How to Write a Literature Review

As you prepare to write your own review, it is a good idea to look at examples from your disciplinary area (humanities, social sciences, or natural or applied sciences).  Here are some sample literature reviews taken from the introductory section of articles from different fields. The last article on the list is a systematic review article, that is, an article that does not present the results of a new study but rather discusses the results of the existing studies that have been published on its chosen topic.

At the end of each citation is a link to the full text of the article.

1. Mosher, C. E., Winger, J. G., Hanna, N., Jalal, S. I., Fakiris, A. J., Einhorn, L. H., Birdas, T. J., Kesler, K. A., & Champion, V. L. (2014). Barriers to mental health service use and preferences for addressing emotional concerns among lung cancer patients. Psycho-Oncology, 23(7), 812–819. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.3488 
2. Gibau, G. S. (2015). Considering Student Voices: Examining the Experiences of Underrepresented Students in Intervention Programs. CBE Life Sciences Education, 14(3). http://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.14-06-0103
3. León, D., Arzola, N., & Tovar, A. (2015). Statistical analysis of the influence of tooth geometry in the performance of a harmonic drive. Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, 37(2), 723-735. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40430-014-0197-0
4. Sawesi, S., Rashrash, M., Phalakornkule, K., Carpenter, J. S., & Jones, J. F. (2016). The Impact of Information Technology on Patient Engagement and Health Behavior Change: A Systematic Review of the Literature. JMIR Medical Informatics, 4(1), e1. http://doi.org/10.2196/medinform.4514

See below for screen captures of some aspects of each article's style. To compare these with articles by UO authors, please visit UO Scholars' Bank.

These screen captures from the articles listed above show some aspects of style from each article. Click the links in the box above to view the rest of the articles. In-text citations are highlighted because citation style is an important aspect of overall style.