How to structure a literature review
The most common mistake in a literature review is writing one paragraph per source. The second most common is writing one paragraph per source in chronological order. A good review is organised around the conversation between your sources.
Organise by theme, not by source
Group your sources by the ideas they address, then let each section discuss the sources that speak to that idea. A paragraph might open with a theme, present two sources that agree, then introduce a third that complicates the picture.
Themes come out of your reading. Once you have annotated your sources, group the annotations and you will usually find three to six themes emerge.
Show the disagreements, not just the consensus
A review that only reports agreement is incomplete. Where do your sources conflict? Where does the evidence stop? Naming the gaps is often where your own research question becomes justified.
The shape that usually works
Most literature reviews move through four jobs:
- Establish the field — what is agreed and what the key questions are.
- Trace the debates — where scholars disagree and why.
- Identify the gap — what has not yet been answered or answered well.
- Position your work — how your question responds to that gap.
Summarising is not synthesising
Summarising says "Jones argues X". Synthesising says "Jones and Alvarez agree on X, but where Jones attributes it to economics, Alvarez points to policy". The second is what earns marks: it shows you can hold several sources in your head at once and draw a conclusion from them.