Q: Can I write the theoretical background for my literature review in a thematic order?

Hello Safaa – Welcome back to the forum! Let’s get to your query straight away, but with a ‘disclaimer.’ So, as you have begun your question with the phrase “according to my university,” it may be a good idea to also check with your supervisor and follow their advice if you find that to be different from that provided below.

So, the theoretical background will presumably include several topics, each of which can be treated as a theme. Each theme will form a separate heading, and the themes will be the main headings in that chapter. Within each heading, what you are suggesting will work better because readers will see the latest research first, followed by the next most recent work, and so on. You are thus following the chronological order, but in reverse.

Most research builds on earlier research, and you will need to explain how the latest research was based on the research that came only a little before, and how, in turn, that research was based on slightly less recent research, and so on. Organized this way, your literature review will present all the relevant work systematically. To explain through a literature/humanities analogy (as that seems to be your field), you would be following the Agatha Christie model: her murder mysteries open with the murder, and the rest of the book, by working backwards, shows the reader how that moment was reached. :-)

For more information, you may find the following resources helpful:

• A young researcher's guide to writing a literature review
• How should my literature review be structured?
• How to write methods for chronological and thematic models in a literature review?

All the best for your review!

[With inputs from Yateendra Joshi]