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Literature Review Phrases for Academic English
A well-written literature review synthesises research — it does not simply summarise it. These phrases give you the academic English toolkit to analyse and critique sources.
Analyse Your Writing →Summarising and Reporting
- [Author] argues/contends/maintains that...
- According to [Author], ...
- [Author] found that... / reported that... / demonstrated that...
- A study by [Author] reveals...
- In their investigation of X, [Author] observed that...
Evaluating and Criticising
- However, this study is limited by... / a notable limitation of this work is...
- While [Author] provides a useful framework, [weakness]
- This conclusion is difficult to generalise because...
- The sample size in this study (n = 30) is insufficient to...
- These findings must be interpreted cautiously given that...
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Contrasting and Comparing
- In contrast to [Author A], [Author B] argues that...
- These results contradict earlier findings by [Author]
- Both [Author A] and [Author B] agree that..., although they differ on...
- Whereas [Author A] focuses on..., [Author B] emphasises...
Identifying Gaps
- Despite extensive research on X, relatively little is known about Y
- No study to date has examined...
- Previous research has neglected to consider...
- There remains a paucity of evidence regarding...
- Existing literature has focused primarily on X, leaving Y under-explored
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