a brief guide to writing a literature review for levels 3 - 5

1. Writing a Literature
Review

2. What?
A Literature Review provides an overview of the
information published to date on a specific
topic, summarizing and synthesizing the
ideas presented.

3.  The Literature Review is not an annotated
bibliography: it is a narrative document that
synthesizes the sources consulted to develop
a conclusion. An annotated bibliography simply
deals with each resource in turn, describing and
evaluating the source in a single paragraph.

4.  Decide on your topic and identify any related issues.
Begin with an Overview of the Topic, including the
reason for the review (research)

5. How?
 Search relevant databases and library
catalogues to find information – journal
articles, books, “proper” websites
 Write Annotations for each source, placing it in
the context of their contribution to the
research on the topic.

6. Organise
 Organize the Sources into categories - e.g. those
that support one position, those against the position,
those that offer an alternative thesis. You may also
choose to organize sources in chronological order
within your categories

7. Connect
 Connect Sources - explain how each source relates
to other sources, this is connective writing that turns
the whole piece into a constructed bit of writing
rather than a disjointed set of paragraphs

8. Conclude
 Conclusion - discuss which sources are most
effective/useful in supporting your project and which
sources contribute the most to the understanding
and development of the research on the topic.

9. Why?
 The idea is to show that you have looked at
information already published on the area you
are researching and used it to help you decide
how/what to research
Adapted from: http://www.ithacalibrary.com/sp/subjects/LitRev by Edward Moore 12/3/2012