Help with Dissertation Literature Review Writing

A dissertation has different sections and part of that involves writing a literature review. Your dissertation can never be complete without a literature review section. So, what is a literature review? Understanding its definition and requirements will give you an easy time writing it. In this section, you will be expected to look at past studies that highlight work done and gaps that exist in research. Most importantly, the sources under review should be relevant to the chosen topic.

Literature review sections are written after the introductory part of a dissertation paper. Once you have introduced your topic, you will be expected to provide a thorough review of literature that informed your choice of topic. This is the section that clearly shows the study gaps and the achievements that have been made in past studies. This information will be crucial to your current research hence the reason why it forms an important part of your dissertation. 

Important Tips about Literature Review

As you prepare to write a literature review in your dissertation, it is important to take note that it will cover at least a quarter of your completed work. Therefore, you should capture enough information drawn from different sources touching your topic of interest. The objective is not to list various sources and write information about them. Your work is to pick certain themes related to your topic and discuss how they have been captured in different sources.

• Pick Valid Sources. To make sound arguments and write conclusive reports, make sure you select credible sources of information. Use scholarly sources and peer-reviewed materials to help you in writing your literature review section.
• Use subtopics. Literature review is written in continuous prose but with various subtopics. The writing is usually presented in a format providing facts and information that helped to build your dissertation topic.
• Information and thoughts should be presented interchangeably as drawn from various authors in the chosen field of study. As you do this, remember to subdivide it into various headings. This will make the section appealing to read and clear on the subject under discussion.
• Review your literature guided by the research questions. Your review should not be pointless. It should revolve around the research questions usually listed and discussed in the introductory part of your paper. Once you have identified the key questions that will drive your dissertation, then you can easily develop your literature review section around them. This will provide meaningful information and facts that will help you develop your dissertation.
• Provide key findings of past research works. Don’t just focus on the themes of your research but also on finding evidence of what has been achieved so far.

Final Thoughts

Every bit of writing in a dissertation requires a thorough study and research on the best practices and approach. Therefore, it is important to make sure that you are well-knowledgeable so that you don't write a literature review for the sake of it. This information will be useful in helping you sail through the process and write a professional dissertation.