How to write a literature review - my simple 5 step process!

How to write a literature review?
Well, it doesn't have to be complicated at all! Here is my 5 step process that will allow you to finish your literature review in a simple process that will help you write:
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▼ ▽ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Introduction
0:45 Get crystal clear on your research question and WHY
2:55 Create a "best guess" outline of your topics
5:33 Time to get searching and cataloging
10:09 Formulate the details of your review structure
12:25 Get writing! Check out my PhD thesis writing tips too!
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[@DrAndyStapleton]

Find out about my NEW members-only community here: academiainsider.com/community/ Join a friendly community that will answer all of your PhD questions!

[@janswanton3631]

Norton is telling me this is a 'known malicious website'. Andy can you either delete the link, if it is, or sort out its bona fides if it is not! - Thanks

[@abuyousefali]

"Perfection kills progress" are words I need to put on my wall above my computer as I start this PhD journey.

[@millermoshe787]

sorry to be so off topic but does anyone know a method to log back into an instagram account..? I stupidly forgot the password. I love any tips you can offer me!

[@programferris1018]

@@millermoshe787 why do you spam this message?

[@s.tamboli7293]

Ya. Imperfection and correction can be a great combination...

[@KSASA999]

Perfection is one of my problems, and I progress slowly. thanks for mentioning that

[@criticalthinking8982]

@@KSASA999 this is so me. I am very fastidious.

[@adrianafayad6774]

I think I should thank you officially in my thesis, because your videos have been helping me a lot more than my supervisor. Thank you for the great content 😊

[@mgr001]

Nicely put: "this is what someone has found; this is how it fits; this is how it relates to "my why".

[@plei132]

Your videos put me in a good working attitude. I've been lately the overwhelmed about writing my thesis, to a point not sleeping and I was getting into a very bad circle. Thanks a lot Andy.

[@fd_unger]

Thanks so much Andy for giving us this confidence, the how-to and the tools we'll need to start with the Lit Review of our thesis! 🙏

[@phdclinicus]

Thank you again for sharing these with your peers, Dr. Andy!

[@sclarke8927]

One thing I learned from doing a lit review for my masters - is wiork in sections - as you mentioned once, do a section and hand it in to supervisor. I agree - it helps prevent reviewing the paper in whole of 100 or so pages, flipping around to find where you wrote some thing, revising etc., and instead, review section at a time. Saves sanity

[@shawanalulu]

I’m so glad I’ve stumbled upon your channel as it’s been immensely interesting and helpful as I’m in the process of planning my PhD. So I feel much more confident about my approach now! 😊

[@MW0IBT]

Thank you so much. Been quite anxious about it all. Very reassuring

[@cilek095]

Thanks so much for your content Andy 🙏 so helpful and the ebooks are invaluable thanks for sharing your knowledge and helping us on our journey

[@daniefakhry]

I am in the middle of writing a Systematic Review now and I keep coming back to this video. Thanks Andy! This saved me

[@qian2718]

I'm now at the thesis writing stage. I wish I could know your channel earlier... kind of more helpful than my supervisor.

[@phelosenoshaiza9432]

Thank you so much! Indeed watching this video as I'm working in my Literature Review at the moment made me realise the patterns I've been picking up while reading through papers. Cheers!

[@bridgetlolla-childs9968]

I'm going to have to mention you in my acknowledgments!! Thank you for this so much!!

[@williamabuinao756]

Thank for this clear presentation. Perfect also you do much of scientific research. Just about to start a literature review. Again, thanks alot.

[@VyNguyen-vd3jf]

I just want to come and say thank you for your great content! Your videos have helped me more than an entire semester of a Research theory class did 🙂 and even more than my advisors do !

[@simonwakei5531]

Well done - specific, simple and relevant, thank you

[@aboutmia7644]

Great tips you give Andy, as always. In my PhD program it is mandatory to write a review on your subjet and they highly recommend you publish it. I did and I understand is a great way to learn about your topic.

[@threlpappy]

I appreciate that your window trim is well fitted to the shape of the stone's that make the opening.

[@leahfischer5264]

This should be required for every course on this topic!!!! Thank you! This really helps a beginner!!

[@dankschang]

Dr.Andy...you are amazing, I had been picking so much from your sharing. Perhaps you might want to have a separate video using Mendeley, Google Scholar, and RefNWrite in a quick overview to help those of us in the Literature Review development stage. A 3-in-1 writer solution process can help us quickly pick up the skills to get going

[@pranjalsingh9154]

Such valuable advice. Thanks!

