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A literature review is a discussion of the literature (aka. the "research" or "scholarship") surrounding a certain topic. A good literature review doesn't simply summarize the existing material, but provides thoughtful synthesis and analysis. The purpose of a literature review is to orient your own work within an existing body of knowledge. A literature review may be written as a standalone piece or be included in a larger body of work.

You can read more about literature reviews, what they entail, and how to write one, using the resources below. 

Am I the only one struggling to write a literature review?

Dr. Zina O'Leary explains the misconceptions and struggles students often have with writing a literature review. She also provides step-by-step guidance on writing a persuasive literature review.

An Introduction to Literature Reviews

Dr. Eric Jensen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, and Dr. Charles Laurie, Director of Research at Verisk Maplecroft, explain how to write a literature review, and why researchers need to do so. Literature reviews can be stand-alone research or part of a larger project. They communicate the state of academic knowledge on a given topic, specifically detailing what is still unknown.

This is the first video in a whole series about literature reviews. You can find the rest of the series in our SAGE database, Research Methods:

Videos

Videos covering research methods and statistics

Identify Themes and Gaps in Literature (with real examples) | Scribbr

Finding connections between sources is key to organizing the arguments and structure of a good literature review. In this video, you'll learn how to identify themes, debates, and gaps between sources, using examples from real papers.

4 Tips for Writing a Literature Review's Intro, Body, and Conclusion | Scribbr

While each review will be unique in its structure--based on both the existing body of both literature and the overall goals of your own paper, dissertation, or research--this video from Scribbr does a good job simplifying the goals of writing a literature review for those who are new to the process. In this video, you’ll learn what to include in each section, as well as 4 tips for the main body illustrated with an example.

Cover Art

  • Literature Review This chapter in SAGE's Encyclopedia of Research Design describes the types of literature reviews and scientific standards for conducting literature reviews.
  • UNC Writing Center: Literature Reviews This handout from the Writing Center at UNC will explain what literature reviews are and offer insights into the form and construction of literature reviews in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
  • Purdue OWL: Writing a Literature Review The overview of literature reviews comes from Purdue's Online Writing Lab. It explains the basic why, what, and how of writing a literature review.

Organizational Tools for Literature Reviews

One of the most daunting aspects of writing a literature review is organizing your research. There are a variety of strategies that you can use to help you in this task. We've highlighted just a few ways writers keep track of all that information! You can use a combination of these tools or come up with your own organizational process. The key is choosing something that works with your own learning style.

Citation Managers

Citation managers are great tools, in general, for organizing research, but can be especially helpful when writing a literature review. You can keep all of your research in one place, take notes, and organize your materials into different folders or categories. Read more about citations managers here:

  • Manage Citations & Sources

Concept Mapping

Some writers use concept mapping (sometimes called flow or bubble charts or "mind maps") to help them visualize the ways in which the research they found connects.

owl writing lab literature review

There is no right or wrong way to make a concept map. There are a variety of online tools that can help you create a concept map or you can simply put pen to paper. To read more about concept mapping, take a look at the following help guides:

  • Using Concept Maps From Williams College's guide, Literature Review: A Self-guided Tutorial

Synthesis Matrix

A synthesis matrix is is a chart you can use to help you organize your research into thematic categories. By organizing your research into a matrix, like the examples below, can help you visualize the ways in which your sources connect. 

  • Walden University Writing Center: Literature Review Matrix Find a variety of literature review matrix examples and templates from Walden University.
  • Writing A Literature Review and Using a Synthesis Matrix An example synthesis matrix created by NC State University Writing and Speaking Tutorial Service Tutors. If you would like a copy of this synthesis matrix in a different format, like a Word document, please ask a librarian. CC-BY-SA 3.0
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  • Literature Reviews

Literature Reviews: Write Your Review

Critical analysis.

A critical analysis of your sources is key to creating a quality literature review, and keeping your research question in mind as you read the literature will ensure that you are on track.

  • As you read, ask yourself "Why is my topic important?" You must evaluate and interpret the information to discover your own point of view.

