• Only articles from peer reviewed journals may be used as reference sources and at least 15 articles must be cited.
• Where possible, original rather than review articles should be used.
• When using a journal article as a reference, you should have read the entire article, not just the abstract.
• The aims of the literature review is to analyse and critique recent literature in relation to your chosen topic therefore it is strongly encouraged that you cite predominantly recent journal articles within the last 5 years as research is constantly evolving and changes rapidly.
Structure and content of the literature review
• It is important to follow a clear and logical structure.
• Begin the review with a clear introduction.. You can even briefly discuss the format of the literature review to follow.
• Ensure that the body of the literature review is broken into a series of paragraphs, the use of subtitles is strongly encouraged. Paragraphs / subtitles are the building blocks of your review so it is important that there is a cohesive and logical flow between paragraphs.
• It is important to identify, discuss and compare key issues raised in sources and highlight deficiencies of knowledge evident in the research topic if there are any.
• Remain focused on the question and answer the question clearly. Throughout your literature review try and relate the discussion back to the initial question.
• Your literature review should end with a concluding paragraph that summarises your review and also addresses the initial question. Your conclusion should be supported by the facts that you have presented in the body of the review. Note that there may not be a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. You may also wish to propose future directions for research.
• Ensure appropriate and correct use of referencing, using the Harvard system.
• Finally it is important to check spelling and punctuation and make sure that your literature review is free of typographical and grammatical errors.
