A literature review analyzes and summarizes published scholarly work on a specific topic. It evaluates current research, familiarizes readers with what has been done in the field, and suggests areas for future study. To find literature reviews, search academic databases relevant to your topic and include search terms like "literature review" and "review." Databases may have a separate document type or filter for review articles. Review journals also publish literature reviews on many topics.
Self-paced exercise for students to follow in teams - to ask questions about FINDING and ANALYZING their sources. Focused on UMBC, but adaptable for your local University/College. Helps students create an annotated bibliography. ENGL 100
Self-paced exercise for students to follow in teams - to ask questions about FINDING and ANALYZING their sources. Focused on UMBC, but adaptable for your local University/College. Helps students create an annotated bibliography. ENGL 100
T H E W R I T I N G C E N T E R Academic Services • .docxAASTHA76
T H E W R I T I N G C E N T E R
Academic Services • Phone: 962-7710
www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/
How to Write a Literature Review
What This Handout is About…
This handout will explain what a Literature Review is and offer insights into the form and
construction of a Literature Review in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences.
Introduction
OK. You’ve got to write a literature review. You dust off your world literature
anthology book, settle down in your Ebert and Roper at the Movies theatre chair with
your popcorn and soda in hand, and get ready to issue a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”
as you leaf through the pages. “Literature Review” done. Right?
Wrong! The “literature” of a literature review refers to any collection of materials on a
topic, not necessarily the Great Literary Texts of the World. “Literature” could be
anything from a set of government pamphlets on British colonial methods in Africa to
scholarly articles on the treatment of a torn ACL. And a review does not necessarily
mean that your reader wants you to give your personal opinion on whether or not you
liked these sources.
What is a literature review, then?
A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and
sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period.
A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an
organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap
of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a
reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or
combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the
field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may
evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.
But how is a literature review different from an academic research
paper?
While the main focus of an academic research paper is to support your own argument, the
focus of a literature review is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of
others. The academic research paper also covers a range of sources, but it is usually a
select number of sources, because the emphasis is on the argument. Likewise, a literature
review can also have an “argument,” but it is not as important as covering a number of
sources. In short, an academic research paper and a literature review contain some of the
same elements. In fact, many academic research papers will contain a literature review
section. But it is the aspect of the study (the argument or the sources) that is emphasized
that determines what type of document it is.
Why do we write literature reviews?
Literature reviews provide you with a handy guide to a particular topic. If you have
limited time to conduct res.
Literature ReviewsWhat this handout is aboutThis handout w.docxjesssueann
Literature Reviews
What this handout is about
This handout will explain what literature reviews are and offer insights into the form and construction of literature reviews in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
Introduction
OK. You’ve got to write a literature review. You dust off a novel and a book of poetry, settle down in your chair, and get ready to issue a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” as you leaf through the pages. “Literature review” done. Right?
Wrong! The “literature” of a literature review refers to any collection of materials on a topic, not necessarily the great literary texts of the world. “Literature” could be anything from a set of government pamphlets on British colonial methods in Africa to scholarly articles on the treatment of a torn ACL. And a review does not necessarily mean that your reader wants you to give your personal opinion on whether or not you liked these sources.
What is a literature review, then?
A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period.
A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.
But how is a literature review different from an academic research paper?
The main focus of an academic research paper is to develop a new argument, and a research paper will contain a literature review as one of its parts. In a research paper, you use the literature as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute. The focus of a literature review, however, is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others without adding new contributions.
Why do we write literature reviews?
Literature reviews provide you with a handy guide to a particular topic. If you have limited time to conduct research, literature reviews can give you an overview or act as a stepping stone. For professionals, they are useful reports that keep them up to date with what is current in the field. For scholars, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasizes the credibility of the writer in his or her field. Literature reviews also provide a solid background for a research paper’s investigation. Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers.
Who writes these things, anyway?
Literature reviews are written occasionally in the humanities, but mostly in the sciences and social scienc.
Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to controlling sources of bias and error.
Are you gearing up to do specialized research for a grant proposal or your own scholarly work? Learn what a literature review is and how to develop one using University Libraries.
1. Finding literature reviews
WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
“The literature”, in this context, refers to published scholarly work. For instance, scientific scholarly literature
includes journal articles, conference proceedings, technical reports and books.
