Literature Reviews

Writing a literature review takes time. Start early and give yourself enough time to gather and analyze your sources and to write your review.

The process of writing a literature review usually takes the following steps:

1. Define your research question

2. Create a search strategy and set the scope of your literature review

3. Search the Literature

4. Analyze the material you’ve found

5. Write your Review

To determine the scope of your review, think about:

• Inclusion/exclusion criteria: which populations to investigate, what years to include, which geographies and languages are relevant, which subject areas are important;
• How many sources you will need (this will vary depending on the purpose of the review—is it selective (e.g. for a class) or comprehensive (e.g. for a thesis or dissertation)
• Define which types of sources you should consider (this will vary depending on your discipline)

A literature search is an exhaustive search for all publications on a specific topic in a particular discipline. 

During the Literature Review process, you move from searching for the literature to critically reviewing it for your research. The process of reviewing existing research allows you to fine-tune your research question and contextualize your own work. 

"Literature" can include peer reviewed articles, books/ebooks, conference proceedings, theses/dissertations, documents published by governmental agencies and non-profit organizations, and other forms of gray literature.

Library Tip: Use a citation manager like Zotero to stay organized.

Library Tip: Explore the subject guide(s) related to your topic and discipline for recommended bibliographies, databases, and journals.