How To Write Systematic Literature Review

HOW TO WRITE SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

The process of research is quite cumbersome but even more delicate is the presentation of your findings. More often than not, researchers are forced to do some further research on how to present their findings. Given that there are many channels of research, one of the most pursued avenues is of literature review. This is done by keenly putting a singular or a group of research findings under the scope and weighing its accuracy in relation to your hypothesis. This avenue has been pursued mostly to tell of the progressive steps that have been taken in certain fields. Now that I have gotten your attention, lets jump right into it and break this down.

Hypothesis

A hypothesis basically refers to having the end in mind even before starting your research. A hypothesis is a statement that poses the question that you will be seeking to answer. In formulating this question, you will be looking to be not only relevant but also lead your writers to the end goal.

Despite having a leading question, you also need to have a guiding statement which is what we will call the thesis. The thesis is a summary of the hypothesis and it is a statement that states your stand through the literature review. This means that you should have it in mind at all times and often give reference to it so as not to lose relevance and miss the aim of the paper. It is also important to quote the preferred method of research and what you will use to sieve and grade your information.

Research

From the lay-man understanding of literature review, this is basically the reviewing of already published literature as a source of information. With this in mind, you will have to first research for relevant research articles, books and literary material. Once you are equipped with this material it’s now time for the treasure hunt. It is quite imperative that you keep an open mind while researching as this will avoid bias altogether. The data you are looking for will be quite vast and will be categorized by both an alignment of ideas to your thesis as well as those that are of a variant opinion.

Data Analysis

After going through a variety of sources in search of information that answers your hypothesis you then have to filter and restrain yourself to sources that you feel will be quite consequential in your paper. This will be dependent on the strategy you had decided on to help you sieve and grade the information. Pick preferred literature that you will hereby put under the scope for scrutiny. This officially now brings us to the literature review. The research part of this project is as vital as the presentation and submission as well, after all, we wouldn’t want to present half-hearted done work.

Away from the research now, we have to represent the data in a more reasonable, meaningful and most importantly acceptable way that is up to standard. According to the international standards of writing, the APA format[style] of writing has come highly recommended on a global scale. The APA style is an all-round format that takes consideration of all principles of writing and most certainly ensures that you do not miss out any details.

Format of Systematic Literature Review

This is the American Psychological Association that has come in as the go-to format when it comes to psychological and social science-related projects. It has over time proved its worth as it covers all the necessary scope allowing no room for any omission. So how is the layout in APA format?

Title

Every work of literature has to have a title, after all, even you have a name. The title has to be in line with whatever it is that you will be talking about in your paper. However, there are a couple of reservations when it comes to creating this heading.

The title should be in capital letters all through.
The font used in the title should be the same font that you use all through your writing
The title should not be italics nor should it be underlined.
Finally, it is imperative that you limit your title to as few words as possible that pass the general feel of your writing. Avoid using unnecessary words and phrases in your title. However, it should be relevant. On the same note, refrain yourself from using abbreviations in the title.

Contrary to the titles in other forms of writing such as a report, this will require to be on its own page and with it, it is accompanied by a couple of details such as who are authors, institution affiliation ( for professional papers) but in the case of an academic paper you can add the lecturer’s name, unit name and due date.

Running headers

Given that this might be quite lengthy, it is important that you add page headers and with them comes page numbering as well. This is a feature that is easily accessible in writing applications. The page header is simply a replication of the title phrase at the very top of the page.

Abstract

An abstract is a summary of the literature(s) that you’ll be reviewing. This allows the reader to familiarize themselves as well as brace themselves for the review. Having a good abstract is of utmost importance as it tells the reader if it is worth reading and sets their attitude towards your review.

Body

Enough of teasing your readers with summaries and titles, you now give them the real deal which is covered in the body. Now when generating the body you will need to start with a reminder of the concept you will be bringing on the table which will be contained in the thesis statement.

Now you have an open ground to work from as you can take either side depending on your point of view or findings you got you can either support or go against the findings. How do you do this? What do you follow?

Chronology

Take a journey from the point that your research started and to there your findings took you. This will tell you on the changes that have taken place and as you join the dots along the way you will be able to tell where your hypothesis fits in.

Methodology

For each of the works of literature that you put under the scope, they all used a certain method to arrive at their findings. So how does the method of choice affect the findings? What methodological preferences are available? And how different are the results from different approaches? All these are vital questions that both you and your reader will be looking to unravel by the end of the review.

