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Psychology Literature Reviews

Overview of narrative literature steps and resources to assist students

Literature Review Structure

Select Articles to be Included in the Literature Review

Organize your literature review by one of the following:

  • Chronological
  • Thematic or Topical
  • Methodological
    • research approaches 
    • data collection 
    • analysis techniques
  • Theoretical

Tips:

  • Thematic or Topical is the most popular choice 
  • Don't cherry pick
  • Use examples to illustrate points
  • This is not a book report, don't just summarize - synthesize!

Lit Reviews Synthesize Sources

Synthesizing is not the same as summarizing

  • A summary restates the information in one or more sources without providing new insight or reaching new conclusions.

  • A synthesis draws on multiple sources to reach a broader conclusion.

Example

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