Discussions

One of the most searched questions in academic writing is, how long should a dissertation literature review be? The answer depends on your subject, research scope, and your university’s guidelines rather than a fixed word limit.

In most cases, the literature review makes up about 20–30% of the total dissertation length. So, for a 10,000-word dissertation, that usually means around 2,000–3,000 words for the literature review section.

More important than length is purpose. Your dissertation literature review should critically evaluate key studies, compare theories, and clearly show where your research fits in the existing body of knowledge. A focused, well-structured review always beats a longer one filled with summaries.