A literature review is a survey of all existing literature in a specific field. It serves two purposes. The first is to exhaustively describe the research carried out in a specific area. The second is to assess this body of literature to identify established findings, conflicting evidence, and research gaps. A literature review includes research articles, dissertations, conference papers, scholarly articles, and other sources.

This may seem daunting to a beginner. However, it is easy to write a literature review. All you need is patience and good analytical skills. All literature reviews have a basic structure. There are slight variations on this format, depending on the discipline and the purpose of the literature review.

The first step is to identify a topic that you want to write the literature review about. Finding a suitable topic is the most difficult part of a literature review. You need to start looking for a topic early. This would involve extensive reading. Choosing a personally relevant topic that motivates and interests you will make the whole process much more enjoyable.

Before finalizing a topic, you should ensure that there is considerable research in that area. So several people should have done research and written on the subject. As a result, you will have various points of view to compare and analyze.

Once you are well versed in the broad area of ​​interest, narrow it down to a specific topic. The more specific your topic, the more complete your review will be.

The second step is to start collecting and reading the articles. By choosing a topic, you would have already done some preliminary research. You would now need to systematically build on this initial research. Libraries and online magazine collections are good starting points. Interviews with subject matter experts, books, documentaries, and archival data can be used during this stage.

Remember that reading academic articles can be challenging and you may be inclined to give up. Here are some tips to make your reading of literature easier:

1. Start with the easiest items and then move on to the more difficult ones.

2. Read the summary first. Then scan the article and identify the key themes and elements, such as research questions, findings, etc. Take note of these items.

3. Next, do an in-depth reading of the literature you have collected. Read each article line by line to fully understand it. Look for hidden themes, contradictions, and logical gaps in the arguments. Try to relate it to other literature in the area.

4. Reading requires time and patience. So plan accordingly and allocate maximum time for this phase.

After you have read enough material, you will need to select the most relevant articles for your topic. Try to look for connections between the articles and gaps in the existing research and consensus regarding the topic.

Keep an open mind and look critically at all information. Your literature review should not be a simple summary of a couple of articles and books. It should provide a unique perspective on the existing literature and facilitate further discussion. Once you’ve mapped out your ideas, arguments, and created a flexible structure for the review, the actual writing process begins.

You would need at least 15-20 articles for a good literature review. However, a literature review can have up to 100 articles. Student literature reviews are typically 20 pages or approximately 3,000 words.

Make sure your literature review is well organized. A natural flow makes a literature review easier and more enjoyable to read. Most book reviews begin with the title page, the abstract followed by a brief introduction to the topic. The introduction should include the purpose and questions of the review.

The body usually contains a detailed description of each study, along with observations and comparisons of the studies. The findings are then concisely stated in the conclusion, after which the implications of the literature review are mentioned. Implications are your personal addition to the topic based on your reading and analysis. Include your impressions of what the studies show and the need for more research.

Some tips while writing your review:

• Write only when you have read all your text and understood it.
• Take breaks between writing the review, so you don’t burn out.
• Always use simple and concise language. Illustrate your points with concrete examples from the text you have read.
• Summarize and paraphrase articles, instead of using long quotes.
• Edit and proofread the article to avoid grammatical and formatting errors.
• Finally, never indulge in plagiarism. Use in citations and text references.

In-text citations are used when you are citing someone else’s idea within your article. Include the author’s last name and the year of the study. References should include the author’s name, book title, year of publication, publisher, and location. Detailed citation instructions are available on all major university websites, such as Harvard, etc. You can read them for more clarity on how to write references.

Now that you know the steps involved in writing a literature review, you’ll be well equipped to begin your review.