Systematic Review in PhD Dissertation – 10 Important Guidelines for PhD Students

PhD students are assets of an institution. They develop creative ideas to solve problems and contribute to innovation in the community. The dissertation reflects PhD student’s work quality, followed by a literature review and surveys of existing papers. If you are stuck in the review phase of your dissertation and looking for help, then you are at the right place. First, let’s define what a systemic review is. It is a type of review that aims to gather papers, methodologies, and data to answer the research hypothesis. Here are 10 guidelines that show what and how to write a systematic review without any problems.

1.    Developing a roadmap for a review:

Before starting your work on a dissertation, it is better to have a proper plan to carry out a systematic review. Develop a plan, such as a flowchart, to understand the necessary points for the review. See what kinds of field and research work you want to pursue. A thorough understanding of a topic creates a strong grip on the field. Moreover, search for facilities and resources to gather sampling and data.

2.    Gather relevant paper:

Upon deciding what you want to study, try researching relevant papers. Published papers will guide how to design your experiments and what type of data you need to achieve your objectives. Thoroughly read papers and highlight important points. Use multiple databases to get access without any language barrier. If your study is restricted because of language, try to reach any PhD dissertation help UK to assist in your writing process.

3.    Identify gaps in the study:

Identifying a literature gap is not an easy task. You need to read dozens of papers to get full field knowledge. Pinpoint the questions left unanswered or other researchers have not studied in their experiments. These are the gaps you need to build a systematic review in your dissertation. You can also rephrase the term gap as a literature review of the study. Look for quality papers and their acceptance in the journal. Explore the research design and writing pattern of it.

4.    Design a hypothesis:

A hypothesis is a research question that defines the foundation of your dissertation. Your review depends on “why” you are conducting the research and how you will answer it. This is the query that most professors and reviews will ask from a PhD student. The hypothesis is also called a problem statement. It should be written in an explicit and modified form so that the reviewer immediately knows what and why this review is written.

5.    Develop a methodology:

A question from previous data must be answered through experimentation and technical methods. The systematic review methodology involves various points to consider, such as the addition of variables, usages of statistical softwares, method of research, sample collection, and much more. These methods will smooth the process of writing PhD dissertation.

6.    Collection of evidence:

After finalizing the methods, gathering evidence and data to support your study is important. The roadmap of data collection will guide you through adding relevant data and a way to investigate the work of scholars. Data can be primary or secondary such as papers printed in journals, or conferences are considered primary sources, while interviews and records are secondary evidence. Both data types can be utilized in the dissertation to support your hypothesis and make your research work more significant.

7.    Data management and analysis:

Gathering evidence and finding papers is tough, but the more difficult part comes later: managing your data and analysis. Create folders and notes to save your data and organize it properly. The most important role in review is to analyze data and its interpretation. Your data should be organized and properly described to have a meaningful outcome. Follow what variables and parameters other researchers have used in their studies and critically analyze them before implementing them in your study.

8.    Discuss your results:

After a hectic and long research and experimentation, it is time to elaborate on your results. The information on the results is fully organized and reported in a more meaningful way. The writing points of results involve using tables, charts, diagrams, figures, and so on. Illustrate your data in graphical designs, graphs and flowcharts to easily comprehend and extract the information. Interpret your data and see how significantly it contributes to your study.

9.    Elaborate on the findings:

After displaying and elaborating on your results, discuss how the results answer your hypothesis. Is it against or in favour of your study? If it still goes against your research predictions, then be honest and professional and document it. It is not necessary to have a hypothesis always in your favour. Sometimes the result may go unexpected, which is how discoveries are made. Justify how these findings will significantly contribute to society and how you answered your research question.

10. Conclusion and publication:

Last but not the least, concluding your systematic review is a challenging task. It may require precise points to be summarized. It may include the nature of your study, hypothesis, methodology, and results. Interlinked the points of result and discussion, to sum up. Discuss how you cover the gap in your field of study and present the limitation of the study. In the end, finally, publish your review that has a significant impact on the academic world.

Conclusion:

PhD students must submit a dissertation for their degree completion. The systematic review process is quite long and hectic, yet enjoyable and informative. Discuss your review PhD dissertation with your supervisor and colleagues. Seek help and suggestions from them and ask strengths and weaknesses of the review. Limitations in your study can be covered up by supporting your statements with proper justifications and evidence. Try to answer the basic questions of your dissertation about what, why, and how it is important. Follow these guidelines to prepare a thorough plan for writing a systematic review and understand its significance in the institution.