What is a literature review and how can I find or write one?
Answer
A literature review is a comprehensive summary of existing research on a topic combined with a critical examination of the various philosophies, theories, and/or methods that have been applied to that topic over time. It typically examines a representative selection of scholarly articles, books, and other relevant sources to reveal established theories and trends, patterns, arguments, unresolved issues, and emergent developments in the field.
A literature review is often the first step in a research project and may stand alone or be included in a larger work such as a scholarly article or dissertation. It can help you to gain a deep understanding of your topic, which in turn helps you develop research questions that may ultimately transform into a thesis.
A literature review reveals:
- What questions are routinely considered and how they are analyzed.
- How the understanding and interpretation of a topic has changed over time.
- What questions have been neglected or under-represented in the scholarly literature.
In addition, a literature review can:
- Help you to avoid reinventing the wheel by providing lists of research already conducted on a topic.
- Set the background on what has been explored on a topic so far Increases your breadth of knowledge in your area of research.
- Help you identify seminal works in your area.
- Allow you to provide the intellectual context for your work and position your research with other, related research.
- Provide you with opposing viewpoints
- Help you to discover research methods which may be applicable to your work.
See the Literature Reviews guide for information about finding professional literature reviews and writing your own.