their feelings of independence. Step 1: Choosing a Topic Step 2:
Finding Information Step 3: Evaluating Content Step 4: Taking Notes Step 5: Synthesizing Content
Step 6: Writing the Review Step 7: Citing Your Sources Other Helpful Guides Note Taking Tips.
Nova has also worked as a technical and scientific writer. There are various approaches to organising
the body of a literature review. You can give your consent to whole categories or display further
information and select certain cookies. For this, we apply inclusion and exclusion criteria defined in
the protocol to obtain the final list of primary studies that will be considered in the review. As you’re
reading the paper, look for what’s missing.
Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review. This includes the
purpose of the study, who were the participants, how was the study conducted, and then ultimately,
what was found. The content will look slightly different in each case, but the process of conducting
a literature review follows the same steps. Revising Your Work Does your instructor require APA
formatting. Encourages Scholarly Dialogue: Integrates your work into ongoing academic discussions,
influencing future research. It should only take two or three devoted sessions. Video Say more by
seamlessly including video within your publication. It describes what is currently known,
understood, or agreed upon regarding the research topic and highlights where there are still
disagreements. In this case, the purpose is to evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate
your knowledge of scholarly debates around a topic. If you are noticing patterns in your sources,
arranging them by the trends they suggest may be the most obvious structure. Understanding this
can help you tailor your research to come up with a new way, rather than rehashing someone else’s
idea. You can make an annotated bibliography by gathering complete reference information and
writing an analysis of each source to remember everything and save more time. If you are writing the
review as a stand-alone task, the introduction should offer some background information on the
topic, why the issue is important, and cover the scope you intend to review. In addition, we offer to
following proposals, welche are intended to help those application to the MPhil, PhD, and to
financial bodies. Write in well-structured paragraphs, use transitions and topic sentences and
critically analyze each source for how it contributes to the themes you are researching. It is a general
review of a published work on a specific topic. The best way to assess this is to ask them to explain
the chapter back to you. For example, how do lower cholesterol numbers or improved scores in
spelling impact the target population. Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint If you want to
know more about the research process, methodology, research bias, or statistics, make sure to check
out some of our other articles with explanations and examples. I am doing two papers on my final
year thesis, and I must stay I feel very confident to face both headlong after reading this article. I
would love to engage my study under your guidance from the beginning to the end. Why conduct a
literature review, stages of a literature review, lit reviews: an overview (video), check out these
books. Does the study help me understand the topic better. As a warm-up exercise, try dropping a
possible topic idea into one of the blank spaces below. Some professors may require that you
evaluate the sources and conclude which pieces add the greatest contribution to the field. It usually
contains a summary, a synthesis, or an analysis of the key arguments in the existing literature. Thank
you so much for your guide of video and other instructions for the dissertation writing. For each
publication, ask yourself: What question or problem is the author addressing. You can choose the
intellectual lineage you would like to be part of and whose definitions matter most to your thinking
(mostly humanities-specific, but this goes for sciences as well). It is beneficial when examining how
different theories contribute to the understanding of a phenomenon.
So instead of focusing on the content, it focuses on the method used in data analysis. While going
through your work immediately after writing seems like a good idea, you are probably tired, and you
stand a high chance of missing errors. When reading, take note of any assumptions, methodologies,
experts, and popularity of the theories. Thematic Organization Group related studies by themes
rather than chronology. Some professors may require that you evaluate the sources and conclude
which pieces add the greatest contribution to the field. Researchers use literature reviews to identify
gaps in existing knowledge and to set the context for their research studies. By assessing the
available sources in your field of research, you will be able to make a more confident argument about
the topic. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other academic texts, with an introduction, a main
body, and a conclusion. It should not feel like a glorified annotated bibliography. ( ). For instance, in
the humanities, authors might include more overt argumentation and interpretation of source material
in their literature reviews, whereas in the sciences, authors are more likely to report study designs and
results in their literature reviews; these differences reflect these disciplines’ purposes and conventions
in scholarship. Review the abstracts of research studies carefully. The following are the main sections
and subsections of a Literature Review: Introduction Related works Planning the review
Identification of the topic to be researched Specifying Research Questions Construction and
development of the protocol Protocol evaluation Conducting the review Search identification
Selection of primary studies Evaluation of studies. Often, the literature review is where you can
establish your research as filling a particular gap or as relevant in a particular way. What fundamental
theories, models, and methods does the author use. There is an increasing interest in the visual
aspects of social media. PDF Undertaking a literature review: a step'by-step approacii Abstract
Nowadays, most nurses, pre- and post-qualification, will be required to undertake a literature review
at some point, either as part of a course of study, as a key step in the research process, or as part of
clinical practice development or policy. The first step is to hunt down the relevant literature. Now
streamline your literature review process with the help of SciSpace Copilot. In the sciences and some
of the social sciences it is important that your literature be quite recent; this is not so important in the
humanities. It is always good to have a condensed summary that is self-contained and independent of
the rest of your review. Templates for Writing Thesis Statements This template provides a two-step
guide for writing thesis statements. Also, at this stage, it’s a good idea to allocate rough word count
limits for each section, so that you can identify word count problems before you’ve spent weeks or
months writing. Our team is ready to provide expert guidance, ensuring you craft a strong and
effective literature review. Using your own words will help you avoid plagiarism, which many
academic departments take very seriously. Definition: A literature review is a systematic examination
and synthesis of existing scholarly research on a specific topic or subject. Writing a literature review
could be hard, especially if you have never handled one before. Integrative review It is a type of
literature review focused on building a comprehensive understanding of a topic by combining
available theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence. In many cases, the topic (e.g., web services
in computational biology) will automatically define an audience (e.g., computational biologists), but
that same topic may also be of interest to neighbouring fields (e.g., computer science, biology, etc.).
Rule 2: Search and Re-search the Literature After having chosen your topic and audience, start by
checking the literature and downloading relevant papers. The review should enumerate, describe,
summarize, objectively evaluate and clarify this previous research. Addresses Research Gaps:
Identifies areas where more knowledge is needed, guiding your contributions.