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Political Science Subject Guide: Literature Reviews

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More Literature Review Writing Tips

• Thesis Whisperer- Bedraggled Daisy Lay advice on writing theses and dissertations. This article demonstrates in more detail one aspect of our discussion

Books on the Literature Review

What is a literature review?

"A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. [...] In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries."

(from "The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Writing It," http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/literature-review )

Strategies for conducting your own literature review

1. Use this guide as a starting point. Begin your search with the resources linked from the political science subject guide. These library catalogs and databases will help you identify what's been published on your topic.

2. What came first? Try bibliographic tracing. As you're finding sources, pay attention to what and whom these authors cite. Their footnotes and bibliographies will point you in the direction of additional scholarship on your topic.

3. What comes next? Look for reviews and citation reports. What did scholars think about that book when it was published in 2003? Has anyone cited that article since 1971? Reviews and citation analysis tools can help you determine if you've found the seminal works on your topic--so that you can be confident that you haven't missed anything important, and that you've kept up with the debates in your field. You'll find book reviews in JSTOR and other databases. Google Scholar has some citation metrics; you can use Web of Science ( Social Sciences Citation Index ) for more robust citation reports.

4. Stay current. Get familiar with the top journals in your field, and set up alerts for new articles. If you don't know where to begin, APSA and other scholarly associations often maintain lists of journals, broken out by subfield . In many databases (and in Google Scholar), you can also set up search alerts, which will notify you when additional items have been added that meet your search criteria.

5. Stay organized. A citation management tool--e.g., RefWorks, Endnote, Zotero, Mendeley--will help you store your citations, generate a bibliography, and cite your sources while you write. Some of these tools are also useful for file storage, if you'd like to keep PDFs of the articles you've found. To get started with citation management tools, check out this guide . 

How to find existing literature reviews

1. Consult Annual Reviews.  The Annual Review of Political Science consists of thorough literature review essays in all areas of political science, written by noted scholars. The library also subscribes to Annual Reviews in economics, law and social science, sociology, and many other disciplines.

2. Turn to handbooks, bibliographies, and other reference sources. Resources like Oxford Bibliographies Online and assorted handbooks ( Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics , Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior , etc.) are great ways to get a substantive introduction to a topic, subject area, debate, or issue. Not exactly literature reviews, but they do provide significant reference to and commentary on the relevant literature--like a heavily footnoted encyclopedia for specialists in a discipline. 

3. Search databases and Google Scholar.   Use the recommended databases in the "Articles & Databases" tab of this guide and try a search that includes the phrase "literature review."

4. Search in journals for literature review articles.  Once you've identified the important journals in your field as suggested in the section above, you can target these journals and search for review articles. 

5. Find book reviews.  These reviews can often contain useful contextual information about the concerns and debates of a field. Worldwide Political Science Abstracts is a good source for book reviews, as is JSTOR . To get to book reviews in JSTOR, select the advanced search option, use the title of the book as your search phrase, and narrow by item type: reviews. You can also narrow your search further by discipline.

6. Cast a wide net--don't forget dissertations.  Dissertations and theses often include literature review sections. While these aren't necessarily authoritative, definitive literature reviews (you'll want to check in Annual Reviews for those), they can provide helpful suggestions for sources to consider.

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• Conducting a Literature Review

Political Science: Conducting a Literature Review

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What is a Literature Review?

"A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. [...] In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries."

From Yale University Library "The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Writing It," http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/literature-review )

Literature Review Help

Courtesy of the University of North Carolina State University Libraries

• Annual Reviews This link opens in a new window Critical reviews of current research in biomedical, life, physical, and social sciences disciplines. More Info Partial Full-Text UB ONLY

Useful Guides for Doing One

• The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting it (University of Toronto)
• Organizing Your Social Science Research Paper: 5. The Literature Review (USC Libraries) 
• How to Write a Literature Review 
• Review of the Literature
• Literature Reviews (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

How to Conduct a Literature Review in Political Science

• Literature Reviews (Political Science) (Yale University Library)
• Literature Review (Michigan State University)
• Literature Review (CQ University Library)

How to Read a Research Article

• How to Read a Scientific Paper (Elsevier)
• The Art of Reading Research Papers (Simon Fraser University)

More on Doing a Literature Review

• Jeffrey W. Knopf, "Doing a Literature Review," PS: Political Science & Politics 1 (January 2006): pp. 127-132.
• Iain McMenamin, "Process and Text: Teaching Students to Review the Literature," PS: Political Science & Politics 1 (January 2006): pp. 133-135.

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Reference works and handbooks are an important means to help you gather some initial resources, identify concepts, approaches, terminology, and theories, and refine your topic before delving into more detailed research.

• Routledge Handbooks
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• Oxford Handbooks
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What is a literature review?

A literature review provides an overview of the scholarly literature (e.g. books, articles, dissertations, proceedings) relevant to an area of research or theory. The review typically will include a summary of the major questions in a area and critical evaluations of work that has already been done. Literature reviews are also helpful for their comprehensive bibliographies. This  webpage by the UC Santa Cruz Library  does a good job of explaining lit reviews.

Literature reviews typically include these components:

• An overview of the subject
• Organization of relevant publications into subtopics, theoretical areas, or key debate
• An analysis and discussion of how various works relate to one another the the relevant questions
• A discussion of unresolved questions or future directions
• Some will also include discussions of key data collection and analysis methodologies

Another good way to think about literature reviews:

• Relevant literature
• Seminal literature
• Narrative and literature development
• Branches/schools of thought
• Self-placement (where does my literature fit?)

