What are the best practices for literature review in a research proposal?

A literature review focuses on a specific topic. It should contribute with current knowledge and give you the opportunity to identify theories, methods and gaps in existing research that can be linked to an article, thesis and can function as a dissertation. It is important to make a relevant topic and for whom. Lay out central parameters and time. Search and search again. Take notes as you read. Have a geophrasing area and choose whether you want to go systematically or narratively. Make it interesting with an ongoing focus. Be critical and consistent with your boundaries, keep your focus and a logical structure actively contributes.

Exploring the intricacies of conducting a comprehensive literature review within a research proposal is vital for setting a strong foundation. Emphasizing thoroughness in sourcing relevant scholarly works, critically analyzing existing literature, and identifying gaps for innovation are key aspects. Additionally, synthesizing findings cohesively to frame research objectives effectively ensures alignment with the broader academic discourse. Integrating diverse perspectives fosters robust insights and enriches the scholarly dialogue, ultimately contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the respective field.

An effective review will summarise all the current articles (2-3 years), critically review their content and point out the gaps in the literature requiring further research. The gaps then lead to your research question and what your study will potentially add to the literature.

When you do your literature review, it is central that you include relevant previous research to strengthen your results and future conclusions. It is about in-depth articles that just like you have reviewed critically, perhaps entire reviews in your field from years ago, books that capture your field and secure databases that you can find today on the internet or via universities (not too rarely). You need to evaluate and compare from several angles to strengthen your credibility in your research and choices of sources.

To get the most out of your research of the literature, it is best to organize the results into themes. It can also work with methods or directly to results. You can more easily explain how these have developed and show patterns plus explain your analysis of what you have chosen. You always win by being logical regardless of which of the three path choices you make and later also analyze from the outside. In this part, you can also show how your themes developed if you explain your method in several steps. Your results gain from your reasoning to deepen and collaborate with others. A research is usually a team effort over time, even if one person later compiles a review.

A literature review is really only the beginning, but to create value you need to choose your sources carefully and challenge yourself continuously. A critical review already begins with why you choose these particular sources and later how you analyse, comment and reason your way through the various texts. A weighing of analysis is then based on how they connect your different positions and points of assessment, which will be absolutely decisive for your continued research. The depth of your reasoning is a link to future research from your results that can create new insights and contribute and have an impact. Again how you choose your data and how carefully you judge will reflect your content. Don't be afraid to take the turns.

Throughout your work, you focus on boundaries and choosing the right sources, but regardless, the collation and integration of everything you have produced will be crucial. How you build up a new view of your field and what new gaps you actively see as new. This means that you need to compare and maybe combine different ones. Your different combinations will show how deep your understanding is and what your reasoning actually contributes going forward. It will set a standard and clarify the quality of your completed review and what may lie ahead.

To my mind , Best practices for literature review in research proposal are : 1. Providing research references &cross references related to your research topic. 2. While providing the references , do consider online as well as offline references like research publications ,books, research papers etc.. consider all modes of “secondary data “. 3. While analysing the secondary data , identify research gaps& how they are related to your own proposal. 4. Do mention how your research paper fill the existing research gaps &how it will contribute to existing knowledge. 5. Do mention how your research paper will benefit the research community& Society at large. 6. Stay focussed to your research proposal while doing the “ homework “ as above.

Consider the impact factor of your journal. A high impact factor suggests that articles in such a journal are frequently cited by researchers. Additionally, focus on the most recent articles and work backwards, as recent articles often build upon earlier research. Give more weight to articles than books, as books may contain slightly outdated information, whereas articles often present the latest findings. Have a predetermined plan for capturing the essence of what you find in the articles. This ensures that you don't have to revisit them later because you forgot to capture their core ideas initially. In every field, there are prominent researchers. Identify these seminal authors and ensure that their work is included in your review.