Summary
Highlights
A literature review is like catching up with an old friend; it brings you up to speed on the key concepts, the current state of knowledge, and reveals gaps, debates, and potential areas for contribution in your field.
After downloading relevant articles, use the 'strip method' to extract key information. For each paper, record the citation and pull out important findings, summaries, and quotes. Organize this in a word document, ensuring to cite properly to avoid plagiarism. Focus on what authors did, what they found, and their suggestions for future research, noting any contradictory information.
As you extract information, a structure or 'conceptual framework' for your literature review will begin to emerge. This framework can be chronological, problem-solution based, individual vs. population level, or themed. This structure will be the backbone of your paper and helps organize your findings. Once you have a framework, expand your search using the 'snowball method' by tracing references in the papers you've already found to discover more relevant studies.
The PEER system (Point, Example, Explain, Repeat) guides academic writing, particularly for paragraphs. Each paragraph should start with a clear 'Point' (topic sentence), followed by 'Examples' or evidence from your research, an 'Explanation' of why that evidence supports your point, and a 'Repeat' or linking statement back to your main point. This approach ensures clarity and coherence in your writing.
Write your conclusion first, as you have already summarized your findings. A conclusion should summarize your recapitulate your findings, discuss limitations of your review or the evidence, and offer suggestions for future research or policy. Finally, write the introduction, which is often the hardest part. The introduction should grab the reader's attention by explaining why the topic is important, highlight gaps or debates in the knowledge, and specifically state the motivation for your literature review.
Begin your literature review by performing an initial search on Google Scholar. Download the top 10-15 relevant papers to get your feet wet and start understanding the field. This initial step is about learning and exploring, not overthinking.