how to write a literature review utas

University of Tasmania, Australia

Courses & units, literature review ksm724, introduction.

In this unit you will be provided with experience in developing a literature review - a critical research skill. You will be taught how to critically search, analyse and synthesise available literature to propose new ideas. This skill is essential if you wish to continue in a research career but also highly transferable to many other scientific and non-scientific work areas. You will use the scientific literature to write a review that includes: relevant background on the research topic; good coverage of important literature and key concepts; a critical analysis of current research in the field and potential future research directions. You will demonstrate your capacity to synthesise a sound understanding of the relevant literature by writing clearly and concisely in an academic manner. It is intended that where possible you will align the literature review from this unit with your Masters research project (if being completed) thereby providing research background in your chosen topic that can be directly incorporated into your final thesis.

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Learning Outcomes

• Locate, collate, and synthesise published literature from the natural and/or social science fields of knowledge.
• Develop skills and experience in literature research methods, tools, and analyses.
• Critically evaluate and synthesise authoritative information to develop convincing, evidence-based arguments or perspectives
• Write a scientific literature review at a standard acceptable for submission to a funding body or peer-reviewed journa

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University of Tasmania, Australia

Literature reviews.

• What is a literature review?
• How to develop a researchable question
• How to find the literature
• Taking notes
• How to bring it all together: examples, templates, links, guides

Preview the text to check for relevance. 

• the abstract
• introduction
• look at any charts, tables, graphs, diagrams

Check the number of times the article has been cited by others. The more times cited, the more important it might be. 

Read more deeply and let this guide the development of your question.

You may find that the more you read, your question changes or you discover a bigger topic or subtopics. 

Do not waste your time using a highlighter. Annotate the page and take notes. 

There are no shortcuts in this part of the process. 

For more information on managing your reading, go to the Study Toolkit in MyLO and check out the Academic Reading  and Writing module. 

Taking Notes

Use a synthesis matrix for note taking. This table c an be as simple or as complicated as you need

Advantages of using a synthesis matrix:

• allows you to  sort the ideas and thoughts while analysing and synthesising the research.
• helps make planning the structure and paragraph order easier 
• allows for paraphrasing and summarising before actually writing
• provides a clearer view of the relationship between different sources
• aids in identifying themes and patterns in the findings and conclusions.
• gives a glance view of each area under scrutiny

  The organisation/headings will change depending on the focus of your review. 

Using a spreadsheet will also help organise your reading and matrix. 

You will find some examples of a synthesis matrix to download at the bottom of this page. 

Example 1. 

C. Hartigan University of Tasmania

Example 2: Organised by themes.

from:  The Thesis Whisperer:Using a matrix to organise your notes

Example 3: Literature Review preparation.

Watch this short clip for some more ideas.  ( APA referencing is used in this clip)

• Synthesis matrix
• Literature Review Prep: Synthesis matrix: Johns Hopkins University
• << Previous: How to find the literature
• Next: How to bring it all together: examples, templates, links, guides >>
• Last Updated: Oct 18, 2024 2:06 PM
• URL: https://utas.libguides.com/literaturereviews

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Literature reviews

A literature review may form an assignment by itself, in which case the aim is to summarise the key research relating to your topic.  Alternatively, it may form part of a larger paper, such as a thesis or a research report, in which case the aim is to explain why more research needs to be done on your chosen topic.

Process of a literature review

click on each process for more information

1. Deciding on a research question or topic

Whether you’ve been given a topic by your teacher, or you’ve been asked to decide upon your own topic or research question, it’s best to rephrase the topic as a specific question that you’re attempting to answer.

If your purpose is to summarise the existing research on the topic, it may be quite appropriate to have a very broad question, such as the example below.

If your purpose is to justify the need to conduct further primary research, you will need a more specific research question which takes into account how the existing research has failed to adequately answer the question you’re planning to address. 

This question allows the writer to narrow the focus of their literature review and, hopefully, find gaps in the amount or type of research conducted into this very specific topic. Sometimes you may start with a broader topic or question, then conduct some initial research into the existing literature, and then narrow the focus of your research question based on what you find.

2. Searching the literature

When searching for relevant sources, it’s important to first decide the criteria you will use when trying to find existing research. This includes setting the scope of your research to decide what is important and why.