Reading and Evaluating Scholarly Literature (Oregon State University)

Evaluating Resources (University of Southern California)

Critically Analyzing Information Sources (Cornell University Library)

Literature Review Model

  • What Constitutes a Good Literature Review and Why Does its Quality Matter? A discussion of the state of literature reviews found in scholarly journals. The author discusses the need for clear identification of the "problem domain" or scope of a topic, and the critical need for "identifying and articulating knowledge gaps" in literature reviews. more... less... Maier, H. R. (May 01, 2013). What constitutes a good literature review and why does its quality matter?. Environmental Modelling & Software, 43, 3-4.

Once you identify your topic, check for existing literature reviews in your area of interest that can be used as models.

  • Search UW Libraries Catalog using your search terms in conjunction with "literature review" or "methods" or "research" or "bibliography".

What Does a Literature Review Look Like?

This sample literature review from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL), provides an example in the field of psychology.

Structure of a Literature Review

A literature review has a format similar to other scholarly papers. It contains an introduction, body and conclusion, but is focused exclusively on the research of others.

The Basics of a Literature Review. (2014). Teaching and Learning Center University of Washington Tacoma. Retrieved from  https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/2021-05/basics-of-lit-review1.pdf 

Guidelines for Writing Your Literature Review

The creation of a literature review involves reading articles , processing the information from the articles, and integrating that information in the larger context of the review

Literature Review Guidelines

The Basics of a Literature Review. (2014). Teaching and Learning Center University of Washington Tacoma. Retrieved from  https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/2021-05/basics-of-lit-review1.pdf

Types of Source Materials

Primary Resources - These resources are the basic building blocks for the other types of resources. They include empirical research , firsthand accounts of events and other original materials .

Secondary Resources - These are resources that analyze or interpret primary and other secondary resources .

Tertiary Resources - These include encyclopedias, textbooks, dictionaries, handbooks, and indexes. They provide a summary and definitions of topics and are an effective and efficient way to begin to build your project.

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  • URL: https://guides.lib.uw.edu/tacoma/literaturereview
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  • Important: If using APA style, specify what edition you are required to use (6 or 7). Because APA 6 is now out of date, it will be assumed you are using APA 7 unless it is otherwise noted.
  • Your Comments. Include specific questions or concerns you have about your draft so the coach can provide more detailed feedback.

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Just Write. You can go back and clean it up later. Write to get “raw materials” down to work with.

Answer the Question. After you have a draft going, read the instructor’s assignment again to make sure that you are answering the question.

Break It Up. Use paragraphs. Shorter paragraphs are more inviting. Paragraphs will help when you review your work.

Read It Aloud. Reading your almost-finished essay out loud to a friend, family member, or just yourself will help you spot things that you wouldn’t otherwise find.

Let It Sit. Finish your assignment many hours or a whole day before it is due. Set it aside for a while. The distance will give you a better perspective for reviewing your work.

Writing well will help you in both your education and career. All of us can use a little help with our writing. Having someone else read your work can help ensure that your writing achieves its intended purpose, whether that is to demonstrate what you have learned or to persuade readers to consider a new perspective on a topic.

Through the WISC Online Writing Lab, you can submit a draft of your work to receive feedback from a writing coach. The coach will review your draft and provide suggestions and tips to help you improve your writing and revision skills. Please include any specific questions or concerns you have about your draft so the coach can provide more detailed feedback. If you have questions about assignment requirements or an instructor’s feedback, please contact your instructor before submitting your work to the OWL.

You can expect to receive feedback in one to three business days.

If you submit multiple times within the same period, please allow up to three additional business days for each response after the first.

