- UConn Library
- Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide
- Introduction
Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide — Introduction
- Getting Started
- How to Pick a Topic
- Strategies to Find Sources
- Evaluating Sources & Lit. Reviews
- Tips for Writing Literature Reviews
- Writing Literature Review: Useful Sites
- Citation Resources
- Other Academic Writings
What are Literature Reviews?
So, 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." Taylor, D. The literature review: A few tips on conducting it . University of Toronto Health Sciences Writing Centre.
Goals of Literature Reviews
What are the goals of creating a Literature Review? A literature could be written to accomplish different aims:
- To develop a theory or evaluate an existing theory
- To summarize the historical or existing state of a research topic
- Identify a problem in a field of research
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1997). Writing narrative literature reviews . Review of General Psychology , 1 (3), 311-320.
What kinds of sources require a Literature Review?
- A research paper assigned in a course
- A thesis or dissertation
- A grant proposal
- An article intended for publication in a journal
All these instances require you to collect what has been written about your research topic so that you can demonstrate how your own research sheds new light on the topic.
Types of Literature Reviews
What kinds of literature reviews are written?
Narrative review: The purpose of this type of review is to describe the current state of the research on a specific topic/research and to offer a critical analysis of the literature reviewed. Studies are grouped by research/theoretical categories, and themes and trends, strengths and weakness, and gaps are identified. The review ends with a conclusion section which summarizes the findings regarding the state of the research of the specific study, the gaps identify and if applicable, explains how the author's research will address gaps identify in the review and expand the knowledge on the topic reviewed.
- Example : Predictors and Outcomes of U.S. Quality Maternity Leave: A Review and Conceptual Framework: 10.1177/08948453211037398
Systematic review : "The authors of a systematic review use a specific procedure to search the research literature, select the studies to include in their review, and critically evaluate the studies they find." (p. 139). Nelson, L. K. (2013). Research in Communication Sciences and Disorders . Plural Publishing.
- Example : The effect of leave policies on increasing fertility: a systematic review: 10.1057/s41599-022-01270-w
Meta-analysis : "Meta-analysis is a method of reviewing research findings in a quantitative fashion by transforming the data from individual studies into what is called an effect size and then pooling and analyzing this information. The basic goal in meta-analysis is to explain why different outcomes have occurred in different studies." (p. 197). Roberts, M. C., & Ilardi, S. S. (2003). Handbook of Research Methods in Clinical Psychology . Blackwell Publishing.
- Example : Employment Instability and Fertility in Europe: A Meta-Analysis: 10.1215/00703370-9164737
Meta-synthesis : "Qualitative meta-synthesis is a type of qualitative study that uses as data the findings from other qualitative studies linked by the same or related topic." (p.312). Zimmer, L. (2006). Qualitative meta-synthesis: A question of dialoguing with texts . Journal of Advanced Nursing , 53 (3), 311-318.
- Example : Women’s perspectives on career successes and barriers: A qualitative meta-synthesis: 10.1177/05390184221113735
Literature Reviews in the Health Sciences
- UConn Health subject guide on systematic reviews Explanation of the different review types used in health sciences literature as well as tools to help you find the right review type
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- Last Updated: Sep 21, 2022 2:16 PM
- URL: https://guides.lib.uconn.edu/literaturereview
IMAGES
COMMENTS
A critical review is a narrative synthesis of literature that brings an interpretative lens: the review is shaped by a theory, a critical point of view, or perspectives from other domains to inform the literature analysis. Critical reviews involve an interpretative process that combines the reviewer's theoretical premise with existing theories ...
A narrative literature review is an integrated analysis of the existing literature used to summarize a body of literature, draw conclusions about a topic, and identify research gaps. ... Identify critical gaps, points of disagreement, or flawed approaches for a research topic; Narrative Review Process. 1. Choose a topic & create a research question
A narrative review is the "older" format of the two, presenting a (non-systematic) summation and analysis of available literature on a specific topic of interest. ... The Task involved in the third step of a systematic review is to summarise the literature in a critical way, to identify bias, and to make a useful recommendation based on ...
A narrative or traditional literature review is a comprehensive, critical and objective analysis of the current knowledge on a topic. They are an essential part of the research process and help to establish a theoretical framework and focus or context for your research. A literature review will help you to identify patterns and trends in the ...
A narrative or traditional literature review is a comprehensive, critical and objective analysis of the current knowledge on a topic. They are an essential part of the research process and help to establish a theoretical framework and focus or context for your research.
A narrative literature review is an integrated analysis of the existing literature used to summarize a body of literature, draw conclusions about a topic, and identify research gaps. ... Identify critical gaps, points of disagreement, or flawed approaches for a research topic; Literature Review Process. 1. Choose a topic & create a research ...
Narrative review: The purpose of this type of review is to describe the current state of the research on a specific topic/research and to offer a critical analysis of the literature reviewed. Studies are grouped by research/theoretical categories, and themes and trends, strengths and weakness, and gaps are identified. ...
