How to write a literature review - my simple 5 step process!

Summary

This video script offers a structured approach to writing a literature review for PhD students, emphasizing clarity on research purpose and effective organization. It outlines five key steps: defining the research question, identifying relevant topics, conducting literature searches, synthesizing information to refine the review structure, and finally, writing with a focus on clarity and purpose. The script also highlights the importance of daily reading habits and using tools like Excel for organization, aiming to demystify the literature review process.

Takeaways

• 📚 Step 1: Be crystal clear on your research question and why you are conducting the research. This forms the foundation of your literature review.
• 🗣️ Consult with your supervisor to ensure you understand their vision and direction for the research.
• 🔍 Step 2: Identify the broad topics needed to answer your research question. Use existing dissertations in your field as a guide.
• 📖 Look at the history and development of your research area to understand its evolution and current state.
• 💡 Step 3: Conduct literature searches on each identified topic using Google Scholar and other databases. Organize your findings.
• 📝 Create summaries of key papers, noting the main findings, challenges, and unique aspects. Store these in an easily searchable format like Excel.
• 🗂️ Use tools like Mendeley or EndNote for reference management and organization.
• 🧠 Step 4: Allow your brain to digest and synthesize the information from the literature, identifying patterns and correlations.
• 🔧 Refine the structure of your literature review based on your understanding of the literature. Add subheadings to organize your thoughts.
• ✍️ Step 5: Write consistently and break down the writing process into manageable chunks. Focus on clarity and how each piece of literature relates to your research question.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of a literature review in the context of a PhD thesis?

The main purpose of a literature review in a PhD thesis is to provide an overview of the existing research in the field, identify gaps in the current knowledge, and establish the significance and context of the research being conducted.

Why is it important to be clear on the research question before starting a literature review?

Being clear on the research question is crucial because it forms the foundation of the literature review. It helps in identifying relevant literature, focusing the search, and ensuring that the review is directly related to the research objectives.

What role does a supervisor play in the initial stages of a literature review?

A supervisor often provides guidance on the direction of the research, helps in refining the research question, and ensures that the literature review aligns with the academic expectations and the overall research project.

How can one identify the main topics to be included in a literature review?

One can identify main topics by considering the research question, exploring the boundaries and interfaces of related subjects, and examining how other dissertations in similar fields have structured their literature reviews.

What is a suggested method for organizing the literature found during the review process?

A suggested method is to use an Excel spreadsheet to create a 'cheat sheet' with references, authors, topic areas, and key findings or notes that are easily searchable for quick reference during writing.

Why is it recommended to read literature regularly during the literature review process?

Regular reading helps in digesting information, allowing the brain to pick up patterns, synthesize results, and make connections between different pieces of research, which is essential for formulating a comprehensive literature review.

How can one determine the number of papers to include in each topic area during the literature review?

The number of papers to include depends on the subject area and the depth of research required. The speaker suggests finding 20 to 50 papers per topic, but it's important to ensure that each paper contributes something novel to the review.

What is the significance of creating subheadings in a literature review after reading the literature?

Creating subheadings allows for a more granular organization of the literature review, guided by the patterns, correlations, and disagreements found in the literature. It helps in structuring the writing process and ensures a focused discussion on each aspect of the research.

What is the recommended approach to writing the actual content of a literature review?

The recommended approach is to break down the writing into chunks, focusing on two or three subheadings a day, and aiming for quantity over perfection initially. After drafting, one should go back and edit for clarity, coherence, and accuracy.

How can one ensure that their literature review writing is effective and contributes to the overall research?

One can ensure effectiveness by always relating the findings back to the research question or 'why' of the study, providing a critical analysis of the literature, and highlighting how the research fills gaps or contributes to the field.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Structuring a Literature Review

The speaker introduces the topic of writing a literature review, emphasizing its importance and the challenges it presents. They offer a five-step structure to guide the process, starting with clarifying the research question and the 'why' behind the PhD work. The audience is encouraged to subscribe for more PhD and career-related content. The first step involves aligning with the supervisor to understand the research direction and ensuring that the literature review is well-focused.