[Borrowed from Nordyke and Yacobucci (2021) "Beyond the Annotated Bibliography: Improving Student Literature Reviews through Structured Heuristics" in Teaching Research Methods in Political Science , Jeffrey Bernstein, ed. Edward Elgar.]

What is Articles+?

Articles+ provides Emory users with access to millions of scholarly e-resources including articles, images, conference proceedings, audio-visual materials, books, and dissertations. Search Articles+ by selecting the header on Library Search or by following the link in your search results.

Political Science Complete

 Political Science Complete contains full text for over 450 journals, and indexing and abstracts for nearly 2,100 titles, (including top-ranked scholarly journals). The database also features 330 full-text reference books and monographs, and over 35,000 full-text conference papers. A pro tip is to search for specific methodologies or data sources in your search terms, and fully utilize the filters.

• Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature with bibliometric tools to track, analyze and visualize research. It contains over 19,500 titles from more than 5,000 publishers around the world, covering the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
• Full text for more than 400 publications including titles from the American economic Association such as: American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Literature, and Journal of Economic Perspectives . Can search concurrently with Sociological Abstracts and Political Science Complete.
• Covers major international literature (journals, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations and conference papers) in sociology and related disciplines.  Can search concurrently with Econlit and Political Science Complete
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What is A Literature Review?

Definition :

A Literature Review surveys scholarly source materials that are relevant to a person's research thesis/problem and/or a particular issue or theory. It also provides a critical analysis that summarizes and synthesizes the source materials while also demonstrating how a person's research pertains to or fits within the larger discipline of study.

Literature Reviews vary from discipline to discipline as well as across assignments, but generally a good literature review is designed to help you answer 2 questions:

• What do we know about this particular issue, theory or subject?
• What do we not know about this particular issue, theory or subject?

Good literature reviews also :

• Evaluate the context of scholarly material for its contribution to the understanding of the research thesis being studied.
• Explain the relationships between each of the works under deliberation.
• Identify gaps in previous research.
• Define new ways to interpret research within a discipline.
• Address conflicts found in contradictory research previously conducted.
• Identify the need for additional research.

For Your Literature Review Include:

1. Introduction to the topic. State the topic, purpose, and significance. Provide a brief overview outlining the central points covered.

2. Relevance and Importance of studying this topic. What direction will the review take? Specific Aspects?

3. Literature Review. Organize your review of the research literature:  Methods, Chronological, different approaches or perspectives, etc... Remember you want to find the seminal or major works on your topic Avoid discussinh each article separately. Explore relationships and aim to compare/contrast more than one article in most paragraphs.

4. Any "Lessons Learned" that can be drawn from the literature review.

5. Future Directions. State any areas for further research, i.e. gaps, omissions, inconsistencies, hitherto unexplored aspects. 

 What types of literature are considered in a literature review

Peer-Reviewed articles are usually considered the most credible sources and the most common format of literature for a review.

In addition, when doing your research, consider those articles written by scholars who have written extensively on the specific topic or related areas. 

And more ......

A literature review DOES:

• discuss the work of others
• describe, in a narrative fashion, the major developments that relate to your research question
• evaluate other researchers' methods and findings
• identify any gaps in their research
• indicate how your research is going to be different in some way

A literature review DOES NOT:

• simply list all the resources that you consult in developing your research (that would be a Works Cited or Works Consulted page)
• simply list resources with a few factual, non-evaluative notes about what is in each work (that would be an Annotated Bibliography)
• try to discuss every bit of research that has ever been done relating to your topic (that would be far too big of a task)

Still confused?  See this guide  from the University of North Carolina for a more detailed explanation of lit reviews.

Tips for Writing Your Literature Review

• Signal Phrases for Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Quotations
• Do not over "quote." If you only quote from every single author you found, then you are not showing any original thinking or analysis. Use quotes judiciously. Use quotes to highlight a particular passage or thought that exemplifies the research, theory or topic you are researching.
• Instead use paraphrasing to report, in your own words, what the author was reporting or theorizing.
• Summarize findings, important sections or a whole article--this is different from paraphrasing since you are not re-stating the author words but identifying the main points of what you are reading in a concise matter for your readers.
• When synthesizing your findings for the literature review (this is when you make comparisons, establish relationships between authors' works, point out weaknesses, strengths and gaps among the literature review), you still need to give credit to these sources.
• Short paragraphs are easier to read than long paragraphs.
• Subheadings and subsections can help to underscore the structure of your review.
• Do more than just summarize the readings.  A lit review is not an annotated bibliography.
• Resist the temptation to refer to *all* the readings you've evaluated.  To begin with, focus on readings you've identified as essential or representative

Literature Review vs. Annotated Bibliography

Literature reviews and annotated bibliographies may appear similar in nature, but in fact, they vary greatly in two very important areas: purpose and format.

Differences in Purpose :

Literature Review : A literature review works to do two main things. The first is to provide a case for continuing research into a particular subject or idea by giving an overview of source materials you have discovered on a subject or idea. The second is to demonstrate how your research will fit into the the larger discipline of study by noting discipline knowledge gaps and contextulizing questions for the betterment of the discipline. Literature reviews tend to have a stated or implied thesis as well.

Annotated Bibliography : An annotated bibliography is basically an aphabetically arranged list of references that consists of citations and a brief summary and critique of each of the source materials. The element of critiquing appears to give literature reviews and annotated bibliographies their apparent similarities but in truth this is where they greatly differ. An annotated bibliography normally critiques the quality of the source material  while literature reviews concentrate on the value of the source material in its ability to answer a particular question or support an argument.  

