Write a Literature Review
Lit Review How-To Books
-
Conducting Research Literature Reviews
Call Number: MSE C Level Q180.55.M4 F56 2010 c. 1Also available at SAIS -
Research Proposals
Call Number: ebook -
Writing Literature Reviews
Call Number: MSE B Level H61.8.G34 2009 QUARTO c. 1 -
Designing and Managing a Research Project
Call Number: MSE B Level HD30.4 .P65 2011 c. 1 -
Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences
Call Number: MSE B Level H62.P457 2006 c. 1
Get Help
Steps to Completing a Literature Review
-
Find
Conduct searches for relevant information. -
Evaluate
Critically review your sources. -
Summarize
Determine the most important and relevant information from each source, theories, findings, etc. -
Synthesize
Create a synthesis matrix to find connections between resources, and ensure your sources relate to your main ideas. -
Integrate
Use the synthesis matrix to organize your literature review. Integrate the individual main ideas to put together the state of knowledge related to your topic.
Introduction to Lit Reviews
A literature review is a summary and evaluation of significant research on a particular subject. Lit reviews are often at the beginning of a larger research article, to introduce a topic and provide its history and development, but they could also stand on their own as separate publications.
Purpose of Lit Reviews:
- Provide context for a research paper
- Explore the history and development of a topic
- Examine the scholarly conversation surrounding the topic
- Shows relationships between studies
- Examines gaps in research on the topic
Lit reviews are not simply summaries of the different articles written on a topic. They should take a critical eye to published research to provide insight on the topic.
What counts as "literature"?
"Literature" covers everything relevant that is written on a topic: books, journal articles, newspaper articles, historical records, government reports, theses and dissertations, etc. However, your professor may have specific guidelines as to what type of materials you may include.
A literature review follows a different style, format and structure from a research article.
Lit Review Article | Research Article | |
Describes what? | Reports on the work of others. | Reports on the authors' original research. |
Purpose | To examine and evaluate previous literature. |
To test a hypothesis and/or make an argument. May include a short literature review to introduce the subject. |