05:01

🔍 Identifying Topics and Research Themes

The speaker discusses the second step in the literature review process, which involves identifying the main topics and themes relevant to the research question. They suggest looking at other dissertations for structure inspiration and considering the intersections of subjects that are central to the research. The speaker shares their personal experience of combining solar technology, renewable energy, and colloid and surface science to answer their research question. They also mention the importance of organizing the literature search results effectively, using tools like Excel for note-taking and reference management.

10:01

📝 Organizing Literature Search and Initial Thoughts

In this paragraph, the speaker delves into the third step of the literature review process, which is conducting the literature search. They recommend using Google Scholar and grouping research themes under the previously identified headings. The speaker describes their personal method of printing out papers for reading and summarizing key findings on the back of each paper. They also highlight the importance of creating an Excel document for organizing literature with searchable notes, which will be beneficial for the writing process.

15:03

🧠 Letting the Brain Make Connections

The fourth step is about allowing the brain to recognize patterns and make connections from the literature read. The speaker advises against forcing the process and instead suggests regular reading to let the brain naturally synthesize the information. They recommend revisiting the structure after reading a significant amount of literature and adjusting the headings and subheadings based on the insights gained. This step is crucial for refining the literature review's organization before writing.

✍️ Writing the Literature Review

The final step, as described by the speaker, is the act of writing the literature review. They acknowledge the difficulty of writing and suggest creating a daily writing routine, using an 'aim for words, edit for perfection' approach. The speaker emphasizes the importance of relating each part of the literature review back to the research question and purpose. They also advise on seeking feedback from the research supervisor and considering professional editing services to refine the writing.

Keywords

💡Literature Review

A literature review is a scholarly paper, which includes the current knowledge including significant theory, research, and criticism about a specific topic in a particular field as of a particular point in time. In the video, the literature review is the central focus, serving as a foundation for the researcher's study. It is where the research question is framed and the existing body of knowledge is analyzed to identify gaps and guide the direction of the research.

💡Research Question

A research question is a specific interrogative statement that defines the scope and direction of a research study. In the video, the presenter emphasizes the importance of being 'crystal clear' on the research question, as it forms the basis for the literature review and guides the entire research process. The example given is whether a solar cell can be made from an aqueous dispersion of nanoparticles.

💡Supervisor

In academic research, a supervisor is an experienced academic who guides and mentors a student through their research project. The video script mentions the need to communicate with the supervisor to understand their expectations and to ensure alignment with the research question and objectives of the literature review.

💡Venn Diagram

A Venn diagram is a visual tool used to show the logical relationship between sets of things. In the context of the video, the presenter uses the concept of a Venn diagram to illustrate the overlapping topics that are central to answering the research question, helping to identify the key areas to focus on in the literature review.

💡Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes scholarly literature across many publishing formats and disciplines. The video mentions Google Scholar as the preferred tool for conducting literature searches, emphasizing its utility in finding relevant research papers and theses.

💡Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet program used for organizing, analyzing, and storing data in a tabular form. In the video, the presenter describes using Excel to create a 'cheat sheet' that summarizes key findings from each paper, which aids in the organization and retrieval of information during the writing process.

💡Mendeley

Mendeley is a reference manager used to organize research, manage citations, and share research data. The video script briefly mentions Mendeley as a tool for organizing literature, suggesting it as an alternative to Excel for managing references and notes.

💡Chronological Order

Chronological order refers to the arrangement of events or items in the sequence of time in which they occurred. The video discusses the use of chronological order as a method for organizing the literature review, specifically by looking at the history of solar cells and their development over time.

💡Subheadings

Subheadings are secondary titles used in a document to break up the content into more manageable sections. In the video, the presenter talks about using subheadings to organize the literature review under broader themes, which are informed by the patterns and connections identified during the reading and synthesis of literature.

💡Writing Process

The writing process refers to the stages an author goes through to create a written work. The video script outlines the writing process for the literature review, including setting aside dedicated time for writing, breaking down the task into manageable chunks, and focusing on producing a good first draft rather than aiming for perfection initially.

Highlights

Introduction of five steps to structure a literature review for PhD students.

