jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • Advertise a Job
  • Recruiters
  • Your Account

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

career-advice.jobs.ac.uk

Secondary Sidebar

jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

  • CV and Cover Letter Advice
    • CV Tips
    • Free CV Templates
    • Cover Letters with Examples
    • Personal Profiles
    • CV Resources
  • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
    • Jobseeking Tips
    • Academic Interviews
    • Professional Interviews
    • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
  • Career Development
    • Academic Careers
    • Research Careers
    • Career Progression Stories
    • Professional Careers
    • Working in Industry
    • Career Development Resources
    • Global Careers
    • Working From Home
  • Women in Higher Education
  • FE Career Advice
    • FE CV & Interview Tips
    • Working in FE
    • Managing your Career in FE
    • FE Jobs Profiles
  • Resources
    • Academic Case Studies
    • Professional Case Studies
    • Job Profiles
      • Biological Science Jobs
      • Health and Medical Jobs
      • Engineering and Technology Jobs
      • Computer Science Jobs
      • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
      • Professional Service Jobs
        • Business Development Manager Jobs Profile
        • Chef Jobs Profile
        • Civil Service Jobs Profile
        • Email Marketing Jobs Profile
        • SEO Jobs Profile
        • Office Admin Jobs
    • Vlogs
  • Webinars
  • Country Profiles
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Nigeria
      • South Africa
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • United States of America
    • Asia
      • Bahrain
      • Brunei
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Malaysia
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Dubai
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Turkey
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Work in Vietnam – Country Profile
      • Work in Uzbekistan – Country Profile
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • United Kingdom
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • PhD and Studentship Advice
    • PhD
    • Studentship Resources
    • Vlogs
  • Need help advertising a job?
  • About jobs.ac.uk
  • Ask A Professional
  • Academic Spotlight Interviews
  • Menu
    • CV and Cover Letter Advice
      • CV Tips
      • Free CV Templates
      • Cover Letters with Examples
      • Personal Profiles
      • CV Resources
    • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
      • Jobseeking Tips
      • Academic Interviews
      • Professional Interviews
      • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
    • Career Development
      • Academic Careers
      • Career Progression Stories
      • Research Careers
      • Professional Careers
      • Working in Industry
      • Career Development Resources
      • Global Careers
      • Working From Home
    • Women in Higher Education
    • FE Career Advice
      • FE CV & Interview Tips
      • Working in FE
      • Managing your Career in FE
      • FE Jobs Profiles
    • Resources
      • Academic Case Studies
      • Professional Case Studies
      • Interview questions tool
      • Vlogs
      • Job Profiles
        • Biological Science Jobs
        • Health and Medical Jobs
        • Engineering and Technology Jobs
        • Computer Science Jobs
        • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
        • Professional Service Jobs
        • Civil Service jobs
    • Webinars
    • Country Profiles
      • Africa
        • Work in Egypt – Country Profile
        • Work in Ghana – Country Profile
        • Work in Kenya – Country Profile
        • Work in Nigeria – Country Profile
        • Work in South Africa – Country Profile
      • Americas
        • Work in Canada – Country Profile
        • Work in the United States of America – Country Profile
      • Asia
        • Work in Bahrain – Country Profile
        • Work in Brunei – Country Profile
        • Work in China – Country Profile
        • Work in Hong Kong – Country Profile
        • Work in India – Country Profile
        • Work in Japan – Country Profile
        • Work in Kazakhstan – Country Profile
        • Work in Malaysia – Country Profile
        • Work in Qatar – Country Profile
        • Work in Saudi Arabia – Country Profile
        • Work in Singapore – Country Profile
        • Work in South Korea – Country Profile
        • Work in Turkey – Country Profile
        • Work in United Arab Emirates – Country Profile
      • Dubai
      • Europe
        • Belgium Country Profile
        • Work in Denmark – Country Profile
        • Work in Finland – Country Profile
        • France Country Profile
        • Work in Germany – Country Profile
        • Work in Ireland – Country Profile
        • Work in Italy – Country Profile
        • Work in the Netherlands – Country Profile
        • Work in Norway – Country Profile
        • Work in Russia – Country Profile
        • Work in Spain – Country Profile
        • Work in Sweden – Country Profile
        • Work in Switzerland – Country Profile
        • Work in the United Kingdom – Country Profile
      • Oceania
        • Work in Australia – Country profile
        • Work in New Zealand – Country Profile
    • Studentship Advice
      • PhD
      • Studentship Resources
      • Vlogs
    • Need help advertising a job?
    • About jobs.ac.uk

How to lay out a literature review

A girl writing a literature review

Knowing how to lay out a literature review can help you save time and present it in the best way possible.

It can also keep you on track and know what to research. Clarifying the layout and structure of a literature review is a good place to start. We have created a template to help you do this.

What is a literature review?

A literature review is a summary and synthesis of scholarly research. You should clarify in the review the following: research which has been undertaken on the chosen topic, key researchers, theories, assumptions, challenges and gaps in the research.

What is the difference between a literature review and an academic research paper?

The author of a research paper will aim to develop an argument, and the paper should contain a literature review. The foundation of the academic paper is the literature review. In the literature review, the author sets out to share literature developed by others, without adding new contributions.

Why is a literature review useful?

Literature reviews are beneficial to researchers. When you read about what others have researched, you gain a stronger understanding of your topic and become more aware of gaps in the literature. In the writing process, you will most likely develop your writing skills. At times, your research question may slightly change. The literature review is important as you will ensure that you do not repeat past research. Your research should contribute to something new and should address a knowledge gap.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach for how to lay out and structure the content of your literature review. Please use the below to improve your work (however feel free to try a different approach if it better suits your work).

