Introduction > Reviewing Literature > Starting Your Literature Review > How Much Should I Read?
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How Much Should I Read?


This can seem like one of these 'how long is a piece of string' questions! The key to answering it is first to plan your literature review so you know what information you're looking for. This will help to scale down your reference list and will help to keep you focused on the relevant sources. When you've decided on the sections of your literature review, work through them methodically, searching for information from both primary and secondary sources.

It often isn't necessary to read every word in every document and if you generate large numbers of relevant sources you may have to adopt a reading technique that allows you to quickly identify the relevant sections within research papers and books.
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