Literature review
How to write a good literature review.
A literature review is a review of the search-so far of existing literature on a particular subject. Its purpose is to synthesize main findings, theories, and debates surrounding a subject through the study, indicating the gaps, inconsistencies, or areas demanding further consideration. A literature review typically occurs as part of an academic paper, thesis, dissertation or research proposal in order to elaborate the current knowledge trends and hence set the context for any new study.
The main aim of a literature review includes:
- Having Trends and Patterns: that tells the researcher what has taken place before in his/her particular domain of research and recognizes the trends, methods and conclusions.
- Identify Gaps and Limitations: The literature review tends to highlight gaps where there is not enough research done at such areas or where further research is necessitated.
- Providing Context: It places new research in the context of where that particular research is grounded within the major debates and theoretical frameworks associated with that research question.
- Show that you can be credited: in a well-organized literature review it is usually evident that one knows what he is talking about; thus providing the base to one’s own contributions to the field.
How to Write a Review of Literature
Writing a literature review has several steps that will facilitate your writing of literature to get hold of, analyze, and synthesize what exists in the research. Here is a step by step instruction:
1. Define Your Research Question or Topic
First of all, find a clearly defined scope of your literature review before embarking on research. What specific aspect will be considered about the subject? This will help you search through articles and research orient around narrowing down findings.
2. Conduct Thorough Research:
Find and review journal articles, books, papers presented and published at conferences, and other well-established professional body published reports concerning your particular subject. Make use of an academic-related database like Google Scholar, JSTOR, and PubMed for possible peer-reviewed papers. All findings, methodologies as well as conclusions of each source should be taken down in an organized manner since it will serve an important function when synthesizing the information later.
3. Analyze and Synthesize Information
Now that you have collected enough sources, it is time to analyze them. Although you may summarize each study, at some point it may also be necessary to synthesize the data derived from the studies. Search for:
- Common themes or patterns: what key trends may emerge across sources?
- Methodologies utilized: how researchers addressed similar issues; significant diversities in methodologies?
- Contradictions or locus of debate: finding conflicting outcomes and the interpretation of it by different scholars?
- Research gaps: the areas that are not fully covered or need further exploration.
This synthesis should be the backbone of your literature review, as it gives you a cohesive overview and not just a collection of different studies put together.
4. Organize Your Literature Review
There are various arrangements to employ when organizing a literature review, and some of the most common ones are:
- Chronological: presenting the work along the lines of the year that the work was published. This shows how the field has changed
- Thematic: As this would group things under themes, theories, or methodologies, this would give a deeper analysis of specific areas of the subject.
- Methodological: for example, qualitative and quantitative approaches would be organized by the research methods used.
Choose the structure that works best for your topic and research goals.
5. Write the Review
An introduction needs to be written that highlights the purpose of the review in conjunction with the literature you will cover. Each body paragraph should refer to a specific theme, method, or similarly related outcomes. Each paragraph is then able to present a critique of all of the studies – strengths, weaknesses, and relevance to your study. Then, summarize with a conclusion that would give emphasis on major findings and tell the gaps identified in literature as well as future research directions.
6. Cite Sources properly
All sources of reference in the literature review should be cited. Follow the citation prescribed by your institution or that of the publication (e.g. APA, MLA, Chicago). Proper citation will not only credit original authors but also lend credibility to your own review.
Conclusion
Well written, then, is a literature review very important for academic research. The process of critically reviewing related existing research to find out the trends, gaps, or controversies in the literature. Following all the above steps, one can write a complete and well-thought literature review and set a good foundation for research while at the same time meaningfully adding to the academic conversation about the particular topic.