This is Why Your Literature Review Gets Sent Back
In this instructional monologue, Steve Tippins Ph.D. advises doctoral students that Chapter 2 (the literature review) should be a synthesized narrative, not a simple summary or book‑report style list of sources. He explains that committees look for three core criteria: a defensible topic, coherent research questions, and a doctoral‑level contribution. The key to meeting these expectations is synthesis—connecting authors’ ideas, contrasting debates, and explicitly mapping what is known versus unknown to reveal the precise research gap. By doing so, the problem statement, purpose, and research questions gain strong, bullet‑proof support. The speaker ends with a call‑to‑action inviting viewers to comment “help” for a free dissertation help community.
