No research paper or dissertation is ever complete without a literature review or rightly speaking, it cannot even begin. If you’re about to write your first literature review, don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. A literature review is a comprehensive study of the existing theories and research on a certain topic to create a link between the new and the previous knowledge. The aim of a literature review is to summarize and analyze earlier research, identify gaps, and justify how your study bridges those gaps.
The idea of a literature review is to outline the purpose of your entire study. In addition to summarizing the key findings of earlier studies, a well-organized review emphasizes the significance of your own analysis.
Writing a literature review is like connecting the dots! It helps you see the bigger picture of existing research and where your work fits in.
It might seem overwhelming at first, but we’ll walk you through it, step by step. One paper, at a time!
Finding Literature Relevant to Your Topic
The first step of a literature review is to specify a topic. Only when you know the question, can you begin the search for the answer. Once you have decided the topic, you must read the research papers written about it. If you are an engineering student, IEEE Xplore is your go-to stop for quality papers. You can also use JSTOR for humanities, ACM Digital Library for computing, PubMed and ScienceDirect to find related articles. Although you cannot read every word ever written about your domain, you should read enough research papers to know the background, latest developments, arguments and shortcomings in the specified domain, starting from the recent publications. As we said earlier: One paper, at a time!
Summarizing and Citing the Sources
Jotting down key takeaways as you read research papers will save you time and make writing your review a breeze. The key points from the previous studies which link to your topic help in the formation of the body of your literature review as you reach the writing stage. While reading the papers, it is important to analyze the patterns and methodologies adopted by earlier researchers to later identify the gaps and construct your own approach. Don’t forget to cite sources while taking notes—it’ll save you from a citation headache later!
Analyzing and Identifying Links and Gaps
Alright, so you’ve read and noted down a bunch of papers—what’s next? After gathering all the relevant information from a substantial reading practice, you should critically analyze the data. Time to flex those research muscles!
This step involves linking studies to identify the most popular approaches, compare results and pinpoint the shortcomings. Now that you have discovered the gaps in the domain, mold your study to fill those gaps. If research is a puzzle, your paper must be a piece of the picture. The strength of your idea depends greatly on the analyses and the critical thinking you utilize to justify the need of your work. The summaries of the research papers should be interconnected in a pattern that eventually leads to the significance of your study.
Structuring the Study
Now that the homework is done, it’s time to start creating the product i.e. your literature review. Begin writing your review with an engaging but comprehensive introduction. Your introduction should cover the scope of the study as well as set the tone for the following citations. After introducing the concept of the topic, you must choose an order of structure for the main body of your literature review.
Types of Literature review
There are three main orders of structure for the review. You may choose the order depending upon the requirement of your topic.
- Chronological order is used to present the development in a domain over time. It is used to state the research summaries and key points from earliest to the latest.
- Thematic approach may be used when the topic contains certain trends and themes. The studies are grouped under distinct themes and compared accordingly.
- Methodological order is used to separate studies based on their methods and approaches.
Analyses and Conclusion
As stated earlier writing a literature review is not merely stating the summaries of the readings but also justifying the purpose of the new research. Once you have listed the readings in a chosen order, connect the similarities and highlight the differences of the previous studies, focusing on critical points and eventually presenting the significance of your research in the broader context of knowledge.
Think of your literature review as the foundation of your research. The stronger it is, the smarter your study becomes. So, take your time, read deeply, and craft something that sets your study apart!