What Is a Literature Review?
A literature review is a comprehensive analytical summary and synthesis of the published materials on a topic. Literature reviews summarize existing research to answer a review question, provide context for new research, or identify important gaps in the existing body of literature.
A literature review is NOT :
- An annotated bibliography in which you summarize each article you have reviewed. A literature review focuses on the critical analysis of reviewed works and their relationship to your research question.
- An exhaustive account of everything published. Instead, a literature review should discuss all the significant academic literature and other relevant sources important to the topic as it relates to your research.
The Purpose of a Literature Review
Literature reviews help you to understand a research topic and develop your own perspective about the research topic.
The goal of the literature reviews summarize existing research in order to:
- Identify what research has been done on a topic, including identifying key researchers and field experts;
- Examine common theories and methodologies;
- Understand what challenges, controversies, and contradictions there are?
- Establish a project’s novelty by identifying gaps in the research that your approach will address.
Attribution
Content on this page has been adapted from:
Brodsky, Meryl. “LibGuides: Literature Reviews: What Is a Literature Review?” Accessed February 12, 2025. https://guides.lib.utexas.edu/c.php?g=1060589&p=7710318.
Fundator, Rachel. “Research Guides: Research: Overview & Approaches: Creating a Literature Review.” Accessed February 11, 2025. https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/research_approaches/litreview.
Hampton, Marian. “Guides: Literature Reviews: Getting Started.” Accessed February 11, 2025. https://pitt.libguides.com/c.php?g=1172750&p=8567944.
Hobbs, Kendall. “LibGuides: How to Write a Literature Review: What Is a Literature Review.” Accessed February 11, 2025. https://libguides.wesleyan.edu/c.php?g=393435&p=2672994.
Levine-Clark, Michael, and Toni M. Carter. ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science. Fourth edition. Chicago: ALA editions, an imprint of the American Library Association, 2013.
“Literature Reviews - Organizing and Creating Information - Library Guides at Brown University.” Accessed February 11, 2025. https://libguides.brown.edu/organize/litreview.
Niehof, Jamie. “Research Guides: Literature Reviews: Getting Started.” Accessed February 11, 2025. https://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=1209331&p=8844205.
