Learn How to Write Literature Reviews

Literature reviews are generally of two types, of which one is regarded as a standalone article, while the other you can find in the initial stage of the dissertation. However, in both cases, the idea is to re-synthesize, analyze and organize the entire content.

To understand the concept of literature review, you have to sort out the research questions at first. Make sure that the subject that you choose is prominent and clear in your head so that you do not get lost amidst irrelevant topics, but know the definite path to follow your search. Have access to different management systems that allow you to retrieve journal articles from the various databases. This is an effective tool that allows you to set up alerts so that whenever new articles are published you get notification on the same.

The key to get the best out of a literature review is to organize it well. It is not about the number of articles you have read through without realizing the right need of organizing the important points. Seek a structure through which you can emphasize on the subject with focus on the importance of events in chronological order. This will reflect on the ideas of the topic and how they have evolved. You may even want to group the different articles according to similar themes. For example, you can keep certain viewpoints against contradictory points alongside.

Remember, the idea is not just about organizing the different articles under themes and re-shaping your content. After all, a review is about critically evaluating the proposal/research that you have done and how you place your research in that regard. Since it is a review, you have to specify why you have included the chosen articles and excluded the others. The objective is to assess the gap in your research so as to emphasize why the research is needed. Including current developments and publication will add more credibility to your work.

Incorporate a summary at the end of the review.