How do we write a literature review?

Reading and writing are two parts that complement each other and are related to each other, and they are also in the literature review (lit review) process, especially when the goal is to define the question of scientific study, although there is no specific method that can apply to all disciplines and all types of research and scientific studies. However, an attempt can be made to visualize the study of the literature review (lit review) in the form of simplified phases or work steps in order to reach to formulate a clear study question, and write an initial part to literature review (lit review) and formulate a literature review (lit review) well that is added and updated during the preparation of the study, and linked in the previous studies.

 Literature review (lit review) concept: 

There are several concepts that explain the definition of the literature review (lit review), the most important of which are:

• Literature review (lit review) can be defined as "A critical analysis of the published sources or the literature on a particular subject. It provides us with a summary of the literature, a classification of it, a comparison between them and an evaluation of its results. The review of the literature in the model article consists of an introduction, a body or a solid and a conclusion."
• Literature review (lit review) can also be defined as "a critical analysis of the sources and literature on one of the topics. This analysis makes us come to the summary of the literature and classification and has and compare and evaluate the results, and for this we will review with you how to write a review of scientific literature"

 Why do we write a review? 

Sometimes it may be necessary to write a review in the group, the purpose to write a review is to demonstrate the student's ability to understand the literature in a particular subject, and this work can be done through analysis, gathering information and writing a review well in order to:

1. We write a review in order to determine the method in which prior writing was made on this topic.
2. We write a review in order to provide a comprehensive view of the main concepts.
3. We write a review in order to learn the basic forms and relationships of this literature.
4. We write a review in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these literature and link them in previous studies.
5. We write a review in order to check for some evidence contrary to the research from previous studies.
6. We write a review in order to provide a solid introduction that builds the research paper survey.

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 Writing a literature review (lit review): 

• Determine the goal:

The goal setting should be the first step in writing a literature review (lit review) and drafting a review well. This is done through a review of the literature and previous studies. The researcher must know what he wants from these literature and previous studies and he must verify the question posed according to the required criteria to identify what is being focused through.

• Conducting a comprehensive literature review (lit review):

In this step, a comprehensive survey of what has been written on a specific topic must be done and what are the appropriate literature or previous studies should be determined and a review written well and what is the appropriate type of them and the appropriate sources of literature should be chosen and previous studies should be chosen between the various scientific and academic sources related to modern and reliable, as well as comprehensive review of appropriate materials should include books, articles, scientific journals for appropriate materials, reports, government documents and some conference reports in addition to electronic sources, and libraries are one of the places in the search for sources.

• Record the reference details of the sources used:

Writing down previous studies, source elements published in history, publication date, authors' names, and page numbers.

• Reading the literature:

A critical reading of all previous studies is done and an attempt is made to search for wildcards in these facts. Notes must be taken continuously during reading and organizing topics and ideas mentioned in the review. Special tables may need to be used in order to get to know the mechanism of linking different sources with each other.

• Analysis of the literature:

In order for writings to appear as strong technical analysis, you must evaluate all previous studies and use previous studies. In the beginning, you must ask yourself several questions such as: What are the basic terms and concepts? How much is the link between this article and the topic at hand? What are the basic relationships and previous literary trends? What is the degree of reliability in the sources? What are the differences and similarities between these sources? Are there any gaps in this literature that require further study?

• Writing the review:

To do a good lit review, you must start with the research study report, which is important because it gives the reader a comprehensive view of the topic being presented.

 The organizational structure of a good lit review: 

The structure of a good lit review should be clearly thought of by the researcher, since good lit review enable the reader to understand the literature review. Typically, good lit review consists of different parts, however, there are three main parts for a good lit review. The main parts of good lit review are as follow:

• Introduction:

Good lit review should include a summary of what was written in the literature review (lit review), the aspects discussed, and the criteria used for selecting the literature.

• The body of the review or its core:

Good lit review should be taken into consideration that the research study and other literary patterns are classified into groups according to common factors such as quantitative and qualitative research methods and researchers' conclusions. Previous studies are summarized so that each study or article on some of the details that highlight its importance in conducting the comparison in the study literature, and details are mentioned in the article.

• Conclusion:

Which should include major agreements, literary differences, gaps, vulnerabilities that need additional research, and a comprehensive perspective on the whole topic according to previous studies.

 Watch: How to write a literature review 

With greetings: Al - Manara Consulting to help researchers and graduate students