How Long Should a Literature Review Be?

05/09/2024 | 973 views

When you set out on a journey of academic research, you often have these questions: How long should the literature review be? How to write a literature review, what is its perfect stretcher? So we told you that the length of a literature review depends on the scope and complexity of the topic; what will be its length? Fixed word count or page limit for every literature review. It doesn’t happen. Its length depends on a few factors. For example, typically, a literature review is 20-40% of the thesis, which is almost 20–40 pages, but how long it will be depends on the topic, field, and institutional guidelines. If the literature review is for an assignment or project report, it is sufficient to have only a few pages. In this blog, we will discuss what information should be included in your literature review and how long it should be.

What Is a Literature Review?

Before delving into the topic of length, it is important to understand the purpose and nature of a literature review. A literature review is a critical analysis and evaluation of existing resources such as books and journal articles that focuses on a particular topic or research question. This is a major piece of academic writing, especially in dissertations and other scholarly works. Literature reviews provide an environment for your research, provide information about previous studies, and show how your work contributes to existing studies.

No matter how long the literature review is, this should be done:

  • To provide resources for your research, understand its historical significance.
  • Identifying gaps in existing literature, raising unanswered questions.
  • Provide an overview of key concepts related to your topic.
  • Cite examples of relevant studies to support your argument.

In addition, a good literature review evaluates factors such as cited sources, sample size, and bias. Tailor your review according to the referencing style of your research paper (e.g. APA, MLA).

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How to Write a literature review properly.

There are some key steps to writing a literature review that ensure its clarity and effectiveness.

  • Conceptualize:  First of all, you should know about your topic. If you have complete information about your topic then you can organize your review well.
  • Synthesis: Mix all the books together. Keep them in different categories to avoid confusion and then prepare a summary of them.
  • Analysis: This plays a major role in writing your review. Here you can develop your points and analyze the literature in depth. This section gives you an opportunity to understand the ideas of the topic and express your views on it.
  • Synthesize Literature:  Summarize and synthesize the main points from each source. Analyze how different studies improve the society of your subject.
  • Highlight Gaps and Controversies:  Identify any gaps, contradictions, or unresolved issues in the existing literature. Discuss which area requires further study.
  • Maintain Objectivity and Criticality: Approach literature review with an objective mindset. Critically look at the strengths and limitations of the included studies.
  • Repetition and organization:  Revise your literature review for clarity, coherence, and flow. Make improvements to improve overall structure and presentation.
  • Conclusions: Provide a summary of your findings, discuss their implications, and highlight any limitations.

What Should be the Length of a Dissertation Literature Review: Thesis, Research Paper, Journal Article, Capstone Project, and Other Types

The length of the dissertation literature review depends on the subject, research field, and guidelines of your institution. The key role is that it provides a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on a particular topic.

Type of Article Length of Literature Review
Thesis20-40% of the thesis, approx. 10,000 to 20,000 words, 
DissertationJust like a thesis, a literature review typically makes up around 20-40% of the total length.
Research PaperGenerally ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 words, 
Journal ArticleTypically concise, ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 words
AssignmentVaries widely based on assignment requirements, often between 1,000 to 5,000 words, tailored to the scope of the task.
Book ChapterLength can vary significantly, typically from 3,000 to 6,000 words, 

What makes a good literature review?

A good literature review demonstrates a deep understanding of the existing research topic while critically analyzing it. To craft an effective review, you must first clearly understand your research question or objectives and then start defining them.

The length of a literature review depends on the research topic and study but according to the University of Kent, it can be 20 pages or more for a PhD thesis. Ultimately, a good literature review is concise but comprehensive, striking a balance between depth and breadth of coverage.

A good literature review for a dissertation or thesis is a comprehensive survey that presents existing scholarship on a particular topic, demonstrating your knowledge of current research in your field of study. It does not just summarize sources, Rather, it analyzes and evaluates them, identifying gaps or contradictions in the literature. A good literature review also showcases your analytical skills when it compares and contrasts different studies, methodologies, or theoretical frameworks.

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Wrapping Up-  How long should a literature review be?

How long should a research ‘literature review’ be?” This depends on factors such as the type of research project, area of ​​study, and directions from your instructor.

Whether it is a thesis, dissertation, or research paper, writing a literature review means conducting a comprehensive survey of the existing scholarship on your particular topic.

Remember, the length of a literature review is not a rigid rule; This could be longer than 20 pages in a PhD thesis, or it could be a shorter overview in a journal article.

The structure of your review, whether it’s content, topic, or method, helps you summarize and highlight key findings from the study.

Ultimately, your literature review should be a thoughtful, scholarly and thoughtful synthesis of your research topic, provide a strong research base for your audience, and demonstrate the substantive value and merit of your proposed research.

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