An RRL sample is a short, worked example of Review of Related Literature paragraphs: real studies, organized by theme, each sentence doing a job you can name. Reading samples is the fastest way to learn the difference between a review and a list of summaries — so on this page every sample paragraph comes with a sentence-by-sentence breakdown. All cited studies are real and carry DOIs, so you can open each one yourself.
For the chapter-level structure these paragraphs live in — Foreign/Local sections, synthesis, framework — see the RRL format guide.
How to read these samples
Each sample below covers one theme from one discipline. The paragraphs are written the way a real RRL section reads; the annotation underneath names the move each sentence makes — cites (names a source), summarizes (reports what it found), compares (sets studies against each other), or synthesizes (states what the group means together). Your adviser checks for exactly these moves: an RRL paragraph that only cites-and-summarizes reads as a bibliography.
Sample 1: Education — online learning readiness
Foreign studies
Studies outside the Philippines consistently treat online learning readiness as a measurable, multi-component construct rather than a single trait. Çigdem (2014) found that students' characteristics, particularly computer self-efficacy and internet self-efficacy, significantly predicted online learning readiness among vocational college students (https://doi.org/10.17718/tojde.69439). Working with college freshmen, Fearnley and Malay (2021) reported that readiness scores differed across components, with students strongest in social readiness and weakest in technical skills (https://doi.org/10.59588/2350-8329.1398). Taken together, these studies locate the main readiness gaps in technical confidence rather than motivation, which directs interventions toward skills training rather than encouragement.
What each sentence does: Sentence 1 summarizes the shared framing of the foreign studies. Sentence 2 cites and summarizes Çigdem's specific finding. Sentence 3 cites and summarizes Fearnley and Malay with a different, complementary result. Sentence 4 synthesizes — states what the two studies mean together and implies a consequence.
Local studies
Philippine studies extend the question to contexts where infrastructure matters more. Mobo (2023) examined students in a maritime institution in Central Luzon and reported measurable links between learning strategies and online learning readiness (https://doi.org/10.70884/mjsir.v82i2.336). Mendoza et al. (2024) studied Filipino teacher education students and connected online learning readiness to self-regulated learning and to all three presences of the Community of Inquiry framework (https://doi.org/10.65223/jrmm9627). Compared with the foreign studies above, the local work gives more weight to self-regulation and access constraints, reflecting the conditions of Philippine online delivery.
What each sentence does: Sentence 1 frames the local group's shared angle. Sentences 2–3 cite and summarize each local study. Sentence 4 compares local and foreign emphasis — the move that most RRL drafts are missing.
Synthesis
Across foreign and local studies, online learning readiness appears to rest on the same components — technical confidence and self-regulation — but the weight each carries differs by context: where foreign studies emphasize prior technical experience, Philippine studies emphasize self-regulated learning under constrained connectivity. For the present study on senior high school students, this suggests measuring both components rather than treating readiness as one score.
What each sentence does: Synthesizes across both groups (agreement), marks the divergence (context), then ties the pattern to the present study — the two moves that end an RRL theme.
Sample 2: Nursing — nurse staffing and patient outcomes
Foreign studies
The international evidence links nurse staffing levels to patient outcomes with unusual consistency. Kane et al. (2007), synthesizing more than one hundred studies, reported that higher registered nurse staffing was associated with shorter stays and lower mortality and adverse-event rates (https://doi.org/10.1097/mlr.0b013e3181468ca3). Revisiting the question with longitudinal designs, Dall'Ora et al. (2022) found that evidence for causality remains uneven and called for staffing research that accounts for skill mix and shift patterns (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2022.104311). Read together, the two reviews bracket the field: the association is established, the causal mechanism is not.
What each sentence does: Sentence 1 summarizes the group in one claim. Sentence 2 cites and summarizes the stronger evidence base. Sentence 3 cites the more cautious later review. Sentence 4 synthesizes the tension instead of hiding it — the mark of an honest review.
