Definition: A work of discursive prose that provides a critical account of the existing research and explains how this research is significant to the topic you are studying.

Purpose:

• Provides the reader with a summary of the most important scholarly literature in the field.
• Provides information on the current state of research.
• Explains contrasting perspectives and viewpoints and current controversies on the topic.
• Identifies significant researchers in the field.
• Identifies primary methodologies used in researching in this field.
• Identifies areas of the field that require further research.
• Explains how the research you are doing fits into the larger research picture.

A Literature Review is NOT:

• A summary of each article
• A descriptive list of what has been written about the topic

Literature reviews can be located using databases (periodical Indexes). Not all the databases allow you to search for literature reviews in the same way. The following databases can be used to locate literature reviews. Included with the link and Database description are step by step instructions for locating a literature reivew.

• Aquatic Fisheries and Sciences/Oceanic Abstracts

• Both databases use the term "literature reviews" (plural) as a descriptor
  
  1. Choose the Advanced Search tab.
  2. Enter the terms you want to search for.
  3. In an empty row, enter the term "literature reviews" (plural).
  4. At the end of the row, click on the drop-down arrow and change Anywhere to Descriptor.
  5. Click on Search.

• Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA)
  • Dates covered: 1978-current
  Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Indexes and abstracts serial publications, books, reports, conference proceedings, etc., on the aquatic & marine sciences. Site License.

• Oceanic Abstracts
  • Dates covered: 1981-current
  Oceanic Abstracts indexes and abstracts technical literature pertaining to the marine and brackish water environment; marine biology, physical oceanography, fisheries, aquaculture, meteorology and geology, plus environmental, technological, and legislative topics worldwide. Site License.

• Biological and Medical Sciences
  • Dates covered: 1982-current
  This interdisciplinary database offers abstracts and citations to a wide range of research in biomedicine, biotechnology, zoology and ecology, and some aspects of agriculture and veterinary science. Supporting over two dozen areas of expertise, this CSA database provides access to literature from over 6000 sources including serials, conference proceedings, technical reports, monographs and selected books and patents. Subfiles include ASFA: Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts; Biological Sciences; Biology Digest; Conference Papers Index; MEDLINE; Oceanic Abstracts; and Plant Science

• Biological & Medical Sciences is made up of a number of databases.
  
  1. Choose the Advanced Search tab.
  2. Enter the terms you want to search for.
  3. In an empty row, enter the term "literature reviews" (plural).
  4. At the end of the row, click on the drop-down arrow and change Anywhere to Descriptor.
  5. Click on Search.

  You can also use just the term reviews as a descriptor. This will give you a much broader search.

• Environmental Universe
  Includes Environment Abstracts (1970-current ), which indexes more than 1,000 journals, plus government publications and conference papers. Many of the pre-2004 indexed publications can be found full-text in the Envirofiche collection, in Wilson Library 2West. Other databases, all full-text, include Environmental News (1975-current), Environmental Law Reviews (1981-current), etc. Site License.
  [Resource no longer available]

• Choose Environmental Abstracts
  
  1. Enter the terms/topic you want to search for .
  2. In an empty row, enter literature review. Do nut use quotation marks.
  3. Select the time period to cover.
  4. Click on Search.

• ERIC - Cambridge Scientific Abstracts
  • Dates covered: 1966-current
  ERIC is the largest education database in the world providing indexing and abstracts of all types of materials including journal articles, government documents, books, dissertations, and unpublished materials such as curriculum guides, research reports and conference papers in education and related topics in the social sciences. Many ERIC documents published between 1993 and 2004 are now available online full text. Most ERIC documents published from 1966-1993 are available in the ERIC Microfiche collection on Wilson 2 West. Site License.

• Eric uses the term literature reviews (plural) as a descriptor. To search for a literature review:
  
  1. Choose the Advanced Search tab.
  2. Enter the terms you want to search for.
  3. In an empty row, enter the term "literature reviews"
  4. At the end of the row, click on the drop-down arrow and change Anywhere to Descriptor.
  5. Click on Search.

• GeoRef
  • Dates covered: 1785-current
  Produced by the American Geological Institute, GeoRef indexes and abstracts journals, special reports, etc. in geology, geophysics, and the earth sciences. Site License.

• Georef does not have a descriptor for literature reviews
  
  1. Choose the Advanced Search tab.
  2. Enter the terms you want to search for.
  3. In an empty row, enter the term "literature review" or "review of literature".
  4. Click on Search.

