A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject in a critical and thorough manner. It may be placed at the beginning of a research paper or it may be an entire paper by itself, frequently the first phase of a large research. It enables one to know that they are on the right path on that specific research. There are several features of a Good Literature Review that crafts it into making a comprehensive and effective piece of writing.
A good literature review should firstly have an effective content. As the author of a literature review, you must become familiar with a large amount of research on that specific topic. The thesis should be clearly established and seek not to mislead the reader, but to inform him about what the review will accurately be about. Scottish essayist, novelist and poet, Robert Louis Stevenson claims that “The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean”. Hence, the review should be written with precision. Not only that, but there must be vivid reasons stated as to why that particular research question is selected for review. A good literature review should evaluate the quality and findings of a research. Both sides of an argument should be distinctly enlightened, to avoid prejudice and areas of agreement and disagreement should be emphasized. Other places where the reader can get more information on that topic should be mentioned as well, so that the reader can have sufficient background information regarding to that topic and have a wider understanding.
Second, a good literature review should be systematic and clearly expressed. The supporting ideas should always follow the topic sentence so that there may be a smooth flow when reading the review and concepts can be grasped rather easily. Ideas should flow in detail or in a specific order. This may be done chronologically; where the ideas are presented in order in which they occur, from
Cited: Beever, James. World of Quotes. 2011. 17 October 2011 <http://www.worldofquotes.com/topic/Literature/index.html>. Denver, David. Aim Research. 2008. 15 October 2011 <http://www.networkedcranfield.com/logicofenquiry/gst/literature/Pages/Featuresofa%27good%27literaturereview.aspx>. Neil, James. How to Write a Literature Review. 8 August 2003. 17 October 2011 <http://www.wilderdom.com/OEcourses/PROFLIT/Class3LiteratureReview.htm>. Shuttleworth, Martyn. What is a Good Literature Review? 2009. 15 October 2011 <http://www.experiment-resources.com/what-is-a-literature-review.html#ixzz1b78yukTP>.