How to write a literature review
Let’s try to understand what a literature review is. This will help the researchers write a good one.
How to define literature review: We can define literature review in a simple way. Literature reviews can refer to some of the specific literature available on a particular topic. A literature review in your research paper can summarize all the resources. A literature review can be chronological and structured. That is, it can follow a pattern so that the readers have a common sense and logical perspective on the literature available on a particular topic.
What is an academic paper, and how is a literature review associated with it?
Academic papers generally develop a new rule/logic/idea/argument, or discovery. A literature review can also be part of the literature review. A literature review is often used to create a foundation for the idea you are developing in your research paper. It usually drives your point, builds your point, or leads from earlier established ideas and concepts. It helps build the credibility of your paper, especially when the resources referred to are popular, credible, and well-established.
A literature review is also important in that it tells you that you are truly educated about your field and you are aware of the existing ideas related to the ideas in your paper. A literature review builds a sound foundation for your research paper.
Sometimes, some of the universities/journals/publications ask for a specific structure for your literature review. It is a great idea to ask your instructor about the specifics of the literature review. For this, you can prepare a set of questions for your instructor. Some of the common questions to ask your instructor can be as follows:
• What is the number of sources required?
• Types of publications are required, such as books, journals, documents, or websites.
• What exactly do you need to do with those resources? For example, do you need to summarize them, synthesize them, or write an analysis of all the resources you refer to?
The above and other questions that you might think of can help you write the literature review.
How to find the resources for literature review:
Nowadays, the Internet is the biggest resource, unlike in the previous era, when you may have to physically visit a number of libraries in your vicinity or far-off regions. Now, there are internet libraries/databases available. There are free and paid resources.
A good way to find resources as per your requirement is to narrow down your topic in a few words. Use different keywords and other online search methods to find the relevant resources as quickly as possible.
Once you find the resources, you can have your instructor vet them to ensure that the ones you selected are the right ones.
You may have to evaluate your resources from various perspectives to zero in on the correct and most relevant ones. There may be a number of resources available, and that might confuse you. Therefore, you need to know in advance what precisely you are looking at so that you are not overwhelmed with the resources you find on the internet.
How can you cover your literature review:
• Introduction: Here, you can give your readers an idea of what you are going to cover in the literature review.
• Body: The main body should have all the resources organized and written in a nice structure.
• Conclusion: Thereafter, you need to conclude by describing what you have got from your literature review.