12/30/23, 4:36 PM How to write a literature review How to write a literature review Site: DkIT Moodle 2023-2024 Printed by: Damian Daly Course: Student Learning and Development Centre Date: Saturday, 30 December 2023, 4:35 PM Book: How to write a literature review https://2324-moodle.dkit.ie/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=224185 1/4 12/30/23, 4:36 PM How to write a literature review Table of contents 1. What is a Literature review 2. Literature review – a guide https://2324-moodle.dkit.ie/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=224185 2/4 12/30/23, 4:36 PM How to write a literature review 1. What is a Literature review Literature reviews are often part of a larger piece of academic writing (for example, a chapter in a dissertation) but can also be a standalone pieces of research (such as review articles in academic journals). The aim of a literature review is to identify any gaps that your research will attempt to address, to assist in the development of your enquiry and to give the reader a better understanding of the subject. The purpose of a literature reviews is: To identify significant pieces of research on a topic. To set the scene and provide the context for your research in terms of the content and methodology. To acknowledge the relevant work that has been done by others in the field. To identify any possible gaps in the research and to justify your own enquiry. To identify the terminology and methodology associated with the research. It should not: Explain the methodology of your approach. List everything that has been published on a topic. Publish the findings of your own research. Criticise other scholars’ writing on the subject. https://2324-moodle.dkit.ie/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=224185 3/4 12/30/23, 4:36 PM How to write a literature review 2. Literature review – a guide This is a lovely resource which will help you understand what is required in a literature review. This is a very quick guide and for more details you should follow the detailed chapters of this book. It is advisable to ask your lecturer for a breakdown of the expected word count. It is of note, this is a guide only and your lecturers instructions should be followed first and foremost. Title: A concise title that accurately represents the focus and scope of the review. Focus on the key issues or variables and avoid irrelevant detail. An example might be ‘The effectiveness of academic writing support for undergraduate students: A literature review’. You must include a title. Your title page should also include your name. You should also include the word count (excluding abstract, reference list and appendices), course details and the date of submission. Abstract: This provides a summary of the work that includes the background and purpose of the review, the approach taken, the main findings and the conclusion. You should have approximately 3 sentences on each of these. The abstract should be somewhere between 200 and 350 words however, you should be guided by your lecturer. Introduction: This section has three main functions: (i) it provides some background and context for the review and (ii) it explains the purpose of the review and (iii) tells the reader what will be covered and where the information has been gathered from. Always start with the more general, broader context and then narrow down to the specifics of the issue you are looking at. When you explain the purpose of the review you should clearly define the question you are trying to answer or, issue you are trying to address and explain why it is worth doing. This is the rationale and it is very important. Main body: This forms the bulk of the report. In this section you will present and discuss the evidence you have found in a clear way. It is helpful to organise your review using themes. These are the categories that come from the literature itself. For example, if you were conducting a review of support for academic writing, one theme might be the role of generic writing support and another theme might be the role of discipline-specific writing instruction. You can use sub-headings to highlight themes. In your writing, be sure to use full paragraphs. Each paragraph should deal with a specific point/issue and have a beginning, middle and end. Pay attention to the balance between description and analysis, synthesis and critique. Some description is necessary but focus on explaining the evidence, assessing it and considering what it tells us about the issue. Ensure that you compare and contrast findings from different studies. These source may be useful -https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/1/1710/Critical_Thinking.pdf or About Academic Phrasebank - Academic Phrasebank Conclusion: Use the evidence presented to draw conclusions about the issue/question. What can we say?, So what was the point? The conclusion should be focused on meaning –what does the evidence tell us and what are the implications? For example, we might conclude that while discipline-specific writing instruction is crucial, this does need to be supplemented with accessible generic support and this is particularly important for some groups of students. Don’t introduce new ideas or new evidence in this section. Recommendations: Identify some actions that should be or could be taken on the basis of the evidence reviewed and your conclusions. For example, you might recommend that all academic programmes include academic writing as part of the curriculum. These should follow logically from the literature review and be quite specific to the issue/question you have addressed. Avoid very general and vague recommendation and, again, don’t introduce new ideas. You can use bullet points in this section. References: The purpose of this section is to provide your reader with a full list of all sources used in writing the paper and enough information to allow him or her to find them: You should include a full Reference section that lists in full every source you have cited in-text in alphabetical order, Make sure you follow DkIT Harvard referencing guidelines, Pay close attention to referencing guidelines for online material. The Reference section is not part of the word count and there is no word limit. https://2324-moodle.dkit.ie/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=224185 4/4