Writing a Thesis Statement

If the paper assignment asks a question, your thesis statement should lay out your answer to the question and how you are going to support your answer. If the paper assignment asks for consideration or exploration of a topic, your thesis statement should limit the scope, the range, of your exploration, and explain the approach or direction you will take. As you work on your paper, you may find yourself taking a stance on some aspect of the topic. If you start to take a stance, you can go back and sharpen your thesis statement so that it makes clear your position and gives a preview of how you are going to argue for your position. People who give writing advice about thesis statements tend to break them into two types:

  • Argumentative: The writer takes a stance or answers a question—or even makes an assertion. In a sense, the writer makes a promise to try to convince the reader that the writer’s stance or answer is credible.
  • Analytical: The writer puts forth a purpose, an intention to explore and evaluate. The thesis statement specifies the purpose of the exploration, the direction it will take, and how far it will go (the scope).

In the best case, you can determine from the paper assignment whether the thesis should be argumentative or analytical. However, sometimes this may not be clear. When you start writing, you may not know where your paper will go or what its thesis will be. However, as you work on your paper, these may become clear.

Writing the Introduction

You may be saying to yourself “OK, I get the part about the thesis statement, but how does the paper start?” You are right: your final paper should not start with an abrupt shouting of your thesis statement. However, your working draft may well start with your working thesis statement. It will help to keep you focused.

Some writers get stalled on the first sentence. They try to write the perfect first sentence. They try over and over again, and don’t actually get started on the paper.

It is better to start writing, outlining, or jotting down thoughts—whatever approach works best for you. You can write the introduction later, after you have a clear idea of what your paper does. After all, at the beginning you may not know whether your paper will turn out to be an argument or an exploration.

When you have a good draft of your paper and have come to writing the introduction, here are some things to consider in writing an introduction.

Your readers. Yes, the most important reader is your instructor. But your instructor will be reading your paper as someone who is interested in and knowledgeable about the subject. You want to lead up to your thesis statement in a way that develops its relation to and importance to the broader subject area of your paper—and, of course, shows its connection to the paper assignment.

In an online course, your fellow students may have the opportunity to read your paper and perhaps comment on it. You need to keep these readers in mind, too. Again, your introduction should show the relevance of your thesis to the subject matter of the course and lead to your thesis in a way that gets the readers’ attention.

Your opposition. If your paper is an exploration or an analysis, it may not have “opposition.” On the other hand, if your paper is an argument or assertion, you assume that some people will be opposed to or made uncomfortable by your thesis.

Research—Not Rehash

A research paper assignment may take you into areas of knowledge that you are not yet very familiar with. You may feel like throwing up you hands, saying, “People have already written about this much better than I ever could.” Soon you could find yourself summarizing what others have said, or—worse—perhaps patching together many direct quotations from others in a framework of words that you provide.

Yes, a research paper requires that you do research. You are not supposed merely to present your own opinion. You are supposed to do research on the topic or question. Then on the basis of what you have found, you develop a perspective—your own perspective.

To present your perspective, you do use what others have said. There are several ways you may do this.

Present the information or arguments you found in your research that are close to your perspective. However, you should go beyond quoting and then “rubber-stamping” the quotations. Bring out and emphasize the parts of others’ arguments that you think are the strongest.

This doesn’t mean that you ignore what you don’t find useful. You should acknowledge the other parts of the selected arguments that you find less useful, explain why you think that those parts are less useful, and maybe even explore how they could be improved.

Present the information or arguments of others that from your perspective are flawed or wrong. In the course of reviewing the opposition, you need to show the reader why this information or these arguments are flawed or wrong.

Discover areas that existing analysis or arguments have ignored or didn’t see. Then find information and/or develop arguments on your own to fill these gaps.

Doing Research

While doing your research, keep your purpose, your thesis, in mind. There are lots of books in the library and lots of resources on the Web. You don’t want to get sidetracked.

When you find several resources that make the same point or support the same step in your argument, evaluate them to determine the one or two that do the best job. In your notes, write for each one that you select the reasons why you think that it is a good source. This information probably won’t go in your paper, but it may help when you review your research and decide which resources to use.

Know in advance what reference style you are going to use for citations. The style may be specified in the paper assignment. Nowadays, many instructors prefer APA style. Unless the course instructions or paper assignment says otherwise, you are probably safe using APA style.

