Writing a literature review
The primary objective of a literature review is to summarise and synthesise the available research on a given topic. It establishes that you are aware of the relevant literature, and have the capacity to understand it and set it in context.
Reading an Article
@JessicaCalarco has some good advice, including “[Only] read as much of each article/book as it takes to identify the:
- Research question
- Data/methods
- Argument/answer
- Key evidence supporting the argument/answer
- Limitations (i.e., what questions it doesn’t answer; what perspectives or possibilities it doesn’t consider)”
Planning the Literature Review
- Define the topic
- Conduct a broad search to assemble a long list of references
- Evaluate the long list to create several key references
- Pay particular attention to the academic merits of each publication
- How prestigious is the journal that it was published in?
- How much impact has it had on future work?
- How renowned is the author?
- But don’t neglect less established work that you feel has significant merit
- Pay particular attention to the academic merits of each publication
- Analyse the findings by identifying key themes
- Group references into similar categories: you should analyse themes (ideas) rather than each individual paper (sources)
- Each section in the literature review should focus on a separate category
- These categories can be organised in different ways:
- Methodologically
- Thematically
- Empirically
- Chronologically
- Geographically
Writing it Up
- Set the scene
- The introduction should define the key topic and outline the basis of your argument
- Be wary of chronology
- For each category introduce papers in a chronological order, especially if using phrases such as “in response”, “then”, “leading to” etc.
- Be critical, not merely descriptive
- A descriptive literature review merely describes the key points of each paper
- A critical literature review demonstrates your personal judgement
- What are the limitations of the papers?
- What are the holes in the literature?
- Illuminate the interplay between the literature
- Which papers are parts of a similar/common trend?
- Which papers are critical of each other – and what are the strengths/weaknesses of each side?
- Highlight controversy
- Be succinct
- A good literature review will summarise a complex argument in one sentence. An excellent literature review will arrange those sentences so that the simplification doesn’t lose the context/meaning.
- Use references and quotations for supportive evidence
- When you refer to a concept that is associated with one particular paper, cite the paper
- Use quotations to support your points
- Short quotations can be made within a paragraph
- Longer quotations should be a separate paragraph
- You must document all sources. If in doubt always provide more information than you think is necessary
- Be wary of Ariel Rubinstein’s warning, relating to interdisciplinary research, that “often the citation is just intended to demonstrate the breadth of our horizons” (2012, p.200)
- Draw things together
- The conclusion should summarise the key argument and draw your analysis together
- Provide a full bibliography
- Revise the document, edit, re-read, revise, edit, re-read etc…
- Remember: “All writing is work, and all work is work-in-progress” James Buchanan