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• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

• Search for relevant literature
• Evaluate sources
• Identify themes, debates, and gaps
• Outline the structure
• Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

• Quick Run-through
• Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

• Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
• Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
• Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
• Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
• Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

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Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

• Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
• Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
• Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
• Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

• Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
• Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
• Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

• Your university’s library catalogue
• Google Scholar
• Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
• Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
• EconLit (economics)
• Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

• What question or problem is the author addressing?
• What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
• What are the key theories, models, and methods?
• Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
• What are the results and conclusions of the study?
• How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

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To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

• Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
• Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
• Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
• Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
• Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

• Most research has focused on young women.
• There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
• But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

• Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
• Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

• Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

Scribbr slides are free to use, customize, and distribute for educational purposes.

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

• To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
• To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
• To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
• To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
• To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

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Top 10 Questions for a Complete Literature Review

An excellent literature review integrates information in such a way that it provides a new framework to build upon. It is a way of contextualizing your work and showcasing a bigger picture before you pin down to your research problem. It not only highlights principle issues in your field but also provides new perspectives on the research topic. Careful skimming of literature introduces the readers to relevant terminologies frequently used in context of their work. Literature review assists in recognizing related research findings and relevant theories. Furthermore, it aids in pinpointing the methodologies that one may adopt for research.

5 Steps to Begin the Literature Review

There are five steps that one should follow before preparing to conduct the literature review :

• Identify all the literature relevant to your topic of interest. Explore all the different types of literature including theoretical literature, applied literature, literature that talks about research methods, or a combination thereof.
• Using multiple keywords and strategies capture the most accurate and relevant data. Conduct an extensive search in multi-disciplinary databases.
• Group your findings into a detailed summary of what is known and what needs to be explored.
• Identify existing gaps or any unresolved issues
• Formulate broad questions that warrant further research

How to Best Critique a Research paper

For extracting maximum information from a research paper , researchers must ask the following questions!

• Has the author formulated an appropriate research question based on the problem/issue?
• Is the research question clearly defined in terms of its scope and relevance?
• Was there an alternative or better perspective to approach the research question?
• What is the author’s orientation towards the research problem – is it a critical analysis or interpretation based?
• Has the author extensively evaluated the literature considering both latest and relevant articles?
• How has the author defined the basic components (population, interventions, outcomes) of the study? Are the measurements valid, accurate and statistically significant? Are the conclusions based accurate interpretations of the data?
• Is there an objective based, unbiased reasoning provided for the problem statement or is the author merely attempting to prove his/her preconceived beliefs and opinions?
• How does this article contribute to your understanding of the research problem?
• What are the strengths, limitations and shortcomings of the study?

10 Questions for a Comprehensive Literature Review

1. Do I have clearly defined research aims prior to commencing the review?

It is important to choose a focused question that can efficiently direct your search. It can assist you to create a list of keywords related to your research problem. Furthermore, it helps in identifying relevant databases to search for related journals and articles.

2. Have I correctly identified all the sources that will help me define my problem statement or research question?

Literature is not limited to journal articles, thesis, and dissertations. One should also refer to credible internet sources, conference proceedings that provide latest unpublished papers, as well as government and corporate reports. Books, although do not have latest information, can serve as a good starting point to read background information.

3. Have I considered all kinds of literature – including both qualitative and quantitative research articles?

An exhaustive literature survey helps you position your research within the context of existing literature effectively creating a case as to why further study is necessary. Your search has to be robust enough to ensure that you have browsed through all the relevant and latest articles. Rather than reading everything, researchers must refer and follow the most relevant work!

4. Do I have enough empirical or theoretical evidence to support my hypothesis?

Discovering new patterns and trends becomes easy if you gather credible evidence from earlier works. Furthermore, it helps in rationalizing the significance of your study.

5. Have I identified all the major inconsistencies or other shortcomings related to my research topic?

Researchers should not only refer to articles that present supporting evidence but also focus on those that provide inconclusive or contradictory information. It helps to identify any open questions left by researchers in previous studies.

