This guide will help postgraduate students, higher degree research (HDR) candidates and researchers to understand the process of conducting and writing a literature review.
It will explain and discuss:
Links to additional resources will be provided for more detailed information.
This guide is not intended for undergraduate students completing assignment tasks. Generally, the literature review required for undergraduate study will not be as comprehensive as the literature review required by researchers and PhD candidates conducting original research.
A literature review, as part of a thesis or for any other publication, should demonstrate your knowledge of the research has been conducted in the past and should place your research in the context of this work. A thesis is an original and significant piece of work that adds to the body of knowledge in a particular field. A literature review can have a number of purposes within a thesis. These include:
Seven Steps to a Comprehensive Literature Review by Randolph, J. J. (2009) A guide to writing the dissertation literature review. Practical Assessment Research & Evaluation. 14(13) 1-13
Office of Research Services and Graduate Studies is the central point of contact for researchers, research students and supervisors
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