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types of writing

Literature Review

Matt R., former Writing Center tutor

Please keep in mind that these are only general guidelines; always defer to your professor's specifications for a given assignment. If you have any questions about the content represented here, please contact the Writing Centers so that we can address them for you.

On the most basic level, a literature review is simply that:  a review of existing literature on a topic.  Literature reviews survey scholarly articles, books, and other sources written about a particular topic, be that a psychological or sociological issue, a particular poem or play, or political theory.  Many different fields make use of literature reviews, but they’re most often written for the humanities and social sciences.

Literature reviews may be assigned for a variety of reasons, but they are often the starting point for a larger research project.  In this case, literature reviews function to help the writer discover what information currently exists, to organize this information in a meaningful way, and to develop their own ideas for future research.  However, a literature review may also be an end in itself; researching and organizing existing information will make the writer well-informed and knowledgeable about the topic of interest.

Goal of a Literature Review

The primary purpose of a literature review is to synthesize existing information on a topic.  Therefore, in writing your literature review, you should avoid merely summarizing your sources.  Rather, focus on putting authors into conversation with one another.  Perhaps you’re writing about a theoretical debate.  What information and evidence does each side present?  How would one author respond to another?  Would authors agree or disagree?  Why?  Because literature reviews require you to synthesize information, you must evaluate different viewpoints and determine where they might be particularly strong or weak.  Point out strengths and weaknesses, and in doing so, explain how other viewpoints and authors account for these aspects of the issue.  Note that your personal opinion should play a very minor role in a literature review.  Unlike other types of academic writing, literature reviews do not necessarily function to advance the writer’s opinion, so focus on being objective while analyzing your sources and writing your review.


Writing a Literature Review

Before Writing

Some of the most important steps in writing, such as defining a scope, come before you even type the first sentence.  Once you’ve chosen a topic, do a brief search of the literature to gain a general sense of the information available.  After your initial search, revisit your topic and consider whether you should narrow, broaden, or alter the scope of your literature review.  Keep in mind the assignment requirements at this stage of the writing process, and talk to your professor if you’re having trouble determining how broad your scope should be.  Once you’ve revisited your topic, begin researching in-depth and determine which sources are relevant to the scope of your paper.

Organizing

Once you have sources for your paper, consider how you could best organize the information.  As with most types of writing, there are countless ways to organize a literature review, and your organization will depend heavily on your topic and discipline.  However, it is generally best to avoid organizing by source – remember that you should be showing the connections between sources, writers, viewpoints, etc.  Although it is more important to find an organizational style that works well with your topic, here are some ways you may consider organizing your literature review:

  • Chronologically – show how thinking has progressed through time
  • By theme, topic, issue, or trend – group similar information together to examine multiple perspectives on a particular topic
  • Methodologically – group similar research methods together to show how different fields or subfields have examined or explained an issue

Composing

General tips for composing a literature review:

  • Use only the most important information as you review each source.  The topic of your literature review may be one of many topics discussed in another source.  Conversely, some of your sources may examine your topic in great detail.  For your literature review, focus on extracting only information relevant to the scope you have defined.
  • Use quotes minimally.  Literature reviews do not allow much space to expand upon quotations.  Concern yourself more with summarizing and paraphrasing authors’ main ideas rather than finding an exemplary quotation.
  • Cite every idea that is not your own original thought.  Your opinion should be minimal in a literature review.  You should make statements of comparison when discussing different authors, but as with all academic writing, you must give credit to the original author in the appropriate citation style.
  • Maintain a consistent voice and tone throughout.  Everyone writes in his or her own way.  Do not be tempted to alter your writing style to match those of the authors you are reviewing.  Instead, focus on developing your voice as a writer, discussing all of the literature you are reviewing in the same manner.

Sections of a Literature Review


The sections of your literature review will vary depending on your purpose, topic, and discipline.  The advice outlined on this page is intended as a reference, but make sure to follow your professor’s guidelines in writing your literature review.

  • Introduction – The introduction should describe the literature review’s topic and purpose.  It should also establish the basic outline of the paper, identifying the trends, arguments, or approaches discussed.  The introduction should also identify the literature review’s scope and the author’s reason for writing.  In accomplishing these tasks, the introduction should include a thesis statement commenting on the overall trend in the research summarized or the significance of the findings described in the body.
  • Body – As mentioned earlier, the body of a literature review should synthesize existing research or viewpoints, grouping sources according to a pre-established organizational structure.  The body should summarize sources, giving enough detail for comprehension without going too in-depth with description.  As you summarize and synthesize, focus on creating strong transitions between sentences and paragraphs.  Specifically, strong topic and concluding sentences in your paragraphs will help your reader to see the connections you’re drawing between sources and to understand how you have moved from one topic to the next.
  • Conclusion – Your conclusion should summarize the major findings on your topic and use this summary to comment on the current understanding of the topic.  In many cases, the conclusion of a literature review should be used to suggest new topics or directions in research.  It should also answer the “so what” question.  Think about why the information you’ve reported is interesting and important.  What does it say about your topic, discipline, or society?  Use the conclusion as a way to impress upon your reader the significance of the work you’ve done.

 

Examples of Literature Reviews:

Read a sample APA style literature review.

Read a brief literature review about the understanding of science in film.

See how a literature review functions as part of a larger research project.


Sources Consulted:

University of California Santa Cruz outlines the components and purpose of literature reviews.

The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin Madison offers advice for writing various sections of literature reviews.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers advice for conceptualizing and writing a literature review.

View a list of tutors who specialize in writing literature reviews

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