Once you’ve read the literature critically and identified the main themes of your review it is time to turn to writing up your literature review. Essentially the write-up requires you to draft the evidence from your notes into structured paragraphs demonstrating your critical thinking about each sub-topic as you go.
How you structure your literature review will depend on what you want to convey to your reader. Keep in mind your module leader may have an expectation of how you should structure your literature review, especially if it is for an assignment rather than a dissertation or major project – always check your module guide.
Whichever structure you choose, your write up will be made up of an introduction, the main body and a conclusion.
In the presentation below we’ve shared :
How to start and how to finish your literature review is a common stumbling block. What goes in each can depend upon the intention of your review, but the activity below might give you some ideas for the content of both. Remember, your introduction should set the scene, and prepare your reader for what is to come. It should also get their attention, so don’t forget to highlight why this area is of interest.
The conclusion should sum up the review and remind the reader of the most important aspects before connecting with your research project.
Do the elements below belong in an introduction or a conclusion of a literature review? Drag the elements to the correct section.
In the previous section we looked at synthesising literature. The main body of your literature review is where you present this synthesis. You will have a series of different paragraphs, each addressing an individual aspect (as noted these could be thematic, funnel or chronological). In each paragraph you will: