How To Write A Literature Review From Start To Finish (Full Tutorial)

Summary

This video tutorial guides viewers on crafting an effective literature review for research papers or theses, regardless of the academic field. It emphasizes identifying key topics and subtopics derived from research aims, maintaining a clear purpose, and avoiding excessive description. The presenter advises structuring the review from general to specific themes, using varied referencing patterns to enhance coherence. The video concludes with an offer for a free consultation to help researchers publish in top journals.

Takeaways

• 📚 The literature review is a challenging section of academic writing that requires a structured approach.
• 🎯 Identifying main topics or themes is crucial at the outset of a literature review to avoid being overwhelmed.
• 🔍 Derive topics and subtopics for the literature review from the research aim or questions to ensure relevance.
• 🧭 Having a clear destination or purpose for each section of the literature review helps maintain focus and direction.
• ❓ The 'so what' question is essential to guide the literature review, ensuring every point made has a clear purpose.
• 🚫 Avoid being overly descriptive; instead, be critical and focus on the significance of the studies being reviewed.
• 🔄 Vary the referencing pattern to create a coherent narrative and to avoid repetitiveness in the literature review.
• ⏳ Structuring the literature review from general to specific or chronologically can help in presenting a logical flow of information.
• 🔗 Use varied sentence structures to link studies and ideas, enhancing the narrative and argumentation in the review.
• 💡 Remembering the 'so what' question is key to writing an effective literature review that is more than just a description of previous work.

Q & A

What is the main challenge people face when writing a literature review?

The main challenge people face when writing a literature review is identifying the main topics or themes to focus on due to the overwhelming amount of literature available in any broad area.

Why is it important to derive main topics or subtopics from the aim of your study or research questions?

Deriving main topics or subtopics from the aim of your study or research questions helps to ensure that the literature review is relevant and focused, avoiding the pitfall of being too descriptive and going off on tangents.

What is the purpose of discussing main themes and subthemes in a literature review?

Discussing main themes and subthemes in a literature review is essential for guiding the reader towards the research gap and the research aim, ensuring that the review is directed and contributes to the overall argument of the paper or thesis.

How does knowing the destination of the literature review help in writing it?

Knowing the destination of the literature review helps in maintaining focus and ensuring that each section and paragraph contributes to the overall argument, avoiding aimless descriptions and ensuring a coherent narrative.

What is the 'so what' question and why is it important in a literature review?

The 'so what' question is a critical self-assessment that asks why a particular point is being made and what it contributes to the overall argument of the literature review. It helps in being more critical and ensuring that the review is not just a descriptive list of previous studies.

Why should a literature review not just describe previous studies?

A literature review should not just describe previous studies because it is meant to be an argument that supports the main thesis or point of the research. It should critically analyze and synthesize information to answer the 'so what' question.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when writing a literature review?

Common mistakes to avoid in a literature review include trying to cover too much, being overly descriptive, failing to establish a clear purpose or destination, and not critically engaging with the literature to answer the 'so what' question.

How can the structure of a literature review be organized?

A literature review can be structured from general to specific, chronologically, by fields or subfields, or by mixing and matching these approaches. The most common structure is general to specific, which helps in building a coherent narrative.

Why is it important to vary the referencing pattern in a literature review?

Varying the referencing pattern in a literature review helps to avoid a repetitive and list-like narrative. It allows for clearer connections between studies and contributes to a more coherent and logical flow of information.

What is the significance of the inverted pyramid structure in organizing a literature review?

The inverted pyramid structure, starting with more general information and moving towards specific details, helps in guiding the reader from a broad understanding of the field to the specific research gap and aim, which is the ultimate destination of the literature review.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Writing a Literature Review

The paragraph introduces the topic of literature review writing, a section of research papers and theses that many find challenging. The speaker, Kovic, aims to guide viewers on how to write and structure a literature review effectively, regardless of the academic field. Kovic emphasizes that while the literature itself varies widely, the method of reviewing it remains consistent across disciplines. The paragraph also mentions Kovic's role in helping PhD students and researchers publish in top journals and invites viewers to book a free consultation for closer collaboration.