Emphasis on clarity of purpose in research to guide the literature review process.

Importance of aligning with academic supervisor's vision and understanding the research question.

Need for a clear statement of research objectives to filter relevant literature.

Identifying key topics to address the research question through literature review.

Suggestion to look at other dissertations for structuring literature review sections.

Exploration of research at the boundaries of subjects for a comprehensive literature review.

Use of chronological order to understand the evolution of research within a field.

Initiation of literature search using Google Scholar and grouping research themes.

Organizing literature with a two-prong approach including physical printing and digital Excel summaries.

Creating an Excel document with searchable notes for efficient literature review writing.

Importance of reading literature regularly to allow the brain to pick up patterns and make connections.

Refining the literature review structure based on synthesized information from readings.

Writing process involves breaking down tasks into manageable chunks and focusing on progress over perfection.

Incorporating feedback from research supervisors to improve literature review content and language.

Highlighting the role of literature review as a warm-up act for the main PhD research.

Encouragement to share personal experiences and tips for writing a literature review in the comments.

Transcripts

hello my beautiful phd friends so today

we're going to talk about how to write a

literature review

they are long they are frustrating to

write but today i'm going to give you

five things

five steps that you can use to structure

your literature review

process okay let's talk about that if

you're new to this channel please

remember to subscribe and hit that bell

notification i'm going to talk about all

things phd careers

um getting a phd all the tips and tricks

that i learned to finish within three

years write my literature review

write the thesis everything so remember

to subscribe all right let's talk about

the literature review

can be a little bit daunting can't it

okay

step one of writing a literature review

you need to be absolutely crystal clear

on your why like why are

you actually doing this research because

that is the fundamentals that will form

your literature review

you need to make sure that you speak

with your supervisor as well

so a lot of times a literary review and

a beginning of a kind of a project

is the brainchild of an academic

supervisor

and they invite you on as a phd student

or you apply

um and then you kind of do their work

and you kind of

you know explore their ideas while also

incorporating your own

um the one thing i would say is that you

have to make sure with your supervisor

you understand

exactly what's going on in their mind so

step one here

is work out your research question work

out your why

why are you doing a phd why are you

writing a literature review

what are you searching for because being

absolutely crystal clear on those things

will mean

that when you come to write and do your

um your literature searches

that you'll just know exactly what

doesn't answer the question what's not

relevant

but you really need to get crystal clear

with your supervisor

on what your research question really is

so for me i needed to know if i could

make a solar cell

from an aqueous dispersion of

nanoparticles

so like uh yeah like a solar paint or a

solar ink

can i create a solar ink that would make

and generate electricity

when used as the active layer in solar

cells um so that was my physical

chemistry and kind of like surface

science

topics that i needed to combine and so

yes i needed to make sure that all of my

supervisors all three of them

were on board that they all agreed on

where i was heading

and so yes getting crystal clear

on why you're writing this literature

review and getting that in just like a

statement like a

couple sentences statement will be so

beneficial to you

there's step one okay step two

is when um i really start to think about

the topics that i need to bring together

to answer that question

so in my case it was solar technology it

was renewable energy

it was the mini emulsion process um

it was colloid and surface science and

solar cell testing like those are the

things really i needed to bring together

to answer this research question now for

you it may be a little bit different

maybe um you know you need to look at

the kind of

large overall headers we're not talking

about sub-headers here so you know i

imagine literature review

and then all of the headers underneath

that split up the large topics

there's a kind of a nice way to get an

idea of

what sort of topics you need is look at

other dissertations

in a similar field so i went away and i

found

a lot of stuff from europe a lot of

theses from europe and i kind of looked

and went well

well how are they splitting up their

literature review their introduction to

their thesis

and maybe i can use that to guide what i

do

with my thesis so a lot of the time

research

the especially cutting-edge research

happens at the boundaries of

inter of um subjects the interfaces of

subjects and topics

and so you know you need to explore the

appropriate parts of each topic

so that you can answer your research

question and you don't need to do

everything in detail but that is one way

to work out

you know if if my research question was

a venn diagram

which overlapping topics do i sort of um

sit in between and then you can kind of

