WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW

1. How to organize a literature review

There are two primary ways to organize and structure a literature

review: chronologically and thematically.

1.1. The Chronological Literature Review

In a literature review organized chronologically, you group and discuss your sources in order of their
publication date, highlighting the changes in research in the field and your specific topic over time.
This structure is useful for reviews focusing on how ideas have developed over time.
For example, a literature review on theories of Alzheimer’s disease might examine the literature by
first providing the earliest medical developments of treatment and progressing to the latest models
and treatments. This type of organization is related to what is referred to as a descriptive review in
which you sequence the review according to how your topic has been organized by others.

1.2. The Thematic Literature Review

In a review organized thematically, you group and discuss your sources in terms of the themes,
theoretical concepts, and topics that either you decide are important to understanding your topic or
that you have identified from reviewing the key studies on your topic. This structure is considered
stronger than the chronological organization because you define the theories, constructs, categories,
or themes that are relevant for you. In these types of reviews, you explain why certain information is
treated together, and your headings define your unique organization of the topic. The sequence of
the concepts or themes should be from general to specific.
For example, if the topic of the literature review is altruism in children, then you might develop
sections on the definitions of altruism, theories of altruism, the biological basis of altruism, the
benefits of altruism, etc.
Whether you choose a chronological or thematic structure, as you begin to write the sections of your
review, remember that the transitions you use will indicate to your readers your perspective on the
material. Good transitions connect ideas and paragraphs and help readers understand how ideas
work together, reference one another, agree or disagree, and build on one another. Your transitions
need to tell the reader how each new point or piece of evidence fits with the one before it and what
you think about it. Your reader should never have to figure out why you chose to include the
quotation or evidence you did, or what it means. The transitions weave together your argument as
you present the case for your proposed study.
In organizing your review, remember the aim is not simply to present and summarize the ideas about
your topic as they have been laid out over time by others. You need to write a review that
demonstrates that you understand the literature on your topic, have wrestled with the ideas, and
have synthesized the issues in a unique way. If you make sense of others’ ideas in the context of your
topic, your reader also can make sense of them.

2. The structure of a literature review

A literature review should be structured like any other essay: it should have an introduction, a middle
or main body, and a conclusion. After that references must be included.
2.1. Introduction (1 or 2 pages long)
The introduction should:

 define your topic and provide an appropriate context for reviewing the literature;
 establish your reasons – i.e. point of view – for
 reviewing the literature;
 explain the organization – i.e. sequence – of the review;
 state the scope of the review – i.e. what is included and what isn’t included. For example, if you
were reviewing the literature on obesity in children you might say something like: There are a
large number of studies of obesity trends in the general population. However, since the focus
of this research is on obesity in children, these will not be reviewed in detail and will only be
referred to as appropriate.

2.2. Main body (6 to 8 pages long)

The middle or main body should:

 organize the literature according to common themes;

 provide insight into the relation between your chosen topic and the wider subject area e.g.
between obesity in children and obesity in general;
 move from a general, wider view of the literature being reviewed to the specific focus of your
research.

2.3 Conclusion (Around 1 page long)

The conclusion should:

 summarize the important aspects of the existing body of literature;

 evaluate the current state of the literature reviewed;
 identify significant flaws or gaps in existing knowledge;
 outline areas for future study;

2.4. References
Your literature review must include all the works you have cited in your written production.

2.5. Use and follow APA style

Please be consistent when using APA style.

REFERENCES

The structure of a literature review: Retrieved from: https://www.rlf.org.uk/resources/the-

structure-of-a-literature-review/