Tips for success

Writing the Literature Thesis can be daunting, and so we asked students who successfully completed the assignment to share tips. Here they are:

Organisation

• Make sure you have an Excel sheet / overview / ref manager to manage your data! It takes time to structure this properly, but it pays off along the way.
• Work very structurally and document everything you do or decide.
• Keep track of feedback: don't postpone integrating the feedback until the end.
• Start organizing it as early as possible (end of the first year, start of the second)
• Make sure to organise the literature well for yourself at the start, and have a clear grasp of the most important papers that you need. Also, try to keep your work concise but effective, not worrying about including all the details.
• The best tip I can give is to find a good documentation system and already start taking detailed notes or highlighting points you would like to get back to later. It will make things much easier during the process. I personally used 'Zotero' (a free reference manager) where you can colour-code the papers by topic and add your notes directly to the corresponding articles. Additionally, I used 'Notion' for a general overview, and to brainstorm/ structure your ideas, I would recommend Mind Mapping tools. And my last piece of advice: Just start writing. "You can always fix garbage, but you can't fix a blank page.' So don't procrastinate, but just start writing no matter the quality. Good luck!
• Organize your literature well (i.g., with Zotero, EndNote, or something like that). Make notes directly after reading something interesting otherwise, you will have a hard time finding that again.

Stay committed

• Make a study group! Having people around is a massive help. Find a study space not at home and go there a set number of hours every day. Schedule free time. Choose a topic that interests you, and an advisor whose advising style suits your needs.
• Write about something you are passionate about. Set deadlines, don't extend them.
• Use the LT as a way to explore an extra research field you would like to work on, rather than just another written assignment!
• Reread the parts you have written everything you start writing again: although this might seem overkill and taking up a lot of work, by making small corrections over time, you will end up with something you will really like. And as a bonus, you get motivated and inspired by the stuff you have already written!
• Pick whatever topic sounds the most exciting to you at the moment, have fun with it!
• It is a cliche but choosing a topic you are excited about (even if you don't know much about it yet) makes the writing experience much easier. I would also suggest to outline the structure of the paper early on to keep the workload manageable :)
• It is easy to get very lost with the thesis. So the best thing is to make a strict plan for yourself. Set deadlines and try to follow those. Even if you feel like you do not have enough, there is a point that you need to start writing. Most importantly, meet with other students/friends while doing it. The thesis is quite a lonely period, working around other's is always a good way to stay motivated.

Collaborate well

• Build a relationship with your supervisor - be honest about you expectations and struggles before and during the writing process, it will make the process better for you both!
• Have discussions with your supervisor about your topic: this can bring interesting insights you (both) haven't thought about, which can especially be useful for your discussion.
• Good supervision goes a long way!
• Try to find a supervisor willing to review single chapters or even paragraphs of your work, not just full drafts.
• Do not be afraid to ask for weekly check-in meetings with your supervisor (helps for motivation) and try to find a writing buddy :)
• The supervisor is first and foremost a content expert: topical discussions are the best use of their limited time
• Finding good agreements with your supervisor about regular contact is important (e.g. Slack communication)
• It is recommended to do some reading (even if only half a week) on the topic before meeting with the supervisor to discuss the thesis
• For all meetings with your supervisor, preparation is key. Know what you want to get out of the meeting and let the supervisor know in advance:
  • What have you been doing since the previous meeting?
  • Where did you get stuck?
  • What specific questions do you have?
• Have the supervisor to state what they need from the project, to smoothen collaboration
• At the end stages of the literature thesis, supervisor meetings may be more about the writing, but first getting to a good research question, identifying blind spots in the collected literature or weak spots in reasoning and other content-specific questions should dominate.

Get going

• Instead of having a research question ready and then looking for a supervisor, do it the other way around. Find a researcher that you find interesting and ask him or her whether they have any topics they think you could write a LT on.
• Narrow. It. Down.! The biggest risk is going too broad and ending up doing WAY more than necessary.
• Make sure you take the time to properly read the existing, relevant literature, no half-measures. It might feel like it takes up precious time you feel you don't have, but in the end, it's worth it to have strong, deep background knowledge of the subject. Additionally, that'll give you the confidence to write a strong report, because you know that you know what you're talking about.
• Try to find and read ALL the articles somehow related to the topic. Then make a selection.
• You will probably be overwhelmed at the start but don't worry you will figure it out!
• Develop a clear outline early in the process to avoid getting lost on side tracks.
• Pick a specific question, rather than broad - it will be a lot easier to write a concise and constructive overview. It can also be hard to stay motivated - I found reaching out to experts and conducting interviews as a fun and informative way to structure my time, gather interdisciplinary and balanced opinions on the field, and receive varied feedback on my ideas.

Be kind towards yourself

• Don't beat yourself up about your productivity in the first few weeks of the project. The bulk of the work gets done in the last few weeks anyway, so a few missed hours here and there at the start is nothing to sweat about.
• The start of a literature thesis seems like a daunting prospect but it will truly be okay, even if you're not an expert on the topic!
• Have peace with days where you don't write and just stare at your computer screen; sometimes writing is just not happening and it's better do something else entirely and leave it for the day.
• Try not to worry too much; it's mostly a waste of time and you'll be fine either way.