How to Write a Literature Review

If you’re wondering how to write a literature review, one of the biggest challenges is knowing what to write once you’ve identified your themes.

Dr Elizabeth Yardley, a social sciences professor with over 20 years’ experience supporting doctoral researchers. Many PhD students struggle with qualitative research not because they’re doing it wrong, but because they’re using the wrong standards to judge it.

In this video, Elizabeth shares a simple three-step structure to help you write a literature review that is analytical rather than descriptive. You’ll learn how to introduce each theme, synthesise the literature, and connect it back to your own research so your writing becomes clearer, more critical, and easier to follow. She also explains why every section of your literature review should begin with a roadmap sentence that tells your reader what to expect and why the theme matters. This simple technique can make your literature review much more coherent and focused.

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