A well-written academic literature review not only builds upon existing knowledge and publications but also involves critical reflection, comparison, contrast, and identifying research gaps. The following 17 strong academic key phrases can assist you in writing a critical and reflective literature review.
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Academic key phrases to present existing knowledge in a literature review
The topic has received significant interest within the wider literature.
Example: “The topic of big data and its integration with AI has received significant interest within the wider literature.” (Dwivedi et al. 2021, p. 4)
The topic gained considerable attention in the academic literature in…
Example: “The relationship between BITs and FDI gained considerable attention in the academic literature in the last two decades.” (Amendolagine and Prota, 2021, p. 173)
Studies have identified…
Example: “Studies have identified the complexities of implementing AI based systems within government and the public sector.” (Dwivedi et al. 2021, p. 6)
Researchers have discussed…
Example: “Researchers have discussed the ethical dimensions of AI and implications for greater use of the technology.” (Dwivedi et al. 2021, p. 6)
Recent work demonstrated that…
Example: “Recent work demonstrated that dune grasses with similar morphological traits can build contrasting landscapes due to differences in their spatial shoot organization.” (Van de Ven, 2022 et al., p. 1339)
Existing research frequently attributes…
Example: “Existing research frequently attributes these challenges to AI’s technical complexity, demand for data, and unpredictable interactions.” (Yang et al., 2020, p. 174)
Prior research has hypothesized that…
Example: “Prior research has hypothesized that racial and ethnic disparities may be mitigated if the patient and provider share the same race due to improved communication and increased trust” (Otte, 2022, p. 1)
Prior studies have found that…
Example: “Prior studies have found that court-referred individuals are more likely to complete relationship violence intervention programs (RVIP) than self-referred individuals.” (Evans et al. 2022, p. 1)
You may also like: 26 powerful academic phrases to write your introduction (+ real examples)
Academic key phrases to contrast and compare findings in a literature review
While some scholars…, others…
Example: “On the sustainable development of microcredit, some scholars emphasize the effect of its poverty alleviation, while some scholars emphasize the factors such as institutional innovation and government support.” (Huang et al., 2021, p. 2117)
The findings of Scholar A showcase that… . Scholar B, on the other hand, found…
Example: “The findings of Arinto (2016) call for administrators concerning the design of faculty development programs, provision of faculty support, and strategic planning for online distance learning implementation across the institution. Francisco and Nuqui (2020) on the other hand found that the new normal leadership is an adaptive one while staying strong on their commitment.” (Asio and Bayucca, 2021, p. 20)
Interestingly, all the arguments refer to…
Example: “Interestingly, all the arguments above refer to daily role transitions—more specifically: role transitions on teleworking days—as an important explanatory mechanism for both the possible conflict-reducing effect and the potential conflict enhancing effects of telework.” (Delanoeije et al., 2019, p. 1845)
This argument is similar to…
Example: “The third argument against physician involvement in lethal injection is that physicians are prohibited from deliberately harming patients or the argument from nonmaleficence. This argument is similar to the argument from healing but has different implications and must therefore be considered independently.” (Sawicki, 2022, p. 22)
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Academic key phrases to highlight research gaps in a literature review
Yet, it remains unknown how…
Example: “Yet, it remains unknown how findings from aeolian landscapes translate to aquatic systems and how young clonally expanding plants in hydrodynamically exposed conditions overcome these establishment thresholds by optimizing shoot placement.” (Van de Ven, 2022 et al., p. 1339)
There is, however, still little research on…
Example: “There is, however, still little research on what integrated STEM approaches require from schools and teachers, and on the potential obstacles that may prevent teachers from running this kind of teaching.” (Bungum and Mogstad, 2022, p. 2)
Existing studies have failed to address…
Example: “University–industry relations (UIR) are usually analysed by the knowledge transfer channels, but existing studies have failed to address what knowledge content is being transferred – impacting the technology output aimed by the partnership.” (Dalmarco et al. 2019, p. 1314)
Several scholars have recommended to move away…
Example: “Several scholars have recommended to move away from such a stable-level approach (i.e. using a global judgment of work-home conflict) to a dynamic episodes approach” (Delanoeije et al., 2019, p. 1847)
New approaches are needed to address…
Example: “Accurate computational approaches are needed to address this gap and to enable large-scale structural bioinformatics.” (Jumper et al. 2021,p. 583)