Differences in Format :

Literature Review : A literature review is a formally written prose document very similar to journal articles.  Many literature reviews are incorporated directly into scholarly source material as part of the formal research process. The literature review is typically a required component of dissertations and theses.

Annotated Bibliography : An annotated bibliography is a formal list of citations with annotations or short descriptions and critiques of particular source materials. Annotated bibliographies act as a precursor to a literature review as an organizational tool.

Literature Review Examples

To find literature reviews in databases like Academic Search Complete:

• Type your search term in the first search box.
• Type literature review in the second search box.

Some sample reviews:

• Writing a Short Literature Review
• Sample Literature Review
• Another Sample Literature Review

Ways to Organize Your Literature Review

Chronologically by Events   If your review follows the chronological method, you could write about the materials according to when they were published. This approach should only be followed if a clear path of research building on previous research can be identified and that these trends follow a clear chronological order of development. For example, a literature review that focuses on continuing research about the emergence of German economic power after the fall of the Soviet Union. By Publication Date Order your sources by publication date if the order demonstrates an important trend. For instance, you could order a review of literature on environmental studies of brown fields if the progression revealed, for example, a change in the soil collection practices of the researchers who wrote and/or conducted the studies. Thematically (“conceptual categories”) Thematic reviews of literature are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the progression of time. However, progression of time may still be an important factor in a thematic review. For example, a review of the Internet’s impact on American presidential politics could focus on the development of online political satire. While the study focuses on one topic, the Internet’s impact on American presidential politics, it will still be organized chronologically reflecting technological developments in media. The only difference here between a "chronological" and a "thematic" approach is what is emphasized the most: the role of the Internet in presidential politics. Note however that more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order. A review organized in this manner would shift between time periods within each section according to the point made. Methodologically A methodological approach focuses on the methods utilized by the researcher. For the Internet in American presidential politics project, one methodological approach would be to look at cultural differences between the portrayal of American presidents on American, British, and French websites. Or the review might focus on the fundraising impact of the Internet on a particular political party. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed.

(adapted from  "The Literature Review"  from Organizing Your Social Research Paper, University of Southern California )

Best Practices: Quoting, Paraphrasing, etc.

Definitions:

Quoting *: "(a) to speak or write (a passage) from another usually with credit acknowledgment. (b) to repeat a passage especially in substantiation or illustration."

Paraphrasing *: Paraphrase is the "restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form."

Summarizing *: It's the process of summarizing a text or paragraph to tis main points succinctly.

Synthesizing *: "1. (a) the composition or combination of parts or elements so as to form a whole."

 *Definitions from Merriam Webster Dictionary Online: http://www.m-w.com <Accessed September 1st, 2011>

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Loyola University Chicago Libraries

Political science: literature reviews.

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• Literature Reviews

This guide is designed to:

• Identify the sections and purpose of a literature review in academic writing
• Review practical strategies and organizational methods for preparing a literature review

Useful Links:

• CQUniversity Library - Literature Reviews
• How I Teach Students to Write Literature Reviews
• Research Rabbit
• How to Read a Scholarly Article
• Annual Reviews
• Social Science Citation Index
• Political Science Abstracts - World Wide
• Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective
• LUC Writing Center
• The Matrix Method
• Lit Review Presentation (2-23-24)
• Lit Review Steps
• Literature_Matrix_Basic_BLANK
• LitReviewMatrixTemplate

What Is a Literature Review?

A literature review is a summary and synthesis of scholarly research on a specific topic. It should answer questions such as:

• What research has been done on the topic?
• Who are the key researchers and experts in the field?
• What are the common theories and methodologies?
• Are there challenges, controversies, and contradictions?
• Are there gaps in the research that your approach addresses?

The process of reviewing existing research allows you to fine-tune your research question and contextualize your own work. Preparing a literature review is a cyclical process. You may find that the research question you begin with evolves as you learn more about the topic.

Review the Literature

Once you have defined your research question, focus on learning what other scholars have written on the topic.

In order to do a thorough search of the literature on the topic, define the basic criteria:

• Databases and journals: Look at the subject guide related to your topic for recommended databases. 
• Books: Search the Library's catalog. 
• What time period should it cover? Is currency important?
• Do I know of primary and secondary sources that I can use as a way to find other information?
• What should I be aware of when looking at popular, trade, and scholarly resources? 

One strategy is to review bibliographies for sources that relate to your interest.

Tip: Use a Synthesis Matrix

As you read sources, themes will emerge that will help you to organize the review. You can use a simple Synthesis Matrix to track your notes as you read. From this work, a concept map emerges that provides an overview of the literature and ways in which it connects. Working with Zotero to capture the citations, you build the structure for writing your literature review.

Pacheco-Vega, R. (2016, June 17).  Synthesizing different bodies of work in your literature review: The Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump (CSED) technique .  http://www.raulpacheco.org/2016/06/synthesizing-different-bodies-of-work-in-your-literature-review-the-conceptual-synthesis-excel-dump-technique/

How do I know when I am done?

A key indicator for knowing when you are done is running into the same articles and materials. With no new information being uncovered, you are likely exhausting your current search and should modify search terms or search different catalogs or databases. It is also possible that you have reached a point when you can start writing the literature review.

