Literature review is not a summary of what other researchers have done. Literature review is a narrative in which you are telling your own story of what the current state of the art in the particular filed of knowledge you are reviewing.
Use References as Witness to Your Assertions
One of the key aims of literature review is to consolidate the existing knowledge and identify gaps in knowledge in the particular field in order to push the boundaries of knowledge. Therefore, one has to make assertions based on the information and knowledge made available by other researchers. References to the work of other researchers is meant to give credit to their work and acknowledge that one has obtained the information, knowledge or idea from them. But it also bears witness to one's assertions one is making in their literature review.
Figures and Conceptual Diagrams are Helpful
There is no reason why figures and conceptual diagrams should not be part of any literature review. In fact, figures, tables and conceptual diagrams, if neatly captured can add clarity to the narrative in a literature review. Figures can also
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Words, every word counts. Do not waste words.
More to come later.
More to come
This blogpost is in the drafting stage and will be updated as when I have the time to revisit!