Research Writing: How to Do a Literature Review (FutureLearn)

Research Writing: How to Do a Literature Review (FutureLearn)

Learn how to write a strong literature review with this course designed for research students, at any level, in any discipline. Improve your ability in a fundamental part of research: a literature review. Many students are required to write a critical review of current academic literature in their area of interest - researchers, postgraduates and undergraduates. Developing a great critical review is vital, but not always taught.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

In this course, you will be guided through this complex process step-by-step, seeing examples, finding information and developing useful questions that will help you plan, draft and refine a critical discussion of what is and is not yet known about your topic.

What topics will you cover?

  • Understanding the literature review as a genre, and its fundamental role in all serious investigations and research projects
  • Developing a useful list of search terms and understanding where to use them to find the most relevant literature available
  • Developing a professional bibliography and annotating it with critical evaluations of readings
  • Asking good questions to guide the reading and writing process
  • Planning a critical discussion in response to specific questions and based on evidence from the published literature

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Explore and identify different types of literature review
  • Develop an annotated bibliography
  • Develop questions to drive a literature review
  • Reflect on your academic writing style
  • Collaborate with other research writers
  • Improve your research potential
Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Writing and Editing: Structure and Organisation (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Michigan

Writing and Editing: Structure and Organisation (FutureLearn)

Become a skilled architect of written communication, whether you’re putting together a major project or sending a text message. Develop your writing skills to include impactful text layout and flow. This is the second course in the Good with Words: Writing and Editing series from Michigan University, and directly follows the Word Choice and Word Order course. On this four-week course, you’ll learn the importance of text structure and organising your written words to deliver effective results.

Dec 20th 2021
4 Weeks
An Introduction to Screenwriting (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of East Anglia

An Introduction to Screenwriting (FutureLearn)

Discover the key principles of screenwriting and improve your creative writing skills in this course for aspiring screenwriters. Learn how to be a successful screenwriter. Can you see yourself writing an award-winning screenplay in the future? If so, you’ve come to the perfect place. This 2-week screenwriting course will introduce you to the basic elements and key concepts behind a professional screenplay.

Jul 12th 2021
2 Weeks
Why Ethics Matter: Ethical Research (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Griffith University,Deakin University

Why Ethics Matter: Ethical Research (FutureLearn)

Explore the role ethics plays in research and why it's so important. We each have different morals, shaped by our individual upbringing, culture and life experiences. These diverse moral codes result in different perceptions of what’s right, fair and reasonable. This is where a research code of ethics comes in. On this course, you’ll explore significant events in history that have shaped ethical conduct today. You’ll also explore the key principles most codes of ethics are based on.

No sessions available
2 Weeks
A Beginners' Guide to Writing in English for University Study (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Reading

A Beginners' Guide to Writing in English for University Study (FutureLearn)

Learn how to use English for study at university or college and develop your writing skills, vocabulary and grammar. Academic writing can be very different from other types of written English. This course has been developed to help you learn the basics of academic writing and develop your English language skills.

Sep 6th 2021
5-12 Weeks
Technical Report Writing for Engineers (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
The University of Sheffield

Technical Report Writing for Engineers (FutureLearn)

Get an introduction to technical report writing. Find out how to communicate your ideas through well-written engineering reports. Technical reports are a vital tool for engineers to communicate their ideas. This online course introduces technical report writing and teaches the techniques you need to construct well-written engineering reports.

Available now
5-12 Weeks
How to Enhance Your Creative Empathy (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
D&AD

How to Enhance Your Creative Empathy (FutureLearn)

Better understand different types of audience and build empathy with your customers through your creative work. Connect with your target customers and get better results with your work. At the heart of all brilliant, commercial creativity lies people. An end audience who you, as a creative, need to connect with in order for your brilliant ideas to land and get results. This course dives into the head and hearts of humans and will help you understand and build empathy with them.

May 23rd 2022
3 Weeks
Academic Research Methodology for Master’s Students (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Coventry University

Academic Research Methodology for Master’s Students (FutureLearn)

Understand the academic research process at master’s level and build the skills to define research questions for a written project. Explore how to do academic research for a master’s written project. This course offers master’s students the chance to develop a variety of key academic research skills for producing a great written project at a university master’s level.

Jun 3rd 2024
2 Weeks
Start Writing Fiction (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
The Open University

Start Writing Fiction (FutureLearn)

Get started with your own fiction writing, focusing on the central skill of creating characters, with this hands-on course. Discover the rituals and approaches that successful fiction writers use. On this online course, established writers – including Louis de Bernières, Patricia Duncker, Alex Garland, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tim Pears, Michèle Roberts and Monique Roffey – will talk about how they started writing.

Apr 15th 2024
5-12 Weeks
Writing and Editing: Revising (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Michigan

Writing and Editing: Revising (FutureLearn)

Master the important final step in producing high-quality written work: revising your words, sentences, and paragraphs. Understand and harness the power of revisions during the writing process. Following the course on Drafting, this fourth and final course in the Good with Words: Writing and Editing series from the University of Michigan will help you master the art of revision.

Dec 20th 2021
4 Weeks
Community Based Research: Getting Started (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University College London

Community Based Research: Getting Started (FutureLearn)

Learn the skills you need to carry out research in your own community using the 'citizen science' approach of UCL's RELIEF Centre. Community based research means involving a community in all stages of a research process - this kind of research can give people the power to transform their lives. On this course you will learn the basics of community based research by examining the citizen science methodology used by the RELIEF Centre in Lebanon.

Oct 10th 2022
3 Weeks