Literature Review Help
"Critically synthesise the literature" is easy to write in a module handbook and hard to actually do. Get one-to-one guidance turning a pile of articles into a coherent, critical review that supports your research.
- Search strategy and source evaluation guidance
- Help structuring themes, not just summarising sources
- Feedback on your own drafted sections
Get Help With Your Literature Review
The literature review is often the first chapter students write and, for many, the hardest to get right. Part of the difficulty is structural — nobody explicitly teaches how to move from "I've read forty articles" to "I've written a chapter that argues something." Part of it is a genuine skill gap: critical synthesis, as opposed to summary, is a specific academic skill that takes practice to develop. Literature review help focuses on both — building an efficient search and evaluation process, and developing the analytical thread that turns a reading list into an argument.
What Is a Literature Review Meant to Do?
A dissertation literature review critically evaluates and synthesises existing research relevant to your topic, identifying patterns, debates, and gaps in the field. Its purpose is not to summarise each source in turn, but to build an argument — showing where your research fits within, extends, or challenges what's already known.
The Difference Between Summary and Synthesis
This is the single most common issue we see in literature review drafts. Here's the practical difference:
| Summary (What to Avoid) | Synthesis (What Examiners Want) |
|---|---|
| "Smith (2019) found X. Jones (2020) found Y. Patel (2021) found Z." | "While Smith (2019) and Jones (2020) broadly agree on X, Patel's (2021) findings suggest this may not hold in Y context, pointing to an unresolved question this study addresses." |
| One paragraph per source, in the order you happened to read them | Sources grouped by theme, method, or position, compared against one another |
| No clear connection to your own research questions | Each section builds toward the gap your research will address |
How Literature Review Help Works
- Review your search strategy. We talk through which databases and search terms you're using, and how to widen or narrow your results if you're finding too little or too much.
- Evaluate your source list together. Not every source you find deserves a place in your review — we help you assess relevance, credibility, and currency.
- Identify themes across sources. Rather than working source-by-source, we help you group findings into the themes and debates your review should be organised around.
- Review your draft sections. If you've already written a draft, your consultant gives specific feedback on where it slips from synthesis back into summary.
- Connect it back to your research questions. Every theme in a strong review should point toward the gap your dissertation addresses — we check that thread is visible throughout.
Common Ways to Structure a Literature Review
There's no single correct structure — the right one depends on your topic and field. We commonly help students choose between:
- Thematic: Organised around key themes or debates in the literature — the most common approach for most social science and business dissertations.
- Chronological: Tracing how understanding of a topic has developed over time — useful where a field has shifted significantly in recent years.
- Methodological: Grouped by the research methods used in prior studies — common in fields where methodological debates are central to the topic.
- Theoretical: Organised around competing theoretical frameworks — common in psychology, education, and management research.
Related Support
If your search is turning up too little relevant literature, this can sometimes point to a topic that needs revisiting — see Research Topic Help. Once your review is complete and you're moving into your methodology chapter, our Research Methodology Help service picks up from exactly where the literature review leaves off. For citation accuracy once your review is drafted, see our Referencing service, or our Harvard Referencing Guide.
Why Choose Dissertation Help UK
- Consultants experienced in academic search strategy, not just general research advice
- Specific feedback on draft sections, showing exactly where summary needs to become synthesis
- Guidance suited to your field's conventions, whether social science, business, or STEM
- Help connecting your review back to your own research gap
People Also Ask
How many sources should a dissertation literature review include?
This varies significantly by level and field, but master's dissertations commonly cite 40–80 sources, while undergraduate projects may need considerably fewer. Quality and relevance matter more than hitting a specific number.
How do I know if a source is credible enough to include?
Peer-reviewed journal articles, books from academic publishers, and reputable institutional reports are generally strong choices. We help you assess less obvious sources on a case-by-case basis during your session.
What's the difference between a literature review and an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography summarises each source separately. A literature review synthesises sources together into a connected argument — this distinction is exactly what our sessions focus on.
Can you help if English isn't my first language?
Yes, many of the students we support are international students, and sessions can include extra time clarifying academic phrasing and conventions around synthesis and critical language.
Do you help with reference management tools like Zotero or EndNote?
We can offer general guidance on organising your sources, though specific software troubleshooting is best directed to your university library's dedicated support service.
What Students Say About Our Guidance
Literature Review Help FAQs
No — we guide your search strategy and help you evaluate what you find, but reading and interpreting your sources is part of the academic work you need to complete yourself.
Yes, reviewing existing drafts and giving specific feedback on structure and synthesis is one of the most common ways students use this service.
The most effective fix is reorganising by theme rather than by source, and explicitly comparing what different studies found on each theme. We work through this technique directly in sessions.
This is common with niche or emerging topics. We can help you widen your search to adjacent fields or broader theoretical literature that still supports your argument.
Most sessions run 45–60 minutes, though students working through a full draft review sometimes prefer a longer session or a short follow-up.