This week’s lecture focused on developing a literature review and understanding its role within the thesis. We discussed how a literature review should do more than simply list sources, instead bringing together different authors’ perspectives to support a balanced academic argument. The concept of the “Golden Thread” was also introduced, highlighting the importance of maintaining a clear connection between the research question, literature review, methodology and final conclusions.
One practical part of the session was a demonstration of citation management software such as Zotero and Mendeley. Up until now, I had mostly relied on online citation generators whenever I needed references, which often felt inefficient and sometimes unreliable. It was useful to see how dedicated reference management software can organise sources, store PDFs and automatically generate citations and bibliographies. Considering the amount of reading and research involved in the thesis, I can see how these tools could make the process much more manageable.
The session made me realise that the literature review is not just a background section but something that helps shape and support the entire research project. Going forward, I want to start collecting and organising sources early so that I can build good research habits before beginning the main body of the thesis.