05:01

🎯 Identifying Main Topics and Subtopics

This section focuses on the initial step of literature review writing: identifying the main topics or themes to be reviewed. It highlights the importance of narrowing down the vast amount of literature to manageable and relevant themes derived from the research aim or questions. Kovic uses an example of a study on plenary speakers at English language teacher conferences to illustrate how to select topics such as conference importance, plenary speakers, and representation issues. The paragraph stresses the need to be selective and relevant to avoid overwhelming detail and maintain focus on the research gap and aim.

10:03

🧭 Structuring the Literature Review

The paragraph discusses the structure of a literature review, suggesting a journey metaphor where the writer guides the reader towards the research gap and aim. It advises on clarifying the purpose of each section and using the 'so what' question to maintain criticality and relevance. The speaker warns against purely descriptive reviews and emphasizes the need for an argumentative approach that connects to the main thesis. Kovic also suggests structuring the review from general to specific topics or using chronological order, and organizing by fields or subfields. The paragraph concludes with advice on varying the referencing pattern to enhance coherence and storytelling in the literature review.

Keywords

💡Literature Review

A literature review is a comprehensive analysis of previously conducted research on a specific topic. In the context of the video, it is a critical section of a research paper or thesis where the author synthesizes and evaluates existing literature to identify research gaps and provide a foundation for their own study. The video emphasizes the importance of structuring the literature review to effectively guide the reader towards the research aim and gap.

💡Themes

In the video, themes refer to the main topics or areas of focus within the literature review. The speaker advises identifying these themes early on to avoid being overwhelmed by the vast amount of literature available. Themes are derived from the research questions or aims of the study, and they guide the direction of the literature review, ensuring that the discussion remains relevant and focused.

💡Subtopics

Subtopics are the more specific areas of investigation that fall under the broader themes of the literature review. The video script uses the example of plenary speakers at conferences to illustrate how subtopics can be explored within a theme. By breaking down themes into subtopics, the literature review becomes more organized and allows for a deeper exploration of each area.

💡Research Aim

The research aim is the overarching goal or objective of the study that the literature review is supporting. In the video, it is mentioned as the starting point for identifying themes and subtopics for the literature review. The aim provides direction and helps to ensure that the literature review is aligned with the overall purpose of the research.

💡Research Gap

The research gap refers to the areas in the existing body of knowledge where further research is needed. The video script highlights the importance of the literature review in identifying this gap, which justifies the need for the current study. The literature review should lead the reader to understand why the research is necessary and how it will contribute to filling the gap.

💡Critical Analysis

Critical analysis in the context of a literature review involves not just summarizing previous studies but also evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, and implications. The video emphasizes the need for a critical approach, where the author asks 'so what' after each point made, to ensure that the literature review is more than just a descriptive account and serves to build an argument.

💡Structure

Structure in a literature review refers to the organization of the content in a logical and coherent manner. The video suggests structuring the review from general to specific topics, using an inverted pyramid model, which helps in building a narrative that leads the reader from broader concepts to the specific research aim and gap.

💡Chronological Order

Chronological order is one of the suggested methods for organizing the literature review, where studies are discussed in the order they were conducted. This method is particularly useful when the development of a research area over time is relevant to the study, as it allows the reader to see the evolution of ideas and methodologies.

💡Disciplinary Perspectives

Disciplinary perspectives refer to the different viewpoints or approaches from various academic fields that can be analyzed within a literature review. The video mentions organizing the review by fields or subfields, which allows the author to explore how different disciplines have approached the research topic and to integrate these diverse perspectives into their own analysis.

💡Referencing Patterns

Referencing patterns in a literature review are the ways in which previous studies are cited and incorporated into the text. The video advises against repetitive patterns, such as starting every sentence with an author's name, and instead suggests varying the pattern to create a more engaging and coherent narrative that effectively links studies and ideas.

Highlights

People often struggle with writing literature reviews in research papers or theses.

The video provides a guide on how to write and structure a literature review effectively.

The literature review process is universal across different fields of study.

Identify the main topics or themes for the literature review from the research aim or questions.

Avoid trying to cover everything in the literature review to prevent being overly descriptive.

Derive key topics and subtopics for the literature review from the study's aim.

The literature review should lead towards the research gap and aim.

Clarify the purpose and destination of the literature review journey for the reader.

