#33 The role of a Literature Review

Read time: 5 min.

What’s a literature review? And what’s the point of doing one?

The literature review is an important part of your PhD dissertation. Or for your manuscripts (articles, conference proceedings, etc.)

A literature review has 3 main objectives:

1. Situating your research in the Academic Context:

No research exists in isolation; it builds on previous work.

To contribute original knowledge, you must first know what is already known in your field.

That’s what you do with your literature review.

You present an up-to-date overview of existing studies.

This helps you:

• identify gaps your research will address

• convince readers of the significance of the gap(s) you will fill.

This is not a small task. You need to show that a specific gap exists.

And to do so, you must present a comprehensive overview of the current state of research.

This requires some effort. But it’s essential to justify the originality and importance of your work.

Think of the literature review this way: “Here’s what we already know, and here’s what we don’t.” You want to show that the gap you identified is real and worth addressing.  

2. Making the case for your research:

 Another important role of the literature review: Justify your research

Why are you doing this research project?

The literature review helps you answer this question.

How? By finding problems in the existing literature.

For instance:

• issues with existing methodologies

• gaps in empirical understanding

• population gaps

• geography gaps

• etc..

With your literature review you explain the issue.

And position your research as the way to address this issue.

Think of your research as a new type of car.

To develop this new car, you need to understand how old cars are made.

What works, what doesn’t, and where we can improve.

That’s how you can innovate and justify the innovation.

Your PhD/Manuscripts operate the same way:

To make an original contribution, you must understand the current debates in your field. And identify the problems within them.

This is how the literature review makes the case for your research.

And positions your study as a valuable contribution to your field.

3. Understanding of your field:

 Final goal of a literature review: improve your understanding of your field. This makes you a better researcher.

When you do a literature review, you get to know more about the key debates, theories, and findings in your field.

This helps you to make informed contributions to your discipline.

And if you demonstrate this understanding to your PhD examiner, you also get credibility as a scholar.

Connecting the Literature Review to Your Research Questions

Whether in your PhD dissertation or your manuscripts, the literature review should lead to your research questions.

These questions are designed to fill the gaps you have identified.

As mentioned earlier, when a reader reads your literature review, he should:

• clearly see the gap

• understand why it’s important to fill it

The connection between the gap and the research question must be clear.

One tip: avoid questions that are disconnected from the gap you are addressing.

Well, that's all for this week.

Let us know in the comments if you have other suggestions.

As always, if you need clarification or assistance with your research projects, feel free to reach out to me, and I will respond.

See you next Sunday!

Jamal

My favorite things this week

1. I conducted several webinars recently on various topics (Emerging topics in Science and Researchers profiles). Many interesting interactions with the participants from Europe, Middle-East and Africa!

2. Great discussions with a leading university in Qatar.