The literature review is a crucial aspect of any dissertation or thesis. It contains a major overview of different people. Writing a literature review without understanding the do’s and don’ts is like climbing a mountain without safety. However, we’ve analyzed countless literature reviews and identified several common mistakes that can hinder success.
Here is what we’ll cover in this guide:
- Do’s
- Don’t
- Mistakes You Must Avoid while Writing LR
- Explore the Landscape of Existing Literature Review
- Conclusion:
Do:
- Start Early: Initiate your literature review promptly in the dissertation process. This task demands thoroughness and patience, necessitating an early start.
- Define Your Scope: Delimit the review boundaries clearly. Determine the timeframe, geographic scope, and specific themes or concepts for focus.
- Be Systematic: Conduct a systematic search through academic databases, journals, books, and reputable sources. Maintain detailed records of your search strategy and findings.
- Evaluate Sources Critically: Assess the quality and reliability of each source, prioritizing peer-reviewed articles and studies with rigorous methodologies.
- Organize Effectively: Structure your literature review logically, whether chronologically or using a theoretical framework, to align with your research question.
- Synthesize Information: Try to identify key themes and gaps in the literature.
- Use Clear and Concise Language: Write with clarity and academic precision. Must avoid unnecessary jargon or complexity.
- Cite Properly: You must follow your institution or discipline’s citation style to credit original authors.
- Revise and Edit: Review your literature review multiple times for clarity and accuracy, which will help you seek feedback for refinement.
These are the crucial steps used to obtain high grades in the Dissertation and Thesis writing literature review. If you don’t have enough time to incorporate it properly in your work then the dissertation writer is here to enhance your overall academic word from head to toe.
Don’t:
- Rely Solely on Secondary Sources: While helpful for context, don’t focus primarily on secondary sources; prioritize original studies.
- Omit Relevant Studies: Include all pertinent studies to maintain integrity and credibility.
- Plagiarize: Always cite sources properly and paraphrase information to avoid plagiarism at all costs.
- Overgeneralize Findings: Avoid sweeping generalizations based on limited evidence; acknowledge study limitations.
- Lose Focus: Stay aligned with your research question, avoiding tangential topics.
- Neglect Recent Literature: Incorporate up-to-date research, not solely older studies, to reflect current trends and developments.
- Dismiss Contradictory Evidence: Acknowledge conflicting findings and interpretations, discussing their implications.
- Forget to Reflect: Reflect on literature implications for your research to identify key insights and unresolved questions.
- Procrastinate: Allocate sufficient time and resources for starting early and staying organized throughout the process.
Mistakes You Must Avoid while Writing LR
1. Over-reliance on low-quality sources:
- Avoid relying heavily on non-academic sources such as blog posts and news articles.
- Find reputable academic journals and books from established experts to build a strong foundation.
2. A lack of landmark/seminal literature:
- Acknowledge the key studies that have shaped your research area.
- Identify landmark literature by looking for highly cited articles and seminal works in your field.
3. A lack of current literature:
- Incorporate both classic and recent literature to provide a comprehensive overview.
- Highlight any key differences between older and newer research to demonstrate the evolution of the topic.
4. Description instead of integration and synthesis:
- Don’t just summarize each study; aim to integrate and synthesize the existing research.
- Identify gaps and areas of disagreement to provide a balanced perspective.
5. Irrelevant or unfocused content:
- Stay focused on your research aims, objectives, and questions.
- Only include content directly related to your topic to avoid unnecessary tangents.
6. Poor chapter structure and layout:
- Plan your literature review with a clear structure, including an introduction, body, and conclusion.
- Ensure a logical flow of arguments to guide the reader through your review effectively.
7. Plagiarism and poor referencing:
- You have to be highly careful to avoid plagiarism to make it original.
- Use a consistent referencing style and ensure all sources are properly credited.
These common pitfalls you must avoid to craft a literature review that impresses your readers and forms a solid foundation for your research. A well-executed literature review is essential for academic success.
Explore the Landscape of Literature Review
The literature review showcases a picture of covering the academic paper and topic. It helps you understand what’s already out there and how your work fits the bigger picture.
1. Introduction: You can start by introducing your topic and its importance. Explain why you’re reviewing the literature and what readers can expect from your review.
2. Summary of Existing Research: The key findings from the studies you’ve gathered, try to summarize that. Ensure to organize them logically to make them easier to understand.
3. Identify Gaps: Point out any gaps or unanswered questions in the existing research. This is where your work can make a contribution.
4. Methodological Approaches: Briefly discuss the methods used in the studies you reviewed. This gives context to the findings.
5. Conclusion: Wrap up by summarizing the main points of your review and reiterating its significance.
You must follow clarity as it is key for effective results. Use simple language and avoid jargon as much as possible. You aim to make the literature accessible to readers who may not be experts in your field. However, If you find it difficult to write your literature review or overall academic paper, then dissertation help is always here to help you.
Conclusion:
The literature Review is one of the significant sections of the dissertation and thesis. The writer has to be careful while crafting any academic piece LR. The blog contains dos and don’ts you must follow to craft compelling LR. So, before diving into the literature Review section, you must have a keen focus on it.
