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Literature Review Catalogue

The smart way to collect and organise the sources you need to craft a comprehensive, high-quality literature review.

Matrix available in Excel and Google Sheet format 4.9 star rating, 5000 + downloads

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Failure to keep track of all the literature you consume can result in a  lot of wasted time . This literature review catalogue/matrix helps you stay organised, so that you can build a comprehensive literature review that earns marks.

Here are some of the key variables it covers:

• Author, y ear & title  (standard citation info)
• Categories  (per variable, context, framework, etc.)
• Document type (journal, textbook, conference notes, etc.)
• Publication setting (academic and practitioner)
• Knowledge type (theoretical and empirical)
• Key arguments (causal relationships, key findings, etc.)
• Context (country, culture, etc.)
• Methodology (qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods)
• Key quotes (any quotes you might include in your literature review)
• My notes (any points you want to highlight)

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FAQs: Literature Catalogue/Matrix

Faqs: literature review template, what format is the template (doc, pdf, ppt, etc.).

The literature review catalogue template is provided as a Google Sheet (spreadsheet). You can download it in MS Excel format or make a copy to your Google Drive. You’re also welcome to convert it to whatever format works best for you.

What types of literature reviews can this template be used for?

The catalogue can be used for pretty much any type of literature review, including a standard (unsystematic) literature review, SLR, etc.

Is this template for an undergrad, Master or PhD-level thesis?

This template can be used for a literature review at any level of study. Doctoral-level projects typically require the literature review to be more extensive/comprehensive, but the structure will typically remain the same.

What information will I need to fill in?

For every piece of literature you read, you’ll need to capture the following details:

• Author – Enter the author(s) surname(s). The format you use here is up to you – just be consistent.
• Year – Straightforward. Enter the year of publication only – no month is required.
• Title – Enter the title exactly as it is shown on the book cover, journal article front page, presentation deck, etc. If you can copy and paste, do so. It’s easy to make mistakes on the long titles.
• Category 1, 2 and 3 – Here, you’ll create categories and subcategories, which you can use at a later stage to help you find relevant literature. It is up to you what categories you want to use and how much detail you want to add here. At the very least, your choice of categories should be logical, comprehensive and mutually exclusive.
• Document type – Click the drop-down arrow next to the cell and select an appropriate document type, for example, journal article, blog post, etc. If nothing matches your document type, you can use the “Other” field.
• Publication setting – the two main options here are academic and practitioner. Academic refers to the classic academic sources such as textbooks and journal articles, while practitioner refers to publications such as industry reports, company reports, industry magazines, etc. There is also a mixed option here.
• Theoretical refers to situations where an author is proposing a hypothetical theory or concept, but not testing it.
• Empirical refers to situations where an author is testing the said theory by using some form of real-world observation.
• Naturally, some literature will feature both of these (i.e. a model is hypothesized and then tested empirically).
• Key arguments – Here you need to note the key takeaways of the respective piece of literature in relation to your research question(s) and objective(s). This is the most important column , so spend some time providing rich, detailed notes here. Keep in mind that you will be able to search and filter this column at a later stage, so use keywords that make sense.
• Context – Here you should briefly note the context of the specific literature piece. For example, what industry, country, competitive context, etc. did it take place in? When it comes time to justify why your research is worth undertaking, you will likely need to draw on this column’s contents to demonstrate that research has not been undertaken within your specific context (i.e. is it unique?).
• Methodology – Use this drop-down to note the primary methodology (qualitative, quantitative or mixed) used within the specific literature piece. As with the previous item (context), you will likely draw on this when you justify the choice of methodology for your research (i.e. which methodology is commonly used in the field?).
• Key quotes – If there are any specific author quotations that you feel might be useful in your dissertation, add them here. Remember to include the page number if you’re using the Harvard referencing system.
• My notes – Lastly, if there is anything else you feel might be useful, drop it here. You can also create additional columns if you need them.

Of course, you’re welcome to add/delete columns as you see fit.

How should I use the catalogue once it's populated?

Over time, you will build up a substantial list of literature. When you need to find something, whether it’s a specific piece of literature, a collection of literature within a category, or a summary of a specific author’s publication, you can use the following Excel features:

• Find (Ctrl + F) – good for searching for specific keywords
• Filter – good for filtering groups (for example, categories 1- 3, methodology or publication setting)
• Sort – good for arranging numerical data (for example, publication year)

Once you’ve completed your reading, remember to have a look at the second tab (“Literature Summary”) for an overview of key statistics. As mentioned previously, some of these statistics can help you justify your choice of topic or methodology. Additionally, a review here may reveal that your literature is aged , or that you need to improve your balance of academic and practitioner literature.

