What Is a Literature Review?

Sue is a doctoral student in social sciences. She is about to complete her course-work and is thinking about her next step, the dissertation work. For the last 7 years, she has worked as a social worker in an inner-city community. Although she is not sure about her focus, she knows that she wants to explore ways to better utilize community resources. Her vision is to help individuals and families escape poverty, but she is also thinking of finding ways to strengthen the relationships among families and local organizations.

Sue is all fired up about this topic but feels overwhelmed by the many issues involved. She realizes that the topic is too wide and she needs to carve out a focus that is not too overwhelming but not too limited in scope. Her advisor praises her choice of topic but suggests that she read more about theories and research studies related to it. Sue remembers that she wrote a paper about social capital theory which asserts that shared values and social relationships, as well as investment in community sources, produce future benefits for its members. She believes this theory may apply to her future research and at the same time she feels that critical theory — and perhaps also critical race theory — is relevant as well. Her advisor suggests that to gain in-depth knowledge about theories that are relevant to her topic she should start working on her literature review. Reading the literature, the advisor noted, will help Sue narrow the topic of her dissertation research. The literature review will inform her about what is already known about the topic and identify areas where new knowledge is needed, as well as help in designing her own study.

Sue's example illustrates that carrying out a comprehensive literature review is a required step in any research project. First, a researcher cannot conduct the study without gaining a deep understanding of the research topic and learning from the work of other scholars and researchers in the field (Creswell, 2018). Without being aware of what is already known, novice researchers might explore a research question that was previously investigated exhaustively, inadvertently replicate studies done before, or repeat past methodological mistakes. Moreover, writing a good literature review allows researchers to demonstrate the intellectual depth and scholarship needed for making independent decisions that are part and parcel of conducting any research project.

Like Sue, you may find yourself ready to start your term paper, thesis, dissertation, or grant proposal and wondering about what a literature review is, why it is needed, how it contributes to your study, and what steps are involved in conducting it. In this book, we answer these questions and guide you through the process of conducting the review.

In this chapter, we offer an introduction to the process that will allow you to successfully start the challenging and exciting journey of writing the literature review. We begin with a discussion highlighting the purposes and contributions of literature reviews, followed by an overview of the literature review process. Next, we suggest ways of constructing a plan of action that will enhance your ability to finish the work within your time frame. The final section in the chapter includes a short description of each chapter in the book.

WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?

A literature review is a systematic examination of the scholarly literature about one's topic. It critically analyzes, evaluates, and synthesizes research findings, theories, and practices by scholars and researchers that are related to an area of focus. In reviewing the literature, the writer should present a comprehensive, critical, and accurate understanding of the current state of knowledge; compare different research studies and theories; reveal gaps in current literature; and indicate what needs to be done to advance what is already known about the topic of choice.

A literature review may be a stand-alone or embedded in the study. A standalone review is a self-contained document that comprises an extensive review of the literature and provides a broad overview of the current knowledge about a particular topic. While a stand-alone review may serve as a basis for future research, the review itself is not followed by a research study. Examples of this kind of review may be found in term papers for graduate and postgraduate class assignments; entire theses or dissertations, especially those that are theoretically or philosophically based; and chapters in a book or review articles. In fact there are journals in different disciplines (e.g., Annual Review of Economics, Review of Educational Research Annual Review of Sociology, Annual Review of Organizational Psychology, and Organizational Behavior) that are dedicated to publishing stand-alone literature review articles.

A more common kind of literature review is an embedded review that is an integral part of a study and serves as the context for the issue being explored. This type of review provides a direct connection between the sources and the problem to be studied and it has implications for the design of the future studies. The writer demonstrates how the proposed study expands the existing knowledge and contributes to a fuller understanding of the topic. This kind of literature review serves as a foundation for studies such as theses, dissertations, research projects, or grant proposals. In addition, an embedded literature review provides an introduction to scholarly journal articles, or policy and position papers.

Both kinds of literature review — the stand-alone and embedded — highlight the evolutionary and cumulative nature of knowledge creation. The progress of knowledge building depends on trustworthy interpretation of past research and scholarship. Schulman (1999) calls the ability to learn from those who came before us generativity, and argues that this ability is one of the hallmarks of scholarship. Only by gaining generativity and situating our work meaningfully within the pre-existing scholarly milieu are we able to create valuable and relevant studies and accomplish one of research's main goals — expansion of our collective knowledge (Ravitch & Riggan, 2017). Ultimately, "Good research is good because it advances our collective understanding" (Boote & Beile, 2005, p. 3).

While the process of writing either a stand-alone or embedded literature review is largely similar, our...