[@chris84db]

Thanks for this upload! I was doubting if my approach with sections and subsections was correct, but your video made me stop doubting. Thanks again for the upload and have a great week.

[@aylannapriscila]

This is a very difficult topic to be explained and you did it perfectly!!! I just realized (watching your video)that I have been following those steps unconsciously. Thanks from Brazil ✨

[@Steve-yz9uo]

You are soooo god at explaining things. I watched an hour of my professor explaining a lit review and I was more confused by the end of it. Thank you

[@dejavujoyeriaybisuteria4568]

Thank you so much! Your channel is pure gold! I am feeling better and ready to write my thesis

[@ImpManiac]

Great video, Andy. Thank you! 😎 I was awarded my PhD nearly 20 years ago but watched this to refresh my memory and get some tips about how best to perform a literature review. First video... BINGO! Got tons of ideas! 🙂 So thanks again. IM 😎 (Paul)

[@teacherparis7409]

Thank you Andy. Your videos are life-changing!

[@rnguyen9368]

Thank you for this video! I wrote a few literature reviews for different projects now, but I don't know why when it comes to my PhD project proposal, I find myself so lost and not knowing where to start. Did not realize that the step that was missing for me would be as simple as dividing my main theme into smaller topics! 🤣 So thank you for all these simple tips! Now i don't have any more excuses to procrastinate anymore... Sigh.

[@sheidamohebpour3462]

Thank you for making this video !

[@chloe_steward]

Love point 3 about the excel document (I use OneNote) and point 4 about visiting the lit review daily to keep thinking about it and refining the structure

[@hiteshvaidya3331]

Hi Andy, I think you are doing a fantastic job of helping PhD students with their journey. Could you please make a video in which you explain step 4 with an example? As in, take a paper and show us how you read it, make notes and make subtopics etc. Appreciate your help!

[@sanjanadutt2941]

beautifully designed

[@Joeyykins]

I just wanted to thank you for these videos, you've become my favourite academic youtuber by far. I began my PhD earlier this year, and I only realised at the end of 2020 how much the lack of indirect faculty/lab support due to this wild pandemic year, has hampered the quality of my work. I just did not know the calibre of what was expected of me in this new degree. You have been my buffer over this big learning curve of the first year, so thank you!

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Thank you, Jude! It's comments like these that keep me motivated to produce videos!

[@cynthiahernandez487]

I loved this video, I had been looking for help to know how to structure a review paper . Thanks so much!

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Glad it was helpful!

[@professormarkegan]

Thank you, very helpful for students, I will show it to them. I find they also like to see examples and therefore I have now uploaded the examples I created for them, with my commentary and feedback, it is then easy to see what makes a good literature review - Professor Egan

[@bioinformaticaestrutural1521]

Andy, I just love your work.

[@mrinaliniroy8496]

the way you structure your videos is very intelligent and organised! absolutely love the black side bar where you put the key points covered

[@lenashriner8857]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXfIq4yYq9WCarc

[@aanchalmehra7333]

You have explained it very nicely. It's really helpful thankyou sir.🔥🔥

[@hamid7270]

very helpful. thank you Andy

[@kelseithomas8824]

As a Ph.D. student currently stressed about my lit review structure, I want to say THANK YOU!

[@bucii01]

You are amazing bringer of knowledgeable for so many who struggle with academic research writing

[@MP-dz2ki]

Thanks very much for the very constructive tips. My issue is whenver I read so many papers I got in an endless loop, when the authors of that particular paper are referencing and those papers are also intersting and contain many more other information that I could use for another point of interset and so on and so forth... I also use the table method where I summarize the most important points but I feel like it takes ages to get to read through the papers I actually aimed for.

[@vickyymusic2038]

I've just sent off a proposal for a PhD studentship so I'm in the waiting room at the moment.... but your videos are helping me realise that it's possible to do a PhD and it doesn't have to be so scary. So thank you for what you're doing for us!

[@DrAndyStapleton]

A pleasure, Vickyy - good luck!

[@rgal8791]

Thanks for the suggestions :) in the process of have to submit a draft of the lit review, this is after reading only 30-40 articles and I find it very difficult , your outline will help.

