How To build a Literature Review:

The Bones, Meat, and Potatoes

Bones

Unlike the Methodology and Results chapters of your dissertation, there is no defined outline for the Literature Review. It’s simply a matter of three main headings: Introduction; Main body; Conclusion. The meat is what counts, and we’re here to walk you through it. If you get stuck at any point, just know that the folks here at Dissertation Editor are here to help, so don’t hesitate to pick up the phone or email us. 

Meat

And now to the flesh:

Introduction

The Introduction opens with a restatement of your research problem or research question(s) with a summary of the sources you will review (in the main body). As you briefly sum these sources that will be reviewed in greater detail in the main body of the Literature Review chapter, you should highlight the gaps that exist in the body of knowledge, bringing this back to your research problem and research question(s). This supports the need and purpose of your research and, therefore, the contribution your research will make in the field.

The Main Body

The goal of the literature review is to effectively summarize and combine your review of the literature in your field. This summary may be organized by theme, methodology, or theoretical approach, but we highly recommend a chronological organization for simplicity; that is, organize your summary chronologically, with an overview of the themes, theoretical frameworks, and methodological approaches. Of course, it’s easy to say, “summarize without losing coherence,” but this is key to a well structured literature review. Before you start hyperventilating at the thought, however, slow down and remember to begin by outlining the conflicts, differences, and similarities between the literature you review.  After you have outlined each source included in your review:

• Summarize and Combine: Highlight the main findings from each academic source and organize them into one whole piece without losing coherence.
• Evaluate and interpret: Make sure that you are giving opinions and arguments of your own rather than simply rephrasing what others have said. Therefore, you should avoid excessive quoting. After all, you will be expected to debate and discuss other studies’ results about your own research questions or research aim, so it’s important that you can go beyond merely summarizing. In order to accomplish this goal, we recommend you read each piece of literature at least twice. 
• Analytical Evaluation: It is also important to review the merits and weaknesses of the literature.

As you write, do pay attention to citation and referencing style. Find out what academic style your university requires prior to starting, as this will save you a lot of headaches later. Find out your institutions style guidelines; i.e., some commonly used academic styles for referencing and citations: APA, CMS, Harvard, MLA, or some other hybrid. That being said, do not get stalled by formatting your citations and references, as that will slow down the writing process. Instead, just make sure to add the citations (however inappropriately it may be formatted) where necessary. As for academic styles, we can help you with this at DE; we don’t just edit, we format too. In fact, we’d be very happy to format each and every citation and cross-check them with your list of references too! But your responsibility is to make sure you have the correct citation beside the information you are discussing. 

Conclusion

The conclusion should include a summary of the key findings and their relevance and significance to your research problem and research question(s). In doing so, you will demonstrate how your research helps to fill the gap(s) in your field and, therefore, increased our understanding of the problem by making a contribution to the current body of knowledge in the field.

& Potatoes

The essence of a literature review is to find, read, and digest the main body of knowledge on your topic. Once you’ve done that, you’ll then be ready to flesh out the bones. I know we make it sound easy, but we know it’s not. That being said, we know you can do this. And on the day(s) when you don’t think you can — and you probably will have those days because that’s the nature of writing a dissertation or thesis — we’re the experts and here to help. Everyone who works at DE has a PhD and we’ve all written (many) a literature review, so bring it on, as we live for this stuff. You have a burning (research) question, a passion to find answers and contribute to the body of knowledge in your field, and we celebrate that at DE, so check us out, call, or email.  

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, started in 1999 as a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days in November. Over the years, it has developed into a nonprofit organization and website that also hosts a Camp NaNoWriMo in April and July, and other programs as well. Here’s a tip, though: even if you’re not a novel writer, NaNoWriMo can still be a valuable tool for you.

If you harbor dreams of writing a novel, by all means, utilize NaNoWriMo to light a fire under you and churn out the pages. But even if you just want to kickstart your academic or professional writing, you can use the goals of NaNoWriMo to start your creative process. Do you have a literature review you’d like to have done soon? Or a section of your dissertation? Even if you’re done with your thesis or dissertation, maybe you have some ideas for journal articles or want to turn your dissertation into a book. Great – use this month to your advantage.  Remember: you can’t edit or revise what you don’t have, so getting words down on the page for your thesis, dissertation, or journal articles is important.

Here are some tips to keep in mind to help you make the most out of your NaNoWriMo experience, however you choose to apply it.

Let go of perfection. Trust us on this one: there will be plenty of time for revisions and editing later on. You need to get words on the page first. Once you have a plan of what you want to achieve, just write. Write anything that comes to mind, and then come back to it later.

Keep track of your word count. Every day, set a word count goal and note the actual word count that was achieved. Once you see the numbers adding up, it will give you added motivation. Setting small goals within the larger month’s goal is a good way to give yourself positive reinforcement.

Plan to write. Set aside a time each day to write: in the early morning before work, late at night after the kids go to bed – whatever works for you and your schedule. Treat it like a job – in many ways, it is your job right now. Put it in your calendar, your planner, let your friends and family know you’ll be writing – and then hold yourself accountable.

Be intentional about unplugging. You might think you can bang out some words while watching television, but how many times do you plan to write and watch reruns, and before you know it, you’re catching up on your favorite old episodes, you only have two sentences written, and it’s time to go to bed? Use this month to turn the television off, silence your cell phone, use an Internet blocker for periods of time if necessary, and focus on writing.

Once the month is over, take a look at what you’ve written and start cleaning it up. When you’re ready to have it edited, Dissertation Editor can help! Whether it’s your thesis or dissertation, journal articles, or a book project, our editors have experience with all kinds of projects, and we’d love to be of assistance. Contact us today to learn more about our range of services and how we can help you reach your goals.