use that to guide your top level headers

another way is schools of thought so if

some people agree one thing and some

people think another thing you can also

talk you know think about splitting up

your literature review in terms of those

topics

um and also just chronological order so

a great thing for me was to look at the

history of solar cells look at the

history

of the sorts of cells that i was

creating and go well they started here

how did they get to the efficiency

they're currently at and how am i going

to push that

beyond the efficiency that's currently

reported in

the literature and so uh yeah this by

the way

isn't set in stone yet but what but like

initially thinking about how am i going

to split things up how

am i going to organize my thoughts

really i guess

is the main point how are my thoughts

going to come together in this

literature review

and look this isn't like so set in stone

yet but it's a place for you to start

because the next step

is going on and actually taking those

large topics and doing your searches

okay step three is now like now you've

got your topics and your venn diagrams

and all that sort of stuff

you've got to start to think okay what

do i actually need to search for

google scholar by far is the best

um i just get onto google scholar and i

type in

you know the mini emulsion process and

look up that

i look at advances in solar technology i

look at advances in

aqueous based solar cells all of those

things is what i did

and i just started grouping those

uh research themes like under the

headings i've already think that i'm

gonna sort of like organize my

literature review that way

so um yeah i just take the heading and i

just search the literature

for themes for questions for outcomes

for results

that that kind of sit under that large

theme

um and the thing about this

is you are going to generate an absolute

bucket load of papers

of theses of other dissertations that

are written

and so you need a way to organize it and

it's at this point

that you really need to work out for you

what is the best way to

organize your literature i took a

two-prong approach

now i don't know why but i cannot

focus and read on a computer so i

literally printed out

nearly every research paper that i

wanted to read

and i used to read them on the commute

to work on the bus

or you know if i had a spare evening or

a spare couple of hours i then had them

in my bag and i could get them out and

read them

and what i did then is on the back of

the first

page is i wrote out the main finding who

did it what they found any challenges

if there was anything a particular note

you know because each research paper

needs to have something novel something

new about it

so i made sure that i tried to identify

each one of those things

and i just listed them you know three or

four bullet points on the back of the

first page

that i printed out and then what i did

after that is after i kind of got a

stack of five or six of them i

went to excel and i just put in that

that detail so i had like a

um reference i had the authors i had um

uh like the topic area you know the

broad theme that i wanted it to fit

under in my literature review

and then i just had a couple of notes

like those four or five things

but i made sure that i wrote stuff that

i wanted to search for later so

normally when you're writing your

literature review you're like oh what is

that paper

that said this and then i made sure that

i kind of included that in the notes

section you know that little

unique thing so what about that paper

that said they used a different

surfactant

um to create the nanoparticles and i'll

go in and i'll say different surfactant

and i'll make

sure that i try to um yeah include notes

that are searchable

it's easier said than done but a lot of

the time you know it does it does really

really help you just go control

f in excel and you can find um you know

the papers that you want to find

so search for papers under a topic

and then print them off if you want to

or if you're fine um reading them on the

computer that's fine

but then you have to transform that into

a little like cliff notes a little

summary

in excel and how i kind of try to find i

mean there's no hard and fast rule right

but i try to find say 20 to

30 maybe 50 even papers

on each one of those subjects and that

will depend on your

subject area of how many that you'll

actually need

but um that's what i did and uh yeah i

you know

quite often then i would you know even a

year later i would come across a paper

and go oh i didn't know about this and

i'll slot it in

to my excel document but documentation

is so very

important organize you can use mendeley

is what i use to organize all my stuff

and also after note

is another way to organize references

but really that excel document that

you're creating for yourself with the

notes that you can easily search will be

the key and will be the thing

that will just make you feel so much

more relaxed when you come to writing

your thesis

and that is almost the next part let's

talk about the next step let's talk

about step number four

okay step number four doesn't happen

for quite a while because step number

four is after you've searched the

literature and you've started to digest

that information now the great thing is

your brain

is designed to pick up patterns it's

designed for survival

and the way people survive is by picking

up patterns in nature

and in this case you're picking up

patterns in the literature that you're

reading

now you just kind of let that mole

around you know part of the academic