Can I modify the template to suit my study?

Absolutely. While the template provides a general structure, you should adapt it to fit the specific requirements and focus of your literature review.

How long should the literature review chapter be?

This depends on your university’s specific requirements, so it’s best to check with them. As a general ballpark, literature reviews for Masters-level projects are usually 2,000 – 3,000 words in length, while Doctoral-level projects can reach multiples of this.

Can I include literature that contradicts my hypothesis?

Yes, it’s important to acknowledge and discuss literature that presents different viewpoints or contradicts your hypothesis. So, don’t shy away from existing research that takes an opposing view to yours.

Can I share this template with my friends/colleagues?

Yes, you’re welcome to share this template in its original format (no editing allowed). If you want to post about it on your blog or social media, all we ask is that you reference this page as your source.

Do you have templates for the other dissertation/thesis chapters?

Yes, we do. You can find our full collection of templates here .

Can Grad Coach help me with my literature review?

Yes, you’re welcome to get in touch with us to discuss our private coaching services , where we can help you work through the literature review chapter (and any other chapters).

Additional Resources

If you’re working on a literature review, you’ll also want to check these out…

Literature Review Bootcamp

1-On-1 Private Coaching

The Grad Coach YouTube Channel

The Grad Coach Podcast

20 FREE Literature Review Templates and Examples

When writing a thesis or dissertation, one of the most important segments you will prepare is the literature review. This chapter allows you to analyze and break down written work as it relates to your own research. In this article, we tell you everything that goes into preparing it.

What Is a Literature Review Template?

A Literature Review Template is a formatted document that allows you to capture the available scholarly sources on a given topic of research. It outlines the methods, gaps, and theories in the research while analyzing your understanding of the subject.

Literature Review Templates & Examples

Essential Elements of a Literature Review Template

Since a literary review is a typical academic document, it contains the three basic parts of such texts: the introduction, body, and conclusion. These segments contain the following elements:

• Introduction – Defines the focus and purpose of the review. If the review is a stand-alone, the introduction should give a brief background of the topic. If the review is part of a dissertation or thesis, the intro should capture the research problem or question.
• Body – This is the main content of the review. If the body is lengthy, you should break it into several subheadings.
• Conclusion – The conclusion should summarize the key findings gained from analyzing the literature and explain their effects on future research. For a review within a dissertation, this section should explain how your research can bridge any gaps or provide new knowledge.

Why Write a Literature Review?

Now that you know what a literature review is, here are the main reasons it is prepared:

• To gain and demonstrate an understanding of the current state of a research topic.
• To build a theoretical framework to be used in empirical testing.
• To determine the gaps in a piece of literature and explain how your research bridges them, thus, justifying your research topic.
• To form a criterion for selecting methodological and measurement processes.

How to Write a Literature Review

Preparing a literature review is a long process requiring keen focus, but it is easier when working from a Literature Review Template. Below are the three steps you need for the task:

Step 1: Select the Ideal Literature

Start by locating all the existing research on your topic that could help answer your primary questions. Some strategies for this step include:

• Scanning Google Scholar – Google’s academic search engine – for the articles that apply to your research. Use keywords for the best results.
• Reading other dissertations related to your research. You can access these through databases like Open Access Theses & Dissertations, Stanford SearchWorks, and ProQuest.
• Visiting your University’s database to read through the major journals available in the institution’s online library.
• Running down the references listed at the end of academic journal articles.

Step 2: Analyze the Data

Next, digest and analyze the information you have gathered in step 1. It is natural for this step to take long as your thoughts develop and you identify new sources. Once you have everything you need, follow these three sub-steps to organize the data:

1 . Log the Data

Find a suitable reference manager and load all the articles you read into it. Do so even when you think a piece is irrelevant to your research, as you might need it later.

2. Create a Catalogue

You will notice that the articles are numerous, and you cannot possibly remember the content and context of each item. So, use Excel to create a catalog of the articles and sort them, complete with the following columns:

• Title, author, date
• Keywords or categories
• Main arguments
• Methodology quotations

3. Synthesize The Information

Review the information in your mind to unearth a pattern and create a big-picture link to your research. You can use the following points to synthesize the information:

• The points of agreement and disagreement for leading researchers.
• Gaps in the current research.
• The development of the research over time.
• Answers to your research question as provided by the existing research.

Step 3: Write the Review

Finally, create an outline for your review and then work on an initial draft. Remember that the first draft need not be perfect as long as it captures all your thoughts.

