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What is a literature review?

You can realize the importance of literature review as it contains 40% part of any dissertation. A document that has academic writing on a specific topic to explain some concepts and knowledge to increase the understanding of that specific topic is commonly known as a literature review. The literature review also provides knowledge to the researchers that they use in critical evaluation. The literature review is a process in which the researchers review the literature. The researchers also use the literature review to create a theoretical or conceptual framework for their research. Remember, it is a literature review, not a literature report. The researchers read the literature from different sources and added their own evaluation.

It is a general practice that the researchers consider literature review is an essential part of a dissertation or thesis. The literature review is also assessed as a separate research work.

Purpose of literature review

The importance of literature review increases when researchers use literature review to understand the research topic in their core area of study. The researchers present this knowledge in their own research study. It provides them a base to conduct research in their specific study area. There are different concepts that researchers explain in the literature review. You can also use them in your research if you find them relevant to your own research study. The importance of literature review increases when you read well-written literature. You will get a better understanding of the topic for your research. Reading systematically well-written literature can help you to write an effective literature review for your own study.

Benefits of literature review

The literature review is not only a piece of writing. There are numerous benefits that literature review provides us. It is the literature review that provides us with the current knowledge and understanding of different theories and concepts in the related field. It is the literature review that helps the researchers gain more understanding of the current knowledge that the researchers are using in the specific area of research. With the help of a literature review, the researchers find the research gap and conduct their research to bridge that gap. The literature review also helps the researchers to know and explain the scope and limitations of their research. The researchers also know which method is suitable for their research by reading relevant literature. These are the benefits that increase the importance of literature review in any research.

Also Check: How Much Does It Cost to Publish a Research Paper?

The importance of literature review

It is essential for the researchers to conduct a thorough literature review while conducting their research. The literature review is important in every research regardless of the study level. It is expected that the researchers conduct the literature review carefully. It gives authentic acts and figures related to the research topics of the researchers. The researchers thoroughly studied the previously published papers and reference books to find material related to the topic. There are various reasons why the literature review in research is important for study. Some of these reasons are discussed below.

It Creates a Rapport with Your Audience

A literature review creates links with the previous research conducted in the same or related field. It is the responsibility of the researchers to study the literature carefully as they use different facts in their literature review. It is possible that you are a bright student and have sufficient knowledge. However, the references in the literature review of your paper or dissertation can inform the audience that you have a thorough knowledge of the subject on which you are writing the research paper.

The use of more references makes the research more trustworthy. It depends upon the nature of the research whether there is a requirement for long and detailed review or not. We can have an example of a research paper and a PhD dissertation. A research paper may require a literature review of about 1,000 words, while a PhD dissertation may require a literature review of about 40,000 words.

It Helps You Avoid Incidental Plagiarism

Consider a situation in which you want to write a research paper. You conduct the research and write a research paper without a literature review. After your research paper is published, you realise that there is another research paper already published on the same or related topic. You know that you did not plagiarize anything, but readers may think about the plagiarism factor. If you conduct a literature review and use different authentic sources like references from research journals or textbooks, you will make your review trustworthy. Conducting a literature review helps the researchers to make their research authentic and free from plagiarism factor.

Critical Analysis

When the researchers gather information for a specific research purpose, they have to analyze the information carefully. The literature review helps the researchers to identify the key ideas and evaluate them while using them in their own research. The researchers use the information in the literature review of their own research after critical analysis of the information. Generally, the researchers also add their views in the literature review after analysis.

The literature review is such an important aspect of the research that it not only connects the research with previous research studies in the same or related fields but also makes the research authentic and acceptable for readers.