Literature and Systematic Reviews
28 The Literature Review: Part 2
How do I write a Literature Review?
Your first step in writing a literature review is to read your assignment or project instructions, as they may differ from this module’s guidelines. Your instructor or advisor should be able to point out what outcomes they would like to see in your research.[1]
A literature review typically includes the following characteristics:
- An overview of your research topic
- A clear statement of your research objective (e.g. a hypothesis, research questions, etc.)
- A description of your topic’s main ideas or issues
- A critical analysis of the resources you find
- Questions for further research or investigation
Your approach to literature reviews may vary amongst your peers or professors, but remember, every opportunity to engage with sources is a learning experience! You can look at our tutorial series “As You Research” as a guide to help break down your research process in an effective and enriching way.
Step 1: Developing Your Research Topic
Ensure you understand what your topic and research objectives will be for this work. This means asking yourself questions like:
- What is the scope of this literature review?
- What publication dates should I include?
- What is the purpose of my research or assignment?
- What conclusions am I hoping to find?
Wonder what your professor may be looking for in how you structure the literature review process? Watch this video below to see how an actual instructor may generally approach conducting a literature review!
Script of video 2:45 to 3:19: Over the years, I have advised many graduate students and helped them with their literature reviews. For a successful review, you need to show how the literature is related to your actual project. The review should include a critical analysis of approaches used by other researchers. You should make connections between articles you have read; this will help you organize your thoughts and research. Grouping these connections together by theme will also help to avoid a review that just summarizes each article individually. And remember that citations are still needed to support the connecting ideas.
Note: other parts of this video may be outdated and not fit the context of the current tutorials present.
Tip: need more guidance in developing your research topic? Check out our concept mapping series and developing your research question series for more help!
Step 2: Searching
Search systematically. What does that mean? It means that you should try looking at bigger or more comprehensive resources before narrowing down what you want to find.
- For Arts and Humanities disciplines, see if there are any books or resources (like a reference source) that will give an overview of your topic.
- For STEM-related disciplines, see if there are systematic reviews or meta-analysis on your topic.
Looking at the results that come up in your query, see what they are telling you about the topic or field. Are they aligning with other materials and literature reviews you have read so far? If they are contrasting, what does that say about the topic, or how it has developed over time?
Other Advice While Searching
- Remember to use a wide variety of resources, databases, and places. You can start with Google or Google Scholar, but there are many research guides and databases Western Libraries have for you to use.
- Keeping a search log with notes can help you revisit and refine your search queries, and citation management software can keep all your sources organized while writing.
- Plus, learning to differentiate between and narrow down source types and databases to identify what you need is incredibly useful when you write a literature review.
- Make sure you’re developing the proper search terms to retrieve the most relevant results! Check out this chapter for more tips and tricks to refine your search fields for better results.
- You can see our series “As You Research” with its searching chapters, as well as Western Libraries Open Educational Resource “Knowledge Justice in the Helping Professions” (Chapter 4) to guide you through the best searching practices in searching thoroughly and holistically.
It’s easy to get stuck developing your search strategy, so if these resources aren’t covering all your questions, see a librarian for that extra support!
Step 3: Evaluating
After you gather your growing pile of sources, next comes the evaluation process. How do you decide which knowledge sources are reliable, trustworthy, and meaningful? Whose perspectives are you choosing to spend time reading and amplifying in the work you do? What do the main findings say about what is happening in this field?
Critically evaluating sources is a conscious, deliberate effort, and takes time to navigate your approach in doing that effectively! You can see our series “As You Research” with its evaluation chapters, as well as Western Libraries Open Educational Resource “Knowledge Justice in the Helping Professions” (Chapter 5) that can show you what knowledge sources limits are, how to assess what their role is in your research, navigate potential harm, and to find balance in both credibility and understanding whose knowledge is being considered.
Step 4: Analysis
Analyze your research! You should continuously reflect on your topic’s key points and common themes so you can relay a complete account of recognized and unrecognized knowledge about your topic.
This is where you might also point out areas of controversy or ask yourself whose knowledge may be still missing in the literature. If your review is supposed to have an argument, it’s important to spend time reading evidence that may support this perspective.
Step 5: Writing
All these steps have prepared you for the writing stage! Before you start writing, ensure you understand your assignment instructions or expectations.
Ways to Organize Your Literature Review
- Chronologically (or historical development)
- Order of importance
- By theme
- By methodology
- Different perspectives or viewpoints on a controversial issue
As you write, you want to avoid just listing the resources you have reviewed. Recall that a literature review is meant to be a discussion or synthesis on themes and trends within your research topic.
If you would like to see a sample of a literature review, you may browse through Western Libraries Research Guide: Dissertations and Theses. You can also ask your advisor or colleagues if they have examples that may guide your literature review process.
And remember, a librarian can always help you if you get stuck at any step!
Literature Review Resources
At Western
- Western University: Writing Support Centre
- Western University Open Repository
- Western University Centre for Teaching and Learning: Academic Integrity
- Western Libraries Citation Guides
Other Help Resources
- University of Alberta Subject Guides: Literature Reviews
- Concordia University Library: How to Write a Literature Review
- University of Guelph Library Guides: Write a Literature Review
- Purdue OWL
- University of Toronto Writing Advice: The Literature Review
- Campbell, Heather, and Katie Holmes. “How Do I Write a Literature Review?” The Clever Researcher, December 6, 2020. https://beryliveylibrary.wordpress.com/2017/11/09/how-do-i-write-a-literature-review/. ↵