Template:

Introduction

  • Define your topic. This should align with your research interests and tell the reader what they can expect in this chapter.
  • Consider responding to the below questions:

What is the scope of the literature review?

Where and how does the topic fit into the wider subject area?

Why is this an important topic and why is it significant?

Has this topic been researched before? If so, to what extent? If not, why do you think it has not been researched before?

Main Body

  • What other literature can you find on the topic? Consider using the below sources of information: Conference presentations, internet discussion groups and social networking sites, journal indexes and databases, e-journals, bibliographies, citation indexes, hard copy and e-books, textbooks, industry and market reports, company information etc.
  • You need to be clear on what time period you want to focus on.
  • Read your sources carefully and try to identify similarities in the literature. What are some of the main ideas which emerge from your reading?
  • Create a synthesis matrix: It is important that you note down common patterns, themes and ideas as you go through your research. The synthesis matrix is an excellent tool to help you organise your ideas. You may have to create several versions of the matrix as you work through your review.
CitationMain ideaNotesGaps in research
Theme 1
Theme 2
Theme 3

 

  • There are different options for organising your literature. One of the easiest ways is to organise it according to chronological order. You could start with what was published first and move towards the present times. You could follow a thematic approach whereby you organise your sources according to a theme. Alternatively, you could follow a methodological approach, structuring your review according to the research methodologies.
  • Focus on telling a story. Your review needs to be coherent, and your paragraphs need to be logically connected. Do avoid using a descriptive writing style. Instead, aim to demonstrate strong critical thinking skills. Try to acknowledge opposite viewpoints and compare sources. If you need further information on critical writing, please see this resource.
  • It is important that you avoid using too many quotations. Instead, do summarize your insights.
  • You may be tempted to go off track or to cite all the sources which you have read. Please do cite the most relevant literature and embed these into your discussion.
  • Always use evidence: The more evidence you can use for your review, the more value you may add. Your statements need to be supported with evidence and examples to prove that your insights are valid.
  • Synthesise: You need to combine elements of several sources to help you make a point. This will help the reader understand how you add new ideas to existing research and knowledge.

Conclusion

  • In this part, you need to ‘wrap up’ your review and pull all the pieces together. You should provide a summary of major agreements and disagreements in the literature. You may restate your research question and objectives, and briefly summarize the main insights.

Top tips:

  • Start with developing a rich understanding of the literature
  • Set yourself some timelines to ensure that you keep on track. You might find it helpful to use Trello.
  • Set some SMART goals: S- Specific, M- Measurable, A-Action, R- Realistic, T – Time-bound. SMART will help you to become more clear on your objectives and will increase the likelihood of achieving them. If you have not used this tool for a while, you may find it helpful to revisit it. Further info on SMART goals here.
  • Talk to other scholars and academics to share ideas and discuss your challenges
  • Do not delete pieces of your work until you are fully finished. You may need notes or text which you previously thought was irrelevant.
  • Take notes while reading your resources. Use Post-it notes to bookmark sources and jot down details of online sources so that you easily access them later.
  • You will most probably find yourself writing, reading and revising your work multiple times. Most people move back and forth between writing and research and constantly polish their work.
  • Proofread your work and make sure that it is free of grammatical errors. If you need help with citations, you might find the Citethisforme site useful.

 

Time management tools for PhD students

What did you think of our article? - please rate

5 / 5. 3


Share this article

Henrietta Nagy

Henrietta Nagy is a seasoned portfolio worker with over 10 years’ experience in the UK education sector. Henrietta writes educational content, designs academic courses, delivers university lectures, mentors entrepreneurs, and provides career development coaching. One of Henrietta's recent organisational clients is the Oxford University where she has facilitated over 100 hours of learning events. With 9 years of higher education studies internationally (including an MBA), she has worked with CEOs, academics, scholars, managers, women entrepreneurs, academic administrators and other consultants.

Reader Interactions

You may also like:

  • Close up of a man looking at a job search recruitment web page

    How to Search for a Job in Higher Education

  • Audience at the conference hall.

    Writing Abstracts for Conferences

  • Supporting Individual Researchers in a Publish-or-Perish Culture

    Supporting Individual Researchers in a Publish-or-Perish Culture

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

four + 11 =

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

Searching for a job in the United Kingdom

Latest Jobs

  • PhD Opportunity in Bioinformatics

    Department of Metabolism and Systems Science, University of Birmingham

    Location: Birmingham

    Salary: Fully Funded for UK Home Fee Students


  • Lecturer (Type B) in Bioinformatics

    School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences , University of Galway

    Location: Galway

    Salary: £55,339.90 - £88,282.55


  • Lecturer (Teaching) in Fine Art (Maternity Cover) (0.4 FTE)

    Slade School of Fine Art , UCL

    Location: London

    Salary: £54,172 - £63,752 pro rata


  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Noursadeghi Team)

    Division of Infection and Immunity , UCL

    Location: London

    Salary: £43,374 - £51,860


  • Pre-doctoral Research Assistant (Noursadeghi Team)

    Division of Infection and Immunity, UCL

    Location: London

    Salary: £35,930 - £41,255


  • Communications Manager

    Institute for Global Health (IGH) , UCL

    Location: London, Hybrid

    Salary: £43,374 - £51,860


Footer

jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025

  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Careers Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility
jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025