Use the 'so what' question to ensure each section of the literature review has a clear point.

A literature review is an argument, not just a description of previous studies.

Focus on the results of studies and their relevance to your research.

Avoid waffling and be critical in presenting information that supports your main point.

Structure the literature review from general to specific or use a chronological order.

Vary the referencing pattern to create a coherent story in the literature review.

Use different strategies to link studies and show the logic in your literature review.

Remember the 'so what' question to maintain focus and relevance in your literature review.

Book a free one-to-one consultation for personalized guidance on writing research papers.

Transcripts

one of the sections in a research paper

or a thesis that people tend to struggle

most is the literature review that's why

in this video I want to show you exactly

how to write a literature review and how

to structure it so that after watching

it you can go off and write an excellent

literature review either for a paper or

for a thesis and this is going to work

regardless of the field that you're in

so I know a lot of people think oh you

know I'm doing theology and I'm doing

quantum physics I'm doing teaching

English and it's all completely

different

right the literature you will be

reviewing is completely different but

the way you write it is actually the

same so let's dive in and let's see how

this is done

now if you're new here my name iskovic

and I run academic English now where I

help PhD students and researchers

regularly publish papers in top journals

in the field and if you want to work

with me more closely then book a free

one-to-one consultation call the link is

right below this video and we'll see how

we can help you

so when it comes to the literature

review the first key thing that you need

to do at the very beginning is to

identify the main topics or the main

themes that you're going to be reviewing

the literature because in any broad area

right there are so many things to review

and so many topics that it can be

overwhelming and you don't have time no

space to do that either in a research

paper or in a literature review chapter

and the biggest mistake that you can

make is just to try to do everything and

try to do too much because that's going

to result in you being very descriptive

and lengthy and just like going off on a

tangent and not really getting to the

point that's why you want to identify

the key topics for your literature

review and subtopics how do you do that

well the easiest way is to derive them

from the aim of your study right or from

the research questions that you've got

so to give you an example a recent study

that we've done in investigates you know

who is a plenary speaker who is invited

to be a plenary speaker at conferences

for English language teachers right so

we've got a couple of topics in and

we're specifically looking at you know

ethnical representation and also in

terms of native and non-native speakers

right so what we've got here is a couple

of topics like for example we need to

review research on conferences more

specifically plenary speakers at

conferences we also then want to look at

you know another topic would be to look

at overall you know any any sort of

ethnic or discrimination in terms of

native non-native speakers overall in

English language teaching right because

that's another topic that that we're

doing here and also conferences in

general

um is a topic right why are scientific

conferences

um important and why why should we study

them why should anybody care right so

you take your research aim and then from

this you derive you know typically you

know three four main themes that you

want to discuss right that you need to

discuss in fact because the whole point

of the literature review is that you're

going towards the research Gap and

towards the research aim right so you

should only be discussing stuff that is

relevant

now when you've got these main themes

like let's say

um you know plenary speakers at

conferences or conferences more General

then you know we can talk about

subtopics within them right we need to

look at plenary speakers or maybe all

the speakers invited you know and we can

look at research in my field teaching

English but if there is no research in

that field and we want to look at other

fields like I don't know biology quantum

physics whatever other research we can

find right if there's no research on

specifically on ethnicity what we are

interested in what we could look at

gender representation of plenary

speakers at Major conferences right

these are all subtopics that we're going

to be discussing within this broader

topic of let's say conferences and

plenary speakers right so that's another

thing first identify the main themes and

then identify the sub themes

now once you've done that well you need

to clarify to yourself is where you're

actually going with it think about it

like this you know think about the

literature review as a journey on which

you're going and you're taking the

reader along with you if you have no

idea what the destination of that

journey is then clearly you're not going

to be able to get that or you're just

going to go like it is and just get lost

right whenever we sit in a car or we go

somewhere usually like we kind of go we

kind of know where we're going and then

we get directions from ways or Google

Maps how to actually get to that place

but the first point is to actually know

the destination and to understand how to

do that is to is to kind of answer the

question why why am I doing it so what

right so imagine like you've presented

something on you know on plenary

speakers at conferences and you've

described previous studies and what you

know

representation and balance tons of

plenary speakers they found at

conferences but so what like I mean what

is your point what are you trying to

show us right if you're for example

