Below are some general writing tips that you can help you with the main body of your literature review:

• Provide the reader with strong ‘topic’ sentences at the beginning of the paragraph.
• Signpost throughout to show relationships, causality etc. e.g. furthermore, however
• Consider using brief ‘so what’ summary sentences at intermediate points in the review for example at the end of longer paragraphs to aid understanding analysis.
• Use appropriate language to show confidence/caution e.g. there is a clear link between… / this suggests a possible link between…

Signposting and signalling words help your reader see how you have combined and synthesised evidence. Signposting words phrases can be used to demonstrate the link between ideas, trends you’ve identified or limitations or critique you want to include.

Below are a few examples of signposting phrases

‘Several recent studies have explored…’
‘ABC and XYX found evidence that…’
‘Despite… X concluded…’
‘In contrast to ABC, XYZ (2014) maintains…’

We’ve shared a link below to a great resource that provides you with some useful phrases for different situations within your literature review.

There is also a video guide on the benefits of using the resource below.