• your discipline
• the purpose of your research
• the amount of research that has been conducted on that topic
• the speed with which findings are considered no longer valid
• Which databases will you use? What types of journals are considered acceptable? Speaking with your teacher, and with a Librarian from UTS Library, can help you make these decisions.
• Are you focusing on research relating to a particular country, and if so, why?
• Are you focusing on particular research methods or specific theoretical approaches? If so, you need to explain to the reader what they are and why you have made these decisions.

3. Taking notes

What notes you take depends on your research question. Knowing what you’re trying to achieve or what question you’re trying to answer will help you choose what to focus on when reading the literature. Common aspects to look out for when reading include:

• the main research findings
• the researchers’ claims (usually based on their interpretation of the findings)
• where, when and how the research was conducted
• the scope and/or limitations of the research being reviewed

Remember to also take notes about your own response to the literature. If you see weaknesses in a particular study, or assumptions being made when interpreting the findings of a study, make a note of it, as your critical analysis of the literature is a key aspect of a literature review.

4. Grouping your materials

Before drafting your literature review, it’s useful to group together your sources according to theme. A good literature review is not structured based on having one paragraph for each paper that you review. Instead, paragraphs are based on topics or themes that have been identified when conducting your research, with various sources synthesised within each paragraph.

How you decide on your groupings will depend on the purpose of your literature review. You may be clear on this before you begin researching, or your themes may emerge during the research process. Examples can include:

• the methodology used to conduct the research
• the theoretical perspective used by the researchers
• themes identified when analysing the various research findings
• opinions presented by the researchers based on their analysis of the findings

5. Writing the review

Your literature review should tell some sort of story. After reading the various studies published on your topic, are you able to clearly answer your initial research question? If so, was it an answer you were expecting, and what evidence was most useful in helping you answer the question. If there is no clear answer to your question, is that because:

• not enough research has been conducted on the topic?
• the findings of the various studies are contradictory or inconclusive?
• the results are too dependent on a specific context?
• there are too many variables to consider?

Whatever you decide, you need to explain this clearly to your reader, guiding them through how you got to your answer by explaining what you were looking for and what connections you found when looking through the existing literature.

Structure of a literature review

Introduction

The introduction is usually one paragraph in a short literature review, or series of paragraphs in a longer review, outlining:

• the content being covered,
• the structure (or how the review is organised), and
• the scope of what will be covered.
• Literature reviews are usually organised so that each paragraph or section covers one theme or sub-topic.
• Each section ends with a brief summary which relates this theme to the main focus of the research area.

The conclusion summarises the main themes that were identified when reviewing the literature.

Click on each component for more information and some examples

• the limits of what will be covered.

Example introduction to a literature review

[1] Education  is one aspect of society that everyone has experienced, and that everyone therefore has an opinion about. However, despite decades of research into pedagogical approaches to education, there is still surprisingly little consensus regarding how learning and teaching should be conducted in order to be most effective. This is especially true with regards to critical pedagogy, which can be defined as the theory and practice of helping students achieve critical consciousness about what they are learning, how they are learning it, and the context which shapes both of these aspects (Windsor, 2018). [2] The  purpose of this literature review is to demonstrate the lack of analytical approaches to teaching in the higher education sphere, and the importance of critical pedagogy in enhancing curriculum development, teacher training and classroom practice. When reviewing the literature, it soon becomes clear that research studies in the ESL field are dominated by language instruction techniques, with less attention given to ways teachers can adopt a more critical stance with their learners (Pennycook 1999; Saroub & Quadros 2015). [3] For  the purposes of this review , respected ESL and Adult Education journals, online publications, unpublished theses and academic books from the late 1980s to 2016 will be examined, with a coverage of sources from Australia, the US, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Pennycook (1994, 1999), Giroux (1988) and Freire (1970) are commonly cited in these research studies. It is rare to find authors or research questioning the value of critical pedagogy; Ellsworth (1989) and Johnson (1999) are notable exceptions. [4] This  literature review covers two main areas. Firstly, research into what pre-service and existing teachers know and think about critical pedagogy is examined. The second area investigates teacher and student resistance to some critical teaching practices.

Rather than writing one paragraph for each piece of research being discussed, literature reviews are usually organised so that each paragraph (or section) covers one theme or sub-topic. These themes will differ depending on your topic and your purpose, but may relate to:

• different theoretical perspectives on your topic
• different ways of conducting research on the topic
• different sub-topics within the broader topic

Each section ends with a brief summary which relates this theme to the main focus of the research area. It may do this by focusing on parts of the topic where the literature agrees or disagrees. The body paragraphs should be well organised and structured. See our resources on  effective paragraph writing .