Tip: Manage Your Citations

These citation management tools also create citations, footnotes, and bibliographies with just a few clicks:

Zotero 

Write the Literature Review

Your literature review should be focused on the topic defined in your research question. It should be written in a logical, structured way and maintain an objective perspective and use a formal voice.

Review the Summary Table you created for themes and connecting ideas. Use the following guidelines to prepare an outline of the main points you want to make. 

• Synthesize previous research on the topic.
• Aim to include both summary and synthesis.
• Include literature that supports your research question as well as that which offers a different perspective.
• Avoid relying on one author or publication too heavily.
• Select an organizational structure, such as chronological, methodological, and thematic.

The three elements of a literature review are introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction

• Define the topic of the literature review, including any terminology.
• Introduce the central theme and organization of the literature review.
• Summarize the state of research on the topic.
• Frame the literature review with your research question.
• Focus on ways to have the body of literature tell its own story. Do not add your own interpretations at this point.
• Look for patterns and find ways to tie the pieces together.
• Summarize instead of quote.
• Weave the points together rather than list summaries of each source.
• Include the most important sources, not everything you have read.
• Summarize the review of the literature.
• Identify areas of further research on the topic.
• Connect the review with your research.
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Political Science

Doing a literature review.

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• Context Matters: Doing an Environmental Scan
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• Author Profile

I.  What is a Literature Review? The purpose of a review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies. It can be a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern, combining both summary and synthesis.

• Review of the Literature (Wisconsin)
• Systematic Literature Review vs Narrative Reviews
• Get Lit: the Literature Review Candace Schaefer in the Texas A&M University Writing Center.

III.  What Major Steps and Basic Elements Literature Reviews Require?

• Overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of literature review
• Perform a literature review, finding materials relevant to the subject being explored
• Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, etc)
• Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others
• Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research
• Write a Lit Review (UCSC)

IV.    Which Citation Tool Are You Going to Use to Manage the Literature Sources? Choose your citation tool before conducing your literature reviews.  There are a number of choices, including following software supported by the Libraries and the University:

• RefWorks Available at no cost to Texas A&M affiliates.
• EndNote Available for free through a campus-wide site license.

Cited Reference Searching

Cited references are the sources consulted in writing an article or a book, often referred to within the text of the work. A list of cited references may appear as Bibliographic Notes, Footnotes or Endnotes, References, List of Sources Cited or Consulted. In order for an article to be cited, it needs to have been published for a long enough period of time for another published article, citing it to appear.

These listings can be helpful in a number of ways:

• Finding an article on a relevant topic and accumulating similar helpful resources
• Following a specific idea or theory back to its first appearance in the literature
• Finding articles that build on a specific theory or the most recent article on a topic
• Identifying experts or leaders on a specific topic
• Documenting scholarly reputation and impact for tenure and promotion

The cited reference databases are efficient in pulling together many articles on a topic with their references and in identifying which articles on a topic have been cited most frequently.  They can also help identify the “top” journals in a field by impact factor, which may be useful for assessing them.

• Web of Science This link opens in a new window covers the world’s leading scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities and examines proceedings of international conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions. It also includes cited references and citation mapping functions.

Searches can be done by:

• Title or Topic
•  Author or Editor – The Author Finder tool includes variations on an author’s name
• Journal or Publication Name
• Grant Name or Funding Agency
• Limited by year, Language, Document Type 

The citation of the article  will be retrieved with its references as well as the number of times cited and by whom.

You can refine your search results by subject area, useful when there is more than one author with the same name, or by document type.  You can see the number of articles in your set contributed by particular authors and institutions and can create a citation report to identify which articles in your results have been cited the most.

You can easily export your results to bibliographic software like EndNote or RefWorks.

Articles can be searched by:

• Abstract word or keyword
• Source or journal
• Author (by name or by affiliation)
• Limit by date or document type

The database allows accounts to be set up and can save search alerts and journals lists.  Scopus also provides journal analytics including data and graphs to illustrate the total citations, articles published, trend line and % not cited over time.  It has the ability to exclude self-citations.

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MERRIMACK COLLEGE MCQUADE LIBRARY

Political science.

• Open Educational Resources (OER)
• Get Started
• Reference Sources
• Developing a Research Question
• Books / E-books / DVDs
• Find Articles
• Find Images & Art
• Find Video / Film
• Database Search Strategies
• Types of Resources

Writing a Literature Review (University Library, UC Santa Cruz)

"the literature" and "the review" (virginia commonwealth university).

• Evaluate Sources
• Cite Sources
• Annotated Bibliography
• POL Websites
• POL Organizations
• Government Resources

Additional Online Resources

• How to: Literature reviews The Writing Center, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
• The Literature Review A basic overview of the literature review process. (Courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth University)
• The Process: Search, Assess, Summarize, Synthesize Getting Started: Assessing Sources/Creating a Matrix/Writing a Literature Review (Courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth University)
• Review of Literature The Writing Center @ Univeristy of Wisconsin - Madison
• Tools for Preparing Literature Reviews George Washington University
• Write a Literature Review University Library, UC Santa Cruz

Your POL Librarian

1. Introduction

Not to be confused with a book review, a  literature review  surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic.

2. Components

Similar to primary research, development of the literature review requires four stages:

• Problem formulation—which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues?
• Literature search—finding materials relevant to the subject being explored
• Data evaluation—determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic
• Analysis and interpretation—discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature

Literature reviews should comprise the following elements:

• An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review
• Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)
• Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others
• Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research

In assessing each piece, consideration should be given to:

• Provenance—What are the author's credentials? Are the author's arguments supported by evidence (e.g. primary historical material, case studies, narratives, statistics, recent scientific findings)?
• Objectivity—Is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is contrary data considered or is certain pertinent information ignored to prove the author's point?
• Persuasiveness—Which of the author's theses are most/least convincing?
• Value—Are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the work ultimately contribute in any significant way to an understanding of the subject?

