AI Research Assistant for Master's Students
One year, one thesis. Start from what has already been established.
A master's thesis has about a year, which changes what a literature review can be. There is no time to read exhaustively and no expectation that you will; what is expected is that you know where your question sits in the existing work and can say why it has not been answered. That is a narrower task than it looks, and the common failure is spending the first four months reading broadly before the question is narrow enough to make the reading efficient. Starting from what has been established, with the sources shown, gets the question sharp sooner and leaves the time for the study itself.
How much should a master's literature review cover?
Enough to place your question and show it is unanswered. Exhaustive coverage is neither expected nor possible in the time.
When should I stop reading and start working?
When new papers stop changing your question. That is the signal, not a page count or a number of references.
Is it a problem if my topic is well studied?
No, as long as your specific question is not. Well-studied areas make it easier to show why a remaining question matters.