Not to be confused with a book review, a literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose of a literature review is to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic. Depending on the overall goal of your literature review, you will typically need to:
A literature review may constitute an essential chapter of a thesis or dissertation or may be a self-contained review of writings on a subject (such as a journal article) that follows an evidence synthesis methodology. The literature review itself, however, does not present new primary scholarship.
It is helpful to consider what your overall purpose before beginning a literature review.
Is it required for a grant application? Are you trying to scope out a problem statement? Do you need to find a research method that aligns with your question?
There are many potential goals, including but not limited to:
Defining the goal clarifies the process you will follow for conducting your literature review by, for example, determining how extensively you will search for sources, the formats you should include, and what the best tools are for you to use.
In general, reviewing the literature may be divided into four broad stages:
Below are selected readings and videos to support these stages:
The Search String Builder is a tool designed to teach you how to create a search string using Boolean logic. While it is not a database and is not designed to input a search, you should be able to cut and paste the results into most databases’ search boxes.
Use quotes to "phrase search" when you have two or more words as keywords.
You can also use NOT to exclude results with a keyword, but not recommended until you actually search and if it's appropriate.
Now copy and paste the above Search String into a database search box.
The Search Strategy Builder was developed by the University of Arizona Libraries(CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US).
Below are additional guides and services to support reviewing the literature on your topic.
It's strongly recommended that you reach out to your Library Liaison or Research and Instruction Librarian for support with searching for materials and building a matrix to synthesize sources, if applicable.
The Literature Review : Six Steps to Success by Adapted with permission and thanks from How to Write a Literature Review created by Concordia University Libraries.
