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Conducting a Literature Review: Introduction

A guide to the basic steps of doing a literature review.

What is a Literature Review?

The purpose of a literature review is to present an overview of what is known about a topic and to evaluate the strength of the evidence on that topic. It usually contains a summary, a synthesis, or an analysis of the key arguments in the existing literature. The literature may come from books, articles, reports, or other formats.  Sources may even contradict each other.  A literature review also helps distinguish what research has been done and identify what aspects of the topic need further research.

Steps in the Literature Review

You will review...

  • The current status of the knowledge or research about a topic, question or field
  • The theoretical approach(es) used in studying this particular topic or question
  • The data collection tools and procedures used and their implications on the body of knowledge
  • The future direction(s) on a topic in terms of theory, methodology, questions for further study, and so on

Types of Literature Reviews

Traditional or narrative literature review

  • Critiques and summarizes a body of literature
  • Draws conclusions about the topic
  • Identifies gaps or inconsistencies in a body of knowledge
  • Requires a sufficiently focused research question

Systematic literature review

  • More rigorous and well-defined approach
  • Comprehensive
  • Published and unpublished studies relating to a particular subject area
  • Details the time frame within which the literature was selected
  • Details the methods used to evaluate and synthesize findings of the studies in question

Meta-analysis

  • A form of systematic review (reductive)
  • Takes findings from several studies on the same subject and analyzes them using standardized statistical procedures
  • Integrates findings from a large body of quantitative findings to enhance under-standing (study=unit of analysis)
  • Draws conclusions and detect patterns and relationships

From the University of Toledo.

Nursing & Allied Health Sciences Librarian

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Contact:
Hilda Bowen Library.
Grosvenor Close Campus,
Shirley Street,
University of The Bahamas,
Nassau, Bahamas
302-4249

Thank you!

Thanks to Sharon Leslie at Georgia State University for sharing her Literature Review LibGuide