A key to any student's successful academic career is learning how write literature review assignments work. Write literature review is an assignment that students will receive frequently. In a literature review, students survey all examples of relevant research within their subject areas and report the findings of other researchers whose work bears on the student's own. In the student's dissertation, the literature review is a major chapter in which a student places his or her own research topic in the appropriate context. Knowing how write literature review is crucial in completing a successful dissertation.
The first step in knowing how write literature review assignments work is knowing how to conduct searches of the literature. The student will be familiar with some of the relevant literature through his or her coursework in the subject. Checking the reference list of each research paper the student feels is relevant to the subject at hand will provide a list of related papers the student can locate and review. Searching for relevant dissertations and theses through the library's ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database can also turn up relevant literature. In addition, searching the academic journals through the library's online search service or through the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature will produce more relevant literature for the student to read and review.
The second step in knowing how write literature review assignments work is knowing the proper format for a literature review. To determine this, the student can read and compare the literature reviews of the research papers the student is referring to. All dissertations, theses, and other research papers contain a literature review, so working from available examples is a simple and accessible way to learn how write literature reviews.
A third way to learn how write literature review assignments work is to search online for examples. Example literature reviews are available online in a variety of different styles and formats. A student should be able to find a sample literature review using the style called for in his or her subject and field. By thoroughly searching the literature and studying the examples of existing literature reviews, a student will be able to complete an outstanding literature review for his or her dissertation.
