How many papers do you need for a literature review?

Enough! Maybe as a very rough and ready rule of thumb 8-10 significant pieces (books and/or articles) for a 8,000 word dissertation, up to 20 major pieces of work for words, and so on. But use your judgement! Skim through the books and articles identified as potentially relevant.

What does a literature review need to include?

The literature review is a written overview of major writings and other sources on a selected topic. Sources covered in the review may include scholarly journal articles, books, government reports, Web sites, etc. The literature review provides a description, summary and evaluation of each source.

Does a research paper need a literature review?

When you write a thesis, dissertation, or research paper, you will have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to: Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and scholarly context.

What sources are not appropriate for a literature review?

Non-scholarly sources, i.e., those you don’t want to reference, include but are not limited to magazines, newspapers, web sites, and non-published material. The Lit Review does not have to be exhaustive; the objective is not to list as many relevant books, articles, and reports as possible.

What a literature review is not?

A literature review is NOT: is a brief critical discussion about the merits and weaknesses of a particular book. Book reviews of creative works are sometimes called literary reviews. Scholarly books are also reviewed by other scholars. Scholarly book reviews are often published in scholarly journals.

What is a simple literature review?

A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information.