How Long Should Your Literature Review Be?

While writing a dissertation, one of the questions that can be in the minds of the researcher is how many words should a literature review be because there are tons of scholarly publications on online platforms that are relevant to one’s area of research, which is why many students get confused about what to add and what to skip. Well, a rule of thumb is that it highly depends upon your dissertation length. Although the literature review length depends upon several factors, typically it is around 20 to 40% of the whole dissertation. This percentage nearly comprises 25-45 pages of a thesis. Nevertheless, if you are writing an assignment or a project then the literature review will only be a few pages. 

What is a literature review?

A literature review is the study and exploration of the existing literature. It must be highly relevant to your field of study because it helps in the understanding of your research topic and also lays a strong foundation for your contribution to the same field of study. The literature review must be written coherently and in a structured manner. Every sentence should be well suited for the paragraph and must be aligned with the previous and the next sentence. For proper coherence, structure, and length – students can also get assistance from a british dissertation help where experts are well-versed in every chapter of a dissertation be it methodology, insights, or literature review. 

Significance of literature review 

A literature review is the backbone of a dissertation. It gives purpose and objective to your research. Without a literature review, a dissertation is incomplete. To find the gap and research about it, all depends upon a literature review. A better understanding of the preliminary literature ensures the success of the research. A well-structured survey will help you develop depth and conciseness in the literature of your paper including the gap, appropriate research methodology, and thoughtful insights as well. Therefore, the researchers have to critically explore the existing literature including research articles, books, journals, conference papers, and other scholarly publications.

Length of the literature review

There is no right length for a literature review because it depends upon several factors. Typically it is around 20 to 40% of the whole dissertation, this percentage nearly comprises 25-45 pages of a thesis. Nevertheless, if you are writing an assignment or a project then the literature review will only be a few pages. An ideal length of a literature review is dependent on the topic, research area, guidelines, and instructions from the institute and the supervisor. For instance, a PhD dissertation would constitute more than 20 pages including more than 100 articles.

Choosing the right sources for the literature review 

While collecting relevant sources, keep in mind the length of your dissertation. The sources must also be recent but relevant as well. The three main things to consider for source selection are:

• Nature of your research topic
• Guidelines from advisor and institute
• Length of the literature review

To capture the attention of readers, ensure that your dissertation provides a good blend of all types of sources including books, journals, conference papers, and so on. In addition, cite dozens of articles and papers in your research to make it more credible. Well, it also depends upon the nature of the research. For instance, if you are writing an article then a few papers would suffice. Whereas for a PhD dissertation, you will need to study and cite anywhere between 100 to 300 research papers to get it published in good journals. 

Rather than merely depending on the number, ensure that your research is comprehensive and well-balanced because the quality matters more than the quantity. Your Literature must exhibit that you have studied a variety of scholarly publications to fully understand the topic and area of your research. Ensure that you organize your selected sources in the following manner.

• Thematically
• Chronologically
• Methodological 

Depth versus conciseness 

There has to be an ideal balance between both depth and conciseness. Depth ensures that you know a topic in detail and can critically analyze the topic and provide insights. On the other hand, conciseness shows the most relevant content without any unnecessary content. Adding irrelevant details with lead to the obscuring of the real findings and arguments. Therefore, students must know the topic in depth but also need to be concise simultaneously. For that purpose, they have to know their topic of research thoroughly so that they can add only the most relevant detail. For any research work, students must bear in mind that it is not the word count merely, it is the quality of the citations you are adding because only quality content will help your research be credible and worthy for the readers. To maintain an ideal balance between depth and conscience, consider the following points:

• Define the scope based on your research question 
• Decide which parts of the preliminary literature you want to add 
• Determine the including and excluding criteria for the selected sources 

Remember that a literature review is about providing an overview to give purpose to your research. You do not need to add all bits of information. Include the literature that is accessible and ensures that your research will make a meaningful contribution to the existing one. 

Conclusion 

To sum up, the length of the literature review depends on several factors. It is crucial to discuss it with your advisor to know the guidelines of the institute. In addition, it also depends upon the type of research. If you are writing an assignment or a project then even 15-30 articles will also be enough which will be nearly ten pages. Whereas as for graduate and postgraduate theses, articles needed to cite will be in the hundreds. However, it is crucial to add the key points from all the sources keeping in view your topic of research. Find a gap and aim to fill it with your research. Always remember that quality matters not quantity.