A literature review is an essential research step, analyzing existing knowledge to identify gaps and inform future studies. It serves various purposes for researchers, students, manuscript writers, and professionals by offering an overview of current knowledge and methodologies in a field. Different types of literature reviews, including narrative, systematic, and meta-analysis, each follow specific processes for gathering and evaluating research to enhance understanding and guide further inquiry.

1. Literature review:
Literature reviews are a necessary step in a research process and often required when writing
your research proposal. They involve gathering, analyzing, and evaluating existing knowledge
about a topic in order to find gaps in the literature where future studies will be needed. Once
you have completed your literature review, you will be able to identify how your research
project can build upon and extend existing knowledge in your area of study.
A literature review is a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of existing research and
knowledge on a particular topic. It serves several purposes and can be done by various
individuals, including:
1.) Researchers and scholars: Conducting a literature review allows researchers to assess the
current state of research on a topic, identify experts in the field, determine methodologies
used in past studies, and gain a solid foundation of knowledge in the area. It helps them
understand the existing research and debates, present knowledge in the form of a written
report, and identify areas that have not yet been researched in detail.
2.) Students: Literature reviews are often part of academic assignments, such as dissertations,
research projects, or long essays. They help students gain familiarity with the current
knowledge in their chosen field, understand the theory driving the field, and see and
evaluate successful and unsuccessful assessment and research methods. Literature reviews
also help students build their knowledge in their field, learn about important concepts,
research methods, and experimental techniques, and gain insight into how researchers apply
the concepts they're learning to real-world problems.
3.) Writers of scientific manuscripts: Literature reviews in scientific manuscripts provide
readers with a better understanding of the research topic, its importance, and the existing
knowledge in the field. They help writers analyze and synthesize the arguments and ideas
of existing knowledge without adding any new contributions.
4.) Professionals and practitioners: Literature reviews can be valuable for professionals and
practitioners in various fields, as they provide an overview of the current state of research
and knowledge in their area of interest. This can help them stay updated on the latest
developments, identify gaps in the existing research, and inform their decision-making
processes.

2. Types of literature review:
1.) Narrative Review: It is also known as a traditional literature review, the narrative
review provides a broad overview of the studies done on a particular topic. It often
includes both qualitative and quantitative studies and may cover a wide range of years.
The narrative review’s purpose is to identify commonalities, gaps, and contradictions
in the literature.
The UG students can gather their studies together, take notes on each study, then try to
group them by themes that form the basis for the review.
Steps involved in Narrative Literature Review:
1.) Search for Relevant Literature: Use scholarly databases related to your field of
study, provided by your university library, along with appropriate search terms to
identify key scholarly articles that have been published on your topic.
2.) Evaluate and Select Sources: Filter the source list by selecting studies that are
directly relevant and of sufficient quality, considering factors like credibility,
objectivity, accuracy, and validity.
3.) Analyze and Synthesize: Review each source and summarize the main arguments
in one paragraph (or more, for postgrad). Keep these summaries in a table.
4.) Identify Themes: With all studies summarized, group studies that share common
themes, such as studies that have similar findings or methodologies.
5.) Write the Review: Write your review based upon the themes or subtopics you have
identified. Give a thorough overview of each theme, integrating source data, and
conclude with a summary of the current state of knowledge then suggestions for
future research based upon your evaluation of what is lacking in the literature.
Thus, Literature reviews do require a strong degree of comprehension of academic
studies. But it can be feasibly done through following a structured approach to data
collection and analysis. The undergraduate research students (who tend to conduct
small-scale qualitative studies) can identify key themes in the literature. Within each
theme, students can critique key studies and their strengths and limitations, in order to
get a general situation and come to a point where they can identify ways to contribute
new insights to the existing academic conversation on their topic.

