How to Write a Literature Review Like a Pro?

Working on a dissertation or any other writing assignment is not only about finding useful sources; it is a complex and tiring process. One will not be able to write a good literature review without studying and analyzing the material. This process takes a lot of time and efforts from the student. The one will have to consecrate information on the research topic collected within your scientific area.

How to write a literature review for a dissertation, scientific article, any another assignment so that it covers all aspects of your research and is compliant with all writing requirements? It is easy. Literature review writing will not be a problem for you if you have ever worked on similar tasks. However, due to strict requirements for postgraduate scientific works and literature review format, students have many questions concerning principles of writing and the main rules to be followed. These should be cleared out.

If you want to know everything about literature review writing - from assignment description to effective approaches of handling the task, keep reading the post. We will answer all your questions and provide you with an example of how a winning literature review should look like.

What Is a Literature Review?

What is a literature review; how to work on a task; what are prerequisites to a good paper? A literature review is a document that reflects the degree of student’s knowing the subject of research. This piece of writing introduces the degree of its relevance, points to strengths and weaknesses of the problem being under study. It is all-in-one information source. Researching on literature and analyzing relevant materials is undoubtedly the most difficult stage of writing a dissertation. That’s why it is important to follow checklist and work on a task step by step.

If you do not have a dissertation writing strategy to use, we have a plan of action that will ease the writing process:

• Prepare a full description of turning points to the development of scientific thought within the framework of the chosen study, its areas;
• Identify the “area” of your research in relation to other scientific fields;
• Make critical analysis of findings of predecessors on the selected problem;
• Prepare full summary of specific tasks / elaborate a plan for their solution.

Literature review is an important part of the dissertation or any other academic assignment requiring both literature and scientific research. It is an important part being evaluated first. Based on how you manage literature review writing, members of the higher attestation commission can evaluate how effectively you have coped with the problem and whether you have found a way to solve it.

There are no rules on what literature and material to use as sources in your paper. The popular majority of students use information from latest journal publications, abstracts, and online books that relate to the topic being under study. The main idea behind using scientific literature is developing a thesis statement with references to publications and researchers.

Use sources smartly. In order to most select sources for literature review conveniently and effectively, pay special attention to:

• electronic libraries;
• electronic catalogs / repositories;
• databases with scientific publications;
• scientometric databases.

Virtually all above resources have an option of advanced search, which will help you find researched information efficiently.

How to Make Things Easier?

Literature review writing is a laborious process; it requires a lot of time, an all-out effort, in-depth understanding of the topic, analytical thinking. If you lack anything from the above list, the risk of you accomplishing poor literature review is high. It is impossible to become a writing guru overnight. However, having a plan and following it step-by-step can make things easier.

Having developed an in-depth plan, you will not only spend less time collecting material but also will be able to qualitatively complete this work. Apart from the number of sources, a literature review plan should reflect the following criteria:

• The nature of sources (analytical/ comparative);
• The size of the current paper;
• A precise wording of the topic that will narrow the circle of your search for the right sources;
• Terms of paper registration, which should comply with all requirements.

To write a good literature review, it is important to decide on your plan of action. It should be a guide to collecting the necessary information that is to cover every single aspect of your project.

General Recommendations for Literature Review Writing

A prerequisite to preparing a good literature review is to write an informative intro with a smooth transition to the topic of the paper revealed within the paper body. You should select the main message and form it in a thesis statement. Besides, a conclusion is a “must have.” In it, you will once again return to words of the introduction and summarize analyzed material.

When working with sources, pay attention to a commonality of authors' views on the problem, the lack of accurate information about something that will be useful to you. Try to fill out the gap with info searched for in other sources. Working with literature, you should give a good assessment of the source in terms of its relevance, accuracy, and evidence of the author's arguments. Otherwise, there is no sense in referring to the source.

When drafting the paper, do not plagiarise, but use your words. After writing the work, make sure that all the requirements in terms of paper structure, format, and contents are met. Pay attention to the logic within the text structure and smoothness of transitions from one paragraph to another. It is necessary to exclude from the final text jargon vocabulary and unknown terminology.

Use a Literature Review Example as a Source of Inspiration

If you find it difficult to write a literature review yourself, you have two options - order it from professional writers / get inspired by works of review writing gurus. Finding a literature review example is an effective approach to coping with the task. By studying works of other students, you can feel the format and style of a paper without paying a dime for it. Taking a look at works of professional writers, you can extend your scientific vocabulary and elaborate your own writing style for career opportunities in English literature. Use this opportunity.

There are thousands of online sources where you can find masterfully crafted literature reviews. No matter what topic you need to cover in your work, you will have plenty of samples to get inspiration from. Do not lose time! Start googling for a literature review example right now!