{"id":468,"date":"2020-07-06T15:44:30","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T14:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-skills\/?p=468"},"modified":"2020-11-21T12:08:26","modified_gmt":"2020-11-21T12:08:26","slug":"developing-your-literature-review-getting-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/07\/06\/developing-your-literature-review-getting-started\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing your literature review - getting started"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>What is a literature review?<\/h3>\n<p>A literature review is designed to demonstrate your knowledge and\u00a0understanding of the academic literature on a specific topic.\u00a0 A literature review also includes a <strong>critical evaluation of the material.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The three main objectives of a literature review are to;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>identify and examine relevant research, theories and evidence<\/li>\n<li>conduct a critical evaluation and discussion of this content<\/li>\n<li>help you identify a gap or on-going problem related to current research that justifies further investigation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Literature Review is therefore a significant part of your dissertation and you need to ensure you allow plenty of developmental time.<\/p>\n<h3>What is the purpose of a literature review?<\/h3>\n<p>The literature review provides the platform to dig deeper into your chosen focus topic. It will help you develop a critical approach, refine your topic, and frame your research questions.\u00a0 Your literature review should enable you to find out what research has already been done and identify what is unknown or problematic within your topic.<\/p>\n<p>In a literature review, it is good practice to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>summarise and analyse previous research and theories;<\/li>\n<li>identify areas of controversy and contested claims;<\/li>\n<li>highlight any gaps that may exist in research to date.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Conducting a literature review - practical steps<\/h3>\n<p>When you start (or try to start) your literature review, you might feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of research reading you may have to do. A useful way to bring this under control is to focus on different parts of the review to help you plan, develop, refine and write. Here are a few prompt questions you can use or adapt when you build your literature review, brick by brick.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.\u00a0 Demonstrating your knowledge and familiarity in your subject\/topic:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What are the significant and established themes of your subject\/topic? What are the relevant sources? Why?<\/li>\n<li>Are they reliable sources? Why?<\/li>\n<li>What are the methods of research and are they suitable\/reliable?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2.\u00a0Your critical analysis:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What are the strengths of the themes of your chosen topic?\u00a0What evidence have you found that supports this?<\/li>\n<li>Where are the gaps or weak areas in the literature? What are they?<\/li>\n<li>Are there areas of controversy? What are they?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3.\u00a0\u00a0Summarising your thoughts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What do you think? Why do you think that? (Based on the evidence you have gathered).<\/li>\n<li>How does your project\/research question link into this? Why does it need to be undertaken? (Try to give an explicit statement for your reader).<\/li>\n<li>What are the most appropriate research methods to use and why?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>4.\u00a0\u00a0Structuring your literature review:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What are the main themes of your project\/dissertation? What order do you need to use to explain this to someone else?<\/li>\n<li>What is the scope \/limits of your project\/dissertation? (And what is not - important to consider in the planning stages).<\/li>\n<li>What are the recent developments? Are they significant? Why?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>See also: <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-skills\/2020\/07\/06\/developing-your-\u2026-review-top-tips\/\">Developing your literature review - Top Tips<\/a><\/p>\n<h6><em>Adapted from:\u00a0https:\/\/www.ed.ac.uk\/institute-academic-development\/study-hub\/learning-resources\/literature-review<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a literature review? A literature review is designed to demonstrate your knowledge and\u00a0understanding of the academic literature on a specific topic.\u00a0 A literature review also includes a critical evaluation of the material. The three main objectives of a...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[50],"tags":[67],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dissertations","tag-literature-review"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/books-768426_1920.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1579,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2026\/05\/01\/writing-your-dissertation-literature-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":468,"position":0},"title":"Writing your dissertation: Literature reviews","author":"Kyra Ings","date":"May 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A literature review is designed to demonstrate your knowledge and\u00a0understanding of the academic literature on a specific topic.\u00a0 A literature review also includes a\u00a0critical evaluation of the material. The three main objectives of a literature review are to: Identify and examine relevant research, theories and evidence Conduct a critical evaluation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic writing","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/academic-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A tree with leaves featuring names of different dissertation topics. A cloud and a squirrel holding a banner that says 'Literature reviews'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/10\/28\/writing-a-literature-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":468,"position":1},"title":"Writing a literature review","author":"Tom Reid","date":"October 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By Dr Justin Alam, Teaching Fellow, Skills Centre The aim of a literature review Usually, a literature review follows an introduction. In an introduction you explain the question or issue that you are dealing with. Then, in the literature review, you explain what we know about the answer to this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic writing","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/academic-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/writing-427527_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/writing-427527_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/writing-427527_1920.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/writing-427527_1920.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/writing-427527_1920.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/writing-427527_1920.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1614,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2025\/06\/02\/organising-your-literature-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":468,"position":2},"title":"Organising your literature review","author":"Justin Alam","date":"June 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019ve been asked to write a literature review, either as a stand-alone text (or what\u2019s more likely) as part of a larger piece of writing such as a dissertation, you may be wondering what you are meant to do. What\u2019s the idea behind a literature review? What should you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A tree with leaves featuring names of different dissertation topics. A cloud and a squirrel holding a banner that says 'Literature reviews'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":465,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/07\/07\/developing-your-literature-review-top-tips\/","url_meta":{"origin":468,"position":3},"title":"Developing your literature review - top tips","author":"Tom Reid","date":"July 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The University of Edinburgh has produced this excellent guide on how to develop and refine your literature review.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Dissertations&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Dissertations","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/dissertations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/dialog-148815_1280.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/dialog-148815_1280.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/dialog-148815_1280.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/dialog-148815_1280.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/dialog-148815_1280.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":462,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2026\/05\/03\/writing-your-dissertations-structure-and-sections\/","url_meta":{"origin":468,"position":4},"title":"Writing your dissertation: Structure and sections","author":"Tom Reid","date":"May 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In this post, we look at the structural elements of a typical dissertation. A well-structured dissertation should be enjoyable to read. It should be logical and coherent, and your argument or line of reasoning should be convincing and easy to follow. Of course, this is easier said than done, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic writing","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/academic-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A tree with leaves featuring names of different dissertation topics. A cloud and a squirrel holding a banner that says 'Structure'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/Writing-your-dissertation_Structure.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/Writing-your-dissertation_Structure.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/Writing-your-dissertation_Structure.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/07\/Writing-your-dissertation_Structure.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":851,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2022\/07\/25\/writing-your-dissertation-navigating-the-messy-middle\/","url_meta":{"origin":468,"position":5},"title":"Writing your dissertation: navigating the \u2018messy middle\u2019","author":"Alexandra Paramour","date":"July 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Writing a dissertation can be a deeply rewarding experience, but it can sometimes feel like a confusing and solitary process. If you\u2019re feeling a bit lost in the \u2018messy middle\u2019 of the project, these tips may help. Understand that this is normal We all have different circumstances and respond differently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/07\/Picture-1-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/07\/Picture-1-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2022\/07\/Picture-1-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}