Writing a literature review is the most formidable part of writing a thesis or an article. It requires excessive research and proper knowledge about the topic you are writing. Before writing a literature review, you must be clear with your research question. The content written in a literature review is slightly different from that of the research paper or a thesis. It is deliberated as a base in writing a research paper for both students and investigators. It mainly includes investigating and studying the existing study and published work on a specific topic and consequently provide an outline or summary after examining it. For that reason, the literature review plays a preeminent role in crafting a research paper, and constructing it properly is very essential.
Process for Constructing a Literature Review
A literature review is usually written whenever you want to write a thesis or a research paper so as to localize the content you have integrated within the research paper. Remember always to start simple and can get fancy later. It is not essential to review 100 to 200 references before writing, but it is essential to make a structure before starting writing. Define your topic narrowly and identify the keywords related to your topic. Find the relatable source, evaluate it, and organize the relatable content chronologically, thematically, or methodically or theoretically. Write an introduction first by highlighting your topic then the body of the review. You can also divide the body of the literature review into sub-sections depending on the length of the paper. The body of the review must contain the evaluation of the materials you want to include on your topic.
If you want to save your literature review from failing, then you can follow these simple steps to get yourself away from drowning.
3 Steps to Write a Good Literature Review
Writing a literature review can be a simple task if you follow these easy steps:
- Set up a Proper Structure for Your Review: For writing a useful review, firstly define all the sections clearly. Sit for a while and set up an outline for your paper. Once you have a structure for your document, you can read papers more proficiently. Your outline may change while you progress with your work, but it not a reason to worry about it.
- Develop a Timeline with Specific Milestones for Each Section: If you want to write a high-quality literature review, then a proper timeline with a specific milestone is necessary. Writing a review may take anywhere around 2-6 months, contingent on the number of hours you spend in a day on work. Once you have created a structure, set a due date for every section. It will help you in staying on track and reduce the overwhelm.
- Elaborate Your Paper Through Each Stage of Writing: If you are thinking that a polished document will flow from your head to the paper, then you are wrong. This could never happen. You may have your first draft messy and can feel writer’s block, but it is usual and happens with prolific authors also. Collect proper information and make your first draft. Your first draft may have some gaps. Review it to your supervisor and make necessary changes in it. It will become simpler for you if you structure your paper and break down the writing process into distinct stages.
In a nutshell, if you follow all these steps correctly and have a well-defined structure and realistic milestones, you will surely make stable progress and create a literature review that you will be proud of.
Read Also – How To Write A Perfect Executive Summary?