  3. Definition and Use/Purpose

A literature review may constitute an essential chapter of a thesis or dissertation, or may be a self-contained review of writings on a subject. In either case, its purpose is to:

• Place each work in the context of its contribution to the understanding of the subject under review
• Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration
• Identify new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in, previous research
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies
• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort
• Point the way forward for further research
• Place one's original work (in the case of theses or dissertations) in the context of existing literature

The literature review itself, however, does not present new  primary  scholarship.

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What is a literature review and why should you do it?

A literature review is:.

• a summary and evaluation of the significant research and/or theory published on a topic
• organized in a way that analyzes, integrates, and shows the relationship between research studies, as well as the way each has contributed to an understanding of the topic
• NOT just an annotated bibliography

The purpose of a literature review is to:

• provide an overview of relevant literature, research, and methodology in an area of study
• explore relationships among the prior research
• evaluate the prior research
• identify gaps and discrepancies in the literature
• identify areas of controversy in the literature
• make an argument for why further study of your research question is important to a field

 Benefits to the researcher:

• Establishing context and significance of the problem
• Discovering appropriate subject vocabulary
• Identifying methodologies
• Identifying what has been researched and where gaps may be found – underused methodologies, designs, populations
• Focusing research topic

Evaluate your articles by asking yourself some of these questions:

• What is the methodology ?
• What is the quality of the findings or conclusions?
• What are the article’s major strengths and weaknesses ?
• What beliefs are expressed/is there an ideological stance?
• Can the results be generalized?
• How does this fit in and compare with other articles I have read?

Writing the review

The literature review should deal with relationships – how do the articles relate to each other?  How do the articles relate to your research?

In the literature review:

• Explain the reason for reviewing the literature; explain why particular literature was included or excluded
• Summarize the major contributions of the significant articles
• Evaluate and compare the articles
• Evaluate the current state of the research -- explain inconsistencies in theory or conclusions, gaps in research, trends in what has been published, and opportunities for further research
• DO NOT just summarize the articles

Ways to organize:

• By theoretical approaches
• By concept or issue
• By methodologies employed
• By chronology, if significant changes in thought have taken place
• Use subheadings to clarify the structure
• Use original sources -- do not cite works you have not read
• Minimize direct quotations by summarizing in your own words (with citations)
• Use appropriate quotation and citation methods to avoid plagiarism
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Sage Research Methods

Dr. Eric Jensen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, and Dr. Charles Laurie, Director of Research at Verisk Maplecroft, explain how to write a literature review and why researchers need to do so.

The steps of how to write a literature review discussed in the video include the following:

• How Do You Conduct a Literature Review?
• How Do You Find and Organize Sources of Information?
• How Do You Assess These Sources of Information?
• How Do You Write up Your Findings?
• How Do You Identify Gaps in Literature?

Other sources for Writing Literature Reviews

• Owl Purdue - Writing a Literature Review Provides a general overview of how to write a literature review.

What's a Literature Review?

• Acquire a better understanding of the current state of knowledge in a particular discipline or field of study, providing context for a research project.
• Identify key concepts, theories, methodologies, and other findings related to their research topic, which helps researchers in build theoretical frameworks based on established theories and concepts.
• Identify gaps in a disciplinary area where there is a lack of research or conflicting findings, and highlight major questions that should be addressed in further literature.

Types of Literature Reviews

• Narrative literature reviews provide a general, qualitative summary of the literature. Narrative reviews focus on only a few studies that describe a topic of interest and are not systematic. Undergraduates writing research papers for the first time are usually assigned to write this type of review.
• Systematic reviews  follow a structured and rigorous methodology to systematically gather, analyze, and synthesize all relevant studies on a specific topic of literature. Systematic reviews use specific criteria to decide what literature to include in the review. Systematic reviews are primarily used in the medical and psychological literature.
• Meta-analyses  combine empirical statistical analysis research and data from multiple studies. The terms meta-analysis and systematic review are often used interchangeably.
• Scoping reviews map the literature in a broad sense to identify key themes and gaps. Unlike systematic reviews, which have a narrow focus, scoping reviews are broader in scope and explore a diversity of the available literature in a given field.

Resources for Locating Literature Reviews

Published literature reviews of all types are found in a variety of research databases. It is important to search different databases to locate relevant reviews. Regardless of the databases used, the following searches can be helpful:

