Expert Strategies to Write Literature Reviews

Below, our esteemed writers have shared some strategies that will guide you in writing literature reviews effectively.

• Start with a clear research question: A well-defined research question is crucial to writing an effective literature review. It will help you to focus your search and ensure that you only include relevant studies in your review.
• Conduct a comprehensive search: Conducting a thorough search of the relevant literature is critical to writing a comprehensive literature review. It is important to use multiple databases and search terms to ensure that you do not miss any relevant studies.
• Evaluate the quality of the studies: It is essential to critically evaluate the quality of the studies included in your literature review. You should consider factors such as the study design, sample size, and the validity of the results.
• Organize your literature review: A well-organized literature review will help you to present your findings in a clear and concise manner. You should consider organizing your review by themes, methodologies, or chronologically.
• Use effective writing techniques: Writing techniques such as clear and concise language, appropriate use of headings and subheadings, and use of linking sentences and paragraphs can help to make your literature review more coherent and easier to read.
• Keep your audience in mind: Your literature review should be written with your audience in mind. You should consider the level of expertise of your readers and write in a style that is appropriate for them.

We also suggest going through a few literature review and  research paper outline example to gain a better understanding of how to structure and organize the literature review whether as a standalone piece or as a part of the research paper.

Final Thoughts

Literature reviews that present arguments are often the most captivating although this approach is specific to certain disciplines and may not be suitable for all situations. The literature review section provides a great opportunity to establish the research as relevant in a particular way and filling a specific gap. This can also be done in the introduction section of an article, but the literature review allows for an extended opportunity to establish the conversation in the way that best suits your readers. By choosing the academic lineage that you want to be a part of and whose definitions matter most to your thinking, you can argue for your place in the conversation, which ultimately makes the literature review more persuasive and engaging than simply summarizing other sources. This approach is not limited to humanities but also applies to sciences.