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I literally googled "how long should a literature review be in a 10000 word dissertation" about a hundred times and kept getting vague answers. So here's what I found after actually going through it — aim for 2,000 to 3,000 words. That's the 20–30% range most supervisors expect, and it gives you enough room to show real critical engagement with the existing research.
Don't just dump every source you've read — build a clear narrative, highlight the gaps, and connect everything back to your research question. A focused 2,200 words will always beat a padded 3,500. And yes, check your uni's guidelines first because some actually specify the range