Knowing the reference style in advance is important so that you know what information about each source to keep track of: author(s), article title, journal title, book title, publisher, volume number, publication date, page numbers—or for a Web source also URL, date that you looked at it.

Below are links to some online resources for APA style:

http://www.apastyle.org/

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Writing the Conclusion

Naturally, your conclusion should bring your paper to a clear and satisfying end. It should not be abrupt. It should do more than merely summarize the points that your paper has made. Starting from a review of your main points, the conclusion could expand to show how your points are relevant to the larger subject area.

If your paper is an answer to a question, your conclusion could restate the question and summarize how you have answered it—and perhaps take into account how you have headed off other possible answers. If you can show the importance of your answer in relation to larger issues, this is a good place to do that.

Rereading and Revising

This is going to sound strange: Knowing exactly what you want to say may harm your paper. Especially after you have worked for a long time on a paper, knowing what you want to say can result in your seeing what you want to say when you reread your paper—even though all of what you want to say might not actually be there. That is because your mind plugs into the paper missing points, smooth logical transitions, helpful definitions of terms, and so on, that you have not actually put in the paper. How can you avoid this?

Start your assignment early enough so that you can let it sit. Pace your work so that you have at least a day to set your paper aside before you make your final revisions for submission. Having this distance will enable you to read the paper not as the writer, but as a fresh reader. You may be able to spot gaps in the argument or analysis, unclear terms, clumsy transitions—even errors in basic mechanics.

Read a draft of your paper aloud. This works very well with another person (friend, family member) as listener. You and your listener may hear lapses or missteps that you don’t see while reading silently. If you can’t find a listener, reading the paper out loud to yourself will help.

Writing a Literature Review

Usually a literature review appears at the beginning of an academic research paper. In the review, the writer surveys research that has already been done on the topic that he or she will address in his or her paper. Ideally the literature review will set up the context for the writer’s approach to the topic, summarizing what has already been said, and identifying trends and perhaps gaps or even mistakes in the published research.

Your instructor may assign a review of the literature on a particular topic as a way to get you thinking about and familiar with what has been said about that topic. The literature review may be an independent assignment, or it may be preparation for an upcoming course assignment such as a research paper.

Either way, the important thing to remember about a literature review is that it is not merely a list of references—or a list of references with a sentence or two attached to each reference to describe it.

A literature review should be organized in a way that relates to the topic.

For example, a large topic might be broken into subtopics, and then the literature review can group and survey research articles and books under the subtopics that they deal with.

If a large topic involves problems or unresolved issues, the literature review can connect each article or book with a problem or issue, and assesses how it addresses the problem or issue. If there is little or no research dealing with a particular problem or issue, this shortfall can be pointed out as a gap in the published research on the topic.

Perhaps there is a clear trend in thinking about the topic. In that case, the literature review can be organized to show the development of thinking about the topic.

The introduction to your literature review should explain or delineate your topic, and alert the reader to your plan for surveying the research on the topic.

The conclusion for your literature review should highlight the subtopics or issues that you identified, the trend that you followed, or the gap(s) in research that you found.

Finally, of course, you will need to provide a reference list with author and publication information for the works that you review.

Click the link below to see a brief example highlighting the organizational strategy and phrases used in part of a literature review.

http://guides.library.vcu.edu/ld.php?content_id=1720469

The link below will take you to two examples of literature reviews that are part of published research articles. The instructor who posted these examples introduces them with a good discussion of how literature reviews work.

Common Mechanical Errors

Listed here are some common mechanical errors.

Two Sentences Put Together with Just a Comma (Comma Splice)

When a sequence of words has a clear subject (doer of an action) and a verb (the action), it is a sentence:

A dog bit me.

Sentences can stand separately:

I went to the doctor. She told me not to worry about the bite.

These two sentences can be put together with a comma and a word (a conjunction):

I went to the doctor, and she told me not to worry about the bite.

However, two sentences that can stand separately and independently should not be put together with just a comma:

I went to the doctor, she told me not to worry about the bite.

This error is usually called a comma splice .

