Literature review skills

You may be expected to gather evidence by making a review of the current literature, perhaps as a distinct section in an assignment or as a chapter of a dissertation. Or it may be part of your preparatory work for a project proposal.

A literature review usually takes the form of a critical discussion that shows insight into the theories being discussed in publications with a clear link to the purpose of your question or research.

The structure of the literature review depends on the aims and purpose of your work. Generally, you should group together your work in key themes, with each one explicitly linked to your research topic.

Beginning a literature review can be a bit overwhelming. The best place to start is with your textbooks and the key academics referred to within them. After you've identified the key relevant authors you can read more from them [books, articles etc.]. This will then lead you on further, to other academics and theories.

You can use the OU's online library to source material that is available online. It has links to journals, articles, e-books and more.

Here are some key steps in conducting a literature review.

• Define your topic. Do you have central question you want to answer?
• Narrow down what you want to research - a narrower topic allows you to focus more deeply, rather than skimming the surface
• Divide your topic into key themes to make it easier to look up information
• Use your textbooks to identify key authors or theories that relate to the themes and make them your starting point
• Do the textbooks suggest any further reading? If so, track it down
• Use the OU's online library to locate academic opinion and theory
• Organise your literature: store any paper copies in folders and files, grouped into themes
• Read the literature you have sourced
• Fit the literature into the key themes you have identified - if any don't fit, or they don't seem important enough to include, put them to one side

You now need to engage critically with the texts. Think about whether you agree with what's being said. Examine the methodology used: divide the articles into qualitative or quantitative categories, evaluate conclusions made based on the method used and evidence presented.

Once you start to collate your literature review, make sure to reference your sources correctly as you use them. Keep full details of the title of the paper or book chapter, the authors, the page numbers, the journal or book it was published in and year of publication, as it can be hard to track down these details later.

It is important that you keep up with your subject; people will be writing about it all the time, with new theories and literature produced. This means you should look over literature at other points too: certainly mid-way through a research project and again at the end.

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Literature = secondary sources that you have selected [peer-reviewed journal articles and books]

Review = examining critically 

A literature review IS

• Your selection of the literature
• A summary with critical analysis of existing literature 
• Synthesis of a range of different arguments
• Your interpretation, based on evidence

A literature review is NOT

x Everything that has been written on your topic  

x A descriptive summary 

x Your personal opinions

Aim of a literature review

• Gives an overview of current knowledge

• Demonstrates awareness of relevant literature

• Highlights similar and contrasting views

• Explains what has influenced you

• Showcases your research and writing skills

Here is an example marking scheme for a 60–69 mark:

• Shows evidence of reading a wide diversity of material
• Primary and/or secondary research is clearly explained
• Reflects relevant and coherent research used to support and develop arguments
• Clear evidence of critical engagement
• Good writing skills, with well organised, accurate footnotes and/or bibliography that follows the accepted style of the subject.
• Other criteria are used too, including the word count, correct referencing system and academic writing style.

‘Don't feel like you should be comparing where you're at with others. It's not a competition, you'll get a lot more from the process by sharing your issues [no matter how trivial you think they are], brainstorming, even ranting, than you'll ever get from asking everyone how much they've written, or boasting that you're nearly finished.’ [Josie, Third-year Global Studies]

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A literature review is a survey of the most relevant and significant academic research on a particular topic in order to reflect the current state of knowledge in the field and the key questions raised. It is an essential part of your research process to show what you know about a topic.

To write a literature review, you do not report the literature out there, but

• synthesize the literature,
• analyze the relationship between the literature [the concepts, arguments, etc.], and
• form your own evaluation of and perspective on the literature you read.

Literature reviews determine what is known on a topic, how well this knowledge is established, and where future research might be directed. This page explains how to write literature reviews.

A literature review explores and evaluates the literature on a specific topic or question. It synthesises the contributions of the different authors, often to identify areas that need further exploration.

You may be required to write a literature review as a standalone document or part of a larger body of research, such as a thesis.

• The point of a standalone literature review is to demonstrate that you have read widely in your field and you understand the main arguments.
• As part of a thesis or research paper, the literature review defines your project by establishing how your work will extend or differ from previous work and what contribution it will make.

In the best literature reviews, the writer:

• Has a clear understanding of key concepts within the topic.
• Clarifies important definitions and terminology.
• Covers the breadth of the specific topic.
• Critically discusses the ideas in the literature and evaluates how authors present them.
• Clearly indicates a research gap for future enquiry.

This video outlines a step by step approach to help you evaluate readings, organise ideas and write critically. It provides examples of how to connect, interpret and critique ideas to make sure your voice comes through strongly.

Tips for research, reading and writing

• How can I refine my topic?
• How should I approach my research?
• How can I read effectively?
• How should I structure my literature review?
• When should I start writing?

The most important thing to remember is that you are writing a review. That means you must move past describing what other authors have written by connecting, interpreting and critiquing their ideas and presenting your own analysis and interpretation.

Explore all resources

• A guide to writing an effective proposal that effectively outlines the research you will undertake at a higher level of study.

• This module will introduce you to the concept of critical thinking and provide strategies to help you think, read, take notes and write critically.

• You’ve done the research, but how do you integrate it seamlessly into your academic writing?