How to Write a

Literature Review

Dr. Kalum Kathriarachchi

Senior Lecturer
What is a literature review?

▪ In essence, a literature review identifies, evaluates and synthesises the relevant

literature within a particular field of research.

▪ It illuminates how knowledge has evolved within the field, highlighting what has
already been done, what is generally accepted, what is emerging and what is the
current state of thinking on the topic.

▪ In addition, within research-based texts such as a Doctoral thesis, a literature review

identifies a research gap (i.e. unexplored or under-researched areas) and articulates
how a particular research project addresses this gap.
What is meant by the term literature?

▪ Literature refers to a collection of published information/materials on a particular

area of research or topic, such as books and journal articles of academic value.

▪ However, your literature review does not need to be inclusive of every article and
book that has been written on your topic because that will be too broad.

▪ Rather, it should include the key sources related to the main debates, trends and
gaps in your research area.
What is meant by the term review?
To review the literature means to be able to identify:
▪ what has been established, discredited and accepted in your field*
▪ problems or issues that remain unsolved
▪ emerging trends and new approaches
▪ how your research extends, builds upon, and departs from previous research.

A review of literature presents much more than a summary of

relevant sources. The act of reviewing involves evaluating
individual sources as well as synthesizing these sources in order
to gain a broad view of the field.
The process of conducting a literature review
How to Write a Literature Review

Structure of a
Prepare literature Checklist
review
Preparation
Determine your purpose
▪ Work out what you need to
address in the literature
review.
▪ What are you being asked
to do in your literature
review?
▪ What are you searching the
literature to discover?
▪ Check your assignment
question and your criteria
sheet to know what to focus
on.
Preparation

Do an extensive search of the literature

Find out what has been written on the topic
What kind of literature?
▪ Select appropriate source material: Use a variety of academic or scholarly sources that
are relevant, current and authoritative. An extensive review of relevant material will
include — books, journal articles, reports, government documents, conference
proceedings and web resources. The Library would be the best place to search for your
sources.
How many resources?
▪ The number of sources that you will be required to review will depend on what the
literature review is for and how advanced you are in your studies. It could be from five
sources at first year undergraduate level to more than fifty for a thesis. Your lecturer will
advise you on these details
Preparation
Note the bibliographical details of your sources
▪ Keep a note of the publication title, date, authors’ names, page numbers and
publishers. These details will save you time later.
Preparation
Read the literature

▪ Critically read each source, look for the

arguments presented rather than for facts.

▪ Take notes as you read and start to organise

your review around themes and ideas.

▪ Consider using a table, matrix or concept

map to identify how the different sources
relate to each other.
Preparation

Analyse the literature you have found

In order for your writing to reflect strong critical analysis, you need to evaluate the
sources. For each source you are reviewing ask yourself these questions:
▪ What are the key terms and concepts?
▪ How relevant is this article to my specific topic?
▪ What are the major relationships, trends and patterns?
▪ How has the author structured the arguments?
▪ What are the differences and similarities between the sources?
▪ Are there any gaps in the literature that require further study?
Structure of a literature review
Write the review
▪ Like essays, a literature review must have an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
Structure of a literature review

Introduction
▪ Your introduction should give an outline of:
▪ why you are writing a review, and why the topic is important
▪ the scope of the review — what aspects of the topic will be discussed
▪ the criteria used for your literature selection (e.g. type of sources used, date range)
▪ the organisational pattern of the review.
Structure of a literature review

Body paragraphs
▪ Each body paragraph should deal with
The body could include
a different theme that is relevant to your
topic. paragraphs on:
• historical background
▪ You will need to synthesise several of • methodologies
your reviewed readings into each • previous studies on the
paragraph, so that there is a clear topic
connection between the various • mainstream versus
sources. alternative viewpoints
▪ You will need to critically analyse each • principal questions being
source for how they contribute to the asked
themes you are researching • general conclusions that are
being drawn.
Structure of a literature review

Conclusion
Your conclusion should give a summary of:
▪ the main agreements and
disagreements in the literature

▪ any gaps or areas for further research

▪ your overall perspective on the topic.

Checklist
Have I:
▪ outlined the purpose and scope?
▪ identified appropriate and credible (academic/
scholarly) literature?
▪ recorded the bibliographical details of the sources?
▪ analysed and critiqued your readings?
▪ identified gaps in the literature and research?
▪ explored methodologies / theories / hypotheses /
models?
▪ discussed the varying viewpoints?
▪ written an introduction, body and conclusion?
▪ checked punctuation and spelling?
References Management Tools and Why?
How to Download References?

University Library Open Sourses Journals SCI-HUB