A literature review asks: What do we know - or not know - about this particular issue/ topic/ subject?
A literature review is the process of reading, analyzing, evaluating, and summarizing scholarly materials about a specific topic. It constitutes a fundamental part of research articles and projects, typically following the introduction section of a research article or the introduction chapter of a thesis.
The purposes of a literature review are to:
- Place each work discussed in the context of its contribution to understanding the research problem being studied.
- Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration.
- Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.
- Identify new ways to interpret prior research.
- Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.
- Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies.
- Identify a need for additional research.
- Locate your own research within the context of existing research.
