Step 3: Reviewing the Literature
- A literature review shows what is already known about your question, how it was found, where studies disagree, and the gap your study fills.
- Search systematically: list keywords and synonyms, combine them with Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), and search proper databases such as Google Scholar, JSTOR, Scopus, EconLit or ERIC.
- Read critically: who did the study, on whom, with what method and sample, and how strong is the evidence?
- Synthesise, do not summarise: organise by theme or debate, not one paragraph per paper.
- End with the gap, which leads straight into your research question.
What a literature review is for
A literature review is not a list of everything you read. It is an argument. It tells the reader: here is what researchers already know about this question, here is how confident we can be, here is where the evidence is thin or contradictory, and therefore here is why my study is worth doing.
Searching systematically
Start with your research question and pull out the key concepts. For the part-time jobs study these are students, paid work and academic performance. For each concept, list synonyms, because different authors use different words.
| Concept | Synonyms and related terms |
|---|---|
| Students | undergraduate*, “university student*”, “college student*” |
| Paid work | “part-time job*”, employment, “term-time work”, “working hours” |
| Performance | “academic performance”, grades, attainment, GPA, marks |
Combine them with Boolean operators: OR within a concept (broadens), AND between concepts (narrows), and NOT to exclude (use sparingly). Quotation marks search an exact phrase, and an asterisk finds word endings (student* finds student and students).
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Where to search
| Source | Good for |
|---|---|
| Google Scholar | A quick, wide first search; “Cited by” links show newer work |
| Your library’s databases (Scopus, Web of Science, JSTOR) | Peer-reviewed articles with filters by year, subject and type |
| Subject databases (EconLit, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed) | Discipline-specific journals |
| Official sources (ONS, World Bank, OECD, government reports) | Statistics, policy context, recent data |
Reading critically
Not every source is equally strong. For each study, record the same few things in a reading matrix, a table with one row per source.
| Author, year | Country, sample | Method | Main finding | Strengths / limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study A (2019) | UK, 1,200 undergraduates | Survey, regression | Each extra 10 hours of work linked to lower marks | Large sample; correlation only, self-reported hours |
| Study B (2021) | Australia, 18 students | Interviews | Work builds time-management skills | Rich detail; small, one university |
| Study C (2023) | USA, administrative data | Panel, fixed effects | Small negative effect above 20 hours only | Strong design; US context differs |
These three rows are illustrative, to show the layout. Questions to ask of every study: Is it peer-reviewed? How large and how representative is the sample? Does the design support causal claims (Step 5)? Who funded it? Is it recent enough to matter?
Synthesising: themes, not summaries
Instead, group the literature into themes and compare studies inside each theme. The same three studies become one synthesised paragraph:
Rewrite three summaries as a synthesis.
Notice the paragraph compares, weighs evidence, explains a disagreement and ends with a gap. That is what examiners mean by “critical”.
Structuring the chapter
- Introduction: scope of the review and how you searched.
- Theory: the main ideas or models that frame the question.
- Themes: two to four themed sections, each comparing studies.
- Gap and question: what is missing, and how your question fills it.
Practise until it sticks: Research Methods Made Simple Practice Questions has 1,004 questions, each with a worked answer.Get the practice book · $9
Practise: 6 questions
Try each one on paper first, then check the worked answer.
EasyQ1. What does each operator do? (a) OR (b) AND (c) “quotation marks” (d) * Show worked answer
EasyQ2. Give two differences between summarising and synthesising literature. Show worked answer
MediumQ3. Write a Boolean search string for “the effect of remote working on employee productivity”. Show worked answer
MediumQ4. Your search returns 14,500 results. Give three ways to narrow it sensibly. Show worked answer
MediumQ5. A blog post and a peer-reviewed panel study disagree. How should you treat them in your review? Show worked answer
ExamQ6. Explain what makes a literature review “critical” rather than descriptive. [6] Show worked answer
Check yourself
1. To broaden a search to include synonyms, use
2. A literature review should end with
3. A reading matrix is
Your score: 0 out of 3
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The short version
- Search with keywords, synonyms and Boolean operators, in proper databases, and log your searches.
- Record every source in a reading matrix and judge the strength of its evidence.
- Synthesise by theme; compare, weigh and explain disagreements.
- Finish with the gap that justifies your question.
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Literature Review Toolkit · $5Search-string builder, reading log and synthesis matrix for this step. Free sample on the product page. Or get all 7 research kits for $19.