LibGuides: Literature Review Guide: What is a Literature Review?

A literature review is an assessment of what has already been researched on a specific topic in order to understand and evaluate the current research progress and to identify areas where further research is needed. A literature review aims to present a critical analysis of previous research based on key themes that relate to your research question. You are attempting to justify or present a case for your own research by evaluating, comparing, and contrasting what others have done so far on the topic and to clearly identify a gap or problem in the research that you intend to address. A literature review is a key part of both a research proposal and a thesis/dissertation and can involve a significant amount of work.

What is the Purpose of a Literature Review?

To develop and demonstrate your understanding of a topic
To present and evaluate the current research progress
To contextualise and justify your own research

What Should a Literature Review Demonstrate?

Your knowledge of your chosen topic
Your ability to find and select relevant information and your ability to critically analyse and evaluate that information
That there is an ongoing problem or gap in the research that needs to be addressed

What do we Mean by 'Literature'?

When we talk about literature, we are usually referring to academic research. Research is published in journals, therefore, to produce a literature review you need to ensure you are reading and analysing academic journal articles.

Peer Reviewed
Peer review is a method of quality control for academic journal articles. It means that before a journal article is published, it is assessed by other experts (peers) in the field to ensure accuracy, quality and suitability for publication. All academic research is informed by and seeks to build upon other academic research, so the main type of sources used in a literature review should be up to date peer reviewed journal articles or conference papers.

Sources like books, webpages, newspaper articles etc. can be used sparingly to add context to your research topic, but they should not be used to build your own research on.

Recently Published
The majority of the peer reviewed journal articles used to support your research should be up to date (within 5-10 years depending on the topic). While it may be necessary to refer to older research, make sure to connect it to your current discussion so it’s clear why it is still relevant today. It is important to demonstrate that your topic is of contemporary research interest.

A literature review is not simply a summary or description of what others have said or done; it is your own evaluation of previous research. Try to avoid simply presenting information or describing previous research to your reader, as this doesn't add anything new or insightful. While you may need to include some of this information, you need to go further and explain the significance of previous work in the context of your own research. Ask yourself, why does the reader need to know about this to understand my research? Why is this particular article important/significant in relation to my research?

It is also important that you identify any gaps/shortcomings/problems in previous research, as this helps you to explain to your reader why further research needs to be done, thereby justifying your topic. Think of the literature review as you building a case for why additional research on your topic is necessary. Ask yourself, are the findings of this research article significant? Do they differ from or support previous findings? What methodology was used and why? Who were the participants? Does this article add anything new or interesting to the overall literature?

Overall, you need to think and write critically when producing a literature review, which involves evaluating and asking questions as you read rather than just describing previous research. See below for a useful guide:

What’s the difference between description and critical analysis?

Synthesis is also an important part of a literature review, which essentially involves bringing together information from various sources to present a cohesive assessment of the current state of knowledge in relation to your own research question and objectives. An effective synthesis clearly outlines the current state of research on your topic, comparing and contrasting previous work, highlighting what is known, what remains unknown, and where further investigation is needed. This requires significant knowledge of previous research on your topic, which can only be achieved through a high level of reading and critical analysis.

Synthesis helps your reader to see where your research relates to and contributes to existing knowledge. Assume they have no knowledge of your topic, so you need to explain it to them and why it is important or worthy of further investigation. Think of it as telling a story to your reader (an evidence-based one) and use your knowledge and analysis to guide them. Overall, an effective literature review should not consist of a series of paragraphs beginning, ‘According to Smith (2025)...’ or a description of a journal article one after another. Instead, try to focus each section on an overall theme/concept/issue, using previous research to illustrate and support your point and make sure to compare and contrast previous works, clearly highlighting the main findings/shortcomings/gaps.