Find the Evidence. Evaluate It Critically. Build a Coherent Review.
The Conducting Literature Reviews short course develops practical skills for identifying, evaluating, organising and synthesising scholarly literature. It is designed for postgraduate students, researchers, academics and professionals undertaking research projects, proposals, dissertations, theses or scholarly publications.
What You Will Learn
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- define the purpose and scope of a literature review;
- develop an effective literature-search strategy;
- identify relevant and credible scholarly sources;
- evaluate literature critically;
- organise literature around themes, debates and research problems;
- synthesise evidence rather than merely summarising individual sources; and
- identify research gaps and develop a coherent literature review.
What the Course Covers
Planning the Review — defining purpose, scope and review questions.
Searching for Literature — developing keywords and systematic search strategies.
Evaluating Sources — assessing relevance, credibility and scholarly quality.
Organising the Literature — identifying themes, concepts, debates and patterns.
Critical Synthesis — comparing and integrating evidence across multiple sources.
Research Gaps & Review Writing — identifying gaps and constructing a coherent scholarly review.
Course Information
Category: Research Design & Methods
Duration: 3 weeks
Learning Effort: Approximately 3–4 hours per week
Mode: Online, flexible learning
Learning Platform: UUT Moodle
Intake: Open throughout the year
Join the Course
Develop the skills to move beyond summarising literature towards critically engaging with and synthesising scholarly knowledge.
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Search systematically. Read critically. Synthesize knowledge.