- The Sunday Scientist
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- #34 3 Strategies to write your literature review
Read time: 5 min.
Writing a PhD literature review is a challenging task.
But there are strategies you can use to make it easier.
If you follow these tips, you will be less confused and less stressed.
1. What is your main argument?
This is one of the most important things when writing.
State your central argument as soon as possible.
Each chapter of your dissertation is here to serve a function.
Each chapter contributes to the overall argument of your thesis.
In the literature review, the main argument has typically two parts:
Identification of a research gap
Showing the importance of addressing this gap.
The whole literature review should focus on these two parts.
One way of doing so is to have the main argument in a short paragraph of 2 or 3 sentences.
When you write your literature review, keep an eye on this short paragraph.
If what you write doesn’t serve your main argument, just remove it.
From my experience, spending time on writing your main argument can make you stay focused.
You could ask yourself:
What is my literature review? And why does it matter?
This is the best way to clarify your thoughts and guide your writing.
2. Don’t get lost
It’s easy to get lost in the literature.
I remember spending too much time summarizing the literature instead of being critical of it.
So I was listing studies without connecting them to my main argument.
But, the literature review should do more than that. You should analyze, explain the findings of others and how your research is related.
You don’t want (your reader) to get lost in the literature you mention in your manuscript.
Typically, each section and subsection should develop and expand a specific point.
And the literature you cite should backup and illustrate your argument.
Not just be included for the sake of the review exercise.
The literature you cite should back up and illustrate your argument. It should not be included for the sake of completeness.
That’s how your voice/argument stays the main point of your review. And that’s how your argument drives this specific part of your dissertation or manuscript.
If you don’t have a clear argument you might risk ending up collecting references with no clear direction.
3. Write early and quickly
You might think that it’s better to read everything you can before writing.
In reality, the sooner you start writing your literature review, the better.
Your first draft is just a draft.
It doesn’t have to be perfect.
What I like to do is the following:
Get a broad structure or outline
And organize the review with the main themes/sub-arguments
If you don’t stop it never ends. The result is endless reading and note-taking.
Also, what might help is to get started with your data collection/experiments.
This can help you clarify your literature review.
Well, that's all for this week.
These strategies can help you approach the literature review with more clarity and confidence.
Let us know in the comments if you have other suggestions.
For more in-depth guidance on writing your PhD literature review, check out my other posts.
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
A nice conversation with research managers in France around funding opportunities.
Research landscape analyses with a large corporation.
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