Structuring your Literature Review

Structure, Type and Purpose

 

The structure you develop for your Literature Review will very much depend on the type and purpose of review you are doing. Certain types of reviews – such as Systematic Reviews – use strict protocols that you are required to use will determine the structure for you. If you are writing a review as part of a journal article, word limit may also be a factor in your decisions about structure. A stand-alone Narrative Review that forms a part or chapter of a thesis will require more thought about the structure.

For more information about Systematic and Meta-Analysis review procedures and protocols, you should consult the library guide on Systematic Reviews.

 

Structure and Synthesis

 

In thesis writing, effective Literature Reviews are organised thematically, not simply chronologically, although there may be places where this is appropriate. You need to synthesise the key thematic elements of your reading into sub-sections, comparing and contrasting ideas and highlighting the ways in which these themes are relevant to your own study. This can be a long chapter, so it may be a good idea to divide it with sub-headings to show the trajectory of your review.

 

Notetaking and Matrices

 

Effective notetaking practices will save you a lot of time when it comes to organising and writing your Literature Review. There are many ways to keep records of your reading, and these practices are usually personal – you need to use what works for you. It is a good idea to take advantage of the various note fields in your reference management system (such as Endnote) to record key words, critical summaries, important quotations (with page numbers!) etc, but you will probably need a way to compare readings as well.

A matrix can help you record common thematic elements from your reading and identify areas of convergence and divergence. You can develop a simple matrix using a spreadsheet, such as Excel, which will allow you to search and filter efficiently.  A matrix will generally look something like the figure below, although they can vary in their complexity depending on your aims.

Author/s and citation	Study context, aim and design	Theme 1	Theme 2	Theme 3 etc	Relevance, strengths, weaknesses etc
Author 1		x	x	x
Author 2			x
Author 3				x
Author 4 etc		x		x

The advantage of using a matrix is that it helps you see, compare and contrast key thematic elements from different readings in one place. This allows you to see where a structure might be emerging.

Another useful tool for sorting information from your reading is Covidence. For more information about where to find and how to use Covidence, see this library guide.