You want to write a lit review (See what I did there?).
But you don’t know where to start.
I got you.
It can be quite overwhelming.
- How many papers do I need?
- What do I write about in the lit review?
- How do I cover a wide range of topics?
Don’t stress.
I have a 5-step method to help you write one, based on my experience writing my lit review.
Let’s get into it.
1. Write down 5 atomic topics
An atomic topic generally exists in one field.
Examples of these are:
- Classical music
- Web development
- Physical chemistry
With these atomic topics, we will be able to find papers and resources that fit into them.
The goal of this step is to identify the underlying pillars of your dissertation.
Each one of these pillars needs its attention to detail.
Action step: Break down your dissertation topic into 5 atomic ones.
Rank these by the ones that relate to your dissertation the most
Here’s a list of mine:
- Worship music
- The pentecostal church
- Human-computer interaction
- Mobile development
- Web development
2. Find 5 papers
Now that we have our atomic topics, it’s time to find papers to review.
Here are some ideas:
- Google Scholar is a great resource for finding papers.
- A good paper will cover 2 or more of the topics listed.
- Each paper should have a different angle from the other
- Each paper can focus on one atomic topic more than others
Now, I used 5 as a good middle point.
The exact number of papers you need will vary.
I used 3 last year. Some people used 10.
5 should cover enough of your topics whilst not being too little.
Action step: Find 5 papers using the tips above.
Save them in a folder on your laptop.
3. Read each paper
Here comes the boring part: Reading.
I know how much y’all hate reading. Don’t blame y’all.
Unfortunately, you’re gonna have to suck it up. But these tips might make it easier for you:
- Use ChatGPT. It is good at summarising papers (assuming the paper came out before September 2021). This can help give you a starting point before you read the paper yourself.
- Speech-to-text. Plug the paper into a speech-to-text tool. Listening to the paper can help you process it easier.
- Print out the paper. Read it physically. Academic papers are very hard to read online. And luckily, most papers aren’t more than 9–10 pages.
- Use a highlighter. Find key points and ideas and highlight them as you read each paper. It’s probably good to annotate them too.
The goal here is to understand the research, the tools used and what results came from the research.
This article covers more points to consider when reading papers.
Action step: READ EVERY SINGLE PAPER
Got it?
4. Write a summary of each paper
Writing time!!!
Action step: Write at least 500 words on each paper, answering:
- What’s the research about?
- Why is the research useful?
- What insights did you gain from this paper?
- How does the paper link to your project?
- What techniques will you apply from this paper?
- What techniques will you not apply from this paper?
- How does it link to other papers?
You will go way over 500 words. That’s fine.
The more you write the better.
It’s easier to cut down words, it’s a lot harder to add.
5. Put it all together
From step 4, you should already have 90% of your lit review complete.
The remaining 10% will include the following:
- Diagrams
- Headings
- Citations
Structuring your lit review might seem daunting. But it doesn’t need to be.
Think of it like you’re telling a story.
How can one paper’s conclusion lead to another paper’s introduction?
Everything should connect like a linked list.
Diagrams
Diagrams can show more information in a shorter timeframe.
Find relevant diagrams that represent the paper’s research.
The papers may have diagrams that you can use. You might also need to create your own.
I should have included diagrams in my dissertation.
Because of this, the lack of diagrams made my diss look like a massive blob of text.
Please don’t make my mistake.
(This section should have some diagrams maybe? Oh well.)
Headings
Don’t use the title of the paper as headings.
Remember: You’re telling a story.
No one understands your diss as well as you do.
Your job is to make it easier for them to understand.
Use clear headings that describe the purpose of the next section.
Citations
Finally, citations.
You must cite your papers every time you mention them.
Within a paragraph related to the same paper, it’s fine to only cite once.
Outside of that, you need to cite the paper.
Again this links to ease of reading.
If someone wants to read more about the paper you summarised, they can do that if you cite it.
It’s also good academic writing practice to cite your sources.
Summary
Now you have a comprehensive lit review!!!!
This doesn’t mean it’s complete.
Your lit review will evolve as your project evolves.
You might add more papers, remove some papers etc.
This isn’t a “do it once and forget it” thing.
That’s why it’s vital to complete the lit review first.
To close, here’s a summary of all the key points:
- Write down 5 atomic topics
- Find 5 papers
- Read each paper
- Write a summary of each paper
- Put it all together