Chapter 12: Writing the Related Work Section¶
“You don’t just cite papers to check a box. You cite to tell a story—where your work fits, what it adds, and what it challenges.”
Why This Chapter Matters¶
You’ve read the papers. You’ve taken the notes.
Now comes the hard part: turning all of that into a coherent Related Work section.
This section is more than a list of citations—it’s a narrative. A map. A justification for why your research matters.
And if it’s well written, it can convince reviewers and advisors that your work is thoughtful, original, and grounded.
But many students fall into common traps:
- Writing summaries with no connection
- Listing papers without analysis
- Forgetting to explain how their own work is different
This chapter will help you turn your research reading into a structured, compelling Related Work section.
Conceptual Breakdown¶
🔹 What is the Purpose of a Related Work Section?
- To situate your work in the context of existing research
- To show you understand the state of the art
- To identify gaps or limitations in current work
- To justify why your approach is needed
✍️ Think of it as answering this question:
“What have others done—and what’s still missing?”
🔹 From Notes to Narrative: How to Start
You already have structured notes (see Chapter 8) and possibly a literature matrix (see Chapter 9).
Now, follow this process:
- Group your papers by theme, method, or problem
- Example: “Rule-based approaches,” “Transformer-based models,” “Philippine legal NLP”
- Summarize trends and insights per group
- What’s been tried? What worked? What didn’t?
- Position your work at the end of each group
- “Unlike prior work that focused on X, our method explores Y…”
🔹 Thematic vs. Chronological Structure
| Structure | When to Use It |
|---|---|
| Thematic | Most common; groups papers by topic or method |
| Chronological | Useful when showing the evolution of a technique |
| Hybrid | For complex topics with both method and time aspects |
🧠 Reviewers prefer thematic unless time-based progression is essential to your contribution.
🔹 How Many Citations Are Enough?
There’s no perfect number—but aim for depth, not volume.
- For a thesis: ~30–60 focused citations across multiple sections
- For a short paper: ~10–20 highly relevant works
- Always prioritize quality over quantity
❌ Don’t cite papers you haven’t read
✅ Don’t cite just because they’re popular
🔹 What to Say (and What Not To)
Do:
- Compare and contrast works (not just describe them)
- Show how your approach builds on or deviates from others
- Acknowledge overlaps and shared challenges
Don’t:
- List papers like a bibliography dump
- Praise every method without critique
- Forget to say how your work is new
Self-Check Questions¶
- Have you grouped the papers thematically (or by methodology, domain, etc.)?
- Are you clearly stating how your work differs or improves upon existing ones?
- Does your narrative build toward the need for your research?
Try This Exercise¶
Related Work Builder Prompt
Choose one research theme (e.g., transformer-based models for legal text). For each key paper:
- What problem did they solve?
- What method did they use?
- What limitation did they encounter?
- How does your work address or extend this?
Now write a 2–3 sentence comparison per paper. String them together—this is your first draft.
Researcher’s Compass¶
The Related Work section is your opportunity to frame the conversation—to show that your research doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
Instead, it stands on top of, next to, or even in contrast to the work of others.
Tell the story of where research has been.
Then show why your contribution is the next step forward.