A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Occasionally you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment (sometimes in the form of an annotated bibliography—see the bottom of the next page), but more often it is part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries Show
Besides enlarging your knowledge about the topic, writing a literature review lets you gain and demonstrate skills in two areas
A literature review must do these things
Ask yourself questions like these:
Ask yourself questions like these about each book or article you include:
Final Notes:A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another. It’s usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with the name of a researcher. Instead, organize the literature review into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory. You are not trying to list all the material published, but to synthesize and evaluate it according to the guiding concept of your thesis or research question If you are writing an annotated bibliography, you may need to summarize each item briefly, but should still follow through themes and concepts and do some critical assessment of material. Use an overall introduction and conclusion to state the scope of your coverage and to formulate the question, problem, or concept your chosen material illuminates. Usually you will have the option of grouping items into sections—this helps you indicate comparisons and relationships. You may be able to write a paragraph or so to introduce the focus of each section What are the steps in conducting a literature review?A literature review must do these things: be organized around and related directly to the thesis or research question you are developing. synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known. identify areas of controversy in the literature. formulate questions that need further research. What are the 5 rules for writing a literature review?There are five key steps to writing a literature review:. Search for relevant literature.. Evaluate sources.. Identify themes, debates, and gaps.. Outline the structure.. Write your literature review.. How do you conduct a literature review example?Identify and define the topic that you will be reviewing. ... . Conduct a literature search. ... . Read through the research that you have found and take notes. ... . Organize your notes and thoughts; create an outline. ... . Write the literature review itself and edit and revise as needed.. How do you write a literature review?How do I write a literature review?. Step 1: Define your research scope. What is the specific research question that your literature review helps to define? ... . Step 2: Identify the literature. Start by searching broadly. ... . Step 3: Critically analyze the literature. ... . Step 4: Categorize your resources.. |