A literature review is different from a research paper. The purpose of an academic research paper is to express and document an original idea. A literature review can be part of the process of writing a research paper, or it can also be a stand-a-lone project. The goal of a literature review is not to illustrate an original thesis.
In a research paper, the literature review is the starting point; a building block and evidence of a new insight.
The goal of the literature review is only to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others. It is not the place to present your original idea.
Primarily literature reviews are tools for:
❖ researching the history of scholarly publication on a topic
❖ becoming aware of the scholarly debate within a topic
❖ summarizing or restating conclusions from research which has been published
❖ synthesizing or recombining, comparing and contrasting, the ideas of others
❖ evaluating sources
❖ searching for gaps
A literature review provides a comprehensive overview of a topic. In a paper presenting original research, the literature review supports the new insight by showing how previous work has led to the need for this new, original research.
• Choose a topic
• Find research
• Organize sources and take systematic notes
• Evaluate sources with a clear method. Have a step by step process in place for each source as you read it. (Need help developing a process? Read deeper into this guide for more specifics!)
• Summarize each article
• Synthesize with criteria like major themes, concepts, debates, time periods,
• Connect it all together- the review is not meant only as a restatement of earlier research but the basis for a new conclusion about the topic. Think of this phase as a narrative.
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