Guide for Writing an Effective Literature Review

📚 A literature review is a review of research that has already been done about a specific topic, allowing you to gain a clear picture of the current knowledge on that subject.

💡 Writing a literature review significantly increases your knowledge on a given subject and provides a foundation for your own original thoughts and ideas.

🔍 Before creating a literature review, it's important to understand if it is a standalone assignment or part of a larger assignment, as the structure may vary.

🔍 The process of writing a literature review is divided into four phases: search, organize, structure, and write.

📚 In the search phase, it is important to formulate a research question and conduct smart research by reading the abstract, introduction, and conclusion of relevant articles.

🔎 Using academic platforms like Google Scholar, one can find potentially relevant articles by copying and pasting the research question and paying attention to the citation count.

Using targeted searches through academic databases and Google can help find relevant articles.

Using specific keywords and Boolean search operators can refine search results.

Networking and utilizing reference lists can lead to finding additional research sources.

📚 An annotated bibliography includes a full reference list entry and a summary of each article.

📝 The summary in the annotation explains the problem addressed in the research.

🔍 Organizing sources and digesting the material before writing is crucial for a literature review.

🏗️ Creating a logical structure and selecting the order of information is important for the literature review.

📚 A literature review can be organized thematically, methodologically, or theoretically.

📝 Creating an outline is essential before writing a literature review.

🧩 Section headings in an APA formatted paper should be organized based on logical order.

📝 When writing a literature review, focus on the body portions first and then create the introduction and conclusion.

🔗 Use linking language to connect your sentences back to the source and add transitions between paragraphs.

💡 Include in-text citations in your annotated bibliography to make it easier to create your literature review.

📚 A literature review summarizes work done by other people and should include a thesis statement.

✨ The conclusion should reiterate the main points and either restate the thesis or introduce a new research direction.

🖊️ Editing and proofreading your literature review is crucial, and getting feedback from someone else can be helpful.