• PsycINFO
  • Dates covered: 1840-current
  PsycINFO indexes and provides nonevaluative abstracts for scholarly, international literature in psychology and related disciplines such as sociology, education, consumer behavior, linguistics, medicine, law, psychiatry, and anthropology. Materials covered include articles from more than 1,300 journals, reports of surveys, bibliographies, books and book chapters, and dissertations. Dates covered: 1840 – present. Site License.

• PsycINFO uses the term "literature review " in the methodology field. To search for a literature review:
  
  1. Choose the Advanced Search tab.
  2. Enter the terms you want to search for.
  3. In an empty row, enter the term "literature review".
  4. At the end of the row, click on the drop-down arrow and change Anywhere to Methodology.
  5. Click on Search.

• Social Services Abstracts/Sociological Abstracts/LLBA
  Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts and LLBA all use the term literature review as an identifier (similar to a descriptor). To search for a literature review in any of these databases:
  
  1. Choose the Advanced Search tab.
  2. Enter the terms you want to search for.
  3. In an empty row, enter the term "literature review".
  4. At the end of the row, click on the drop-down arrow and change Anywhere to Identifier.
  5. Click on Search.

• Social Services Abstracts
  • Dates covered: 1980-current
  CSA Social Services Abstracts provide bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. Site License.

• Sociological Abstracts
  • Location: HM1 .S67 (Wilson 1 East)
  • Dates covered: 1963-current
  Provides indexing with abstracts of the world's literature in sociology and related disciplines. Available in print and online. Online includes Sociological Abstracts and Social Planning, Policy, and Development Abstracts (SOPODA). Site License.

• Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts
  • Dates covered: 1973-current
  LLBA indexes and abstracts journal articles, book chapters and dissertations in all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Complete coverage is also given to various fields of linguistics including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. Site License.

• When writing a literature review, ask yourself:
  
  1. What type of literature review are you doing? Theory, methodology, quantitative research, qualitative research?
  2. What type of publications did you include? Journal articles, books, government publications?
  3. What sources do youi use to locate articles? Did you search all the databases that cover your topci? Was your search strategy too broad or too narrow to retrieve the relevant literature?
  4. Did you critically analyze the articles you found or did you just summarize each article? Did you create a list of concepts and questions and then compare how each is covered in each article?
  5. Did you cover articles that both prove and disprove your thesis statement?

• When reading an article: *
  
  • Has the author formulated a problem/issue?
  • Is it clearly defined? Is its significance (scope, severity, relevance) clearly established?
  • Could the problem have been approached more effectively from another perspective?
  • What is the author's research orientation (e.g., interpretive, critical science, combination)?
  • What is the author's theoretical framework (e.g., psychological, developmental, feminist)?
  • What is the relationship between the theoretical and research perspectives?
  • Has the author evaluated the literature relevant to the problem/issue? Does the author include literature taking positions she or he does not agree with?
  • In a research study, how good are the basic components of the study design (e.g., population, intervention, outcome)? How accurate and valid are the measurements? Is the analysis of the data accurate and releveant to the research question? Are the conclusions validly based upon the data and analysis?
  • In material written for a popular readershiip, does the author use appeals to emotion, one-sided esamples, or rhetorically-charged language and tone? Is there an objective basis to the reasoning, or is the author merely "proving" what he or she already believes?
  • How does the author structure the aurgumetn? Can you "deconstruct" the flow of the argument to see whether or where it breakes down logically (e.g., in establishing cause-effect relationships)?
  • In what ways does this book or article contribute to our understanding of the problem under study, and in what ways it is useful for practice? What are the strengths and limitations?
  • How does this book or article relate to the specific thesis or question I am developing?

  *Taken from Taylor, D. (2001, November 22) Writing a literature review in the health science and social work. Retrieved June
  17, 2005, from University of Toronto, Health Sciences Writing Center web site at http://www.utoronto.ca/hswriting/lit-review.htm

• Tips:
  
  1. Make sure your review answers the questions above.
  2. Take GOOD NOTES. As you read, look for the major concepts, conclusions, theories, arguments etc. that underlie the work, and look for similarities and differences with closely related work and write these down.
  3. Make sure your document evaluates the articles and shows relationships between the research that has already been done.
  4. Write down the complete citation of any article you use in your paper. It will save you time an energy later on.

• Doing a literature review: Releasing the social science research imagination.
  • Location: Haggard 3 -Books
  • Check Catalog

• Writing literature reviews : a guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences / Galvan, Jose L.
  • Location: Haggard 2 -Reference H62.3 .G3 1999
  • Check Catalog

• Scholarly, Popular and Trade Journals