Successful University Writing

A real challenge for students when writing a literature review is to avoid the trap of being swamped by the volume of available readings and articles. To combat this, keep in mind the following points:

• Relevance. The review should be organised around defined concepts, issues or themes. Narrow your initial search to literature that addresses these areas. Keeping these issues in mind helps to limit the scope of the wide reading phase. Remember that in order to compare and contrast literature, it has to address related concepts and themes. 
• Authority. Use reputable sources (e.g. library database rather than Google) to search for material that has been critically evaluated by peers, reviewed and professionally edited.
• Currency. Check that the texts address information that is still influential in the field and reflect current thinking and  research.

Recording and planning

A useful planning and organisational tool is a literature matrix, which cross-references the main themes of the review with the literature being included. Themes should be listed on one axis and referenced against the articles on the other. As articles are read in detail one at a time, notes about them are made in the central area of the matrix. Once complete, this helps to make comparisons and synthesise the positions of the various authors along the lines of the issues and concepts. The following table is a simplified sample of this process:

Note how this matrix can be used as a scaffold to help write about each theme. It identifies areas of agreement as well as variations in how each author or article addresses each aspect. This will assist to facilitate synthesis of the areas of focus and positions presented by the various authors. In this example the matrix helps to scaffold a literature review based around the following themes:

• a definition for formative assessment.
• theoretical basis for formative assessment.
• pedagogical implications of formative assessment.

Synthesis: a key academic skill