process and this is the kind of first

part is just to start letting your brain

make those connections start letting

your brain you know

see it find overlapping topics and areas

and just let your brain relax and and

you know read stuff and don't try to

force it

um just read regularly you know all

about these steps and do it every day so

if you're reading

literature read literature every single

day even if it's just for half an hour

but you've got to get in the habit of

reading um and then just let it kind of

sit

what you do then is once you kind of

like start formulating your own

topics and seeing the boundaries and

interfaces of different papers

is go back to your structure you know

step two when we're looking at the broad

themes

is does that still make sense as a

structure for your literature review

um it will probably need some tweaking

but the next thing you can do then is go

in under each topic that you may or may

not have tweet

and add subheadings so now we're like

literature review

heading subheadings um and so the

subheadings now are essentially

guided by what you've learned by reading

the literature

by letting your brain kind of you know

synthesize the results find

patterns correlations disagreements you

know that sort of stuff

is so important and that's the

subheading that's kind of like a little

bit more granular

of your literature review and so that's

really step four is

take a step back think about it let your

mind make connections and then put in

those subheadings to those topics

that's when you'll be able then to have

a structure

that you can then just put words under

but until you've got that structure

you're going to be trying to do

structure and words at the same time and

potentially you're just going to end up

confusing yourself

so make sure that you just spend a bit

of time after you've read literature

after you've you know read

50 to 60 maybe even 200 papers in total

just just make sure that that structure

that you're about to write on is there

because that will make your

your kind of writing process so much

easier

and now that's the last bit step five

let's talk about

writing the words there's no two ways

about it

but writing can be a massive pain in the

ass writing uh is

just challenging right sitting down

undistracted

for hours at a time to write now go

check out my other video which is about

how to write your phd thesis in two

months and it's a similar sort of stuff

that applies

so design a day that gets you to your

result

for me that was at least three hours or

so

worth of writing every single day split

up into an hour and a half and an hour

and an hour

um and you just have to write okay

your mind you know you will have to dip

in and out of the literature

and your your cheat sheet your excel

cheat sheet every so often

but really this is about you sharing

your knowledge

and so you do that uh by kind of just

formulating these paragraphs in terms of

this is what someone's found

this is how it fits and this is how it

relates to my why

and you kind of just do that for each

theme and you essentially

want to give you know the literature

review really is about giving

the person who's reading the literary

review an overview of

the the area that you want to um

research and why you're doing it so

trying to always draw it back to that

why

to the purpose of the research will be

really good and so

um as you're writing about each topic

under each subheading

you know you can say these people found

this which is interesting because then

you add your own little flavor

and then this relates to my why you know

which is uh indicative that we will be

able to get closer to our research or

will

help us understand this that or the

other or there's a gap in

the research field which i'm i'm hoping

to fill with this research

and so yeah that really is the writing

component

is break it down into chunks so i used

to like to give myself say two or three

subheadings a day

and just tap out words right don't aim

for perfection

aim for words and then go back and edit

afterwards

perfection kills progress like nothing

else aim for good

get your research supervisor to look

over your

um your different topics and chapters

and give you feedback not only

on the content um but also on

the you know the uh grammatical errors

that they pick up you know that's

something that you shouldn't really have

to worry about

and if you do need to if english is your

second language consider getting a

an editor just to pick up all those

really frustrating little um

typos that people can normally put in

even as a native english speaker

that was one of my feedback from my

thesis is they said that there was lots

of annoying typos in there

i apologize that is essentially

how to write a literature review um it's

not

nice um it's you know it's a combination

of

hard work sitting down in writing but

also sort of

mental uh gymnastics where you're just

always trying to formulate new

ideas and really this is a warm-up act

to

what your phd thesis and your phd

research will be

because it really is your brain that

will produce

the the unique connections that will

make your

research novel new interesting and add

to the field

that your question your research

proposal sits in so

yes those are the five

steps to write a literature review i

hope it's helpful good luck

let me know in the comments what you

would add um to

those five steps or if there's anything

that you've picked up while writing your

literature review that you'd like to

share

uh with other people and i shall see you

in the next video