For example, a meta-narrative review involves narrative synthesis to make sense of different narratives about a chosen topic. 5 A critical narrative review involves interpretive analysis that compares a field's theoretical understanding of a topic with existing literature on the same topic from a different discipline. 6, 7
Several resources for creating reviews of the literature are presented and a narrative overview critical appraisal worksheet is included. ... hoped that this article will stimulate scholarly dialog amongst colleagues about this research design and other complex literature review methods. Key Indexing Terms: Review Literature, Authorship, Peer ...
Writing a narrative literature review requires careful planning. This chapter summarizes some key steps in reviewing the literature. First, a team needs to be formed. ... a good review of the literature does not just list the main achievements in the field but is also critical, consistent, and objective. Eighth, the sections of the review need ...
'literature review' has three varieties: narrative re-view, qualitative systematic review and quantitative systematic review. Each will be addressed in this article. However, the primary focus of this article will be on the writing of a narrative review. A literature review is a type of research article pub-
A narrative review is the type first-year college students often learn as a general approach. Its purpose is to identify a few studies that describe a problem of interest. Narrative reviews have no predetermined research question or specified search strategy, only a topic of interest. They are not systematic and follow no specified protocol.
A formal literature review is an evidence-based, in-depth analysis of a subject. There are many reasons for writing one and these will influence the length and style of your review, but in essence a literature review is a critical appraisal of the current collective knowledge on a subject. Rather than just being an exhaustive list of all that ...
Narrative Literature Reviews are works in which the author reviews a body of literature on a topic and synthesizes the information into a clear narrative that demonstrates the general context of the field. They can also be called a Traditional Literature Review. Compared to Systematic and Scoping reviews, Narrative literature reviews do not use ...
A narrative or traditional literature review is a comprehensive, critical and objective analysis of the current knowledge on a topic. They are an essential part of the research process and help to establish a theoretical framework and focus or context for your research.
Abstract. Narrative literature reviews serve a vital scientific function, but few resources help people learn to write them. As compared with empirical reports, literature reviews can tackle broader and more abstract questions, can engage in more post hoc theorizing without the danger of capitalizing on chance, can make a stronger case for a ...
A narrative review (Ferrari, 2015) using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was chosen as the most appropriate approach to analyse, integrate, and summarise the literature on emotional ...
Qualitative, narrative synthesis. Thematic analysis, may include conceptual models. Rapid review. Assessment of what is already known about a policy or practice issue, by using systematic review methods to search and critically appraise existing research. Completeness of searching determined by time constraints.
Our goal with this paper is to conduct a narrative review of the literature about systematic reviews and outline the essential elements of a systematic review along with the limitations of such a review. Keywords: systematic reviews, meta-analysis, narrative literature review, prisma checklist. A literature review provides an important insight ...
Narrative reviews are the commonest type of articles in the medical literature. However, unlike systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials (RCT) articles, for which formal instruments exist to evaluate quality, there is currently no instrument available to assess the quality of narrative reviews. In response to this gap, we developed SANRA, the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative ...
A literature review can broadly be described as a more or less systematic way of collecting ... The semi-systematic or narrative review approach is designed for topics that have been conceptualized differently and studied by various groups of ... Closely related to the semi-structured review approach is the integrative or critical review ...
Narrative inquiry is carried out in terms of two paradigm-specific criteria, either an interpretative or a critical paradigmatic position in exploring and understanding the ways people construct meaning of their experiences in social contexts with emphasis on the dialectic stance between the researcher and participants that aims to reach deep insights (Ravenek & Laliberte Rudman, 2013).
The labels Narrative Review and Literature Review are often describing the same type of review. For scientific purposes, the term Literature Review is the one used most often. For more information on the Literature Review, click on that link under the Review By Type tab. ... rigorous critical appraisal; meta-analysis resulting in a pooled ...
The literature review is a fundamental component of academic work, serving to synthesize existing knowledge, critique methodologies, and potentially generate new insights through reconceptualization.
Methods: A narrative review was conducted by searching PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases and offering a non-systematic summary and critical analysis of current knowledge on the impact of adenomyosis on women's health. ... B.N.; Johnson, C.D.; Adams, A. Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals: Secrets of the trade ...
The objective of this narrative review is to identify and synthesize existing literature evaluating the pharmacogenomics of MDMA response. Identifying key allelic variants that may impact the PK and pharmacodynamics (PD) of MDMA could help to predict individual response and adapt the treatment, aiming to minimize adverse effects and maximize ...
The narrative review method is chosen for its ability to provide a comprehensive overview of the subject, allowing for the identification of key themes, trends, and gaps in the literature. Unlike systematic reviews or meta-analyses, a narrative review is particularly suited for integrating diverse perspectives and evaluating various models and ...
The literature review highlights the need for comprehensive studies to evaluate the real-world application and effectiveness of CFIs. ... particularly where the minimization of ozone and other harmful byproducts is critical. ... and et al. 2024. "Combating Pathogens Using Carbon-Fiber Ionizers (CFIs) for Air Purification: A Narrative Review ...
The review included studies (randomized controlled trials [RCTs], systematic reviews [SRs], narrative reviews, retrospective studies, cross-sectional studies, case series, case reports) discussing ...