How to Write Literature Review in Research

One of the essential steps in conducting a research is to skim through the available literature in order to become acquainted with

existing literature in your area of study. In today’s world addition to the existing literature is made on every day’s basis and it is very important to be familiar with what’s already done.

When you start to write down your research paper or thesis literature review is an important section of the written manuscript. The researcher should know how to write down the literature reviewed. You cannot narrate the literature in the same manner as you have read. Nor you need to write down a  summary of what you went through during reading the literature. You should understand the actual purpose of literature review, the existing literature is reviewed to broaden your knowledge in particular subject area, secondly, literature review enables you to bring clarity to your research.

Writing literature review

Understand the relationship of literature review to your research

In order to write down the literature review the researcher should understand the purpose of reviewing the literature in context to his/her research. The literature review shows areas where further research is required so it gives a basis for your research. Before starting to write the review of literature you should understand what gaps the existing literature reveals and how can you undertake your research so that it adds to the available body of knowledge in your area of research.

Categorize literature reviewed into main segments

After reading the literature the researcher should evaluate the literature in main segments or subareas and arrange them accordingly. Remember these segments should have to be closely relevant to each other, otherwise your research will lose specificity and will become too broad to conduct.  While categorizing the literature the researcher should keep in mind the research problem and research purpose, this will help you in narrowing down the literature to the ones that are valuable to your research.

Analyse and evaluate the literature

An analysis of the literature that you have read is necessary in order to understand it better. While analyzing the literature you should write down the key points of each passage or text. The researcher should also take other important points that are present in the literature as well as the conclusion that the writer has drawn in the text. The researcher himself can write down his own conclusion that he has drawn from the literature. The researcher should understand how to narrate the text that he has drawn from the literature and the conclusion that he has drawn by himself.

Write down the literature review

Divide the literature in relevant sections

Some relevant sections are more appropriate than narrating the whole text in paragraphs. Sections make the text more understandable. Review of literature aids the reader in understanding the aim and objectives of your research, therefore you should make sections closely relevant to your research. In each section provide as many reviews of literature as possible and in each review provide introduction, findings and conclusions of the researcher.

Make it coherent

The review of literature should have to be coherent and it should have to be relevant to each other

Give a conclusion

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