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It also details typical structure for journal articles and theses and provides practical language strategies.",{"@graph":14,"@context":77},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/writing-a-literature-review-summary/270299/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/writing-a-literature-review-summary/270299.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Miles","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-09-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69,73],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the purpose of a literature review in academic work?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It provides historical context, maps current debates, and discusses key theories and concepts. It also introduces relevant terminology, explains how the research extends or addresses gaps, and justifies the value of the study.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What are the five steps for planning a literature review?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Select a topic, search the literature, select and categorise sources, critique the literature, and write the review. The notes stage should use a system such as a table or matrix to manage themes and develop evaluation.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How should a literature review be structured in a journal article versus a thesis?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"A journal article review typically introduces the problem and context, sets the specific context, analyses past research, identifies gaps, and presents research aims and questions. A thesis version usually includes an introduction, a body organised by different logics, and a conclusion linking to the next chapter.",{"name":74,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":75},"Which language techniques are recommended for writing a literature review?",{"text":76,"@type":64},"Use evaluative language to show strengths and weaknesses, signposting words to compare sources, and reporting verbs to signal your position. Include different citation types and apply logical paragraph structure using topic sentences and supporting discussion, with hedgers and boosters to express degree of certainty.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":79,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":81,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":83,"site_id":7},270299,1789455353,{"code":4,"msg":86,"data":87},"success",[88,92,96,100,105,110,115,119,124,127,131],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},8,30,"research-report",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":126},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":128,"slug":130},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":134},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":86,"data":136},{"doc_id":83,"user_id":137,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":138,"doc_module":4,"category_id":116,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":139,"file_id":140,"file_url":141,"file_type":142,"file_size":143,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":26,"language":144,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":145,"faqs":146,"seo_title":147,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":84,"read_time":101,"preview_page_count":4},13056703019404,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Writing a literature review summary  \nIntroduction  \nThe literature review can be a chapter of your thesis or a section in a journal article where you identify the theories and previous research which have influenced your choice of research topic and the methodology you are going to adopt.  \nPurpose  \nA literature review will  \n• Provide a historical context for your research  \n• Provide an overview of current debates, issues and questions in the field  \n• Discuss relevant theories and concepts which underpin your research  \n• Introduce relevant terminology and definitions that relate to your research  \n• Explain how your research extends or challenges related research, or addresses a gap in the field  \n• Justifies the value and significance of your research  \nPlanning for a literature review  \nWriting a literature can be divided into 5 steps:  \nStep 1 – select a topic  \nStep 2 – search the literature  \nStep 3 – select and categorise the sources Step 4 – critique the literature  \nStep 5 – write the review  \nIt can be challenging to manage large amounts of volume, so when you take notes you need some system to documenting key information such as identifying the main themes, making connections between sources and developing your critical evaluation. Creating some kind of table or matrix can help. Your aim is not simply to record basic details like the author/year/methods, but also include your developing your critique by comprehending, analysing, interpreting and evaluating.  \nStructuring a literature review  \nA literature review in a journal article typically contains the following steps:  \n• Step 1 – introduce the problem and the broader context  \n• Step 2 – set the specific context, including the focus, location and methods etc  \n• Step 3 – analyse past research  \n• Step 4 – identify gaps in the research  \n• Step 5 – introduce your research aims and question  \nA literature review in your thesis is a chapter of the overall thesis. As such, it will generally have an introduction, body and conclusion.  \n• Introduction – context, scope, significance, aims, outline  \n• Body – organised chronologically, thematically, conceptually, geographically or a combination  \n• Conclusion – summary, link to your research, reiterating the gap, linking to the next chapter  \nWriting a literature review  \nA typical literature review has common language features:  \n• They are descriptive  \n• They are interpretative  \n• They respond with critique  \n• They demonstrate the writer’s voice  \nLanguage tip 1  \nUse evaluative language choices to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of previous studies. For example  \nuseful/appropriate/relevant/valid/limited/limitation/inconsistent/drawback/central  \nLanguage tip 2  \nUse signposting words to highlight your comparison of different sources . For example Nevertheless/however/in addition/similarly/in particular/whereas/in the same way  \nLanguage tip 3  \nUse reporting verbs to signal your position. For example Acknowledge/suggest/ignore/demonstrate  \nLanguage tip 4  \nUse different citation types. For example  \nResearch prominent/researcher prominent or weak researcher prominent  \nLanguage tip 5  \nUse logical paragraph structure. For example Topic sentence/supporting sentences/discussion  \nLanguage tip 6  \nUse hedgers and boosters. For example  \nClearly/evidently/importantly/possibly/appears/seems/to some extent/may mean/suggest","cbCaip16m8JOzrUH","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaip16m8JOzrUH","pdf",200510,"English","# Introduction\n# Purpose\n# Planning for a literature review\n# Structuring a literature review\n## Journal article structure\n## Thesis structure\n# Writing a literature review\n## Common language features\n## Language tips","[{\"question\":\"What is the purpose of a literature review in academic work?\",\"answer\":\"It provides historical context, maps current debates, and discusses key theories and concepts. It also introduces relevant terminology, explains how the research extends or addresses gaps, and justifies the value of the study.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the five steps for planning a literature review?\",\"answer\":\"Select a topic, search the literature, select and categorise sources, critique the literature, and write the review. The notes stage should use a system such as a table or matrix to manage themes and develop evaluation.\"},{\"question\":\"How should a literature review be structured in a journal article versus a thesis?\",\"answer\":\"A journal article review typically introduces the problem and context, sets the specific context, analyses past research, identifies gaps, and presents research aims and questions. A thesis version usually includes an introduction, a body organised by different logics, and a conclusion linking to the next chapter.\"},{\"question\":\"Which language techniques are recommended for writing a literature review?\",\"answer\":\"Use evaluative language to show strengths and weaknesses, signposting words to compare sources, and reporting verbs to signal your position. Include different citation types and apply logical paragraph structure using topic sentences and supporting discussion, with hedgers and boosters to express degree of certainty.\"}]","Writing a Literature Review Summary | PDF"]