As a student, if you must write a research paper, thesis, or undergraduate dissertation, you will likely have to learn how to write a literature review. Do you know what is a literature review?” It is a search for and assessment of the available literature on your topic of choice or given matter. It allows you to showcase your familiarity with the subject of discussion and its academic context.

Writing a literature review helps a student to demonstrate to the reader that they have a deep understanding of the topic and clearly know where the research is best suited and adds to an existing body of concurred knowledge. Later in the article, we will discuss the main tasks of a literature review, the steps to writing a literature review, examples, and tips for writing a successful literature review.

Purpose of a literature review

If you input the question, “What is the purpose of a literature review?” You will likely find a lot of feedback from various websites. Here are ways you can describe the literature review purpose:

• A literature review establishes the credibility of your work by identifying gaps in the body of knowledge, showcasing points of view and theories, and formulating fields for further research. It also helps in evaluating controversial areas.
• It synthesizes, integrates, and gives a summary of the knowledge known about literature.
• A literature review is used to present literature in a more organized manner.
• It is used to survey the literature of your chosen topic or area of study and guide you to avoid repeating what other authors have already discussed.

Steps to Writing a Literature Review

As you learn how to write a literature review, you must follow the following basic steps to successfully write a literature review.

Narrow your topic and select papers accordingly

If given a general topic, narrow it down to your field. Consider your passion and what will be attractive to other researchers in your study area. Choose a topic that discusses the current issues and limit your scope to a smaller size of the topic. You can brainstorm, talk to classmates, and read magazines or journals. Once you have two or three topics, you can present them to your instructor for guidance and approval.

Search for literature

Ensure you describe the selection method for your source. For instance, you name an article title and specify the publication date, geographical location, and the methodology used. As you search for the literature, you can use keywords, reference lists, and reviews. Ensure you quote any studies that contradict your perspective.

Read and evaluate the selected materials

Grab a pen and notebook as you go through your sources. As you evaluate and harmonize the findings and conclusions, capture information on the methodologies, assumptions, conflicting theories, results, frequently referenced experts, the popularity of the theory adopted, and if/how it has evolved.

Arrange the papers of your choice

This will help you to identify patterns and develop subtopics for your literature review. Details like commonly contested findings, important trends, and most influential theories will help you develop subheadings and organize your paper.

Develop a thesis statement

It would be best if you came up with a strong thesis statement to summarize your opinions about the developments and trends you have observed in the research subject. Your literature review thesis should take a sentence or two.

 Write your literature review paper

As you write, ensure you follow the developed structure. Ensure the content logically flows as you separate your paragraphs using headings and subheadings you created. All your literature review sections should be linked to each other.

Use subtopics or themes instead of researchers or theorists to structure your paper.

Analyze your paper

Check whether the topic sentences you used in each paragraph indicate the critical points of your literature review. Your sentence should logically flow from one section to another. Ensure you have covered all your text’s key, trending, and pertinent details. Also, ensure you correct the grammatical, spelling, and sentence structure errors. Finally, ask yourself if you have presented the citations and references in the appropriate style and format as instructed.

Structure of a Literature Review

Introduction

Your introduction literature review should outline why the subject you are discussing is significant, including the critical aspect of the topic you will discuss in the paper, the literature selection criteria adopted, and the patterns you will use to organize your literature review.

Body paragraphs

Each paragraph in the body literature review should discuss different subtopics relevant to the main topic. You will incorporate several of your reviewed sources into each paragraph. This will bring a clear linkage between the various literature sources. Critically evaluate the contribution of each literature source to the topic of research.

The body literature review consists of the following:

• Historical background
• Methodologies
• Studies previously conducted on the topic
• Alternative against mainstream viewpoints
• Key questions being asked
• Drawn general conclusions

Conclusion

Your conclusion literature review should summarize the key agreements and disagreements in the literature, identify gaps and areas for future studies and give an overall view of the topic of research.

Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography

These two are detailed collections of relevant literature sources. Below we will give you some differences between a literature review and an annotated bibliography in terms of components, purpose, and structures that will help you avoid mixing both up as you write your school assignment.

Purpose

A literature review provides the reader with an answer about a particular subject. It also provides short explanations of why each existing scholarly source is credible and relevant to the topic.

An annotated bibliography provides an overview of the topic by summarizing and explaining the relevant sources and the contribution of each source to the research.

Structure

In a literature review, sources are alphabetically organized and separated from each other for easy retrieval.

As for the annotated bibliography, the sources are joined into paragraphs depending on the progression of the topic overview. They may be mentioned more than once.

Components

In the case of an annotated bibliography, each source cited is written in a different section of the paper. As for the literature review, several cited sources can be found in one paragraph and may be repeated as necessary.

A literature review limits the reader to certain available resources while an annotated bibliography gives the reader the autonomy to choose whether to explore the available sources or not.

Types of Literature Reviews

Below are some student examples of literature reviews that can help you understand the steps to writing a literature review that you can follow to write a literature review in terms of language and structure.

Evidence-Based Practice literature reviews

Evidence-based literature review critically reviews existing sources on the topic of research. When writing this kind of review, ensure that you provide background details on your topic, state how the literature search was done, and demonstrate a connection between those sources and your research question.

 Systematic Literature Reviews

They provide a way to identify, collect, select, and draw conclusions concerning a particular topic where the research may be giving contradictory results.

Steps in the Literature Review Process

Define the research question

This will help you discover the scope of your topic, hence determining whether you need to narrow down or broaden your focus.

Determine your exclusion or inclusion basis

Consider the methodologies, assumptions, dates, languages, locations, and conflicting theories and perspectives.

Search and select databases

Check the existing relevant published literature sources in your field to see if the topic has been discussed. Study the references and citations by using reviews, citations, keywords, or authors.

Review your results

Ensure the sources you got have been cited severally. You can present your results to your instructor or librarian for approval.

Evaluate the gathered information

Synthesize methodologies, bias, and the strengths and weaknesses of each source you gathered. Organize the information into categories. That will help you in the body literature review to answer your research question. This information will also help you to draw conclusions and recommendations.

Analyze the information gathered

After synthesizing your data, you will need to analyze it to identify gaps, debate, significance, and the best-suited methodologies to apply.

Write your literature review

Choose the approach, methodologies, themes, and concepts for your paper. Arrange your reference materials and citations as you focus on the research question.

Tips for Writing a Successful Literature Review

• The research question you choose determines how attractive your literature review will be. Ensure you conduct research and go for a topic that will capture the reader’s attention and one that you will be most excited to discuss.
• If you create an annotated bibliography, it will guide you as you write your literature review. You can make it as a draft and then review it as your research.
• Instead of summarizing your research, synthesize it. That will show your audience how much you understand your research topic and help them be excited to read your paper.

Do You Need Help Writing a Literature Review?

Writing a literature review will help you establish a discussion in a manner that you would like your audience it sees it. You can present your viewpoint, argue your position and convince the reader of your perspective. You can hire our writing and tutoring services to learn how to write a literature review like a pro by clicking here.