6. Is my relationship diagram ready?

A relationship diagram is an effective way of recognizing links between different elements of a complex research topic. It is an immensely important tool that helps in clarifying and structuring research specific findings and interpretations at various stages of the project. It is an effective way of representing your current understanding of the research topic. In addition, a good relationship diagram can help you find new insights owing to a clear picture of all the probable relationships between key concepts, variables and key factors.

7. Have I gathered sufficient evidence from the literature about the accuracy and validity of the designs or methods that I plan to use in my experiments?

It is paramount to use methodologies and research techniques that have scientific reliability. Moreover, since methods especially used in qualitative research are often more subjective, it becomes crucial for researchers to reflect on the approach and explain the criteria for selecting a particular method.

8. Have I identified the purpose for which articles have been shortlisted for literature review?

You can expedite your literature writing process if you tag your articles based on its purpose of inclusion in the review report. Following are the tags that can be added to articles:

• Show how latest developments or develop a theoretical base to your study
• Demonstrate limitations, inconsistencies or shortcomings of previous studies
• Critique or support certain methods or findings
• Replicate the study in a different setting (region/population)
• Indicate how the study supports or contradicts your findings
• Use it as a reference to further build your research
• Provide a general understanding of concerns relevant to your research topic

9. Have I recorded all the bibliographic information regarding my information sources?

Recording and cataloguing your bibliographical details and references is absolutely crucial for every researcher. You may use commercial software such as Reference manager, End Note, and Pro Cite to manage your references. Furthermore, you may also keep a record of keyword searches that you have performed.

10. Will my literature review reflect a report that is created after a through critical analysis of the literature?

An excellent literature review must be structured, logical, and coherent. It is a great opportunity to demonstrate that you have critically analyzed and understood the relevant body of literature underpinning your research. It is important to structure your literature into appropriate sections that discuss themes or presents trends. Grouping your literature helps in indicating relationships and making comparisons.

Still have more queries related to literature review and synthesis? Post your queries here and our experts will be happy to answer them! You can also visit our Q&A forum for frequently asked questions related to research writing and publishing answered by our team that comprises subject-matter experts, eminent researchers, and publication experts.

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• Understand the Purpose : Before you begin writing, ensure you understand the purpose of your literature review. It should provide an overview of existing research on your topic, identify gaps, and demonstrate your understanding of the scholarly conversation.
• Define the Scope : Determine the scope of your literature review. What specific aspect of the topic are you focusing on? Are there specific time periods, geographical locations, or theoretical frameworks you will include?
• Conduct a Comprehensive Search : Use academic databases, journals, books, and other reputable sources to gather relevant literature on your topic. Use keywords and search terms related to your research question to ensure you capture all relevant studies.
• Evaluate the Sources : Evaluate the credibility, relevance, and quality of the sources you find. Consider factors such as the author's credentials, publication date, methodology, and whether the research is peer-reviewed.
• Organize the Literature : Group the literature into themes, concepts, or categories based on commonalities and connections. This will help you identify patterns and gaps in the existing research.
• Synthesize the Findings : Analyze and synthesize the main findings, arguments, and perspectives presented in the literature. Identify key themes, trends, and debates. Compare and contrast different studies and perspectives.
• Develop a Structure : Create an outline for your literature review, organizing the information logically and coherently. Consider different ways to structure the review, such as chronologically, thematically, or by theoretical framework.
• Write the Literature Review : Start writing your literature review by providing an introduction that sets the context and explains the purpose of the review. Then, present the main themes, concepts, and findings from the literature, providing critical analysis and interpretation along the way. Use clear and concise language, and provide citations for all sources.
• Provide Critical Analysis : Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the studies you include in your literature review. Discuss any limitations or biases in the research, and consider how these might affect the overall conclusions.
• Identify Gaps and Areas for Future Research : Discuss any gaps or unresolved questions in the existing literature, and suggest areas for future research. This demonstrates your understanding of the current state of knowledge and helps to position your own research within the broader scholarly conversation.
• Revise and Edit : Review your literature review to ensure clarity, coherence, and accuracy. Make revisions as needed, paying attention to the flow of ideas and the organization of the content.
• Cite Your Sources : Make sure to properly cite all sources used in your literature review according to the appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). This includes both in-text citations and a list of references at the end of the review.
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• Automated Search and Extraction: AI algorithms assist in swiftly scanning vast databases, automating the search for relevant papers based on specified criteria. This accelerates the initial stage of literature review.
• Content Summarization: Natural Language Processing (NLP) enables AI tools to summarize lengthy papers, extracting key information. Researchers can quickly grasp the essence of numerous articles, saving time and effort.
• Topic Clustering and Categorization: AI can categorize and cluster articles based on topics, helping researchers identify trends and patterns in the literature. This aids in organizing information and gaining a holistic view of a particular subject.
• Sentiment Analysis: Sentiment analysis tools powered by AI can assess the tone and sentiment of research articles. This can provide researchers with insights into the overall reception and attitude towards specific topics.
• Recommendation Systems: AI-driven recommendation systems suggest relevant articles based on a researcher's past preferences and the current context. This personalization enhances the discovery of pertinent literature.
• Language Translation: AI facilitates the translation of papers written in different languages. Researchers can access a broader range of literature, breaking down language barriers and fostering global collaboration.
• Identification of Research Gaps: AI algorithms can analyze existing literature to identify gaps in research. Researchers can focus on areas that need further exploration, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in their field.
• Real-time Updates: AI-powered systems can provide real-time updates on new publications, ensuring researchers stay current with the latest developments without manually monitoring multiple sources.