Example body paragraph from a literature review

[1] Resistance to change is another area that was found to restrict the adoption of critical teaching practices in the ESL area. [2] Canh and Barnard’s small case study (2009) of Vietnamese teachers’ capacity to take on a national curriculum change directed by the Vietnamese government found implementation was different from the ‘idealised world of innovation designers’ (p. 30). While also recommending better teacher training, they cited the need for an adjustment of teachers’ belief systems to make change happen, since an individual’s practice ‘behind the closed doors of their classroom’ (p. 21) is a largely unobserved space, despite mandated curriculum changes. [3] Similarly,   resistance and avoidance among EFL teachers was noted by Cox & De Assis–Peterson’s Brazilian study (1999). They found that teachers often avoided political language questions from students, for example, ‘Why should we learn English if we’re Brazilian?’ [4] This suggests that any uptake of critical practices may be more dependent on teacher attitudes, reflecting their internal reality, than on external factors.

Example conclusion from a literature review

[1] This review of relevant literature has quite clearly shown a lack of understanding of critical pedagogy among a range of teachers, despite the strong likelihood of it being included in their training. [2] It also demonstrated that many teachers used avoidance when faced with difficult topics or situations related to critical language education. [3] Calls for curriculum changes, better training and more teaching materials were common in research recommendations, and it may be that teachers’ personal attitudes also play an important role in changing classroom practice.

If the literature review is part of a larger research project, the conclusion should also summarise any gaps in the existing literature, and use this to justify the need for your own proposed research project. The types of gaps in the existing literature may relate to:

• a lack of research into a particular aspect of the topic, or
• the fact that existing evidence is conflicting or inconclusive, and therefore more evidence is required to help provide conclusive evidence, or
• problems in the methodology used in previous research, meaning that a different research method is required.

Literature review as an individual assignment

If the purpose of your literature review is to summarise the existing literature on a topic, you will be expected to:

• summarise the most important (or most recent) literature on your specified topic
• discuss any common themes that emerge in the literature, such as similar types of research that have been conducted, similar findings from the research, or similar interpretations of the findings
• discuss any differences in the research findings or interpretation of evidence from the literature
• Does the author make any assumptions that weaken their claims?
• Are the author’s claims supported by adequate evidence?
• Was the research conducted in a way that is valid and credible?
• Is there anything missing from their discussion of the topic?

Literature review as part of a thesis or research report

If your literature review is part of a thesis or research report, as well as doing everything listed above, you will also need to:

• discuss ‘gaps’ in the current literature, which means finding important areas of research that have not yet been adequately covered, or for which further evidence is still required
• explain the significance of your research
• show how your work builds on previous research
• show how your work can be differentiated from previous research (i.e. what makes your research different from previous studies that have been done on this topic?)

Verb tense in literature Reviews

Always consider the verb tense when presenting a review of previously published work. There are three main verb tenses used in literature reviews. Please click on each occasion to check which verb tense is appropriate. 

1. Describing a particular study

When describing a particular study or piece of research (or the researchers who conducted it), it is common to use past tense .

For example:

After conducting a meta-review of studies on effective exam preparation techniques, Wang & Li (2016) concluded that ….

2. Giving opinions about a study

If you are sharing your own views about a previous study, or conveying the views of other experts, then present tense is more common.

Although the research conducted by Lopez et al. (2017) was an important contribution to the field, their claims are too strong given the lack of supporting evidence.

3. Making generalisations

If you are making generalisations about past research, present perfect tense is used.

Several researchers have studied the effects of stress on very young children (Baggio, 2014; Suarez, 2017; Van Djik et al., 2020). 

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Nursing Research Overview

• Qualitative Vs Quantitative
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• Data Management
• Clinical Guidelines
• Literature Reviews
• Search Strategies
• APA Tutorials and Software
• Paper Formatting Basics
• Citation Tips
• Research Mavs
• RN-BSN Role Transition

Literature Review Full Guide

Literature Review Videos

• What is a Literature Review
• How to Write a Literature Review
• 4 Tips to Writing a Literature Review's Intro, Body, & Conclusion

• Scribbr Youtube Channel

Literature Review Breakdown

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