Local studies
Philippine research has examined the nurses' side of the same working conditions. Javier (2019) documented workload and work-environment conditions of staff nurses in secondary hospitals in Cavite (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6471609), and Oducado and Montaño (2021) measured workplace assertiveness among Filipino hospital staff nurses, reporting variation by unit and experience (https://doi.org/10.14710/nmjn.v11i3.39314). Abdulmalik and Pangandaman (2024) linked nurse managers' leadership traits to staff commitment in Philippine hospitals (https://doi.org/10.20473/jaki.v12i1.2024.49-61). These studies approach the staffing question from the nurse-experience side rather than the patient-outcome side, leaving the direct staffing–outcome link largely untested in local settings.
What each sentence does: Cites and summarizes three local studies in two sentences (note how two studies share one sentence — grouping by angle, not one-sentence-per-study), then synthesizes the local gap.
Synthesis
Foreign reviews establish that staffing shapes outcomes, while Philippine studies establish the working conditions of the nurses who deliver that staffing; what connects the two locally — whether understaffing measurable in Philippine hospitals predicts patient outcomes there — remains open. The present study addresses part of this gap by examining unit-level staffing and outcomes in provincial hospitals.
What each sentence does: Places the two bodies side by side, names the untested link as the gap, and connects it to the present study.
Sample 3: Business and IT — e-commerce and online shopping
Foreign studies
For small and medium enterprises, e-commerce adoption is repeatedly tied to performance. Wirdiyanti et al. (2022), studying Indonesian MSMEs, found that e-commerce adoption improved performance and supported financial inclusion (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-022-09547-7). Khan et al. (2014) reported that electronic supply chain management and e-commerce adoption among Pakistani SMEs correlated with better firm performance (https://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2014.49051). Both studies treat adoption as the pivot variable, though neither isolates which adoption stage matters most.
What each sentence does: Topic-plus-claim opener; two cite-and-summarize sentences; a closing comparison that flags a shared limitation — useful material for your own gaps section later.
Local studies
Philippine studies track the consumer side of the same shift. Costales, Chua, and Dinaga (2023) identified behavioral factors shaping Filipino consumers' repurchase tendency in online shopping (https://doi.org/10.1109/iccci59363.2023.10210154), while Rodelas et al. (2023) profiled and evaluated online shoppers in the Philippines as input for a local shopping platform (https://doi.org/10.25147/ijcsr.2017.001.1.153). Where foreign studies measure firm performance, the local evidence measures buyer behavior — a mismatch that leaves local sellers' side of the transaction under-examined.
What each sentence does: Frames, cites, summarizes two studies, then compares the local and foreign focus and names the local gap.
Synthesis
Foreign evidence supports a causal story from adoption to SME performance; local evidence describes who buys online and why. The two literatures meet at the question this study asks: whether the buying behavior documented among Filipino consumers translates into measurable gains for the small businesses that sell to them.
What each sentence does: Compresses both literatures to one line each, then states the specific question at their intersection.
Build your own RRL from real papers
The fastest way to draft your own sections is to start from real sources, not from a blank page:
- Use the free RRL outline tool. The RRL generator searches real papers on your topic and groups them into Foreign / Local RRL sections with citations and DOIs.
- Or start from the Word template. Download the free RRL outline template (.docx) and fill each section's prompts.
- Track every source in a matrix. The literature review matrix template keeps your summaries comparable, which is what makes synthesis paragraphs writable.
Frequently asked questions
What does a good RRL paragraph look like?
It discusses several studies around one theme in the same paragraph, citing each source as it makes its point, and closes by saying what the group of studies means for your research. A paragraph that summarizes one study at a time is a list, not a review.
Do RRL samples need real citations?
Yes. Every study named in an RRL must be a real source you can point to — fabricated or unverified citations are treated as academic dishonesty. The samples on this page cite real studies with DOIs you can open and check.
How is related literature different from related studies in an RRL?
Related literature covers conceptual and descriptive material — definitions, frameworks, books and reports. Related studies are empirical research — studies that collected and analyzed data. Many schools split each into foreign and local (Philippine) sources.
