How to manage academic literature and write your literature review
Get to grips with that mountain of literature and write an outstanding literature review
As a PhD student, you need to develop a strong working knowledge of the literature, not only because your work will be judged against existing work in the field (so you need to know what you’re competing against) but also because the literature is an essential resource that can help you do better research.
But the literature can often seem more like a burden than a resource. When you do a literature search and get ten thousand results it’s hard to know where to begin. And as you read more and more and the papers are full of contradictions, it’s hard to make any sense of them. And if there’s always more you could read, it's hard to know when to stop.
Most of the difficulty, though, isn’t because there’s so much literature and it’s so confusing, it’s because you probably haven’t been taught what to do with it.
Working with academic literature is a skill. It’s a skill you can learn and practice. And once you have that skill you can approach the literature with confidence.
This course is divided into two sections, first breaking down in detail how to get to grips with the literature and building your knowledge of the field, then covering how to put together a compelling literature review.
This course is available to purchase individually or as part of the All Access Pass
Your Instructor
I'm James, I'm a former physicist (PhD, Nottingham, 2007) and author of "PhD: An Uncommon Guide to Research, Writing & PhD Life".
I now help PhD students all over the world overcome barriers in their research and writing.
Over the last 10 years, my strategies have helped thousands of PhD students just like you to build confidence, write better and finish on time.
Course Curriculum
Introduction (New 2020 version)
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How to get to know the literature and build your knowledge of the field
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PreviewSpecific literature for specific goals (2:44)
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StartFiltering the literature (5:26)
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StartGetting to know the literature (8:00)
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StartIdentify common principles, terms and techniques (2:25)
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StartThe field is made of people, not just papers (3:05)
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StartBuilding your bibliography (2:31)
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StartTalk to other researchers (1:41)
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StartA quick note of the age of papers you use or cite (1:31)
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StartHow to organise the sources you find (7:37)
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StartGet practical experience (3:18)
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StartPracticing your research techniques (3:40)
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StartPutting the literature into practice
Part 2: Writing your literature review
Available in
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after you enroll
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.