1. Create the outline for your literature review. Some things to consider when creating this outline:
- What do you hope to prove or define with this review?
- Organize your resources and thoughts in a way that clearly articulates the point you are trying to define. Consider the common themes, debates, keywords, methodologies, and findings throughout your literature review. The structure of your literature review should be balanced and concise.
- Your outline should consist of a introduction, body of your paper, and conclusion. When writing your paper, do not forget to include your reference page. EndNote (if used) will help you generate this page with ease.
- Determine how you want to structure your literature review. Some ways to structure your review are chronologically, thematically, or methodologically. More information on these structures can be found at OWL Purdue: Writing a Literature Review
2. Write your literature review. Your literature review should include the following:
- Introduction:
- what is the purpose of this literature review? What is your research question? What do you hope to define or prove with this literature review? How did you find your literature? What were the keywords or search terms you used and how did you analyze the literature in order for it to make the final cut for your review?
- Body:
- Summarize and synthesize - give a summary of the main points of the literature you chose for the review and combine the points into an organized and concise whole.
- Analyze and interpret - talk about your analysis of each source and add your interpretations where you can. This is your review of the literature, so add your thoughts on the literature and discuss the significance of the findings and how those findings relate to the literature compiled for this review.
- Evaluate - discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the literature. What gaps did you identify with your review?
- Conclusion:
- Summarize the key insights you identified in your literature review and highlight their significance to the research being done.
- Connect your conclusion back to your research question and the purpose of the review.
- Reference Page - this page usually does not count towards your final page count, but it is required. EndNote can help with organizing and building your reference page. If you need help, contact a librarian or stop by the library research desk.
Here is a short YouTube video from Scribbr (2020) on how to set up and write your literature review.