Working on the Literature Review Section of Your Research Paper

Finally, the time of your research paper is here. Are you stressed how you will manage writing a winning paper that will sweep everyone off their feet? Do you want your research paper to stand out from the rest of the students? Do you want to make a great impression on your professor by writing a research paper without a hitch? If yes, then you need to pay attention. A research paper is different than writing an ordinary essay or creative writing assignment. The most important thing in a research paper is the amount of time you spend on the research. Even if you spend a lot of time on the research, you may not be in very good position. You need to carry out directed research. There should be a research methodology, you devise and stick to it for the rest of your paper.

To be able to write a winning research paper, you need to pay special attention to each section individually. Students who write a research paper for the first time do not find much trouble with the body, introduction, or conclusion chapters. They are accustomed to these sections already. The new terms however for them are the abstract and literature review of a paper. An abstract is simply the summary of your paper in a few sentences. It is different than a introduction because it talks about the complete paper and results as well.

What is literature review?

A literature review is a brief background of the subject you are talking about. It is an analysis of all the existing and published material on that subject. This will help your reader understand the history of your subject. They will also be able to understand

  1. The existing material available on the subject
  2. The strengths of published material
  3. The areas that need attention
  4. The gap in the existing research
  5. How you will address the gap that you identified
  6. The research methodologies used in the existing material
  7. How your research methodology will be better
  8. The potential for future research in the existing material
  9. The success of the authors in achieving the purpose of their paper
  10. The practical application of the published material

A literature review is simply a brief analysis of all the existing material available on your subject. However, you need to stay objective and free from any kind of biasness.