Are you about to start a new research project or develop a research proposal? Either way, you may need to write a review of the current literature to identify research gaps. It will help you to understand what other people in your area did. You must have already read some articles available in peer reviewed article databases.
Do you know that writing a peered review article at the very beginning of your research projects can make your work much easier? It can also save you time in the long term. I know there is a lot of confusion about what is a review article and what does a good review article includes.
And the answers to these questions are usually much less complex than you think! I tend to start each new project with a review paper. That is why I want to share some of my advice on why you must write a review article.
Let’s get started
Table of Contents
What is a review article?
Here is the most common misconception about writing a review article. I realised that many people think it is just an overview of the studies in the existing literature. But hear me out – this is one of the main reasons WHY journals will reject your review article
Here is why.
A review article provides a critical review of the current state-of-the-art in your research field. It means that if you want to publish your literature review, it isn’t enough to review what is already out there. To get published, you need to add value and contribute to the current body of knowledge. This means you need to critically analyse the current literature and provide a new perspective or direction.
What do review articles do?
But what does this actually mean?
It means that a review article provides a critical appraisal of the current literature. It aims to identify challenges, limitations, malpractice and (obviously!) research questions. A well-written review article should be an extremely useful resource for you and other researchers in your field. It is because it can help you learn what is going on in your field and support you in generating new research ideas!
What is the difference between a research article and a review article?
My new students often ask me what is the difference between a research article and a review article. Here’s how I distinguish the review article vs research article:
- a review article should provide a comprehensive critical review of the current state-of-the-art in your field
- a research article should present new findings that you produced in your research project
I trust you can see the key difference between a research article and a review article now! If you need a more detailed explanation, I discuss this at length in my paper writing training!
Why you must write a review article?
But why would you want to write a review paper and how it can help you in building a successful academic career? Here are the key reasons why I write review papers!
Reason #1: A comprehensive review article will allow you to gain in-depth insight into your research field
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this. If you perform a comprehensive or systematic literature review, you will be the very first researcher to understand the complexity, challenges and limitations in your research field. By doing so you will gain a profound understanding of our research field. Believe me, having this sort of knowledge makes your research project (and academic career!) much easier and more enjoyable.
Reason #2: A comprehensive review article will reveal research gaps for your research project
When writing a review paper, you will synthesise large amounts of literature and data. So, you will be able to see what is still missing in your field. Such knowledge will give you an edge when it comes to deriving new research gaps. It means that you could select the most exciting ideas that you can examine in your research project.
Reason #3: Publishing a review article in a recognised journal will enhance your expert profile
Now, this is the tricky bit. If you want to publish in a recognised journal, you would need to do a really good job at writing review article. You’d also need to clearly justify the contribution that you make in your review paper. It takes some skill and practice, but it is definitely possible. I managed to publish a review paper in a super high-impact journal in the 2nd year of my PhD!
I’m sure you would be able to do it too. Why is it important? Well, if you publish a review paper in a recognised academic journal, other researchers will use your work as a reference study in your field. This means that more people will find and read your work. It would lead to more citations (vanity metrics!) and more recognition.
Reason #4: Add value to your community
Another reason why you must write review article as a part of your project is the fact that you would add value to your community. Let’s face it – there are lots of papers published in our research areas every single year. If your research area is particularly active, it may be time-consuming to keep track of the recent developments. That is why review papers are so valuable. By writing review article, you make the life of other researchers much easier.
Reason #5: You need to write a literature review anyway – convert your literature review into a review article!
At last but not least, here is the ultimate reason why you should publish a review paper during your project. Each research project needs a proper literature review. We all hate spending our time reading dozens of research papers only to identify research questions and get inspiration to find solutions. But we have to do it anyway. That is why if you convert your literature review to a review paper, you’d actually generate extra value for your academic career and community.
Conclusion
Writing a literature review may be the most trying part of your project. It may not be because of the research challenges, but rather because you don’t feel motivated enough to do it. If you decide to convert your literature review to a peer-reviewed journal article, you would feel much more drive to complete it. After all, it would be yet another entry in your track record, that can help you develop an expert profile.
Have you already published a review paper? Share the link in the comments!
