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Mini-Module: How to Write a Literature Review

Mini-Module: Literature Reviews

3. Writing a Literature ReviewPage 3 of 5

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When writing a literature review, you should think about the following stages:
 

Thinking of ideas

Brainstorm and source key literature in your area(s) — Books, papers, articles and so on written by key authors in the field — Policy and guidance documents

Sources

These are the stages when you find you are reading a lot – and it may not all make sense yet! Don’t worry, this is perfectly natural.

Identify journal and magazine articles appropriate to your area of study and check the indexes for suitable articles. Follow up references and bibliographies in books and articles. Browse the library catalogues, look at the shelves. Refer to specialist reader lists from other parts of your course.


Narrowing it down

After so much reading, you need to refine! There are four key elements to consider:

  1. Identify the focus of the field – this will be the general topic or subject area within which the problem of issue you are investigating is set.
  2. Select the appropriate sources of information – from what you have read, what can you use directly? Indirectly?
  3. Extract information of direct relevance – a Literature Review isn’t the time to show off how much you have read. Keep it relevant!
  4. Concentrate on those texts which provide information you need – you will need to have clarity in your writing
 Notes

Some top tips:

  1. Summarise
  2. Paraphrase 
  3. Ask questions and make comments – this is your criticality!
  4. Keep detailed referencing information in your notes – author, date, title, publisher

Assessment

Sort and prioritise the literature you have already See which authors/ideas compliment each other See which authors/ideas disagree with each other.

Planning

Think about the best way to organise your literature Review: – Chronologically? – Thematically? – By ‘different schools of thought’?

Write, and rewrite

This stage can feel quite laborious and repetitive – but remember that high quality work is always the result of a careful drafting and redrafting process.