A literature review is typically defined as a critical summary of other scholars’ work in your field of study. The length of a dissertation literature review depends on the expected overall word count of your complete dissertation paper and also your academic level.
Literature reviews of undergraduate and master’s dissertations are generally 3,000-6,000 words in length, depending on the module specifications. Ph.D.-level dissertation literature reviews are much longer. The size of a Ph.D. dissertation can vary anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 words. Regardless of what academic level the dissertation literature review is for, it should compare relevant theories to provide the basis for your research work.
Dissertation literature review can be one of the most time-consuming and perplexing academic writing tasks. If you have been asked to write a literature review but are unsure about what to include in it, then you have come to the right place. In writing a good dissertation literature review, you will need to
- Find academic sources that appear to be relevant to your topic of research.
- Analyse and critically evaluate each source and shortlist the directly relevant ones to your research scope.
- Find gaps in knowledge and conclude the literature material.