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• Define Your Scope and Purpose : Clearly define the scope of your literature review. What specific topic or research question are you addressing? Determine the purpose of your literature review (e.g., to provide an overview, to identify gaps in the research, to support your own research).
• Search for Relevant Literature : Use academic databases, libraries, and search engines to find scholarly articles, books, and other sources related to your topic. Use a combination of keywords and controlled vocabulary specific to your field.
• Organize Your Sources : Keep track of your sources using a reference management tool like EndNote, Zotero, or Mendeley. These tools help in citation management and organization.
• Read and Take Notes : Read each source critically, taking notes on key findings, methodologies, and conclusions. Note the publication date and the authors’ credentials to assess the credibility of the source.
• Categorize and Synthesize : Group the literature into themes or categories based on commonalities or topics. Identify trends, patterns, and conflicting viewpoints within the literature.
• Create an Outline : Outline the structure of your literature review. Common sections include introduction, body (organized by themes or categories), and conclusion.
• Write the Introduction : Provide an overview of the topic and its significance. Define key terms and concepts related to your review.
• Write the Body : Organize your review based on themes, concepts, or chronology (depending on what makes the most sense for your topic). For each section, discuss relevant research, citing the sources and providing critical analysis.
• Integrate and Synthesize : Avoid merely summarizing each source; instead, aim to synthesize the information to show the bigger picture and how different studies relate to each other.
• Discuss Methodologies and Theoretical Frameworks :
• Analyze the methodologies used in the studies you're reviewing. Note any strengths or weaknesses.
• Discuss any prevailing theoretical frameworks.
• Identify Gaps and Controversies :
• Point out areas where research is lacking or where conflicting viewpoints exist. This demonstrates the need for your research.
• Write the Conclusion :
• Summarize the main findings and themes.
• Discuss the implications of the literature for your research and any potential future directions.
• Cite Properly :
• Make sure to properly cite all the sources you have used in your review. Follow the appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
• Proofread and Revise :
• Edit your literature review for clarity, coherence, and correct grammar and spelling.

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• 20 Recommendations

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• 5. IS Code-For bo nd.pdf 1.47 MB

