Literature Review - A Self-Guided Tutorial: 7. Write

A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list summarizing one piece of literature after another. Organize the literature review into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory. You are not trying to list all the material, but to synthesize and evaluate it according to the guiding concept of your thesis or research question.

Use Evidence

Back up your interpretation of the sources with evidence to demonstrate the validity of your point of view.

Be Selective

Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review.  They should directly relate to your focus.

Use Quotations Sparingly

Less is more. If you want to emphasize a point or if an author's phrasing simply cannot be rewritten in your own words, you may use a direct quotation (like certain terms coined by an author).

Summarize & Synthesize

Summarize and synthesize your sources within each paragraph as well as throughout the review.

Maintain your own voice

You can maintain your own voice by starting and ending with your own ideas and words. The sources support what you are saying.

Paraphrase Carefully

Represent the author's words accurately and in your own words. Cite.

Basic Outline of a Literature Review

While different disciplines handle literature reviews differently, like other types of academic papers, literature reviews must contain at least three basic elements:

• Introduction/Background: Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature review, such as the central theme or organizational pattern.
• Body: Contains your discussion of sources
• Conclusions/Recommendations: Discuss what conclusions you have drawn from reviewing the literature so far

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