Explain what your review contributes to the field Identify the strengths and weaknesses of studies Describe the gaps you have located

Literary Review Outline: Main Approaches
Before composing the outline of a literary review, you should think about the various ways of arranging your points. Generally, there are 4 major options for organizing information when writing a literature review outline. The format you choose depends on your specific inquiry, aims, and other requirements. These approaches include:

Theoretical
Chronological
Thematic
Methodological.
Putting together your work well simplifies the entire process. Also remember to follow one structure consistently to avoid confusions with your flow. For example, if you decide to organize your work chronologically, make sure that you use this layout across your paper.

Theoretical Approach
A theoretical approach to literature review involves examining existing literature through a specific theoretical framework. Here, you need to view the literature through the lens of a particular theory or theories to gain a deeper understanding of your research question.

Theoretical approach can help identify patterns and inconsistencies not apparent through other methods. It’s especially useful if you are dealing with multiple theories or perspectives.

Divide your discussion into headings or subheadings following a particular order as shown below in the example:

Theory A
Brief description.
Theory B
Brief description, etc.
This is accompanied with brief discussions of each framework and their relevance to your paper. Look at this diagram for better understanding:

Chronological Approach
Chronological approach (linear approach) is the simplest way of structuring your body section. Start with older studies and work towards more recent ones. This streamlines the analysis of debates about your topic over time as you write your literature review outline. Additionally, the linear organization enables you to identify those texts that have had a profound impact on your field.

Arrange your sources in a chronological order to understand how your theme has changed over time. Using this approach, you focus on important turning points rather than all events.

Here is a pictorial illustration of this model.

Thematic Approach
Thematic approach to an outline for a literature review involves grouping your works by themes. Here, researchers determine specific patterns or subjects to arrange sources thematically.

Use the themes you have identified as headings or subheadings in your body paragraphs.Then, summarize the relevant information under each theme to keep your discussion organized and easy-to-follow. This allows you to place all sources focusing on a similar topic together which makes it easier to ascertain where differences in opinions or perspectives arise. It is a commonly used structure across diverse fields.

Consider the following diagram for further explanation.

Methodological Approach
With the methodological approach, your literature review outline is organized based on specific research methodologies applied in the studies. This model is useful when you need to investigate research questions related to particular methods, such as qualitative or quantitative study.

This approach allows researchers to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of various methods, and identify any gaps or areas where further investigation is needed. You will later use your revelations when designing a research study and writing a methodology.

Have a look at the diagram below to organize your review methodologically:

Literature Review Outline Template
If creating an outline is still challenging for you at this point, don’t worry because you can use a ready-made literature review outline template. Most institutions usually provide completed models. This makes your work easier because you will just fill in the details for each section.

The format can be APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard, which is generally specified in the task instructions. Thus, you should not face any difficulties finding a particular layout that may be applied to literature review when writing a dissertation.

Still, you can use the following outline for literature review template example and include relevant information according to your work.

Introduction
Identify your topic and its importance in the field
Describe your reasons for conducting the review
Explain how your appraisal is organized
Highlight your work’s objective i.e., what you will cover
Body
Theme 1. Offer an overview of your first theme
Sub-theme. Narrow your analysis using studies related to this section
Study 1
Study 2
Study 3
Sub-theme. Same as above
Study 4
Study 5
Study 6
Continue until you expand all sub-themes under your first major theme
You can use the same studies whenever they are needed to explain a specific subject
Theme 2. Same procedure as above
Repeat the major themes and their underlying topics until you have fully described each one of them
Conclusion