Structure

Your review can be structured several ways, depending on how it suits the needs of your review. Typical structures may include:

Funnel: This basically works as broad to narrow, starting by scoping background literature related to your general topic area rather than precise research question; moving on to discussing literature closer to what you're doing but not matched directly and dealing with these sources in more detail; finally critically analysing research pertinent to your research question and looking a few key papers in much more detail.

Select those works or studies which are most relevant or the most important or recent or those which give a historical perspective. Do this carefully so that the review will provide a balanced reflection of past and/or current knowledge on the subject and decide with your supervisor how long this review needs to be (it is commonly about 25% of your word count).

A review is not just a description of the sources and their conclusions; it is a reasoned argument for why your research is interesting and relevant in relation to the existing literature. It uses the sources to back up your points in the same way that an essay does. It is useful to highlight common themes, controversies and questions that arise.

Remember to keep a full list for your reference list/bibliography (or better still, use bibliographic software like EndNote or RefWorks to keep track of your sources).

Jigsaw: This is essentially dealing with each concept equally, allowing the same weight to each topic area. It is important to make links between the topics.

Chronological: Grouping and discussing your sources in order of publication, highlighting the changes in research in the field and your specific topic over time.

chronological structure.png

The Introduction

Why the topic is important - is it an area of current interest
The scope of the review - the aspects of the topic that will be covered
How is the review organised?
Has the topic been widely researched? Or not?
Significant gaps in the research into your topic
Is there debate and controversy about the topic or a consensus?

Writing Critically

Some pointers to bear in mind:

Compare and contrast different theories, concepts etc. indicating your own position
Show how limitations in others' work creates a research gap for you
Use strategic and selective referencing to support your arguments
Synthesise and reformulate arguments from various sources to create new or a more developed point of view
Demonstrate how you agree with or defend a point of view/finding
Accept strengths of current viewpoints but qualify your position by highlighting weaknesses
Make connections between sources

The Conclusion

Conclude with a statement that summarises your review and links to your own research/current issues.