3. 2.) Systematic Review:
This type of literature review is more structured and rigorous than a narrative
review. It involves a detailed and comprehensive plan and search strategy derived
from a set of specified research questions.
the systematic review will likely have a very clear criteria for how the studies were
collected, and clear explanations of exclusion/inclusion criteria.
The goal is to gather the maximum amount of valid literature on the topic, filter out
invalid or low-quality reviews, and minimize bias. Ideally, this will provide more
reliable findings, leading to higher-quality conclusions and recommendations for
further research.
Step-by-step guide on how to conduct a systematic literature review:
1.) Formulate a research question: Clearly define your research question, which
should address a gap in the current literature and guide your review process
2.) Develop inclusion and exclusion criteria: Determine the criteria that articles must
meet to be included in your review and the attributes that would exclude an article.
3.) Search for relevant publications: Use comprehensive search strategies across
various databases, including both academic and gray literature, to identify relevant
studies. Work with a librarian to help you design effective search strategies.
4.) Screen and select articles: Review the titles and abstracts of the identified articles
to determine their relevance to your research question. Then, read the full texts of
the selected articles and apply your inclusion and exclusion criteria to finalize your
list of included studies.
5.) Assess the quality of included studies: Evaluate the quality and risk of bias of the
included studies using appropriate tools and methods.
6.) Extract and analyze data: Extract relevant data from the included studies and
analyze the findings using appropriate statistical methods, if applicable.
7.) Summarize the evidence: Present your findings in a clear and concise manner,
including detailed methodology, so that your review can be easily updated in the
future with new research findings.
8.) Interpret the results: Discuss the implications of your findings and their relevance
to the research question. Identify any limitations of your review and suggest areas
for future research.

4. 9.) Consider a meta-analysis, if appropriate: If the included studies are suitable for
statistical pooling, consider conducting a meta-analysis to provide a more robust
estimate of the overall effect size.
10.) Publish and update your review: Share your systematic literature review with
the research community through publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Regularly
update your review to incorporate new research findings and maintain its relevance.
The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-
Analyses) framework is an evidence-based set of guidelines for reporting systematic reviews
and meta-analyses. It primarily focuses on the reporting of reviews evaluating the effects of
interventions but can also be used for other types of systematic reviews, such as those
evaluating etiology, prevalence, diagnosis, or prognosis.
The PRISMA framework consists of a 27-item checklist and a 4-phase flow diagram,
which help researchers ensure transparent and complete reporting of their systematic review or
meta-analysis. The checklist includes items such as the title, abstract, introduction, methods,
results, discussion, and funding sources, among others. The flow diagram depicts the flow of
information through the different phases of a systematic review, including the number of
records identified, included, and excluded.
To use the PRISMA framework, researchers should:
 Refer to the PRISMAstatement: Familiarize themselves with the PRISMAguidelines
and the specific items included in the checklist and flow diagram.
 Include the checklist and flow diagram in their review: Download the fillable
templates of the PRISMA checklist and flow diagram from the PRISMA website and
complete them as they progress through the review process
 Consider the PRISMA 2020 updates: In 2020, the PRISMA statement was updated
to provide more detailed guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews.
Researchers should use the updated PRISMA 2020 version as the foundation for their
reporting

5. 3.) Meta-Analysis
Meta-analysis is a statistical technique used to combine the results of multiple studies
on a particular topic. This is a type of systematic review that uses statistical methods to
combine and summarize the results of several studies. Meta-analysis can be used in any
situation where the goal is to summarize quantitative findings from empirical research
studies. Due to its robust methodology, a meta-analysis is often considered the ‘gold
standard’ of secondary research, as it provides a more precise estimate of a treatment
effect.
Meta-analysis is a statistical technique used to combine the results of multiple
studies on a particular topic, regardless of their study design, statistical models, and
population characteristics. Furthermore, by aggregating data from a range of studies, a
meta-analysis can identify patterns, disagreements, or other interesting relationships
that may have been hidden in individual studies. This helps to enhance the
generalizability of findings, making the conclusions drawn from a meta- analysis
particularly powerful and informative for policy and practice.