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• Title Page:Title: A concise and informative title that reflects the focus of your literature review. Author(s) names and affiliations. Contact information for corresponding author. Any acknowledgments or funding sources.
• Abstract: A structured summary of your literature review, typically including:Background: A brief introduction to the topic. Objectives: The main objectives or purposes of the review. Methods: Brief description of the methods used (narrative review). Results: Summary of the key findings from the literature. Conclusion: Main conclusions or implications. The abstract should be clear, concise, and around 150-250 words.
• Introduction:Provide an introduction to the topic and the context of the literature review. Explain the scope and objectives of the review. Define any key terms or concepts that will be used throughout the review. State the rationale for conducting the review.
• Body of the Review:Organize the body of the review based on themes, topics, or research questions. Provide a comprehensive and critical analysis of the relevant literature. Discuss the main findings and key arguments from each study or source. Identify gaps, inconsistencies, and areas of agreement or disagreement in the literature. Use clear subheadings to structure different sections of your review.
• Discussion:Summarize the main findings from the reviewed literature. Discuss the implications of the findings for the field. Highlight any limitations or methodological issues in the studies you reviewed. Offer insights or suggestions for future research. Provide a coherent synthesis of the literature.
• Conclusion:Sum up the key points and contributions of your literature review. Emphasize the significance of your review within the broader context of the field. Restate the objectives and the relevance of the topic. Avoid introducing new information in the conclusion.
• References:List all the references you cited in your literature review following a specific citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). Ensure that your citations are accurate and consistent throughout the manuscript.
• Appendices (if necessary):Include any supplementary material, such as tables, figures, or additional details, in appendices.

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• Articles were accessing a certain parameter. But there is one article which is using 2 different approach, lets say approach 1 and approach 2 for measuring the single parameter
• But in other articles, they are measuring the parameter through a single approach which is different than those approach 1 and 2. Thus units of measurement are different as well.

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• Structuring the review article: How should I organize the content to ensure a coherent flow of information?
• Key elements to include: What are the essential components that must be addressed within the review to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject?
• Literature synthesis: How do I effectively synthesize existing research and findings on the photocatalytic applications of cobalt oxide nanoparticles?
• Analyzing research gaps: What strategies can I employ to identify and analyze gaps in the current understanding or areas that require further research?
• Citing and referencing: What is the best approach to citing and referencing relevant sources in a review article of this nature?

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• Privacy Settings: Adjusting privacy settings on social media platforms to control who can view their posts, profile information, and contact details.
• Selective Sharing: Being cautious about what they share online, limiting personal and sensitive information that could be exploited.
• Limited Audience: Sharing content only with close friends or trusted individuals rather than making posts public.
• Content Moderation: Regularly reviewing and deleting older posts that may reveal too much personal information over time.
• Avoiding Geotags: Disabling location tracking and avoiding geotags to prevent revealing their physical whereabouts.
• Careful Acceptance: Being cautious when accepting friend requests or connections, ensuring they know the person in real life or have a valid reason.
• Creating Alias Accounts: Using alternate or pseudonymous accounts to engage online while keeping their real identity protected.
• Educating Themselves: Staying informed about privacy settings and potential risks associated with different social media platforms.
• Two-Factor Authentication: Implementing two-factor authentication for an extra layer of security on their social media accounts.
• Regular Audits: Periodically reviewing and updating privacy settings and online content to maintain control over their digital footprint.
• Privacy Tools: Utilizing third-party privacy tools and browser extensions that enhance online privacy and block tracking.
• Awareness Campaigns: Participating in or initiating campaigns and discussions on responsible and secure social media usage.
• Reporting Suspicious Activity: Reporting any suspicious or unwanted interactions to platform administrators or authorities.
• Limiting Personal Details: Minimizing personal details in their profiles, such as birthdates, addresses, and contact information.
• Encrypted Messaging: Opting for encrypted messaging apps for private conversations rather than discussing sensitive matters on public posts.