• " literature review " OR " review of the literature " AND " your research topic/question/key terms "
• " systematic review " AND " your research topic/question/key terms "  
• " meta analysis " OR " meta-analysis " AND " your research topic/question/key terms "
• " scoping review " AND " your research topic/question/key terms "
• Annual Reviews The Annual Reviews series of publications provides literature review articles that analyze the most significant scholarly research published within the preceding year. These article-length reviews are authored by leading scholars and cover over 40 different subject disciplines in the social, behavioral, and hard sciences.
• JSTOR Started as a grant-funded project at the University of Michigan, JSTOR is now a  premier scholarly digital research database primarily for the humanities and social sciences. In addition to journal articles, users can access ebooks, book chapters, images, and primary source documents.  JSTOR contains the full text of more than 2,300 journals from 1,000 publishers, with publication dates ranging from 1665 to 2015 (for specific titles). Journals are available in more than 60 disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and mathematics. Note:  The majority of journals in JSTOR have an embargo period or "Moving Wall" delay of 3 to 5 years. This means there is a gap in the availability of current issues of most JSTOR journals.
• The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) is compiled by the British Library of Political and Economic Science at the London School of Economics. It provides access to scholarly literature in the social sciences, covering various disciplines, including sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, geography, and more. It includes over 3 million bibliographic references to journal articles, books, book reviews, and selected book chapters back to 1951.
• Project Muse Project Muse provides online access to many scholarly journals, books, and other academic resources in the humanities, social sciences, and arts. It is also a leading provider of digital humanities content. Project MUSE offers access to diverse, high-quality, peer-reviewed journals from renowned university presses, scholarly societies, and academic publishers. It also covers various disciplines, including literature, history, philosophy, political science, sociology, cultural studies, etc. Some institutions subscribe to the Project Muse Premium Collection, which contains over 700 scholarly journals from over 100 publishers on various subjects.
• Dissertations & Theses Global ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global is a comprehensive collection of academic theses and dissertations students submit as part of their university studies. Each dissertation or thesis provides a literature review section, offering a critical assessment of the sources used to write the work.
• Science Direct Science Direct provides a large collection of Social Sciences and Humanities journals and books, highlighting historical context, current developments, theories, applications, trends, and more.
• Social Science Citation Index™ (Web of Science) Social Sciences Citation Index™ provides access to a wide range of scholarly literature in the social sciences, including sociology, psychology, political science, anthropology, economics, and education, among others. Contains over 3,400 journals across 58 social sciences disciplines, as well as selected items from 3,500 of the world’s leading scientific and technical journals. More than 9.37 million records and 122 million cited references date back from 1900 to the present.
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What is a literature review?

A literature review is an explanation of what has been published on a subject by recognized researchers. Occasionally you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment (sometimes in the form of an annotated bibliography--, but more often it is part of the introduction to a   research report, essay, thesis or dissertation.) Critical literature reviews help to write your literature review more effectively: A literature review must do these things: a. be organized around and related directly to the thesis or research question you are developing b. synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known c. identify areas of controversy in the literature d. formulate questions that need further research Before writing literature review ask yourself questions like these:

1. What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my review of literature helps to define?

2. What type of literature review am I conducting? Am I looking at issues of theory? methodology? policy? quantitative research (e.g. on the effectiveness of a new procedure)? qualitative research (e.g., studies )?

3. What is the scope of my literature review? What types of publications am I using (e.g., journals, books, government documents, popular media)? What discipline am I working in (e.g., management , organizational behavior, 

marketing)?

4. How good was my information seeking? Has my search been wide enough to ensure I've found all the relevant material? Has it been narrow enough to exclude irrelevant material? Is the number of sources I've used appropriate for the length of my paper?

5. Have I critically analyzed the literature I use? Do I follow through a set of concepts and questions, comparing items to each other in the ways they deal with them? Instead of just listing and summarizing items, do I assess them, discussing strengths and weaknesses?

6. Have I cited and discussed studies contrary to my perspective?

7. Will the reader find my literature review relevant, appropriate, and useful?

Tips on writing a literature review (Hart 1998)

Lit Review Tips

Search for the most recent articles that deal with your topic; many of them will summarize the prior literature in the area, saving you valuable time. Remember to attribute even if you paraphrase!

Literature reviews can be overwhelming. You can't find everything. Just find the literature that gets discussed the most or is most relevant to your topic.

The goal of the literature review is to show that you understand the 'bigger picture' and can put your research and recommendations in context of others working in the field.

Need help writing a literature review?

Writing Literature Reviews : A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences by Jose L. Galvan.

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POSC 325: Political Analysis: Literature Review Tips

• Research Question Development
• Literature Review Tips
• Article Searching
• Book Searching
• Citation Style

The Literature Review

The literature review is meant to serve as preliminary research,  conducted before you write a research paper. You conduct this review of the literature after you develop a topic  that interests you, and before you solidify your position . It is both a  summary and a general timeline  of research done on the subject you're about to discuss in detail. Essentially, you're trying to:

• Determine what's already been written on a topic
• Evaluate what's already been written on a topic
• Identify gaps that haven't been heavily researched
• Join into the conversation that's already been started by other scholars

When Preparing to Write:

• Identify the most  significant studies and scholars  concerning your topic or research question. Read the works carefully and consistently and take notes
• State the  central research questions  investigated by scholars, the  key concepts , and  hypotheses advanced,  and their  methodological strengths and weaknesses
• Identify  significant trends or patterns  in the results of the studies
• Identify any  gaps  you may find in the literature - questions left unexplored, concepts or theories misused, or methodological errors made
• Think about how the  studies all fit together
• Summarize  the state of the field for this research topic

When  Writing :

• Describe the  topic or problem area . Note why the topic is important and why it is worth studying
• Identify the  research question  you are investigating or the hypothesis you are testing
• Discuss how the  previous work  (that is, its findings, methods, trends, and theories) sets the stage for your own research
• Discuss how your research effort is  similar to  or  differs from  previous ones
• Discuss what you  plan to do  in your research paper
• Write the  literature review  in an essay format with proper citations and a bibliography

Sections to Include in Your Literature Review:

• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Model and Hypothesis
• Research Design

Literature Review Source Template

Literature Review Example [Purdue Owl]

Checklist Companion to Text

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POLI 490: Special Topics in Political Science

• Finding Books (and sample eBooks)
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Definition of a literature review

• Framework of Information Literacy
• Citing using Americal Political Science Association (APSA) Style
• Undergraduate Research Toolkit

A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a topic. The literature review surveys scholarly articles, books, and other sources relevant to a particular area of research.  The review should enumerate, describe, summarize, objectively evaluate and clarify this previous research.  It should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the author) determine the nature of your research.  The literature review acknowledges the work of previous researchers, and in so doing, assures the reader that your work has been well conceived.  It is assumed that by mentioning a previous work in the field of study, that the author has read, evaluated, and assimilated that work into the work at hand.

