Once you settle on the research area you want to focus on or your dissertation, the next thing is to review that topic’s literature. Ph.D. dissertation help usually comes in handy here because you get to work with professionals who have helped people like you before.
A literature review should critically summarize all the published works you want to use in your dissertation. This means, to conduct a comprehensive literature review, you need to have well-done research.
This is an essential step in writing a dissertation, and you cannot graduate without getting it right. A good literature review means you fully grasp your research area and that your entire paper is worth reading.
Here is a comprehensive guide on how to write an outstanding literature review for your Ph.D. dissertation.
1. Conduct lots of Research
The only way to write an outstanding literature review is, to begin with research. When you decide on the topic you want to tackle, give yourself a few days to decide on the topic and how you want to go about it. This way, you can determine the kind of research you need for the dissertation.
Once you’re sure you know what you want, you can then approach the topic through research. Keep an open mind because it could be that the way you were thinking about your area of research was restricted. When you dig deep, you’ll encounter new perspectives that are worth, including in your project.
Even as you embrace new perspectives, maintain mental borders around your research question to ensure you’re focusing on a specific area. After all, you don’t want to end up with a research area too broad to complete within the allocated time. Only pick perspectives that are relevant to your topic and discard the rest.
2. Use the Right Keywords
In writing a literature review, you have to make sure that you’re using the appropriate keywords. One of the challenges many students face is finding sources that are relevant to their keywords.
Make sure you clearly understand and define all keywords you use in the paper for easier use within the literature review. You need to use them to specifically target the research papers you’ll be using to create content for your dissertation.
Each concept you tackle should have a set of keywords you use to address the research question.
3. Deeply Explore Relevant Articles
For the best research outcomes, come up with a limited list of highly-relevant articles to use. Conduct an in-depth exploration for each one to ensure you mine all the gold you can before moving to the next one.
This is better than having a myriad of articles that you won’t likely get time to review thoroughly. If you want to graduate on time, avoid overburdening yourself with too much research.
4. Follow the Citations
The citations in research articles will direct you to relevant information in a specific field. Be sure to credit the sources as you write your paper to acknowledge that you used them to create your dissertation content.
5. Ask for Help
Writing a dissertation is no mean feat, so don’t shy away from asking for help when you feel stuck. Supervisors are assigned to you for this very purpose.
Conclusion
Your literature review determines the quality of your dissertation. Take your time to conduct in-depth research to ensure you write it with a full grasp of the topic you’re handling. Don’t shy away from asking for help when you feel stuck because that is what supervisors are for.