After you have gone through the process of reviewing the literature, finding helpful sources, and organizing them, it’s time to begin producing the written product of a literature review.
As you draft your literature review, you might find it helpful to begin with something like an outline where you organize your sources. Before you begin, you should always look at examples of literature reviews from your field to see how other researchers typically approach it.
In general, your library or writing center will have a large number of resources to help you in the writing process. However, some suggestions for writing the literature review include (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2021):
1. Find a focus: As you read widely but selectively in your topic area, consider what themes or issues connect your sources together. Use these themes to focus the organization of the review.
2. Consider a possible organization of your literature review: Literature reviews can take many different organizational patterns depending on your research question and the argument you are trying to build. Some common organizational themes include:
- Thematic – If you have found some recurring central themes that you will continue working with throughout your piece, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic. This is often the more preferred organization of a literature review.
- Chronological – The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. Try to analyze the patterns, turning points, and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.
- Methodological – If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods, you can compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches.
3. Begin composing:
- Use evidence – interpret the sources and back up your findings with evidence.
- Be selective – select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review, relating directly to the review’s focus.
- Summarize and synthesize – synthesize the source by rephrasing the study’s significance and relating it to your topic.
- Keep your own voice – while the literature review presents others’ ideas, your voice should remain front and center.
- Interpret the literature – describe the meaning of the source and determine how the information may or may not answer your research question.
4. Revise, revise, revise: Your literature review should be constantly revised and its language should be reworked so you’ve presented the information in the most concise manner possible. Avoid jargon or slang and double check your sources have been formatted appropriately to the discipline.
It’s important to note that this process is recursive, meaning that it is an iterative process that requires returning to and revisiting previous steps. Be sure to be in touch with the bases of your literature review before moving onto the next step. Make changes when necessary, and constantly look for room for revisions.
Helpful sources for writing a literature review include:
