Video summary

Thematic literature review – how to write one without getting overwhelmed!

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas / concepts / lessons

  • What a thematic literature review is

    • A literature review whose structure is organized around themes.
    • Themes can be ideas, concepts, events, or topics that relate to the research title and research questions.
    • The structure is not fixed—you can tailor it to your topic, but that freedom can also feel overwhelming because you must generate the themes.

  • How many themes to use (in the final write-up)

    • The final written-up thematic literature review should have between 3 and 5 themes.
    • Fewer than 3 likely means you omitted important material or forced things into headings that don’t fit.
    • More than 5 likely makes the review feel fragmented and may reduce how well the review connects across bodies of literature.

  • Why examples help

    • Reviewing a sample structure helps you see:
      • how many themes are used,
      • what the headings look like,
      • and how themes can cover the elements of a research title while staying coherent.

  • The process to get to a good thematic structure

    • The process is iterative and often messy—you start with provisional themes and refine them as you learn more from the literature.
    • You should anticipate that:
      • some provisional themes will be removed,
      • new themes will be added,
      • themes may be consolidated or split.

Method / step-by-step instructions

1) Identify provisional themes (start with your research title)

  • Emphasize provisional: these may change before the final version.
  • Use your research title as a “roadmap” to anticipate themes and concepts.
  • Do an exercise:
    • Write down your title.
    • Spend ~30 minutes brainstorming around it.
    • Ask what concepts behind the words might shape your literature structure.
  • Produce early theme drafts by:
    • picking keywords / key phrases from the title,
    • writing a short description of what each theme would include.
  • Example pattern (from the subtitles):
    • Theme 1 could cover the population/context (e.g., where people are from, identity, belonging).
    • Theme 2 could cover the phenomenon (e.g., discrimination).
    • Theme 3 could cover the lens (e.g., experiences/narratives and impacts).

2) Do a theme-by-theme literature search (stay focused)

  • Search using keywords and key phrases derived from one theme at a time.
  • Recommended approach:
    • Use Google Scholar (or your platform of choice).
    • Handle only one theme at the start to avoid overwhelm.
  • For each theme:
    • Scan results.
    • Select 5 to 10 items of literature relevant to that theme.
    • Read critically and take notes.
  • Strong caution:
    • Don’t search across multiple themes simultaneously early on, because it dilutes attention and slows progress.

3) Accept and manage messiness while developing the review

  • The thematic structure will not stay neat while you read and develop it.
  • You should allow changes, including:
    • adding new headings/themes you discover in the literature,
    • removing provisional themes that prove irrelevant,
    • consolidating overlapping topics,
    • splitting overly broad topics into two or three themes.
  • Guidance/lesson:
    • Don’t try to constrain the work too early into exactly 3–5 themes.
    • Treat mess as normal and productive—described as “mess equals progress.”

4) Regularly revisit the developing draft

  • Don’t leave the messy, developing literature review alone for long.
  • Recommended habit:
    • Revisit frequently, even if only briefly each week.
  • Why:
    • You may forget your decisions (what to include, how you organized it).
    • You avoid having to “backtrack” and re-orient yourself.

5) Get feedback early

  • Don’t wait to share until the review is “finished.”
  • Share early drafts/ideas to:
    • write faster,
    • reduce pain/friction,
    • get fresh perspectives,
    • receive suggestions for improvement,
    • clarify what needs explanation.

Sources / speakers featured

  • Dr. Elizabeth Yardley (speaker; author/creator of a step-by-step PDF guide and related video content referenced in the subtitles)

Original video