I have a problem. I can't stop finding new sources.
Every time I think I'm done, I find one more article. Then that article cites five more. It's a hydra. My advisor says: "Your literature review doesn't need to include everything. It needs to include enough." But what does "enough" mean? I've been working on this chapter for four months. I have 120 sources. My advisor says I'm "hoarding citations." She's right. But I'm terrified of missing something important. I found a blog post called "The Literature Review Never Ends" that said: "You're not writing a dissertation. You're writing a literature review. Stop trying to be comprehensive." That helped. A little. But I'm still scared. How do you know when you're done reading?
Every time I think I'm done, I find one more article. Then that article cites five more. It's a hydra. My advisor says: "Your literature review doesn't need to include everything. It needs to include enough." But what does "enough" mean? I've been working on this chapter for four months. I have 120 sources. My advisor says I'm "hoarding citations." She's right. But I'm terrified of missing something important. I found a blog post called "The Literature Review Never Ends" that said: "You're not writing a dissertation. You're writing a literature review. Stop trying to be comprehensive." That helped. A little. But I'm still scared. How do you know when you're done reading?