An Ultimate Guide By Writing Gurus On How To Write A Literature Review

How To Write A Literature Review | Comprehensive GuideIf you are a student of any degree, the question of how to write a literature review will arise sooner or later. Academia develops critical thinking, writing paper, and decision-making abilities. Students should compose different papers within their studies, starting with a simple narrative essay and ending with a robust and thorough research paper. This article evaluates the main objective of a literature review and, of course, how to complete it.

What is a literature review

 A literature review is a text describing the incorporation of different sources pertinent to the field of study. Usually, literature reviews are an essential component of theses and dissertations. They help the reader understand the material the writer has analyzed and evaluated. 

A literature review may well serve as a summary and synthesis of the material. With regard to the former, the writer simply wraps up one article’s relevant content. In turn, a synthesis means encapsulation of several texts and highlighting similar and different concepts.

The importance and purpose of a literature review

A literature review is a precious element among academicians and people operating in certain fields. It helps to remain on track with what is going on in the industry. Moreover, it serves as a great helper for people who want to enter and work in the field.        

There are several purposes of such research. First, it gives researchers information concerning the field in a few pages. People don’t have to read dozens of sources and look for specific topics in various journals to determine the findings. Second, it serves as a report that makes people up to date with current field progress. And third, it is a vital element in academia that helps students understand the subject of their theses or dissertations before writing them.

Types of literature reviews

There are four main types of literature reviews. They all have peculiarities and require a rigorous approach. Let us briefly describe them:

        1.Argumentative Review

When following this type, you carry out a research-based study on selective literature. An argumentative review is widely used in education and social sciences because the conclusion may well spawn debatable thoughts. If your research is in the mentioned field, you can employ this type.

        2.Historical Review

When writing a historical review, your research must focus on literature that discusses a particular issue over the period. The research starts right after the issue occurred, and it lasts until the concept or phenomenon is established. The purpose is to evaluate the historical research, its prerequisites, and how it developed over time. 

        3.Methodological Review

This type tends to be the broadest. The writer considers different concepts, such as quantitative and qualitative research, data collection and processing, interviewing, and elicitation. This helps to identify not only what the researcher said but also how they said it.

        4.Theoretical Review 

Here, the writer analyzes the existing corpora of theories related to the field and tries to find similar ideas that might apply to the field. This type is often used to determine whether the field lacks abundant theories or whether those theories are inadequate for explaining a research question. 

What to include in a literature review 

 Academic writing has dozens of rules to follow. Depending on your educational institution and discipline, you are likely to have specific elements to include. However, whatever you study, there are general regulations regarding sources to use when writing a literature review. Your sources must meet the following criteria:

        1.Credibility

 Every shred of evidence must be authoritative and taken from the institute’s library or retrieved from reliable web pages. If the library lacks some sources, you can try finding them on Google Scholar, JSTOR, Academia.edu, Research Gate, and similar websites.

        2.Novelty

No matter which source you summarize, you have to make sure it is up to date. As a rule, an article is obsolete if it was published over five years ago. It is a good idea to follow this strategy to eliminate any possible error. Remember that it is better to rely on fewer but newer sources when writing a literature review.

        3.Influence

A book written by a scholar doesn’t mean it is credible by default. Many academicians are prejudiced and contradictory. When crafting a literature review, check how many people used the source. It is easy to do if the source is located in Google Scholar. Simply look at the number of citations. The more times people have cited it, the more reliable it is.

How to write a literature review in APA format

 There are several main formatting styles students have to use. The use of such formats ultimately depends on the major. APA is widely employed by students of Social Sciences, such as Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology. To design a review in the correct format, you must know about unique rules regarding font, body, citations, and quotations. 

How to write a literature review 

 After you decided on your topic, collected the sources, identified, and digested them, you can start writing the review. A literature review comprises three main parts: an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion. Let’s take a closer look at every section together. 

    Starting The Paper

When working on the introduction, you provide the readers with the general topic and set the context. Almost the entire section is devoted to giving a big picture of the subject and thus enlarging the reader’s expertise area. Divulge concepts existing in the field and how they are represented in different research. Finally, mention the reason for examining the literature. Explain why you chose these works and omitted those.

    Developing The Piece

 Gather research studies and sort them out according to similar concepts, theories, qualitative or quantitative methods, or other types you choose. When summarizing the sources, keep in mind that the word count matters. The more extensive your summary of a single research study is, the more significant it will be in your research paper. And, most importantly, your body has to be as informative as possible. Pose “so what” questions and answer them entirely.

    Encapsulating The Review

To make the literature review coherent:

1. Summarize focal contributions stated within your piece, reminding the reader about the concepts and their implications from the introduction.
2. Assess the current state of the topic, mentioning methodological imperfections in research and insufficiency in findings.
3. Provide some information about a broader field and mention the importance of future research. 

4. How to write a literature review for dummies

If you have no idea how to write a literature review and never completed it before, no need to worry because it is still doable! Stick to this strategy to alleviate your writing struggles and make your paper peerless:

• Narrow down the topic and make sure you work on something that thrills you.
• Find trusted and updated literature on credible websites, such as Google Scholar.
• Analyze every article and highlight the main ideas and theories.
• Organize every article according to the type of review you are going to follow.
• Develop a robust and accurate thesis statement to develop within the paper. 
• Complete the first draft, edit, and proofread it.

How to write a psychology literature review

A psychology literature review doesn’t differ from a review on any other topic. All you have to remember is:

• Define the research question and topic you will be reviewing. 
• Find pertinent literature using various databases.
• Analyze the sources rigidly and take notes of useful concepts.
• Arrange concepts and structure the research.
• Create an outline.
• Finish the entire research and check every point.

Difference between a literature review and an annotated bibliography

Students often misunderstand the idea of a literature review and an annotated bibliography. The latter is the examination of a single source; it focuses on one piece and explains it. It is useful to know whether an individual source pertains to the topic. 

 Conversely, a literature review focuses on a particular subject and evaluates literature concerning it. Its purpose is to explain the most potent ideas presented within the research and analyze sources and their stance regarding the subject.

How long does it take to write a literature review

 It all depends on your subject and writing skills. The more you drill, the faster you can complete any paper in the long run. The mentioned instructions are an excellent guideline for those who want to polish their writing to shine. GET YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW DONE PROMPTLY.

Final thoughts

 Writing a review is by no means an effortless task. To know how write literature review, you should follow many elements. Thanks to this guide, you are highly likely to craft a thought-provoking piece that sheds light on a particular research field. Besides that, you can utilize our pro writing service to accelerate the process of reaching academic success.