Start with the decision the assessment requires.
Students may gather many sources but struggle to compare methods, identify disagreement, distinguish strong evidence from weak evidence or explain why a gap matters.
A useful review does not begin by guessing from a short topic. Command words, learning outcomes, marking criteria and required deliverables need to be read together. The same subject can require a very different response at undergraduate, postgraduate or doctoral level, and a familiar format may be adapted by a particular institution.
Suitable support
Support may help refine themes, design a synthesis matrix, compare evidence, trace a defensible search process and review the connection between findings and the stated gap.
Before work begins, the scope should state what will be reviewed, what type of guidance will be supplied, which files control the requirement and what remains the student’s responsibility. This creates a shared reference point for communication, delivery and any later revision request.