These are the most common mistakes made in reviewing research literature:
- Sources you select and discuss do not clearly relate to the research problem
- You did not take enough time to define and identify the most relevent sources to use in the literature review related to the research problem
- The literature review relies exclusively on secondary analytical sources rather than including relevant primary research studies or data
- The literature review accepts another researcher's findings and interpretations as valid, rather than examining critically the research design and analysis of the data
- You do not describe the information search procedures that were used to collect resources used in the literature review
- The literature review only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contrary findings or alternative interpretations found in the literature
- Over-simplification of the problem, or an examination of too few or too many articles, resulting in a weak or disorganized literature review.
