Writing a Literature Review: Writing

As you write your review, consider these ways of expressing your ideas:

• Compare and contrast views of different authors.
   
• Criticize previous work.
   
• Highlight gaps in existing research.
   
• Show how your work relates to previous work.
   
• Identify problems, conflicts, debates, gaps.
   
• Define a research area in a new way.
   
• Question previous results.

There are two primary ways to organize and structure a literature review: chronologically and thematically.

• A chronological literature review presents sources in the order of their publication.
• The thematic literature review groups sources based on: 
  • themes
  • theoretical concepts
  • topics that the author consider important to their research

A literature review should include:

• an overview of the subject, issue, or theory under consideration
• group sources into categories and concepts (in support or against a particular position)
• present connections between the sources
• draw conclusions about those works that make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of your subject