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• Background Section: The background section provides context and introduces the reader to the broader topic of your research. It might include a brief overview of the field, historical developments, key concepts, and any relevant foundational information. While you might touch on relevant literature in this section, the primary goal is to provide necessary background information to understand your research.
• Literature Review Section: The literature review is a more in-depth exploration and analysis of the existing research and literature that directly relates to your research question or hypothesis. It involves summarizing and critically evaluating relevant studies, identifying gaps in the current knowledge, and demonstrating how your research fits into the existing body of work. The literature review highlights what has been done before, what has been discovered, and where there are areas for further investigation.
• Summarize and Synthesize: In the literature review, you can summarize the key findings and methodologies of relevant studies from the background section. However, your focus should be on synthesizing these studies to draw connections, contrasts, and patterns between different pieces of research.
• Critical Analysis: Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the previous research. Discuss any limitations, inconsistencies, or gaps you've identified in the existing literature. This will help to establish the rationale for your own research.
• Highlight Relevant Studies: Highlight the studies that are directly related to your research question and objectives. Explain how each study contributes to the overall understanding of your topic and its relevance to your own work.
• Show Progression: If possible, show how the research has evolved over time. If there have been changes in perspectives, methodologies, or trends, discuss those changes in the context of your research question.
• Identify Gaps: Clearly identify the gaps or unanswered questions in the literature that your research aims to address. Explain why these gaps are significant and how your research will contribute to filling them.

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• Identify Your Research Area: Clearly define the specific area of research you intend to investigate. This will help you narrow down your literature search.
• Research Objectives and Questions: Clearly outline the objectives and research questions that your proposal aims to address. This will guide your literature search and review.
• Keyword Identification: Identify keywords and key phrases relevant to your research topic. These keywords will be used in your literature search.
• Conduct a Comprehensive Search: Use academic databases, library catalogs, online journals, and other scholarly sources to search for relevant literature. Use your identified keywords and search operators (AND, OR, NOT) to find articles, books, reports, and other relevant materials.
• Select Relevant Sources: Evaluate the sources you find to determine their relevance, credibility, and quality. Choose sources that directly contribute to your research objectives and reflect the current state of knowledge.
• Thorough Reading and Note-Taking: Read the selected sources carefully and take detailed notes. Summarize key findings, methodologies, theoretical frameworks, and other pertinent information.
• Identify Themes and Trends: Analyze the collected information to identify common themes, trends, and gaps in the existing literature. This will help you categorize and organize your literature survey.
• Categorize and Organize: Organize the sources and your notes into categories based on the themes and trends you've identified. This will help you structure your literature survey logically.
• Write Your Literature Survey: Start with an introduction that provides context for your research area and outlines the purpose of the literature survey. Then, present the main themes and trends, discussing each category of sources in detail and referencing relevant studies.
• Critical Analysis: Critically analyze the sources by discussing their strengths, limitations, and contributions to the field. Identify areas of agreement and disagreement among the studies.
• Address Gaps: Highlight gaps and limitations in the existing literature. Explain why these gaps are significant and how your proposed research will contribute to filling them.
• Connect to Your Research Proposal: Discuss how the findings from your literature survey directly relate to your proposed research objectives and research questions.
• Cite Properly: Ensure you cite your sources accurately using the appropriate citation style required by your institution (e.g., APA, MLA).
• Revise and Edit: Review your literature survey for clarity, coherence, and logical flow. Make sure your arguments are well-structured and supported by evidence from the sources.
• Concluding Remarks: Summarize the key takeaways from the literature survey and emphasize how your proposed research will build upon the existing knowledge and contribute to the field.
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Top 20 MCQs on literature review with answers

MCQs on literature review : The primary purpose of literature review is to facilitate detailed background of the previous studies to the readers on the topic of research.

In this blog post, we have published 20 MCQs on Literature Review (Literature Review in Research) with answers.

20 Multiple Choice Questions on Literature Review

1. Literature is a 

Written Record

Published Record

Unpublished Record

All of these

2. Which method of literature review involves a non-statistical method to present data having the feature of systematic Method too?

Narrative Method

Systematic Method

Meta-Analysis Method of Literature Review

Meta-Synthesis Method of Literature Review

3. Comparisons of non-statistical variables are performed under which method of literature review?

4. Literature review is not similar to

Annotated Bibliography 

5. APA Style, MLA Style, Chicago Manual, Blue Book, OSCOLA are famously known as

Citation Manuals

Directories

Abbreviation Manuals

6. Literature collected is reviewed and preferably arranged 

Alphabetically

Chronologically

None of these

7. Literature collected for review includes

Primary and Secondary Sources

Secondary and Tertiary Sources

Primary and Tertiary Sources

8. Literature includes

Previous Studies

Scholarly publications

Research Findings

9. No time frame is set to collect literature in which of the following method of compiling reviews?

Traditional Method

10. Which method of the literature review is more reliable for drawing conclusions of each individual researcher for new conceptualizations and interpretations?