Ideology.

All these researchers that you have in mind are quite unique in their ideology depending on different factors that surrounded their research. Subsequently, you too have your won ideology which is why you are undertaking the review. While introducing the different theories presented you will find their similarities and differences as well as their contributions to the field

Result

Result based research is ideal in these situations. It is from presented results that projects are evaluated and depending on the idea in mind and the method used then we are in a position to state the results.

Headings and subheadings

The ability to deliver a point across is also dependent on the presentation. This would suggest that so as to keep the reader in the flow and to ensure maximum simplification it is good that you use headings and subheadings when delivering points. This can subsequently be used in summarizing your work and easy referencing through scheming. They can be numbered or even underlined to help them stand out.

The body of your review should not be as long as most people are led to believe. Only relevant points are to be included.

Tone

As we had stated earlier systematic literature review can either be used in academic settings or professional settings. In both of these settings, it is advised that you try as much as you can to keep the tone on an official zone. This passes across the notion of professionalism and indicated that you know clearly what you are doing. On the same note, you should use active voice.

Given that the basis of your paper is primarily on other peoples reports on their research then

Punctuation and numerical

A literature review is not limited to only qualitative review which means that quantity as a measure of value will be used and this can only be represented in numerical form. However, when representing this information, it is important that you remember that only numbers above 10 are numerically written while numbers below ten are spelt out.

The basic rules of punctuation are also followed to the letter with a couple of tweaks here and there. These changes, however, are still new into the new 7th edition APA format guidebook. A good example of this is that when refereeing to a period in plural from you should not add an apostrophe. in the 1990s, not in the 1990s!. these are just a couple of things that require you to be conscious about to maintain the high-level standards that we have set ourselves to since the start.

Conclusion and summary

The end of your paper is one of the most important parts as it is the ultimate climax as far as the body is concerned. In this section, you are supposed to conclude your paper and prove your thesis. This is what basically tells you if you have maintained relevance and if all that you have compiled is relevant yo your thesis statement.

You need to revisit both the thesis and hypothesis and now give your verdict on whether or not you are for or against it. All your argument is now focused on this moment and you can lead your reader to halt. A strong conclusion is always highly recommended.

Referencing and citations

By now it is quite clear that literature review is basically taking another author’s, or a group of authors literature and reviewing it on the scale of a given hypothesis. This means that through your paper you will need to acknowledge your sources and at the end, you will be required to give credit where it is due. Under no circumstances should you avoid this section. This will be the only thing that protects you from plagiarism and spinning. So how do your citations and your referencing of sources?

Well, despite the fact that these word at times used interchangeably they hold a different meaning.

Citation

A citation may come randomly within the paper and it most commonly is seen whenever there is a quotation of phrase from one of your sources. When quoting this you cite only the name of the publisher and the date that the document was published. This adds clarity to your work and does not mislead the reader to work on an assumption on whether the phrases are yours or they are borrowed. Some of the sources you might use are well known on a global scale and this is hard to not acknowledge them after all you don’t want to run the risk of plagiarism

Referencing

When it comes to referencing you have to include the name of the document, name of the publisher, title of the section and even the URL used in research. In this, there is no leaving anything for imagination. When referencing, you will have to take a different approach to book texts, newspapers and even in journals. They are all individual pieces. This part of the literature review is always the lats and this sets the climax of your paper

Well! Literature reviews have just gotten easier with all this info at your disposal. Remember that if you are to follow APA style of formatting then you should take heed of details and this might be the thing that talks you from a 7 to a 10. As I always say, you should get the best out of everything and this should not be an exception.

Also you can talk to our literature review writing services for assistance and guidance on how to write systematic review.

How To Write APA Literature Review

Are you a student writing your dissertation, thesis or capstone project? then learning how to write APA literature review is a must. APA style of literature is one of the most appreciated and one that has been taken up vastly into the curriculum. Many dissertation papers and other quality writings have taken up this form of writing. It has been found to be quite presentable and comprehensive in that it covers all the details and also that it gives references. I wouldn’t think of a better format of writing that ensures such a good flow of idea and a continuity of thoughts than APA style of writing. This will be one of the most informative articles as it would probably be the reason that you get those extra marks in your dissertation paper. I will be showing you how to get in the flow with APA style in literature.

