Outline a literature review

This prompt helps you structure a literature review from the sources you have, suggesting an outline by themes, questions to ask each source and how to show gaps in the research.

text-literature-review-outline — chatgpt — 55 words

Help me structure a literature review on [TOPIC].

Sources I have: [LIST OF PAPERS OR THEMES]
Word limit: [WORDS]

Suggest an outline organised by themes, questions to ask of each source, how to show gaps in the research and how to link the review to my own question. Add a checklist for the final draft.

Edit in the builder Copy & open ChatGPT ↗Copy & open Gemini ↗Copy & open Claude ↗

Organise by themes or debates, not by author; that is what makes a review analytical.

Get a better result

What you will get

An outline for your literature review grouped by themes, questions to ask of each source, ways to show gaps in the research, how to link the review to your own question and a checklist for the final draft.

Why it works

A review is judged on analysis, not a summary of each paper, and the theme based outline builds that in from the start. The questions to ask of each source give you a reading routine. Linking the review to your own question is the step students often miss, and it is what makes the gap feel earned.

Common mistake

The outline lists sources one by one.

Fix: Ask it to group sources under themes or debates, as the tip says, and to note where they agree or clash.

Also watch for

It adds papers you did not list. Ask it to use only your sources, and check any extra reference it suggests in a library database before you use it.
The gap is stated, not shown. Ask for the gap to come from your sources, such as “none of these studied older adults”, not a general claim.

Try a variation: build a source table

Ask for a table with one row per source and columns for method, sample, main finding and limits, to fill in as you read.

Still not right? Reply with this

Here are my notes for each theme: [PASTE]. Suggest the linking sentences between themes, using only my sources.