[@dnc9910]

Thank you Sir for such a nice guidance

[@coldheart5842]

Your explanation was much better than my professor's lecture. You give us clear baby steps. I'm a master student who stuck in the lit review

[@zelalemzenebe4338]

Same hehe

[@meghansarah34]

Same lol

[@sarahaldo5089]

Thank you so much. This video is really helpful to understand how to do the literature review..

[@msms6245]

I am liking all your videos the ones I watch, even the ones I didn't wacht, as appreciation for value and applicable information.

[@kalo810]

The best information's so far in literature review, thank you.

[@xanthippe7219]

Thank you very much, so clear and effective.

[@azharzakaria1327]

Thanks Dr. Andy😊😊😊

[@kailas1412]

I LOVE YOUR PRESENTATION!!!!!

[@detectivethinker3637]

Me too! His explanation is VERY clear.

[@alfonsorodriguez1763]

thank you for this video!

[@blakesteinnecker519]

Fantastic video! Thank you.

[@tarikuberu2513]

Thanks, Prof. It is a good lecture

[@halaalsamman4290]

Thank u Dr Andy so much for each valuable advise u said u made my phd journey more interisting full of joy, your efforts are highly appreciated thanx alot

[@DrAndyStapleton]

My pleasure

[@thelinuxturtle2935]

Thank you!!! Very informative !

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tulpe3332]

Great advice!

[@skybirds1975]

Thank you so much for helping me and inspiring me forward. I am a designer, but a slightly dsylexic visual learner , so looking for advice on any visual documenting aids and mainly how to keep control of my biblopraphy as this is my biggest barrier I havn't a clue. Thanks so much again

[@PlacesIhavebeen110]

You are very knowledgeable

[@nidhigangaparekh238]

significantly informative sir

[@junaidkhan-ii8po]

Thanks you Andy

[@kblonkar]

Thank you for sharing valuable video

[@marilynyeboah9842]

your videos are very helpful. Thank you!

[@DrAndyStapleton]

You're very welcome, Marilyn.

[@sumadoolpeep7171]

Thank you for making this playlist!! I was wondering if you will have an opportunity to make a playlist in the context of master research project

[@eddyotieno295]

GOOD WORK

[@esneidermahecha7724]

This motivation is very helpfully and fresh, I mean is the real l life of a graduate student. Thank you for the advice.

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for your support!

[@sabuein]

Thank you so much.

[@techtimes1985]

Sir, do make a video on how to organise our data when doing literature review. I mean when we read a research paper , we think it's relevant and then we note down important points, now we are to cite this paper later on.... How to organise references , important points and how to connect them together to make a coherent flow of thought.

[@DrAndyStapleton]

I'll add it to the list!

[@osmani6004]

that's a very good point

[@ruqiabajwa]

same is my request

[@kurzeful]

Please and thanks!!

[@DrMartinObrien]

Say you are writing on one sub-topic and you want to include 15 pieces of information you previously made a note of after reading 10 papers, i would first summarize this information in a table or two, and this can help to see patterns more clearly than looking at your notes alone. With the pattern(s) now identified, start writing about the the pattern and you’ll find that your flow of thought is naturally more coherent. I hope that helps!

[@sakalaefi8744]

Thank God I found this platform. I'm about to start my PhD thesis. Please I would like to know how many pages in average a phd thesis should be. Thank you

[@nadaaltaweel1364]

Thank you very much! I will start my PhD in September and I am so happy that I found your great channel. I will be extremely grateful if you can make a vedio about the most useful apps that every PhD student should have.. thanks again for your effort .

[@DrAndyStapleton]

You are welcome!

[@PhDhardtalk]

Thank you for this video. Can you do a video on feedback and what to do when you receive the feedback , the excel , great shout! I have finished and handed it in and I got my feedback but not sure what to do and how 🙈🙈

[@Mnogojazyk]

These are great suggestions. I’d like to add working with your academic/research librarian. Te can help with • Determining databases to search and determining the optimal search vocabulary • Searching specialized and grey literature • Using specialized bibliographic tracking software, e.g., EndNote and RefWorks After all, that’s what they do for a living.

[@kennethbaptiste]

Wonderful. Thank you.

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@larasatian2231]

love it! thanks andy

[@DrAndyStapleton]

No problem!

[@dashamesquita8300]

I just loved the clue about organizing your data in Excel. Same as you, I am not a good from-the-screen reader and I am frequently overwhelmed that I am missing something or I don't have a structure for my actions. Thank you. It is very useful.