Sentence without a Verb, or Sentence without a Subject (Sentence Fragment)

A sentence must have a verb that says what the subject does, or did, or will do—or a verb that says what the subject was, is, or will be. This is not a sentence:

Not a dangerous dog.

We can make it a sentence by giving “dog” a verb. We will also have to rearrange the words a bit. All these are sentences:

The dog was not dangerous.

The dog is not dangerous.

The dog will not be dangerous.

If a sequence of words has a verb (an action), but no subject, it is not a sentence:

Barks loudly.

From the nature of the action, we know what is probably doing the action. However, to make this a sentence, we need a subject:

The dog barks loudly.

A sequence of words that is not a sentence is called a fragment .

Word Confused with Sound-Alike Word

This error is one that even experienced writers sometimes make.

Some words in English sound exactly alike but are written differently.

The pair its/it’s is a good example:

The animal ate its food.

We associate possessive forms with apostrophes, but for “it” the possessive is formed without an apostrophe. The sentence above is correct.

With “it” the apostrophe is used for the contraction of “it is.”

Be careful with an animal when it’s hungry.

There/their/they’re —we’ve got three going here.

“There” deals with place. This place could be a real location, or it could be a figurative place (meaning that something exits):

There is a place for us. That place is here.

There are many kinds of burritos.

“Their” is possessive:

They forgot their coats.

“They’re” is the contraction for “they are”:

I bet they’re going to be very cold.

Your/you’re confusion is similar to their/they’re confusion.

Possessive:

Be sure to check your email.

Contraction for “you are”:

Please say that you’re going to be home for Thanksgiving!

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Methodology

  • How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

  • Search for relevant literature
  • Evaluate sources
  • Identify themes, debates, and gaps
  • Outline the structure
  • Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

  • Quick Run-through
  • Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

  • Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
  • Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
  • Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
  • Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
  • Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

Literature review guide

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Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

  • Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
  • Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
  • Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
  • Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

  • Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
  • Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
  • Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

  • Your university’s library catalogue
  • Google Scholar
  • Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
  • Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
  • EconLit (economics)
  • Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

  • What question or problem is the author addressing?
  • What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
  • What are the key theories, models, and methods?
  • Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
  • What are the results and conclusions of the study?
  • How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

  • Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
  • Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
  • Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
  • Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
  • Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

  • Most research has focused on young women.
  • There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
  • But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

  • Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
  • Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
  • Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

  • Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
  • Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
  • Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
  • Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

Scribbr slides are free to use, customize, and distribute for educational purposes.

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

  • Sampling methods
  • Simple random sampling
  • Stratified sampling
  • Cluster sampling
  • Likert scales
  • Reproducibility

 Statistics

  • Null hypothesis
  • Statistical power
  • Probability distribution
  • Effect size
  • Poisson distribution

Research bias

  • Optimism bias
  • Cognitive bias
  • Implicit bias
  • Hawthorne effect
  • Anchoring bias
  • Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

  • To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
  • To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
  • To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
  • To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
  • To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

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“A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis).” -- Purdue OWL

Literature Review Assignment Details

Your group will write the literature review together. 

  • Include 4-5 professional sources (journal article, professional association article, specification details, etc.).
  • IEEE citation format.
  • A cover page with title, every team member listed. 
  • Title and page number on each page, upper right hand corner.
  • A References page.
  • Assignment is due January 27, 11:59 PM.

All of your resources will be synthesized into one literature review. Follow the suggested steps for writing your literature review.

  • Review the article themes.
  • Notice the relationships between the themes and the different articles.
  • Write down the overarching story between the articles.
  • Introduction (what are you doing and why -- what problem are you going to solve?)
  • Body (how will you do it -- what technology, materials etc. -- this is where patents, standards, articles will all inform those decisions)
  • Conclusion (reiterate what, why, how)
  • When writing your review, remember to use quotes sparingly and always cite where you got your information. Review signal phrases as a way to always give credit to authors.
  • Learn the basics of a literature review from Purdue Owl's Writing a Literature Review
  • Want to learn about the different types of literature reviews, check out Review: Outline, Strategies, and Examples ; by Study Corgi

To read example literature reviews:

1. Purdue Owl gives this example using APA.

2. And here is a paper within research gate that has a literature review section in IEEE (you just need to see the lit review as an example).

