A practical guide to writing a literature review

This video will cover

01:54 Find your sources

02:30 Evaluate and organise your references

03:09 How to structure your literature review

Tips for writing a literature review for your paper.

Hello and welcome. My name is Dr Bareq Abdulhadi, and I’m a lecturer and a department coordinator at Al-Mustaqbal University in the city of Babylon in Iraq.

Today, we are diving into an essential part of your academic writing, which is the literature review. Whether you are a student, a researcher or just starting out, this video will guide you through simple, practical tips to craft a strong literature review for your paper.

Let’s get started.

Tip 1: understand the purpose. 

First things first, a literature review: what is it and why do you need it? A literature review is a summary, an analysis of existing research relevant to your topic. Its purpose is to show that you understand the field, identify gaps in the research and set the stage for your paper. So, think about it as building the foundation for your work.

Tip 2: you need to start with a clear research question.

Before diving into the literature, define your research question or objective. This will guide your research. For example, instead of saying: “I want to write about the climate change”, which seems to be a very wide topic, you might want to say: “What are the impacts?” You might want to ask: “What are the impacts of urbanisation on climate change?” It’s a more focused question. This question, this focused question, will help you to narrow down your research and keep you on track, which will make it easier, so you can move through it.

Tip 3 is to search strategically.

Now it’s time to find your sources. Use academic databases like PubMed, JStor or Google Scholar. Remember to use keywords related to your topic as well. So, for example, for urbanisation and heat, you might use keywords like “urban heat island” or “city climate impact” or “urban environmental changes”.

And this is a pro tip: keep a list of your search terms to stay organised, so you don’t lose them and you know how to categorise them.

Tip 4: evaluate and organise references.

All your references. Not all references are equal, obviously, so you need to prioritise peer-reviewed articles, books and reputable journals. Ask yourself, is the source relevant? – to your work, obviously. Is it credible? Does it seem right?

Once you have selected your sources, organise them into categories, and this is what I spoke about before. So, when you categorise them, either by theme, methodology or chronology, this makes it easier to write your review.

Tip 5: write and revise.

When writing, start with an introduction that explains the scope of your review and research question. Then summarise key findings from your references, highlight gaps and explain how your paper will fill these gaps.

Use subheadings to structure your review as well. You can do that. For example, you can do: 1. theoretical background; 2. recent studies; and 3. research gaps.

Remember, don’t forget to paraphrase and cite properly to avoid plagiarism.

Also, after writing, revise. Check for clarity, logical flow and consistent formatting. Use the journal template for consistent formatting as well.

In conclusion, there you have it, simple tips for writing a literature review. Remember to stay organised, evaluate your references critically and structure your review clearly. With these steps, you will create a strong foundation for your paper.

Thank you for watching and hope to see you soon. Thank you.

Bareq Ali Abdulhadi is a lecturer and coordinator of the department of building and construction techniques engineering in the College of Engineering and Technology at Al-Mustaqbal University, Iraq.