Rule 1: Always define the topic and audience of your review Rule 2: Research the literature widely Rule 3: Write a focused review, but maintain a broad interest Rule 4: Write consistently and critically Rule 5: Include your research but remain objective

Step 1: Identify your topic Step 2: Search for literature Step 3: Read and analyze the selected articles Step 4: Identify patterns and organize your data Step 5: Formulate a purpose statement or thesis Step 6: Write the review Step 7: Review the work

Try to keep informational or historical information (like information from websites) out of your review. If you must include it in your dissertation, place it in the introductory or background section. Additionally, avoid using direct quotes and extended quotations.

No, you should never write a literature review in the first person.

The number of sources you use for a literature review will depend on several factors, such as your scholarship level and the nature of your research. According to Canberra University, a good model to use when determining length is: Doctoral thesis: 50 plus sources Master’s thesis: 40 plus sources Honors dissertation: 20 plus sources Undergraduate review: 5 to 20 sources

Generally, a literature review should account for 10 to 20 percent of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper. For example, in a thesis, the review could be 6,000 to 12,000 words long, depending on the subject.

A Literature Review Template helps you survey the scholarly sources – e.g., theses, books, and journal articles – that cover a given research topic. It could be prepared as part of a research paper, thesis, or dissertation as context for the existing information. Regardless of where it is used, a literary review should be extensively researched, accurately analyzed, and expertly summarized.

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Free download simple literature review excel template

Welcome to our literature review template excel. If you are looking for a simple literature review template in excel then you are in right place. Excel is the best organizer. It helps us in creating a lot of useful documents. Can be used in every field of life. Only the problem is that it does not have any default templates.

In this article, I am going to present some well-defined literature review templates in excel. The literature review is a research document of what you have done and what is left behind. You can easily develop a literature review by customizing this super simple and easy-to-understand literature review template in excel. Below are some professional literature review templates in excel:

1. Review Plan and Schedule Excel Template:

This simple and well-mannered columned template can be used as a simple literature review template in excel. Free download this neat and clean sophisticated template.

2. Employee Performance Review Excel Template:

Review the performance of your employee by customizing this pretty template having different sections for different information. Edit this sample literature review template in excel for better understanding.

3. OKR Spreadsheet Weekly Checklist Excel Template:

Looking for the perfect monthly literature review template in excel? Grab this pink-colored vertical template with the heading of objectives to perform. Available for free.

4. Department Sales Performance Analysis Excel Template:

Perform a literature review of your departmental store with this high graphical monthly literature review template in excel. Free download this sophisticated template.

5. Weekly Work Plan Summary Excel Template:

A literature review in business is a summary of your current state. If you are looking for a weekly summary report? Free download this captivating and professional template and customize it as it is fully flexible.

6. Simple Blues Yellow Work Plan Excel Template:

Simple and minimalistic blue-yellow work plan. You can add or delete its columns according to your requirement and can also change the names.

7. Design Industry Charge Schedule Template:

A simple review schedule template that is designed for industry charge. Red color enhance its beauty. Never miss out on this captivating and gorgeous template. Available for free.

8. Simple Project Timeline Summary Excel Template:

This hourly literature review template excel looks so amazing in simple style. Can be customized for any purpose as it is flexible for all types of data. Free download this eye catchy template.

9. Monthly Attendance Summary Excel Template:

Put your logo on the topmost left side. Create a fully organized attendance summary by using this monthly literature review template in excel. Free download and customize this eye-pleasing template.

10. Basic Daily Schedule Excel Template:

This daily schedule excels template is best for any purpose. You can create a list of daily tasks to be performed by using this simple amazing neat and clean template. Perfect for office use. Available for free.

Literature review excel template is the summary of work you have done and what is remaining. It gives an overall review of your work. WPS office software always produces amazing and professional templates. Visit WPS office software and grab the desired templates for free.

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Synthesizing different bodies of work in your literature review: The Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump (CSED) technique

Since I’m writing a series of posts on literature reviews (and undertaking a few of my own), I figured I could expand on how you can combine citation tracing, concept saturation, results’ mind-mapping with a method that Professor Elaine Campbell showcases in her excellent post “ How I use Excel to manage my literature review “.

I call this technique the “ Conceptual Synthesis Excel dump ” – I call it “dump” because I basically throw into the Excel file everything that is already in my research and conceptual/reflective memoranda. Doing the conceptual synthesis Excel dump as you do your reading allows you to create a nice map of the literature. It also helps reach conceptual saturation during the literature review .

What I am showing here is my Excel dump on bottled water. There are a number of themes (if you’re doing coding in qualitative methods, you’ll understand what I mean) that interest me:

• Fear of the tap water.
• Decisions on whether to consume tap water vs. bottled water.
• Branding water and bottled water and the use of branding techniques in promoting bottled water.
• Ethical bottled water.

