Five Literature Review Mistakes That Cost UK Students Marks
A literature review isn't a list of summaries. Here's what UK examiners actually want to see.
The literature review is where most UK dissertations leak marks. Below are the five most common mistakes - and what to do instead.
1. Summary instead of synthesis
Don't go author-by-author. Go theme-by-theme. Each paragraph should bring multiple sources into conversation, not march through them one at a time.
2. Missing the gap
Your literature review exists to justify your research question. End it by clearly stating the gap your study fills. Without this, the rest of the dissertation has no foundation.
3, 4, 5
Out-of-date sources (anything over 10 years old in fast-moving fields), no critical voice (just describing, never evaluating), and no theoretical framework. Fix any one of these and you'll move up a grade band.
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