Literature Reviews

A literature review is the writing process of summarizing, synthesizing and/or critiquing the literature found as a result of a literature search. It may be used as background or context for a primary research project.

There are several reasons to review the literature:

• Identify the developments in the field of study
• Learn about the information sources and the research methodologies
• Find gaps in the literature that can become research questions
• Validate the originality of a research project
• Evaluate the methods
• Identify errors to avoid
• Highlight the strengths, weaknesses and controversies in the field of study
• Identify the subject experts

When writing your review, there are objectives you should keep in mind:

• Inform the audience of the developments in the field
• Establish your credibility
• Discuss the relevance and significance of your question(s)
• Provide the context for your methodological approach
• Discuss the relevance and appropriateness of your approach.

​The level of detail or comprehensiveness of your literature review may depend on many things, but especially the purpose and audience of your review. For example, if you're writing a literature review that will aid you in writing a thesis or dissertation, you may want to have a very comprehensive lit review that reviews all relevant literature on a topic, as well as relevant sources beyond what is immediately and freely available (e.g. foundational scholarly articles not available through library collections).