I am showing three screen captures of the Excel file I created. Note that the columns I use are the following:

• Concept – here I list the main idea or major theme of the specific literature review.
• Citation – here I include the full citation (article, book, book chapter).
• Main idea – here I summarize the full article in a sentence or two.
• Notes 1 – here I make notes about specific ideas or whether I agree or disagree
• Notes 2 – same as the above
• Notes 3 – same as the above
• Cross-reference – which references and citations are linked to one another.
• Quote/quotation – specific quotes, as per my memorandum technique, that could be useful
• Page – the page from where I drew the quote. Note that I can draw several quotes from same article

My Conceptual Synthesis’ Excel dump technique is quite handy in the process of creating a literature review (both to reach concept saturation and to create the mind map). Hopefully it will be helpful to you too! I wrote this post partly as a response to the tweet below 🙂

Love this – kind of like @raulpacheco 's memo-ing, only in spreadsheet form 🙂 https://t.co/yT9pjaVChx — Rebecca Linnett (@rebeccalinnett) June 15, 2016

IMPORTANT EDIT – After many requests, I finally got around creating a Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump template that you can download and edit for your own purposes. I use a framing theory paper but you can adapt to your needs.

You can share this blog post on the following social networks by clicking on their icon.

Posted in academia , research .

Tagged with literature review , research , writing .

By Raul Pacheco-Vega – June 17, 2016

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In Excel, I actually am going to attempt to color code all of this so my neurodivergent brain can make sense of it instead of just seeing words and boxes! That way I can read across better. This helps me a great deal as an assistant.

Thanks a lot !

Continuing the Discussion

[…] Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump (CSED) – gives you an overview of the material you have read for your literature […]

[…] a Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump […]

[…] idea with that of other scholars you need to know what they said and where. This is why the Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump (CSED) is important: you can search the Excel file for a particular idea or concept that may seem relevant […]

[…] may need in my class. I show them how to write synthetic notes, how to write memorandums, how to synthesize their research in an Excel dump and a whole lot of reading strategies, literature review writing processes and note-taking […]

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Literature Review: A Self-Guided Tutorial for NUR 288

• Literature Reviews: A Recap
• Peer-Review
• Reading the Literature
• Developing Research Questions
• 2. Review discipline styles
• Super Searching
• Finding the Full Text
• Finding Guidelines in Databases
• Citation Searching
• Evaluating online information
• When to stop searching
• How to cite your sources following APA
• In-Text Citations
• Keeping track of your references
• Annotating Articles Tip
• 5. Critically analyze and evaluate
• How to review the literature

Using a synthesis matrix

• 7. Write literature review

Synthesize : combine separate elements to form a whole.

Why use a synthesis matrix? 

• A synthesis matrix helps you record the main points of each source and document how sources relate to each other.
• After summarizing and evaluating your sources, arrange them in a matrix or use a citation manager to help you see how they relate to each other and apply to each of your themes or variables.  
• By arranging your sources by theme or variable, you can see how your sources relate to each other, and can start thinking about how you weave them together to create a narrative.

A synthesis matrix visually represents your research by organizing your sources by themes:

Add each article citation to the Source column and begin to identify the theme(s) from the article. 

Use the Excel template below to help you evaluate your sources, create article summaries for an annotated bibliography, and a synthesis matrix for your lit review outline. From John Hopkins Sheridan Libraries.  

NOTE : There are several tabs at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet to help guide you with this method.

• Literature Review Prep - with Synthesis Matrix
• << Previous: How to review the literature
• Next: 7. Write literature review >>
• Last Updated: Oct 25, 2024 12:14 PM
• URL: https://libguides.wccnet.edu/literature_review

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How to Conduct a Literature Review (Health Sciences and Beyond)

• What is a Literature Review?
• Developing a Research Question
• Selection Criteria
• Database Search
• Documenting Your Search

Review Matrix

• Reference Management

Using a spreadsheet or table to organize the key elements (e.g. subjects, methodologies, results) of articles/books you plan to use in your literature review can be helpful. This is called a review matrix.

When you create a review matrix, the first few columns should include (1) the authors, title, journal, (2) publication year, and (3) purpose of the paper. The remaining columns should identify important aspects of each study such as methodology and findings.

Click on the image below to view a sample review matrix.

You can also download this template as a Microsoft Excel file .

The information on this page is from the book below. The 5th edition is available online through VCU Libraries.

• << Previous: Documenting Your Search
• Next: Reference Management >>
• Last Updated: Mar 15, 2024 12:22 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.vcu.edu/health-sciences-lit-review