Literature review sections of a paper or thesis are a tricky beast, to be sure. In my writing workshops, and face-to-face work with writers and their texts, this section, next to 'theory and analysis' presents the greatest challenge. This stems, in large part, from a struggle to marry what other authors are saying with what … Continue reading Writing a literature review in your own ‘voice’
Tag: literature reviews
Annotated bibliography to literature review: a way in?
This post reflects on the affordances and challenges of creating an annotated bibliography as a way in to scoping your field, and drafting your literature review, whether for a paper or a postgraduate thesis. I am working on a project with 3 colleagues at the moment, the first part of which is writing a literature … Continue reading Annotated bibliography to literature review: a way in?
Literature review or ‘contextual framework’?
Literature reviews are the one section of a PhD thesis, article or undergraduate assignment that strike fear into the hearts of even the most confident of students. Why are we so terrified of them? Reams of writing, many blogs and online advice pages, and hours of anxiety are devoted to literature reviews - the writing, … Continue reading Literature review or ‘contextual framework’?
A link between writing book reviews and writing your literature review
Last year I published two book reviews. In my country's higher education system, I get no 'brownie points' for writing these, as they accrue no status or subsidy in terms of being 'proper research'. I know, as a journal editor, that it is notoriously difficult for many journals to fill their book review sections, because … Continue reading A link between writing book reviews and writing your literature review
Finding what you need to read: Is it really elementary, my dear Sherlock?
One of the most unpleasant surprises, getting into writing papers based on or even largely out of my thesis, has been how much reading I still have to be doing, in spite of having done a great deal already for the actual PhD. I feel I should not be as surprised as I have been: … Continue reading Finding what you need to read: Is it really elementary, my dear Sherlock?