Guidelines: How To Write APA Literature Review

Writing style

You are to make sure that you familiarize yourself with the basic writing styles there is and given that they actually include tonal variation and approach you should use a formal kind of tone in your piece. This will be able to communicate a level of professionalism and it reassures the reader that you really know what you were into. It also helps in the event that it is to be put up for a presentation; it can never go wrong with any kind of audience. Basically, you need to make sure that you use a formal tone and that you are unbiased.

Formatting

The other thing that can easily pull you down and dismiss your piece from being in an APA style to any other style is the formatting; by formatting, I mean what the outlook is basically made of. You will want to consider factors such as font type, size, spacing, title page, and even the margins. You have to be precise and realize that using a font of 11 is not the same as using a 12 font. You should write your piece in Times New Romans and make sure that the font size is up to 12, not higher, not less. Having a comprehensive understanding of the APA formatting style could easily take your piece from being a 7 to a 9. You will realize that when you combine ideas and a good format, you get a complete piece. But when you just have the ideas you will be missing something.

In-text citation

This covers all things content and what is engulfed in your piece. Hear me out on this, I don’t really mean that you reinvent the wheel but you need to bring some originality in your work. You have to make sure that your work is plagiarism free and it is fresh. That can only be as a result of vast research and getting content that is quite reliable. You might need to get a couple of sources to match and after you get a trend you can now fixate on one piece that seems to be quite comprehensive. However, have in mind that if you decide to pick something from a piece that you show that by bringing in the opening and closing inverted commas and stating out from where it came from. However, this too has to be done professionally. You have to state the date, month then the year or vice-versa and give credit where it is due by giving a name.

Reference

This will normally come at the end of your article where you will give credit where it is due by citing out the sources of your research and how much it impacted your writing. It is usually not a random way of doing it as it also has a legal kind of aspect to it where it protects content researched and produced by others. Take for instance, what would you do if you found someone else out there using your work and getting a credit on it without even acknowledging you? It would be very hurtful and you may decide to take legal action. However, it is also for credibility purposes. This is because, some of the material that people use, are well-known pieces from people such as Sir Newton, Shakespeare, and the other legends that when you try using as your work will question your credibility. After all, you don’t want to be a copycat and a quack.

In the event of a literature review, you will need to fixate on a certain piece of work that you will be working on. In your article, you will have to have a thesis that you will stand behind all the way to the end. You will also find it quite useful if in some fields if you take an approach of using a hypothesis. In this way, you can take a swaying vote to either bring on some more exciting facts that might have been omitted or you can raise an argument against that. This will also mean that while giving your reference you will have to state what you are backing up or going against. This is quite an open field and according to your research or opinion, you can take a side.

Unlike other forms of writing, the APA style of writing seems to be the most appreciated especially by the department of sciences and also the literature department. As a student of sciences and literature you will need to learn how to write APA literature review to get maximum point. The similarity between these two fields being that they are both technical and that they need a high level of professionalism to pass on their ideas without breaking the thought and maintaining the flow. I am by now convinced that the best article means the article with good flow and a comprehensive pack of ideas.

To get a good grasp on this you will need to take your time and study other pieces that have adopted that kind of writing. You should also try converting some of your pieces into this format and practice more and more on this. You will be a pro in this within no time. As a matter of fact, a study from one of the world’s leading universities has shown that in the next couple of years this style will have been integrated into every other field.

Buy Literature Review From Experts Who Know How To Write APA Literature Review

During your college and university learning you will be required to write research papers, dissertation, thesis or capstone project paper. A literature review is a must write section in any of these papers. In case you’re yet to muster how to write APA literature review you will be have to hire a literature review writer. Don’t worry!! most students pay literature review helper due to tight schedules and lack of effective writing skills. At expertwritinghelp.com we assist students write all types of literature reviews that include:

Argumentative review
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Learning how to write APA literature review is critical if you’re to become a researcher. It is imperative to follow our guide to muster basics of literature review writing.

Professional Literature Review Paper Writing Guide

The Key Steps To Follow When Writing Professional Literature Review Paper

Writing professional literature review paper is often a daunting part of writing a thesis or dissertation. This article provides a research and writing guide to assist students to write one of the essential and yet, for a majority, the most complicated piece of academic writing project and gives them a better understanding of what a literature review is, what it does, and how to go about doing it. Not all the times do students have the luxury of seeking literature review writing services for their papers. It is worthwhile to understand how to write professional literature review paper for your dissertation, MBA capstone projects or research paper.

