How to Write a Literature Review

Literature Reviews: A Recap

So, the lit review is an integral part of the research process that helps you: 

  fully understand your topic

  develop your own research ideas

  demonstrate your knowledge

Photo Credit: UO Communications

It's part of what's called the "scholarly conversation," the network of research studies that tell the story of relationships and connections in a discipline. Your research will become part of this conversation.

Literature reviews may appear as the introduction to a journal article or as an in-depth "review article" or as part of a graduate student's dissertation or thesis. Literature Reviews can also be published as a standalone publication, for example see Tewell's A Decade of Critical Information Literacy: A Review of the Literature).