Highlighting limitations in studies

“Limitations” statements in literature reviews are often made in connection to individual studies or can apply to a group of studies with a similar focus.

Examples of limitations may include:

studies’ focus on other aspects of research rather than the one in question
limited data for one to draw proper conclusions or a flawed analysis of data
inconclusive or contradictory findings
dubious interpretations of the findings, etc.

The "limitations" statements can be one to a few sentences in length.

Examples:

Here are some examples of “limitations” statements:

This study, however, has a number of potential limitations. First of all, it includes only two markets and two competitors in their analysis, which is not very realistic as today most large companies operate in many countries, all over the world, and face competition from both local and global players. Furthermore, the cross-country influences, i.e., the interaction between individuals in one country with individuals in another country, have not been explicitly included. In their study, Putsis, Balasubramaniam, Kaplan, and Sen (1997) have found different mixing patterns (cross-country interactions), and suggest investigating the implications of different mixing patterns on the choice between a waterfall and sprinkler strategy. So far, this has not yet been done. Another limitation is that the authors test their theory with a hypothetical example (Loughborough University, 2016) (Marketing).
However, a survey of such research has revealed that many studies (e.g., Cho & Carey, 2001; Kabata et al., 2005) lacked clear methodological designs, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions regarding the validity of their claims (Gleason & Suvorov, 2012) (Applied Linguistics).

Language of 'critique'

Here are some common language structures that are used to discuss a study's limitations:

Language of critique

However, as yet there is little empirical evidence that …
This study has a number of limitations. First of all, it … Furthermore, it … Another limitation is that …
A question that remains from this study is whether …
However, not much can be concluded about …
However, the data came from only ... (5 participants), which may not show how …
Additionally, the study does not …, which often raises questions about the validity of …
Indeed, this study does not adequately detail (= consider) X.