The literary review caters to projects from multiple areas of knowledge. From articles to theses and dissertations, it can be applied to any academic textual production that requires a formal conceptualization and bibliography.

Literary review or literature review is a type of textual correction quite different from that of a reviewer for journalistic texts or blogs. Aimed at academic publications, this type of work is much more technical than you might think.

It begins with the evaluation of the theoretical basis of a text and ends with the structuring of the bibliography according to ABNT norms. A field in which there is always a demand for professionals, especially at the end of the semester, literary revision is an attractive option for those who want to diversify the services they offer and maintain a continuous stream of income.

Understand what you need to know to get started and why you should specialize!

What are the objectives of literary review?

The literary review caters to projects from multiple areas of knowledge. From articles to theses and dissertations, it can be applied to any academic textual production that requires a formal conceptualization and bibliography. That is why it is more common to see the work of the literary reviewer in courses such as law and medicine.

In professions where training prioritises practice to the detriment of theory, such as Design and Advertising, literary review is more pertinent to completion and postgraduate work.

The objectives of the literary review are:

ensure that the project addresses well the topic it proposes;

to delimit this approach so that the project does not escape its scope;

clearly present the research problem;

substantiate its purpose;

demonstrate the justification of the project and its theoretical orientation;

inform the reader of the methodology used by the researcher; and

structure chapters and bibliography according to the norms established by the educational institution.

For a literary review to work and contemplate all of these points it necessarily involves spelling and grammar correction. Without the guarantee that the text is well written, completing the above checklist is impossible. Because of this, the work of the literary reviewer is quite complex and usually well paid.

A reviewer of the area acts as an academic, that is, must master the principles that are used by teachers to evaluate the relevance of a work. Therefore, the more qualified the literary reviewer is, the better his or her professional performance is.

What do I need to get started?

Understanding what is done in literary review is critical in determining what types of knowledge to acquire to enter that market. The role of the reviewer is to work the text after writing, so even if he acts by punctuating the errors that can hinder a research, that professional should not enter the assignments of the person responsible for the article or CBT.

Your work must be invisible. What he will do is a cleansing of the deviations and inadequacies that may occur throughout an extensive research, such as those made in the making of articles for college.

Among the skills you need to develop in the area, we have:

Theoretical repertoire

To do the literary review you need to know the academic texts well. In the same way as you would understand the language used by advertising or a newspaper, the reviewer should get used to the terms and language applied by the researchers. Otherwise you will have a hard time doing a good job.

Reading research, TCCs, articles and publications in academic journals will help you develop enough repertoire for literary review.

Critical reading

A good literary reviewer does not just take a cursory reading of the text to detect anomalies that undermine his understanding. It should be able, for example, to identify that the author included in a project stage the wrong information.

It is very common that, throughout the writing of academic texts, passages such as the purpose of the research and its justification are confused. It is up to the editor to point out these moments so that the suitability is fulfilled.

Grammar and spelling

As with any other revision work, the practitioner must become accustomed to applying grammar and spelling rules. He must rely on supporting material such as dictionaries and grammars to support his decisions and it is his responsibility to detect errors that could compromise the quality of the material.

Technical Standards

Most academic papers are submitted according to ABNT standards. You need to become familiar with them and understand when and how they should be applied.

When organizing a bibliography a reviewer should know how to distribute the information, what details need to be informed by the writer of the text so that it is found and what is the ideal formatting.

How do I specialize in the subject?

A reviewer of academic texts can work both within universities, as a professional provided by private institutions to help students organize their jobs as well as freelance. For this to happen, however, you will need to develop qualification compatible with your job.

Experience is important, but certifications will be the first step to entering this career. Below are some courses for literary reviewers.

Specialization in Proofreading

The PUC Minas course trains professionals who can act in technical areas such as literary revision. This is a lato sensu postgraduate course, so it is necessary to have some Communication or Literature training to start the classes, which are presential.

Extension Course in Texts Review

Many universities, such as UFMG, have extension courses in proofreading. They are geared towards academic production and usually take place in the departments of Letters. UERJ and USP also have classes and courses focused on the area.

All literary revisions must meet the theme of a project, ensuring that there is sufficient allowance for it to be approved. Far from being a mere textual adequacy, in which the reviewer evaluates the quality of the material produced, this type of correction points to formal errors that may prejudice the evaluation of the candidate for a graduate or postgraduate diploma.

Make no mistake: to make a good literary review you will have to become an expert also at identifying mistakes in writing. So be sure to read the post about the hesitations you should avoid at the time of writing!