How to Write a Dissertation Literature Review that Meets Singapore University Standards?

Writing a dissertation is one of the most important requirements that university students in Singapore need to fulfil. As a part of completing the dissertation, there is an important chapter known as literature review. It is defined as the summary and synthesis of existing research, and top universities in Singapore like NUS, NTU, SUSS, SMU, INSEAD require students to demonstrate critical thinking and academic rigor while writing their literature analysis. But it has become a major challenge for many students to successfully complete their literature analysis. The resulting impact is negative on the entire dissertation because the literature review is known as the foundation of research. This guide will help you in writing a literature review that meets the Singaporean university standards.

Literature Review Concept and its Importance

Literature review is defined as a critical analysis of literature on your chosen topic with the objective of identifying what has been done in the previous research. It is quite useful in:

How Literature Review is Helpful?

Allows for in-depth analysis of topic

Helps in identifying gaps in literature

Justifies research questions

• Helps in gaining an understanding about the topic under study, in detail.
• Identifying the gaps in the existing literature on the topic you are studying.
• Helps in formulating and justifying the research problem or questions.

It is therefore an important component of the entire dissertation, because it specifies the gaps that have not been fulfilled, and provides a basis for doing the research to fill up the identified gaps. Further, the standards of Singaporean universities are already very high which requires students to write their literature review in a well organised, comprehensive, analytical and properly referenced with appropriate citations throughout. 

Step by Step Guidance in Writing a Literature Review Appropriate to Singapore Universities’ Standards

Steps mentioned in this section will be of great significance in writing a literature review in compliance with university requirements in Singapore.

1) Review university expectations:

Each university has its own requirements and it is important to review the expectations before proceeding to write the literature analysis. Singapore has a lot of reputed universities and each of them differ with their guidelines on writing literature review. For example, in universities like NUS and NTU, stronger emphasis is placed on critical analysis, rather than simply listing studies during literature analysis. It is therefore important to:

• Consult the dissertation handbook given by your university.
• Check subject specific guidelines for literature review in your university.
• Review the examples of past dissertations available in the university database.

2) Defining scope for literature review:

Defining a clear scope for your literature review is important because it helps in keeping your analysis within the boundaries. Discussing irrelevant topics weakens your literature analysis which could be controlled by clearly specifying the boundaries of the analysis. The scope definition should include:

1) the time frame of the studies to include as most of the universities in Singapore prefer studies within the last 5 years of timeframe.

2) focus of the study as to whether it is a regional or international focus.

3) the type of sources to be reviewed such as books, journals, magazines etc.

4) specific theories/methodologies to consider.

Clear definition with respect to the inclusion and exclusion criteria for research articles will allow you to remain focused with your analysis and produce quality literature review.

3) Utilise credible academic sources:

It is important to use academic scholarly articles while writing literature analysis. There are different sources that can be used by a student in Singapore to find relevant academic sources. These includes:

1) libraries offered by different universities such as NUS libraries, NTU One Search, SMU library database, SUSS library.

2) utilise Google scholar for journal articles, and databases like Scopus, EBSCOhost.

3) utilise local publications to enhance credibility such as Singapore economic review, Asian journal of public affairs etc.

It is always good to avoid the usage of blogs, Wikipedia or any other non-peer reviewed articles for your literature review analysis.

4) Organise themes logically:

The ways in which you present your analysis in the literature review chapter matters a lot. It should flow in a sequence with relevant findings grouped under theme. You can structure your literature review in a thematic or chronological way.

• In case of thematic analysis, it is good to identify themes, and group the studies by topic or theory.
• The chronological approach requires you to highlight research that has evolved overtime.

While organising the content of your literature review, your focus should not be on summarising the studies. You should rather focus on comparing findings across different studies, critically analyse contradictions, and provide a relative view of different authors on the same topic.

5) Needs critical analysis:

The focus of your literature review should be on critically analysing what others have said on the same topic. It should not be confused with summarizing their studies. This is a major mistake done by many students whereby they just summarise what others have said. This approach is completely wrong, and universities in Singapore expect analysis like:

• Discussion on strength and limitation of studies.
• Comparison of methodology followed by them.
• Identification of gaps in the literature which could then form the basis for study.

A critical analysis is highly emphasised by Singaporean universities because it demonstrates your deep understanding of existing research and forms a strong basis in doing future work.

6) Follow correct referencing styles: 

The application of appropriate referencing along with in-text citation is crucial in case of academic papers. Further most of the universities in Singapore require students to use APA, Harvard or IEEE style of referencing depending on the subject type. For example, SUSS requires students to use APA in the field of psychology, whereas INSEAD prefers Harvard style of referencing for dissertations. It is therefore always important to:

1) reference according to the university requirement

2) do proper in text citation

3) include a complete list of references in the literature review

The dissertation guide provided by the universities in Singapore needs to be checked thoroughly for the type of referencing styles to be followed before proceeding to write the literature review.

All these points are quite important in writing a literature review appropriate to your Singaporean university requirements. Apart from this, it is also important to avoid certain common mistakes while writing the literature review.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Literature Review

Literature review is often considered as a summary of past literature by many students and this is a major mistake. Along with this there are many common mistakes to avoid as mentioned below:

Listing studies without critical commentary: Literature analysis requires critical evaluation of the source by making comparative analysis of many related articles.

Using outdated information: It is important to utilise the most recent articles while doing a literature review analysis. Many students ignore this requirement to use resources that are more than 10 years old.

Using poor quality sources: Literature analysis for dissertation writing requires the application of scholarly articles such as journals, academic books etc but many students find it difficult to source journal articles and they utilise general articles for their literature analysis.

Failing to identify literature gaps: Literature review is carried out to identify gaps in the past studies as it forms the basis of doing the research. But many students fail to identify the gaps which affect their research outcomes.

Failing to associate with research questions: The literature analysis needs to be in line with the main research questions of the study. Students often fail to associate their literature with the research questions.

Final Checklist to Align Your Literature Review with Singapore University Guidelines

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Jonathan Wong

I am Jonathan Wong, an education blogger and academic content specialist. I write about assignment strategies, study skills, and university life to help students overcome common academic challenges. I also manage blog content at Assignment Help Singapore, where I share practical advice to support learners on their academic journey.