11. The main purpose of finalization of research topics and sub-topics is

Collection of Literature

Collection of Questions

Collection of Statistics

Collection of Responses

12. Literature review is basically to bridge the gap between

Newly established facts

Previously established facts

Facts established time to time

Previous to current established facts

13. The last step in writing the literature review is 

Developing a Final Essay

Developing a Coherent Essay

Developing a Collaborated Essay

Developing a Coordinated Essay

14. The primary purpose of literature review is to facilitate detailed background of 

Present Studies

Previous studies

Future Studies

15. Narrative Literature Review method is also known as 

Advanced Method

Scientific Method

16. Which method of literature review starts with formulating research questions?

17. Which method of literature review involves application of clinical approach based on a specific subject.

18. Which literature review involves timeline based collection of literature for review

19. Which method of literature review involves application of statistical approach?

20. Which literature review method involves conclusions in numeric/statistical form?

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MCQs  on literature review  with answers PDF | Research methods multiple choice questions | Literature review  questions and answers

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• Steps in Conducting a Literature Review

What is a literature review?

A literature review is an integrated analysis -- not just a summary-- of scholarly writings and other relevant evidence related directly to your research question.  That is, it represents a synthesis of the evidence that provides background information on your topic and shows a association between the evidence and your research question.

A literature review may be a stand alone work or the introduction to a larger research paper, depending on the assignment.  Rely heavily on the guidelines your instructor has given you.

Why is it important?

A literature review is important because it:

• Explains the background of research on a topic.
• Demonstrates why a topic is significant to a subject area.
• Discovers relationships between research studies/ideas.
• Identifies major themes, concepts, and researchers on a topic.
• Identifies critical gaps and points of disagreement.
• Discusses further research questions that logically come out of the previous studies.

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1. Choose a topic. Define your research question.

Your literature review should be guided by your central research question.  The literature represents background and research developments related to a specific research question, interpreted and analyzed by you in a synthesized way.

• Make sure your research question is not too broad or too narrow.  Is it manageable?
• Begin writing down terms that are related to your question. These will be useful for searches later.
• If you have the opportunity, discuss your topic with your professor and your class mates.

2. Decide on the scope of your review

How many studies do you need to look at? How comprehensive should it be? How many years should it cover? 

• This may depend on your assignment.  How many sources does the assignment require?

3. Select the databases you will use to conduct your searches.

Make a list of the databases you will search. 

Where to find databases:

• use the tabs on this guide
• Find other databases in the Nursing Information Resources web page
• More on the Medical Library web page
• ... and more on the Yale University Library web page

4. Conduct your searches to find the evidence. Keep track of your searches.

• Use the key words in your question, as well as synonyms for those words, as terms in your search. Use the database tutorials for help.
• Save the searches in the databases. This saves time when you want to redo, or modify, the searches. It is also helpful to use as a guide is the searches are not finding any useful results.
• Review the abstracts of research studies carefully. This will save you time.
• Use the bibliographies and references of research studies you find to locate others.
• Check with your professor, or a subject expert in the field, if you are missing any key works in the field.
• Ask your librarian for help at any time.
• Use a citation manager, such as EndNote as the repository for your citations. See the EndNote tutorials for help.

Review the literature

Some questions to help you analyze the research:

• What was the research question of the study you are reviewing? What were the authors trying to discover?
• Was the research funded by a source that could influence the findings?
• What were the research methodologies? Analyze its literature review, the samples and variables used, the results, and the conclusions.
• Does the research seem to be complete? Could it have been conducted more soundly? What further questions does it raise?
• If there are conflicting studies, why do you think that is?
• How are the authors viewed in the field? Has this study been cited? If so, how has it been analyzed?

Tips: 

• Review the abstracts carefully.  
• Keep careful notes so that you may track your thought processes during the research process.
• Create a matrix of the studies for easy analysis, and synthesis, across all of the studies.
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