Literature Review Conclusion: 7 Steps to Writing a Strong Conclusion for a Literature Review
Contents
Introduction
The available research on a particular subject is critically analyzed and summarized in a literature review. It assists in the process of locating the findings of research within a larger framework and in identifying the gaps, strengths, and shortcomings of the existing literature.
A literature review is not merely a list of references; it also presents a logical case for your position and highlights your knowledge of the subject. Therefore, it is crucial to wrap up your literature review in a way that highlights the implications and suggestions for further research, summarizes your key findings, and assesses the quality and applicability of the sources.
The concluding paragraph of a literature review highlights the significant conclusions and points of the review. This paragraph is known as the literature review conclusion. The final paragraph of a paper or essay devoted to a literature review should include a summary of the key conclusions, revelations, and contributions of the literature under consideration. It concludes your literature evaluation and should give the reader a clear comprehension of the most important lessons from the studied research.
The author should give a concise overview of the literature studied in this section, emphasizing the key concepts and themes from the analysis. A critical assessment of the literature should be included in the conclusion, along with recommendations for further research and discussion of any gaps or restrictions in the study. Finally, the conclusion should summarize the key ideas covered in the review and offer a succinct summary of the primary conclusions.
This post will teach you how to produce a solid but impactful conclusion for your literature review and the strategies.
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How to Write a Strong Conclusion for a Literature Review
It is crucial to write a compelling conclusion for a literature review because it offers an outline of the results and thoughts and leaves readers with positive memories. Below are a few specific guidelines and techniques to follow when writing an impactful literature review conclusion:
1. Reevaluate Your Objectives
First, you need to be certain about the goal or purpose of your research. Reread the goals or research questions you listed at the start of your literature study to get started. To remind your readers of the reason for your review, restate them. Make it clear, for instance, whether your:
- Objectives are comparing various variables;
- The study is an experimental one looking for a cause-and-effect relationship;
- Research is a correlational study looking for relationships between variables;
- Research presents a new technique or an adaptation of an existing one.
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2. Explain the result in brief
Summarize the key results of the literature review first. Do that by giving a succinct account of your major conclusions and essential ideas from the material reviewed. Then, the main themes and concepts from the analysis should be briefly summarized. Again, highlight the key ideas, current trends, and important contributions from the research.
3. Talk About Research Gaps
Talk about any shortcomings or gaps in the body of knowledge that your review uncovered. Describe how your analysis helped to discover these gaps and why they are crucial for future study.
Conducting a systematic evaluation of the literature on literature review findings is one option to address the research gap. This would entail looking for and assessing already published research on the subject- which at this stage has been done. Therefore, recognizing such recurring ideas and best practices and combining the results into an in-depth manual using it to craft a compelling literature review conclusion.
4. Outlined Theoretical Contributions
Indicate relevant ideas that the researched literature has, if any. Describe how these innovations have helped your discipline’s theoretical foundation. Bringing up the theoretical aspects of your literature review’s findings can help your conclusion stand out. Highlighting the theoretical contributions of your literature review is one method to strengthen your conclusion.
This entails talking about how your review advances the body of knowledge in your speciality. Figuring out gaps in the current research and describing how your review fills those gaps can help you achieve this. You can show the originality and importance of your research by emphasizing theoretical contributions in the conclusion of your literature review. This might assist in situating your work within the larger context of your field and advance theory.
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5. Final statement
Use a strong and memorable sentence to wrap up your argument. This might be a challenging quote, a suggestion for action, or a reiteration of the significance of the contributions made by your review. While doing that, make sure such an argument does not include any new information not covered in the major body of your literature review. It should simply be a synthesis and summary of the already published literature.
In addition, summarize the most important findings from your review, highlighting their importance, and use that information to form a compelling conclusion for your literature review. You might also think about going through the larger ramifications of your discoveries and how they advance the field.
Likewise, you might wish to exhort readers to act in response to your analysis by putting the tips and suggestions you have offered into practice. You can leave a lasting impression on your readers and emphasize the significance of your study by concluding your essay with a powerful statement.
6. Reference the study question
Reexamine your research question or goals, then explain how your review has answered or illuminated them. Indicate how the studied material has improved knowledge of the issue or topic you were trying to research. Indicate how the gaps you’ve found and the findings you’ve summarized relate to your research question.
Describe how the existing literature influences your research and why it is required to close the gaps found. Put words like “This literature study has demonstrated that…” or “The literature suggests that there is a need for further research in the field of…” in your sentences.
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7. Summarize your key discoveries
Attempt to put together the numerous perspectives and ideas from the literature you have examined in your conclusion. Draw attention to recurring themes, points of contention, or gaps in the existing research. Talk about the various studies’ contributions to the field’s overall understanding. Synthesizing your key result is one of the important steps in concluding your literature review.
To demonstrate how the findings and arguments of the many sources you have examined support or disagree with one another, one must combine and compare them. The most crucial or pertinent points you made in your literature review should also be highlighted, along with an explanation of how they help you achieve your goals or answer your research question. Avoid restating what you already said in the body; instead, concentrate on highlighting the most important conclusions and insights that result from your investigation.4
Summary
Keep in mind that the research review’s conclusion must provide readers with an overwhelming feeling of closure and a clear comprehension of the main points of the review. It ought to encourage them to think about the consequences and possible routes the field might take in the future.
Once again, remember that your conclusion should make an impact, summarizing the key ideas of your literature review and offering insights into the larger ramifications and significance of the examined study.
It’s crucial to remember that a review of the literature’s conclusion shouldn’t include fresh sources, concepts, or defences that weren’t previously covered in the review’s body. Instead, it should compile and enumerate the data that was previously discussed in the study.
In general, the conclusion of a literature review is an important portion that aids your readers in appreciating the worth of your review, comprehending its implications, and identifying the gaps and opportunities in the body of literature already in existence. It should create a lasting impact and inspire more investigation or study.