Literature Review

Organization
INTRODUCTION
• Introductory paragraph
explains what your working
topic.
• Forecast the key topics or text
that will appear in the review.
• Potentially, a description of
how you found and how you
analyzed them.
BODY
• Summarize and synthesize
• Analyze and interpret
• Critically evaluate
• Write in well-structured
paragraphs
CONCLUSIONS
• Summarize the key findings
you have taken from the
literature and emphasize their
significant.
• Connect it back to your
primary research question.
 Types of Literature
Review
Organization

CHRONOLOGICAL THEMATIC METHODOLOGICAL

CHRONOLOGICA• The chronological framework
organizes the literature in the
L order in which they are
published.

• The thematic framework is similar

to organizing by trend, except that
you are not organizing the reviews
in the order that they were
published.
THEMATIC • This does not mean that you do not
consider the timeline for how a
topic or issue developed, but that
you will not focus on organizing
your reviews chronologically. 
METHODOLOGICAL
• The method or practice applied in a case study can be the basis for
organizing a literature review.
• This framework focuses on how the author(s) or the person(s)
administering a study applied similar methods as another study.
• As a result, the types of literature in a literature review that applies the
methodological framework tends to review similar materials.
WRITING YOUR LITERATURE
REVIEW
USE EVIDENCE

BE SELECTIVE
SUMMARIZE AND
SYNTHESIZE

PARAPHRASING
KEEP YOUR OWN
VOICE

USE QUOTES SPARINGLY