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  1. Writing a Literature Review

    A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis ). The lit review is an important genre in many disciplines, not just literature (i.e., the study of works of literature such as novels and plays).

  2. Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

    Mission The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives.

  3. Literature Reviews

    Just to be clear: a literature review differs from a research paper in that a literature review is a summary and synthesis of the major arguments and thinking of experts on the topic you're investigating, whereas a research paper supports a position or an opinion you have developed yourself as a result of your own analysis of a topic.

  4. Purdue Online Writing Lab

    The OWL provides guidance for literature review writing. Writing a Literature Review Job Search Writing Writing while on the job search takes various forms. The OWL provides useful tips for writing in this context. Preparing an Application Job Search Letters Resumes and CVs Skilled Labor Job Search Resources Last Edited: Feb 9, 2024 10:42 AM

  5. Literature Review

    This book is a step-by-step guide to writing a literature review, and includes tips for modifying the process as needed depending on your audience, purpose, and goals. ... Purdue OWL: Writing a Literature Review. The overview of literature reviews comes from Purdue's Online Writing Lab. It explains the basic why, what, and how of writing a ...

  6. Literature Reviews: Write Your Review

    This sample literature review from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL), provides an example in the field of psychology. Structure of a Literature Review A literature review has a format similar to other scholarly papers. It contains an introduction, body and conclusion, but is focused exclusively on the research of others.

  7. Wisc Online Writing Lab

    Through the WISC Online Writing Lab, you can submit a draft of your work to receive feedback from a writing coach. The coach will review your draft and provide suggestions and tips to help you improve your writing and revision skills. Please include any specific questions or concerns you have about your draft so the coach can provide more ...

  8. PDF Purdue Writing Lab

    1. Research and Citation 2. Conducting Research Welcome to the Purdue OWL https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/writing_a_literature_review.html This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

  9. How to Write a Literature Review

    There are five key steps to writing a literature review: Search for relevant literature Evaluate sources Identify themes, debates, and gaps Outline the structure Write your literature review

  10. Excelsior OWL

    Applaud... Please give us your feedback! The Excelsior Online Writing Lab (OWL) is an award-winning online writing lab resource for writers at Excelsior college and across the globe.

  11. Of OWLs and Students: Making the Most of the Excelsior University

    Excelsior University offers a nationally-acclaimed, free resource for support with academic writing. It's called the Online Writing Lab, or OWL for short. With over a dozen national awards, the OWL helps more than 23,000 students each month who use the OWL on their laptops and mobile devices. The OWL covers a host of topics ranging from ...

  12. PDF Expanding the Writing Center: A Theoretical and Practical Toolkit for

    This review of previous OWL-related studies highlights the various ways that OWL services can support L2 writers and writing. This examination of the literature has focused on OWLs being used to support L2 English writers. This emphasis is, in no small part, because of the proliferation of OWLs that discuss writing in English at Western ...

  13. Research Guides: ECET 380: Project Management: Literature Review

    "A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis)." -- Purdue OWL Literature Review Assignment Details Your group will write the literature review together.

  14. Library: Writing Resources: How to write a

    Literature Review Sample (Excelsior OWL) Literature Reviews (UNC-Chapel Hill's Writing Center) Offers insights into the form and construction of literature reviews in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Review of Literature (UW-Madison's Writing Center) Explains how to write a review of the review of literature.

  15. APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)

    Basic Rules Basic guidelines for formatting the reference list at the end of a standard APA research paper Author/Authors Rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors that apply to all APA-style references in your reference list, regardless of the type of work (book, article, electronic resource, etc.) Articles in Periodicals

  16. Peer Review

    Whether you're in an online class or a face-to-face class, peer review is an important part of the revision process and is often a required component in a writing class. In the following video, you'll see students engage in a particular type of peer review called CARES. Video Transcript. After watching the video, click the image below to ...

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