[@rgal8791]

Just seen another video suggesting using Evernote, with Tags it is really useful when filtering

[@dashamesquita8300]

@@rgal8791 I also keep searching and yesterday downloaded Zotero. I am getting used to it, but what I have learned is that you can organize your PDFs and books and easily insert references. What I loved is that you can register the document just by DOI ou ISBN and all the data (including a pdf, if provided) will be linked in the program. Saves a lot of time.

[@rgal8791]

@@dashamesquita8300 Agree, I use Mendeley.Think our university provide support for Endnote. It is important to get it right from the start. Still feel I am at the start of the Matrix

[@dashamesquita8300]

@@rgal8791 I know exactly what you are talking about)

[@ernestinalefebvre5191]

Mine was extremely difficult to pen down because I thought of the research problem from a lived experience than from an academically informed place. That lived experience led me to a field of study on international borders and borderlands. A transdisciplinary field I had no idea even existed! It's all coming together - painstakingly so - since my borderlands study has not yet been done in human geography, using Henri Lefebvre as the underpinning theoretical and conceptual framework.

[@oyukamongol8058]

Thank you.

[@meisamiz]

Dear Andy, I hope you're doing well, Thank you so much for being so awesome, and energetic. Also, for helping me so much with your great videos (since I'm applying for a Ph.D. position in the field of energy conversion (experimental research)). Kind regards and best wishes, Meisam. I.Z.

[@lenashriner8857]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXfIq4yYq9WCarc

[@aminadehimat3248]

Thank you so much Dr andy, really these are advice of gold, please could you help me with your experience about how to formulate a Research question( research problem), hypothesis, and methodology. is it from the papers that you read or you invent a conceptual model and you prove it via theories? thank you in advance

[@FlashDon]

Great video

[@nikolinagacina1905]

Dear Andy, I am so thankful for all Yours tips and info for PhD writing.

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Happy to hear that!

[@wahikorea7379]

Thanks Andy

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Any time!

[@florianbarras]

You're the big brother I've never had. Thanks Andy.

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Any time, Florian!

[@ilovepotatoesforever9818]

Amazing content!

[@DrAndyStapleton]

I'm pleased the content was so useful. Good luck with your literature review!

[@Leo-pm6es]

Thank you so much for your contributions to all potential PhD candidates.

[@DrAndyStapleton]

You're very welcome. Thank you for your support!

[@dr.bangura4722]

GOOD! ON THIS SECTION NOW.

[@newtonocharimenyenya2458]

Thanks so much, Sir for your Great insights. I am, however, curious, how do we reference books that are not up to date that we nevertheless find great and inasightful?

[@paulagrzelak2432]

thank you for this video 💜 i`m writing a literature review and it's killing me 😂 I'm sure your tips will help me finally finish it 😊

[@DrAndyStapleton]

A pleasure! Good Luck!

[@maxinestacey4084]

Top tip on the use of excel, is categorise them via a filter :)

[@RafalSB]

Very helpful. Thank you, Andy. Thumbs up for the algorithm! :P

[@lenashriner8857]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXfIq4yYq9WCarc

[@kieranhanrahan2883]

Useful tip on selecting the topics to be reviewed and brought together which my supervisor gave me - think of it as a Venn diagram: where each of the topics intersects - the sweet spot - is the research area. HTH. Love the videos, very impressed with all the AI powered tools now available, but you need to talk more about their limitations. The search results appear to be confined to journal articles in the main? Could not find conference papers, PhD theses or other sources in any of the searches, which is quite disappointing.

[@coachwesambasabain5128]

The video is very informative! Thank you very much. I subscribed and will check your channel regularly :)

[@iqrashahid252]

please can you make a video for undergraduate students doing their thesis too? btw love your content, i got to know about so much AI stuff for research thankss Andy

[@esnutaliah]

Ahhh I print, too! High 5!

[@DrShellyAnnGajadhar]

Great tips! Thanks for these as I recently spoke about my own challenges in my latest vid! Subscribed :D

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@amisha_5813]

Thank you so much for this amazing video.. I'm new to research & this video is immensely helpful.. I hv a question in mind.. While doing literature review do we use books as well apart from paper?

[@Brockdorf]

I would be curious how you would integrate those new software applications you have shared into the lit rev process.