A literature review is a study of all the existing literature in a specific field. It has two purposes. First is to comprehensively describe the research conducted in a specific area. The second is to evaluate this body of literature to identify established findings, conflicting evidence, and research gaps. A literature review includes research articles, dissertations, conference articles, scholarly articles, and other sources.

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

The first step is to identify a topic on which you want to write the literature review. Finding a suitable topic is the most difficult part of a literature review. You should start looking for a topic early. This would involve extensive reading. Choosing a topic of personal relevance, that motivates and interests you, will make the whole process much more pleasant.

Before finalizing a topic, you need to make sure that there is considerable research in that area. Therefore, several people should have done research and written on the subject. As a result, you will have multiple 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 comprehensive your review will be.

The second step is to start collecting and reading the articles. By choosing a topic, you would have already summarized some preliminary research. Now you would need to systematically build on this initial research. Online libraries and magazine collections are good starting points. During this stage you can use interviews with experts in the field, books, documentaries and archival data.

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

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

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

3. Next, take 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 linking it to other literature in the area.

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

Once you have read enough material, you will need to shortlist the articles to those most relevant to your topic. Try to look for connections between articles and gaps in 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 your review, the actual writing process will begin.

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 3,000 words long.

Make sure your literature review is well organized. A natural flow makes the literature review easier and more enjoyable to read. Most bibliographic 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 generally 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. The 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 further research.

Some tips while writing your review:

• Write only when you have read all of the text and understood it.

• Take breaks between writing your review so you don’t get exhausted.

• Always use simple and concise language. Illustrate your points with concrete examples from the text you have read.

• Summarize and paraphrase articles, rather than using long quotes.

• Edit and revise the article, to avoid grammatical and formatting errors.

• Lastly, never get carried away by plagiarism. Use it in citations and text references.

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

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