What is a Literature Review?

A literature review is a discussion of what has been published on a specific topic by accredited scholars and researchers.  It is often part of the introduction to a research article, thesis, or dissertation, and provides background information on your topic. But it does not simply summarize scholarly writings; it also analyzes the information and conveys the strengths and weaknesses of those arguments and ideas.

A literature review is NOT

• an annotated bibliography in which you summarize each article. A literature review goes beyond basic summarizing to focus on a critical analysis of the reviewed works and their relationship to your research question.
• a research paper where you select resources to support one side of an issue over another. A literature review should explain all sides of an argument in order to avoid bias. Areas of agreement and disagreement should be highlighted.

Different kinds of research projects will require a literature review.  These include:

• undergraduate honors thesis
• masters thesis
• doctoral dissertation
• research article
• grant proposal

While any literature review will explain your background research on a topic and the relationships between the sources that you find, the expectations and requirements for each may vary. 

Types of Literature Reviews

Narrative Review: A description of the current state of the research on a specific topic and a critical analysis of the literature reviewed. Studies may be grouped by theoretical categories, themes & trends, or strengths & weaknesses. Gaps will usually be identified, and the review ends with a conclusion that summarizes the findings and explains how the author's research will address those gaps.

Systematic Review: Uses a specific procedure to investigate the research literature, select the studies for inclusion in the review, and critically appraise those studies qualitatively or quantitatively. The aim is to provide a complete and exhaustive summary of current literature related to a research question or topic. 

Meta-analysis: Reviews research findings in a quantitative fashion by transforming the data from individual studies into what is called an effect size and then pooling and analyzing this information. The basic goal of a meta-analysis is to explain why different outcomes have occurred in different studies. 

Meta-synthesis: Brings together qualitative data to re-interpret meaning across many qualitative studies. It tends to not be as exhaustive as other approaches and would involve repeated reading of articles to connect and record concepts or themes.