
Introduction
Introduces your research question/topic. It should be a meaningful topic.
Provide enough background information to frame the topic.
Body
An analysis of the literature usually according to a number of themes or topics.
What research has already been done? What is accepted and disputed?
Are there gaps in the research? What is the future research trend?
Don’t paraphrase, critically evaluate. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each source.
Conclusion
The conclusion is not the introduction.
Summarise the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasise their significance.
Connect it back to your primary research question.
Reference List
Remember it is normally a reference list not a bibliography of everything you have read.
There are various ways in which the body of your literature review can be written. In most subjects this will be by theme (thematic) but there are others. Please check with your department to find out which is most suitable.
Thematic - grouping studies by subject or theme.
Conceptual - grouping studies by concept.
Methodological - grouping studies by method.
Chronological - ordering studies from the oldest to the most recent or more rarely in reverse order.
Combination - a mixture of these approaches.
A good literature review will normally do the following things:
A poor literature review will often have the following mistakes.
Key stages of a literature review normally include:
Once you have found the key articles make sure you are doing critical, active reading.