Once you have completed your reading and decided on your themes, you need to put the information from different sources into flowing paragraphs that clearly state your point.
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Sentences referring to the literature:
“Quite a few studies have investigated…”
“Previous research has mainly concentrated on…”
“Through literature analysis on this topic…”
“…overview of current research, conclusions, and existing theoretical assumptions…”
“Rowe later divided problems into…”
Sentences that compare different sources:
“Rush and Ogborne’s (1986) survey of Ontario treatment services and Brochu’s (1990) survey of private treatment in Quebec found that…”
“Papanek pointed out that… and McKim defined visual thinking…”
“One observational study (Kottner & Dassen, 2010) and one cohort study (Webster et al., 2010) concluded that…”
“These findings are further substantiated by …”
Sentences that evaluate the literature:
“This is surprising, because research on portfolio management emphasizes…”
“According to the results of the research, we can conclude that there is still no harmonized DT definition…”
“As DT continues to develop expansively and expands into different areas, we assume that definitions and phases will be increasingly dispersed and broadened…”
“Although several studies have investigated the effect of…, no previous study has included a control group…”
“Despite continuous efforts to raise awareness and reduce …, it was noted that…”
Sentences that highlight gaps in the literature:
“To the best of our knowledge, so far, no empirical study investigated whether…”
“Although there is empirical evidence that… little is known whether and how…”
“Second we follow the call for more empirical research on…”
“The literature search showed that there is little research focusing on…”
If the literature review is part of your own research project, you need to link your research to the literature:
“In the current study …”
“In presenting and reflecting on Rogers’ 1965 paper, we aim to revitalize interest…”
“ While this study shows… they were more likely to… This result contradicts the findings of other studies regarding…”
Position your research into existing knowledge:
“This research contributes to both literature on …. and …”
“Previous conceptual research stressed…This study provides the first empirical test of …”
“The current study contributes to the broader bodies of literature …”
Joyner, R. L., Rouse, W. A., & Glatthorn, A. A. (2018). Writing the winning thesis or dissertation: A step-by-step guide (4th ed.). Corwin.
Mongan-Rallis, H. (2018). Guidelines for writing a literature review. Education Department at the University of Minnesota Duluth. https://www.d.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litreview.html
Noble, H., & Smith, J. (2018). Reviewing the literature: Choosing a review design. Evidence Based Nursing, 21(2), 39-41. https://ebn.bmj.com/content/21/2/39.abstract
O’Leary, Z. (2021). The essential guide to doing your research project. Sage.
Pautasso, M. (2013). Ten simple rules for writing a literature review. PLOS Computational Biology, 9(7). https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi1003149
USC Libraries. (2022). Research guides: Organizing your social sciences research paper. University of Southern California. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/introduction/researchproblem
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