The Literature Review

Literature reviews are an important component of any thesis or major paper. Despite the prevalence of a literature review requirement there is great misunderstanding about what exactly constitutes a good literature review.

What is a literature review?

A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge using secondary sources. This will include substantive findings in addition to theoretical and methodological contributions in the field. In essence it is a review and analysis of literary works in relation to a specific research topic. The one key point of an effective literature review is that it comprehensively represents the work done in the field to date. An excellent literature review will represent the written views of professionals in the field to a level of great depth.

It is a typical requirement for the literature review to be submitted in advance of a research proposal. The aim of the literature review is to familiarize the reader with current findings about a particular subject. As with all academic writing a well-structured literature review is characterized by a logical flow of ideas. It will contain recent and relevant references and consistently and appropriately cite references.

Citations should be annotated in a professional manner which describes how the specific piece contributes to the author’s research. Comparing and contrasting chosen literature is also imperative in showing understanding about how the prose are related and where they are similar or different in their findings.

How to Write a Literature Review

Use this the information gleaned to construct a thesis statement. A thesis statement for a literature review is required but it is somewhat different from a literature review required for a thesis. This literature review will not necessarily argue for a position or an opinion but rather it will argue a particular perspective on the material.

A well written literature review, like all good academic writing will contain the three basic elements:

• an introduction or background information section
• the body of the review containing the discussion of sources
• a conclusion and/or recommendations section to end the paper

Specifically each of these should cover the following information:

Introduction: Provide the specifics about the topic of the literature review, such as the central theme or the organizational pattern.

Body: Articulate your position in the discussion of sources which can be organized either thematically, chronologically or methodologically with the first often providing the easiest option in terms of flow and comparison.

Conclusions/Recommendations: State the conclusions and theories you have formulated from reviewing the literature and define the options and/or requirements for additional research or study.

The Benefits of a Literature Review

A literature review will obviously enhance your depth of knowledge about a particular topic. In addition the literature review provides the author with a great opportunity to gain and demonstrate skills in two specific areas:

• the ability to scan the literature efficiently, using manual or computerized methods, to identify a set of useful articles and books
• the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid studies

For this to occur a literature review must be completed in such a way as to:

• be organized around and related directly to the thesis or research question the author is developing
• synthesize these results into a summary of what is known and what is not yet known
• identify areas of controversy within the literature
• formulate questions that need further research

See the literature review as an opportunity to explore and showcase skills and it goes from onerous to enjoyable.