A “literature review” reviews the scholarly literature on a specific topic by summarizing and analyzing published
work on that topic. A literature review has several purposes:
to evaluate the state of research on a topic
to familiarize readers and students with what has already been done in the field
to suggest future research directions or gaps in knowledge
Green, Johnson and Adams describe a literature review as
a type of research article published in a professional peer-reviewed journal. The purpose of a literature
review is to objectively report the current knowledge on a topic and base this summary on previously
published research. A literature review provides the reader with a comprehensive overview and helps
place that information into perspective.1
Most research articles include a section that reviews previous work, but this is not as comprehensive as an
article-length literature review. A literature review does not include new, unpublished research results.
FINDING EXAMPLES AND HELP
For a quick and useful introduction to the process of writing a literature review, see this handout from
the University of North Carolina: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html
UC Davis science professors discuss the usefulness of reviews and the process of writing a literature
review in two videos here: http://writing.ucdavis.edu/sciencewriters/uwp.html
You can see literature reviews written by students at the Prized Writing website:
http://prizedwriting.ucdavis.edu/past
While many journals occasionally publish literature reviews, some journals only focus on reviews. One
example is the series Annual Reviews, which publishes journals of reviews in physical, life and social
sciences. This can be a great place to find reviews on many topics. Access Annual Reviews at
http://www.annualreviews.org/ (must be on campus or logged in through the VPN).
There are many resources available online and in print that discuss the process of writing a good literature
review. To find guides from many other libraries, search online for “literature reviews” or “finding literature
reviews.” Many general writing guides also include a “writing literature reviews” section; ask your professor or
a librarian for some advice for your specific field.
1
Green BN, Johnson CD, Adams A. Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals: secrets of the trade. Journal of
Chiropractic Medicine 2006;5(3): 101-117. DOI: 10.1016/S0899-3467(07)60142-6. This article includes a guide for writing reviews
(focused on medical literature), a guide for evaluating reviews, and a list of further reading on the subject of literature reviews.
2. Finding literature reviews – tips for library searching
LOOKING FOR LITERATURE REVIEWS
Literature reviews are generally published as journal articles, so finding them in the library involves the same
process as looking for other types of articles: search an article database. The library subscribes to hundreds of
different article databases; each typically only covers a specific discipline, though some are quite broad.
To find an appropriate database, go to the library subject guide for your subject:
http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/research/subjects/
Ask a librarian for help finding the best database for your topic. For science topics, the database Web of Science
covers articles in all sciences and is a good place to start.
If you are writing a literature review of your own, you will need to search appropriate article databases for
articles on your topic, which you will then synthesize.
BASIC TECHNIQUES FOR FINDING REVIEWS
If you are looking for already-published literature reviews, try the following:
In an article database, search for the keywords “literature review” or “review” (in title or topic) in
addition to your topic keywords
Some article databases have “reviews” coded as a separate article format. For example, Web of Science
lists “reviews” under document type. Do a topic search, then click this box to refine to only review
articles. In some databases (such as BIOSIS) this is called literature type. Pubmed includes Review as a
filter under “type of article”. In PyscINFO, include “literature review” as a methodology.
You will still need to look at the papers you find to determine if they are truly literature reviews. Access
the full-text of the paper (using the orange UC eLinks button) and read the first page or two. If it
reports original research results, it’s not a review article. Most reviews explicitly state that they are
reviewing the literature in the abstract or first paragraphs, or use the phrase “We review recent
studies” or similar. Review articles also typically cite dozens of other papers in their quest to be
comprehensive, so their bibliography sections are longer than usual.
Don’t forget to search review journals – try Annual Reviews (http://www.annualreviews.org).
Remember not all specific topics have review papers already published on them – you may need to
broaden your keywords (by using fewer or less specific terms) to find a review of your subject.
GETTING HELP
Want more help? Stop by the library reference desk or make an appointment:
Visit a reference desk in Shields, Physical Sciences & Engineering, CHSL or BML:
http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/about/directories/refdesk/
Or contact the librarian for your subject area for an appointment:
http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/about/directories/subjspec.php
Updated January 2012, Phoebe Ayers – psayers@ucdavis.edu