How to write a high quality literature review?
I. Define the field and scope of research
Like a well-planned adventure, embarking on a thorough literature survey begins with identifying your specific area of interest. This reduces the opportunistic accumulation of resources on unrelated topics.
II. Exhaustive Literature Search
Within your chosen field, books and journals should be meticulously inventoried-primarily through online abstract readings, which can subsequently be downloaded or printed as needed for related papers.
In addition, noteworthy literature should be obtained from the library and secured through the lending process. Implementing time limits during the search process can speed up the process.
Third, select the most relevant sources of material
Due to limited reading time, each finding must be reviewed based on its relevance to your research question. It is recommended to first weigh credible sources and then scrutinise key theoretical ideas and landmark studies.
Consider evaluating five key components of each book or article encountered: its claims, conclusions, and findings; definitions of terms and their usage; potential follow-up research that may guide future work; gaps identified in the existing literature; and, finally, any inconsistencies regarding your topic area.
Fourth, constructing an outline is unprecedentedly tightly integrated with the content
An outline is an invaluable tool for tying ideas together before you start writing.
Your outline should contain an introduction, substantive content, and a conclusion, resulting in a logical progression.
V. Develop an in-depth discussion based on the outline
By maintaining a keen awareness of the main points of your outline, you can begin to make an accurate synthesis of your comprehensive research. Make sure that your critical goals are clearly articulated at the outset. Is it part of an extensive research paper? Or, does it stand alone?
Encourage the use of subtitles in your paragraphs to enhance clarity. This ensures that your literature review is not just presented as a collection of random observations.
Organise your data by topic for efficient communication and leave no questions unanswered.
