1. Questions. Do not begin analysing the literature before clarifying in your own mind the research questions that will guide your dissertation. By formulating problems beforehand, you will avoid wasting hours in aimless reading. Know the issues of concern to you and consider the material through this lens alone.

2. Wide search. In order to write a satisfactory literature review you must demonstrate your ability to search out relevant material from a wide variety of sources. Trawl online databases for useful dissertations and articles by using their abstracts to consider relevance, use all available university, college and departmental libraries, consult the web for extra resources and follow footnotes.

3. Significance over content. A common mistake in writing a literature review is to get bogged down in flat descriptions of the content of the many books, journals articles and reports that you have been reading. Relate only the directly relevant content, and spend as much time analysing the comparative significance of various sources for your own purposes.

4. Key themes. It will be necessary to identify, draw out, explain, interpret and evaluate key themes that emerge from the literature you have been studying. Thematic analysis will not only demonstrate a genuine engagement with the literature, but provide you with a scaffold on which to build the body of your text.

5. Critical attitude. Nothing must make it into your literature review which has not been scrutinised, questioned and dissected. A critical approach to all reviewed material is the means to ensuring the elimination of mere description and the proper emphasis on original analysis. Challenge assumptions, generate arguments and give reasons for your reactions.

6. Findings. Beyond the identification of key themes and issues, it will be necessary to reach certain findings in light of your analysis of the relevant literature. Try to draw working conclusions about the current balance of opinion concerning certain controversies, suggest what you believe to be the emergent or future trends in the field, identify deficiencies in current knowledge and relate your own position to that of others.

7. Valid sources. The need to consult a broad range of material has already been stated, but consider also the validity of the sources you review. In some subject areas classic texts retain their authority for literally thousands of years; cutting edge scientific research will need to be more mindful of the dangers of consulting obsolete data.

8. Categorisation. Key themes provide a natural structuring principle in a literature review, as do categories based on relevance to research questions, academic position, theoretical paradigm, chronology, and so on. Categorising reviewed material into ‘for’ and ‘against’ classes for certain controversies is one useful way to present findings.

9. Theory. Part of your analysis of reviewed material will almost certainly involve a consideration of the theoretical underpinning of each source, inherent working assumptions, paradigmatic aims, and so on. Explicitly articulate the rationale behind the theoretical aspect to your own findings and the position you have reached by the end of the literature review.

10. Source provenance. A standard consideration in any review, but one worth being reminded of nonetheless. How authoritative is the writer? Is the author widely cited? Has later response in the literature provided damning critique of the work in question, or considerable support?

Helpful links: Dissertation Examples, Literature Review, Literature Review Example

1. Statement of purpose. Open your dissertation with a clear statement of your purpose for conducting and writing up new research. These opening remarks need not yet precisely articulate specific research questions, but should indicate the definite direction which the dissertation will follow.

2. Define your topic. It is necessary early on to carve out the particular area of study within your chosen academic discipline. This will provide reference points for academics within your field to understand your point of departure when embarking on research.

3. Approach. Outline the basic approach you took to formulating your research questions and clarifying the aims of your dissertation. Discuss the issues that informed and shaped the direction of your project in order to contextualise and rationalise your particular methods and other research decisions.

4. Terminology. The depth of your research into a particular aspect of your field will tend to bring up the need for an intensive and precise use of subject-specific vocabulary. Include a section in your introduction which systematically defines all relevant terms and clarifies ambiguities in your usage of general terms if necessary.

5. Objectives and research questions. Concise, coherent and clear statements of your aims, objectives and research questions must appear in your introductory chapter. These will follow on from your statement of purpose and outline of approach, but nonetheless must be clearly identified and lucidly stated.

6. Rigorous hypotheses. When formulating and stating hypotheses to be tested after the acquisition of new data, be sure to pay due attention to the logical construction of these hypotheses. A proper hypothesis is testable, falsifiable and non-circular.

7. Scope of work. Your introduction should give a clear sense of how you understand the scope and extent of your dissertation, as well as its place within the current research and existing literature of your field. Demonstrate a broad knowledge base through this contextual section of discussion.

8. Significance. A good dissertation goes beyond the basic requirements of review, collection and analysis, and indicates an astute awareness of the significance of its own findings within the academic subject area. The introduction is the initial point at which such discussions emerge.

9. Reasons. Generally speaking, the academic register is based in a replacement of familiarity with formality, and the elimination of the first person from the text. However, in discussing the reasons for selecting your research proposals, there is occasionally some scope for indicating the nature and extent of personal engagement by speaking candidly about your own motivations.

10. Subheadings. For those unaccustomed to writing extended pieces of work such as custom dissertations, the division of an introductory section into several parts might seem unusual. However, the introduction makes up an entire chapter, and for purposes of intelligibility it is useful to employ subheadings here to break up the prose and identify key issues.

Helpful links: Dissertation Examples, Dissertation Proposals

1. Purpose. The purpose of an abstract is to summarise in a systematic and formulaic manner the content of your dissertation. The abstract serves as a short-hand for the entire piece, indicating whether or not it would be worthwhile to read. Bear this purpose in mind when drafting your own abstract.

2. Length. Typically an abstract should not exceed one page of text, but it is essential to check departmental specifications to be sure that your abstract conforms with requirements. Exceeding stated limitations in length is a serious failure which will indicate a lack of understanding as to the purpose of an abstract.

3. Avoid verbosity. The biggest challenge in writing an abstract is to retain focus and not exceed the word count. It is therefore necessary here to avoid unnecessarily florid and superfluous language. Keep it simple, clear and within specifications.

4. Thoroughness. The abstract must represent the entire dissertation, not just certain elements of it. Objectives, reviewed literature, methodology, analysis and conclusions: all should be summarised in the abstract. Remember that abstracts are used to inform the reader of what they are about to read, so don’t leave too many surprises.

5. Terminology. The inclusion of key terms – both general and specific to your subject area – will provide a means for browsing research academics to identify the character and purpose of your dissertation as a whole.

6. Authority. Set the tone for your dissertation by establishing an authoritative academic voice early on in your abstract. Demonstrate your comfort with the academic register to set up the impression that your work is professional and credible.

7. Salesmanship. A rather crass way to think about the purpose of your abstract, perhaps, but useful nonetheless. Academics will read your abstract to decide whether or not your dissertation as a whole is likely to be useful to them. Indicate the significance of your research and emphasise the rigour of your methods.

8. Balance. In the same way that the dissertation as a whole must maintain the proper share of space between different chapters, so too the abstract should reflect this balance. Look at the marking criteria to see which aspects carry how many marks, and organise your abstract appropriately.

9. Clarity of expression. As already mentioned, abstracts require a concise writing style to keep the word count low. In summarising such a large volume of material, be mindful also of the danger of obscurity and lack of clarity. Make sure the abstract is not entirely incomprehensible to an intelligent layman.

10. Consult published material. As with many aspects of writing a dissertation, useful models and templates can be found in comparable published material. Read published dissertations and familiarise yourself with how good abstracts are written.