trying to show us that you know there is

a lot of gender discrimination at

scientific conferences in terms of who

gets invited as a plenary speaker then

say that that's your why that's your

main point that's where you're going

right and on a more General level where

you're going with all of it is towards

the research Gap and towards the

research aim but the purpose in every

section paragraph should be clear to the

reader so a good trick is to just ask

yourself so what once you've written a

paragraph So what and tell the reader so

what why what is the destination what

should they know from it right

now

this will really help you to be more

critical in the literature review which

is a very important element what happens

in the one of the biggest mistakes that

I see when I start working with my

clients is that it's very descriptive

right they just kind of describe and

describe and describe the previous

studies but it's not going anywhere the

you know people give a lot of details

about how the study was conducted where

it was conducted what happened in the

study and a ton of details about the

results but it's just a description of

the study but a literature review is not

a description of previous studies a

literature review is an argument right

that goes to our main thesis our main

point answers the so what question right

so in order to do that you need to avoid

waffling avoid describing studies and

get to the point you know most of the

time what we're interested in is the

result of the study don't tell us what

the topic of this study was how it was

conducted all that stuff tell us what

they found what they observed and how

this relates to the to other studies and

how this relates to your study that's

the key in the literature review of

course

sometimes it might be relevant to tell

us what the methodology of a particular

study was be

you want to make a specific point about

the methodology you want to point out

that the methodology that previous

Studies have been using is faulty and

that everybody uses this faulty

methodology and of course it makes sense

right so it all comes down to kind of

knowing the purpose the destination

where you're going right and then rather

than describing stuff just being

critical and only presenting relevant

things that are connected to your main

point that you're trying to prove or

show us in the literature review now

another really important thing is of

course how to structure the whole thing

right a very easy way to do that is to

structure it from General to specific

you can think of it as an inverted

pyramid right where your destination is

the pyramid Apex at the very bottom

which is your research aim the research

Gap and then you start with more General

stuff and you go like this to more

specific stuff right that's a really

easy way of structuring things another

way that might make sense when it comes

to structuring is chronological order

right so if you're trying to present the

development of something of let's say a

particular research area in your field

then structuring it from the oldest to

the newest might make sense as well

right sometimes it also might make sense

to organize your literature by fields or

subfields so let's say if you have a

more multi-disciplinary take on

something well you can show us how

psychologists have investigated this

issue neuroscientists sociologists

economists right and then bring all

those perspectives together right but

you would be organizing it by those

different fields but by far the most

common way is just kind of General to

specific and of course you can mix and

match them in different paragraphs or in

different sections of your literature

review now in order to be able to show

the reader the logic and tell a coherent

story we also need to do is to is to

vary the pattern in which you're

referring to studies in the literature

review so what I see very often is that

people just start each sentence with the

name of the author and say what they did

so they will say stuff like you know

Gonzalez studied X Y and Z in addition

you investigated X Y and Z and finally

kitchkovic also studied X Y and Z right

now what this does is that a it makes

your text very repetitive B it's much

more difficult to draw connections

between those studies because it's just

that it is going to end up being a

descriptive list of things so what you

want to do is you want to vary the

referencing pattern of course sometimes

you can start with the research and say

like you studied x y and z but then in

the following sentence probably makes

more sense like to for example say

um this issue has also been investigated

by several other researchers right

right and you see with this issue we

provide a clear connection right or you

can simply expand on that issue and and

say like you know one of the effects of

this problem is blah blah blah and then

at the end just put a reference to a

study right so the way you start your

sentence allows you to link to the

preceding centers and to have a more

coherent story in your literature review

so this is how you write and you

structure a really good literature

review and if you're going to remember

just one thing from this video is this

why the so what question this is crucial

right when you're writing the literature

review don't please don't just waffle

and describe what other people have done

ask yourself why what is my point what

am I trying to tell the reader here and

tell the reader that and only use

relevant information to do that right if

you're interested in learning how to

regularly write such papers and you want

to work with me more personally then

book are completely free one-to-one

consultation we're going to jump on a

zoom call and see what challenges you're

facing when it comes to writing research

papers and then show you how we might be

able to help you resolve these

challenges so you get to publish your

research in much better journals and the

link is right below this video

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