A literature review creates a "landscape" for the reader, giving her or him a full understanding of the developments in the field.  This landscape informs the reader that the author has indeed assimilated all (or the vast majority of) previous, significant works in the field into her or his research. 

Review articles. Sometimes categorized as a literature review in a database, a review article is a survey of articles on a topic with findings summarized. This provides the reader with the current state of research in a field or research area.

• Dartmouth University Library's "Writing a Literature Review"
• UNC Writing Center's guide on Literature Reviews
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A Political Science Guide

For students, researchers, and others interested in doing the work of political science, the literature review.

Imagine that the specific topic you’re looking to conduct research on is a jigsaw puzzle of which you have no reference. The completed puzzle is the hypothetical “objective truth” about that topic – an absolute conclusion that will invariably arrived at if all the important and relevant pieces of information are placed together and made to interact. Of course, this “objective truth” can never be obtained, and therefore the puzzle can never be completed (but that’s not the point). When you approach the specific topic with your research question, you’re basically looking at the incomplete puzzle. With your work, you’re seeking to help complete it – you are to cut up your own jigsaw piece and paint it appropriately to be inserted into what is already there.

A literature review is basically a broad survey into the specific topic you’re looking to do research in. Going back to the analogy, you’re looking at the incomplete puzzle and using the contours shaped by the already fitted pieces to inform your efforts of creating the new jigsaw piece. Sometimes you find that some pieces are inappropriate for the overall puzzle, and sometimes you find that there are too many significant gaps in the first place – making any concept of the picture you’re trying to obtain incomprehensible from the get-go. But that all comes with the territory; nobody said this job was easy.

In general, the literature review process can be broken down into two portions:

• A concise summary of the relevant arguments and conclusions that have already been made about the topic.
• A personal, deliberated judgment on what you have just summarized.

With these two fundamental aspects, you can then go on to lay out where to proceed from there. However, you need to know how to get those arguments and conclusions in the first place.

Resource-Finding

Of course, begin with the Library.  Refer to the “Using the Library” section for further information on this.

Explore your faculty . Coming off several years of graduate and post-graduate as well as their own independent research, they probably know a book or two about your specific topic. They might even have it lying around in their office. Also, don’t limit yourself to professors who specialize in the field you’re interested in or just to those in your department. This is especially true if you know you’re researching a somewhat neglected or obscure line of inquiry. Your Azerbaijan History professor might know a guy who knows a guy who specializes in Post-Modern Nuclear Deterrence Fiction to whom she/he could refer you to, and so on so forth.

When you get your hands on your first few books, read through the Bibliography and References section. Take note especially of the works cited consistently across the books you’re reading – this is a good indication of a work or an argument well-accepted (or debated) among the academia of that topic.

A few words on the Internet . We are all, of course, enamored by the sheer accessibility of information that Google pampers us with, this being the digital age and all. However, be very aware and critical about the material you come across. Assessing credibility is ever so important in the expansive sea of the internet (which means, in general, never rely on Wikipedia – unless if you’re using it as a hub to get to better places). Two pretty reliable academic search engines are Google Scholar and Jstor , though the latter can only be accessed in certain Wi-Fi networks (like universities or libraries) or only if you have a subscription.

So, we’ve touched upon places you can start off with finding resources. There are probably other more crafty methods to find out useful books and articles, and if so please let us know so we can put it up here. Now that we’re done with that, let’s look at production and composition.

Writing the Review

Read the article mentioned below on “Doing a Literature Review” by Jeffrey W. Knopf. It’s a concise and effective article on the craft of doing this important step of your research/thesis, and it provides a lot of key considerations that you should be thinking about when you both survey the literature and put your review together.

A few other words:

• A Literature Review is yet another active narrative to your work. Do not simply treat it as a list; treat it as exposition. If anything, it is analogous to the first ten minutes of your basic movie: it sets up the world, the rules, and the players.
• Don’t extend your bias just yet – and don’t be biased when you’re presenting the multiple schools of thought. That just hurts your credibility if you come off the bat with it, because it renders your work somewhat subjective. A reliable piece of social science research has to have some character of objectivity, the findings have to come out from a clear consideration of all sides.

Notes on Sources

It is important, when conducting your literature review, to keep in mind that not all sources are made equally.  A familiar division is between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources (see Monmouth College description of sources ).  However, there is also the issue of source quality.  Monmouth College’s evaluation criteria are a useful place to start. UC Berkeley Library’s guide to a “Critical Evaluation of Resources” also may be helpful here. They stress keeping in mind such factors as the suitability of a source (what was its intended audience?) and its authority (what are the credentials of the author? how does that author claim to know what they know?).  It is especially important to keep such issues in mind when gathering information from the internet. Johns Hopkins University’s Guide to “Evaluating Information Found on the Internet” has this specific set of concerns in mind. One of the tricky issues that they flag is the question of using sources that appear at the top of search results.  No one has a perfect answer for how to deal with the issue and every search engine is different. But it is important to keep this in mind.

