Why Write a Literature Review?
- Ensures that you are not "reinventing the wheel".
- Gives credits to those who have laid the groundwork for your research.
- Demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem.
- Demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and research issues related to your research question.
- Shows your ability to critically evaluate relevant literature information.
- Indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize the existing literature.
- Provides new theoretical insights or develops a new model as the conceptual framework for your research.
- Convinces your reader that your proposed research will make a significant and substantial contribution to the literature (i.e., resolving an important theoretical issue or filling a major gap in the literature).
Most Students' Literature Reviews Suffer From:
- Lack of organization and structure
- Lack of focus, unity and coherence
- Being repetitive and verbose
- Failing to cite influential papers
- Failing to keep up with recent developments
- Failing to critically evaluate cited papers
- Citing irrelevant or trivial references
- Depending too much on secondary sources
Taken from: "How to Write a Research Proposal" by Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C.Psych
A Literature Review is NOT:
Step-by-Step Guides
Writing Literature Reviews: A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 7th ed. by 