Definition of literature review

A literature review is a written overview of major writings and other sources on a selected topic. It is a summary of a complete and current state of knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic as found in academic books and journal articles. It is usually presented as a distinct section of a graduate thesis or dissertation.

Depending on a student’s areas of specialization, a literature review can take various forms: argumentative, integrative, historical, methodological, systematic and theoretical reviews.

Argumentative review aims to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarian viewpoint. It is written to examine literature selectively to support or refute an argument, deeply embedded assumption, or philosophical problem already set up in the literature.
Integrative review is composed of examinations and critical analysis on a given topic to introduce a need for new research. It is considered a form of investigation that reviews, critiques, and synthesizes the representative literature on a topic in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on the topic are generated. The body of literature includes all studies that address related or identical hypotheses. A well done integrative review meets the same standards as primary research regarding clarify, rigor and replication.
Historical review focuses and assesses all the historical records throughout a period, often starting with the first time an issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged in the literature, then tracing its evolution within the scholarship of a discipline. The primary purpose of a historical review is to place research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likely directions for future studies.
The methodologically review provides a framework that enables researchers to draw on a variety of knowledge ranging from the conceptual level to practical documents for use in fieldwork in the areas of quantitative and qualitative integration, sampling, interviewing, data collection and data analysis. It helps highlight many ethical issues which students should be aware of and considerate as they go through their study.

The systematic review consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent to a clearly formulated research question, which uses pre-specified and standardized methods to identify and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect, report, and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review. Typically it focuses on a very specific empirical question, often posed in a cause-and-effect form.
The theoretical review concretely examines the corpus of theory that has accumulated regarding an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. The theoretical literature review help establishes what theories already exist, the relationships between them, to what degree the existing methods have been investigated, and to develop new hypotheses to be tested. This unit of analysis is often used to help establish a lack of relevant theories or reveal that current approaches are inadequate for explaining new and emerging research problems.

Importance of Writing Professional Literature Review

A literature review as a study requires not only scholarly but professional maturity as it shows a writer’s grasp of the field, but the procedural sophistication utilized in appraising others’ research, and the breadth and depth of their reading and understanding. There are many reasons as to why a professional literature review paper is regarded a core component of any scientific study. These include but not limited to the following:

It acts as a stepping stone towards the achievement of research objectives as it emphasizes on the credibility of the writer in his or her field.
It provides a solid background to back a person’s investigation by analyzing the existing literature and giving justification to the discussion of findings, conclusions, and recommendations. This allows one to demonstrate how his/her research is linked to previous efforts and how it extends to build on a better understanding.
Helps to avoid duplication, identify the gaps in other studies with the goal of filling them, borrow from the research design and methodology used to investigate that particular problem and to interpret one’s findings.
It provides an excellent starting point for researchers beginning to do research in new areas by forcing them to summarize, evaluate, and compare original studies in that particular field.

Components of an professionally written literature review

According to our team of professional literature review paper writers, an effective literature review chapter should include the following elements:

Objective of the literature review
Overview of the subject under consideration
Clear categorization of sources selected into those in support one’s particular position, those opposed and those offering completely different arguments
Discussion of both the distinctiveness and similarities of each source

Guidelines: How To Write Professional Literature Review Paper

Preparation of a literature review may be divided into the following steps:

Define the subject and scope of the review

A well-considered topic is likely to lead to a brilliant literature review. It is important for the topic not only to be interesting to the writer but to have an important aspect of the field and well defined so as to ensure that many readers are interested in the review and enough material is available to write it.

Select databases

The library catalog, subject-specific databases, and other search tools are useful to every writer in finding sources that are relevant to the topic chosen. It is important to read and evaluate the sources to determine their suitability to the understanding of the subject at hand. Review abstracts, articles, bibliographies and references of research studies to locate vital information for consideration.

Conduct Search for literature

Skim the contents of available article, book and abstract to find the claims, conclusions, and findings of the constructs one is investigating; definitions of terms; calls for follow-up studies relevant to the project; gaps noticed in the literature and disagreements about the constructs examined.

Review the literature

Analyze, interpret and discuss the findings and conclusions of the sources selected. It is important in writing the literature review for the writer not only to summarize the prior research but to critically examine the research related to the chosen topic then present a perspective on the research as a means for establishing his/her credibility as a scholar.

About the author

The author this blog post on how to write professional literature review chapter is a proven writer with vast experience in research and writing. He has several years of experience in offering help with economics literature review chapter to British, American and Australian students.

Guide to writing APA literature review