Wesleyan University Library Guide on Literature Reviews: http://libguides.wesleyan.edu/litreview

• Knopf, Jeffrey W. “ Doing a Literature Review ,” PS: Political Science & Politics 39:1, 127-132.

Abstract : Educator and naval postgraduate school professor Knopf presents a brief and wholly comprehensive summary of what is a literature review and how to write one. He also discusses some other interesting issue to consider, like contributions students can make to their fields of interest and the techniques of framing.

• “ Literature Review Handout, ” prepared by The Writing Center, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Contributor: Nicholas Quah

updated January 18, 2024 – MN

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Political Studies: Literature Review

Research methodology sources.

In the Library Catalogue , you can search for a variety of research methodolgy sources including general sources, sources specific to Political Studies, or sources about a specific research method.

Sample subject headings:

• Political Science -- Methodology
• Political Science -- Research
• Qualitative research

Sample keyword searches by research method:

• Grounded Theory
• Narrative Inquiry
• Discourse Analysis
• Mixed Methods

Critiquing Research

Coughlan, M., Cronin, P., & Ryan, F. (2007). Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. part 1: Quantitative research. British Journal of Nursing, 16(11), 658-663. 

Ryan, F., Coughlan, M., & Cronin, P. (2007). Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. part 2: Qualitative research. British Journal of Nursing, 16(12), 738-745.  

Letts, L., Wilkins, S., Law, M., Stewart, D., Bosch J., & Westmorland, M., (2007).  Critical Review Form - Qualitative Studies (version 2.0).  McMaster University.

Defining the Literature Review

These videos from North Carolina State University give a good overview of the process for conducting a  literature review.

Types of Literature Reviews

Completing a Literature Review

Sites to Further Help You

• UNC Writing Center Handout for Writing a Lit Review
• UW-Madison Writing Center Learn How to Write a Review of Literature
• University of Toronto The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It
• The Literature Review in Under 5 Minutes

Free Online Course (MOOC)

Research Writing: How to Do a Literature Review (from The University of Wollongong in Australia)

Topics covered:

• Understanding the literature review as a genre, and its fundamental role in all serious investigations and research projects
• Developing a useful list of search terms and understanding where to use them to find the most relevant literature available
• Developing a professional bibliography and annotating it with critical evaluations of readings
• Asking good questions to guide the reading and writing process
• Planning a critical discussion in response to specific questions and based on evidence from the published literature

Sources to Assist With the Writing Process

• Succeeding with your Master's Dissertation : A Step-By-Step Handbook by Biggam, John Call Number: e-book Publication Date: 2008
• The Student's Guide to Preparing Dissertations and Theses by Brian Allison and Phil Race Call Number: e-book Publication Date: 2004

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APSA Political Science Citation Guide: Literature Review

• 4 Easy Steps to Referencing
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• Center for Writing and Academic Achivement This link opens in a new window

How to Write a Literature Review

• How to Write a Literature Review From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This handout is from the Writing Center at the University. It is a great step by step guide to assist you in writing your literature review.
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Political Science : Literature Reviews

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Literature Reviews

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What is a literature review?

A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area. It can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis . A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.

Writing a literature review

A literature review, like a term paper, is usually organized around ideas, not the sources themselves as an annotated bibliography would be organized. This means that you will not just simply list your sources and go into detail about each one of them, one at a time.  As you read widely in your topic area, consider instead what themes or issues connect your sources together. Do they present one or different solutions? Is there an aspect of the field that is missing? How well do they present the material and do they portray it according to an appropriate theory? Do they reveal a trend in the field? A raging debate? You may want to pick one of these themes to focus the organization of your review.

(This section was adapted from the University of North Carolina Writing Center's Guide to Literature Reviews .)

Sources to Help You

Writing a Literature Review and Using a Synthesis Matrix

Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Literature Review

• Concept Map Streamline your searching by expanding your list of keywords/search terms.
• Academic Reading Strategies Provides tips for deeper understanding of what you read.
• Literature Review Matrix: Summarize and Synthesize A tool to help you summarize and synthesize what you find.
• Guide for Writing in Political Science (Southwestern Univ.)

TIP:    Look for other literature reviews in your subject area to see how they are written.  Use the keyword "literature review."

The Writing Process

Research is only half of the equation when you're working on an academic project.  You must now synthesize your ideas and sources into a logical, coherent product.  Here are some links that will help you with this process.

• Citation Guides Now that you've researched, written and revised, it's time to properly cite your sources. These guides will help you to give attribution to your references. There's a tab on the guide with information about Citation Managers (e.g. RefWorks, Zotero).
• APSA Style Guide
• APSA Style tip sheet
• Writing Process Map
• How to Start Your Research: A DIY Guide by Eloise Stevens Last Updated Aug 28, 2023 227 views this year

Subject Librarian

Key Features of Empirical Research

These are some key features to look for when identifying empirical research in political science.

NOTE:  Not all of these features will be in every empirical research article, some may be excluded, use this only as a guide.

• Statement of methodology
• Research questions are clear and measurable
• Individuals, group, subjects which are being studied are identified/defined
• Data is presented regarding the findings
• Controls or instruments such as surveys or tests were conducted
• There is a literature review
• There is discussion of the results included
• Citations/references are included

Some useful keywords may be...

• Action Research
• Case Studies
• Ethnography
• Evaluation Methods
• Evaluation Research
• Experiments
• Focus Groups
• Field Studies
• Qualitative Research
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