Activity: Learn about literature reviews

Overview

As mentioned earlier in this module, literature reviews are one of the key ways that scholars can establish the larger framing of their research. They typically involve doing a careful scan of information relevant to a research topic (the “literature”), and then presenting a careful and contextualized summary of the most relevant results of that activity (the “review.”)

Related concepts include:

• Literature reviews as components of articles. Many academic articles include a “literature review” or “review of the literature” section that may be part of the introduction. This section formally summarizes relevant literature for the reader, and prepares them to better understand the authors’ topic, influences, and approach.
• Standalone literature reviews. In some fields, literature review is so important a scholarly activity that such reviews appear as standalone publications, or review articles. These works help keep readers updated on key developments in popular research areas, and may be repeated annually.
• Systematic reviews. A systematic review is a specific type of literature review, most common in the health sciences, which uses systematic methods to thoroughly collect, synthesize, and evaluate research in a given area. For instance, systematic reviews look not only at journal articles, but also theses/dissertations, abstracts/conference proceedings, and other grey literature sources.

It is not uncommon for graduate students to be required to conduct a literature review as part of their academic coursework. Consequently, it can be helpful to exposure yourself early on to examples of literature reviews, and to see if literature reviews already exist for research topics similar to your own.  Review articles can be a great way to learn about a topic that is new to you.

Activity: Find or Read a Literature Review

Think of a research topic or area that you’re looking forward to learning more about this year.

• What are 1-4 keywords that describe that topic or area?

Using one of the databases below, search for your keywords AND the quoted phrase “literature review” or “systematic review,” or limit your keyword search to the document type “review.”

• Web of Science (recommended for sciences / engineering)
• Academic Search Complete

If you don’t find a relevant review article, try another database, such as one highlighted on a library research guide for your subject.

Here’s a screen shot of a Web of Science search for hiv testing AND community engagement. Options for limiting the results to review articles are located in the left sidebar menu.

 

Some subject areas have specialized literature review publications that you can browse:

• Annual Reviews (mostly STEM and Social Sciences literature reviews)
• Compass journals: Geography, History, Language & Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Religion, Social & Personality Psychology, and Sociology
• Oxford Handbooks Online (more than 1000 books covering 17 disciplines)

Bonus Tip

• Having trouble finding standalone literature reviews? Try searching for results with “review” in the title only.
• Many graduate students work with their subject librarian when it’s time to conduct a literature review.