unc writing center literature review

Workshop: Literature Reviews- What you need to know

• How to write a literature review

Useful Titles for All of your Boxes

The Seven Steps to Producing a Literature Review:

1. Identify your question

2. Review discipline style

3. Search the literature

4. Manage your references

5. Critically analyze and evaluate

6. Synthisize

7. Write the review

• University of North Carolina Writing Center "How To" UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center "How To" on writing a literature review.
• Purdue Owl Purdue Owl help on writing a literature review

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Literature Review The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Literature Review The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill This handout will explain what literature reviews are and offer insights into the form and construction of literature reviews in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
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Writing Literature Reviews

What is a literature review.

"A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period. A literature review 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." Source: The Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. (2013). Literature Reviews. Retrieved from https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/ This link opens in a new window

Need help writing a literature review?

Check out these resources:

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• Literature Reviews (UNC Writing Center) This link opens in a new window
• Learn How to Write a Review of Literature (The Writing Center at the Univ. of Wisconsin) This link opens in
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• Write a Literature Review (University Library at Univ. Of California Santa Cruz) This link opens in a new wi
• Literature Reviews (Ithaca) This link opens in a new window
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• Research Guides

Literature Review: A Self-Guided Tutorial

• 7. Write literature review
• Literature Reviews: A Recap
• Peer Review
• Reading the Literature
• Using Concept Maps
• Developing Research Questions
• Considering Strong Opinions
• 2. Review discipline styles
• Super Searching
• Finding the Full Text
• Citation Searching This link opens in a new window
• When to stop searching
• Citation Management
• Annotating Articles Tip
• 5. Critically analyze and evaluate
• How to Review the Literature
• Using a Synthesis Matrix

Write literature review

Unlike an annotated bibliography that summarizes sources in a list, a literature review discusses the themes, trends, and theories in a prose format. Your job in writing a literature review is to evaluate and synthesize the literature in order to make connections among scholarly works and to find gaps in the literature that your research could address.

The "Begin Composing" portion of the Literature Review page from the Writing Center at UNC - Chapel Hill provides several effective strategies for writing the literature review:

• Include only the most important points from each source. You want to summarize, not quote from, the sources.
• Include your own conclusions from analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing what you learned from these articles.
• Be sure that you are accurately representing the scholars' works in your own words.

Refer back to the examples in section 2 to observe how these scholars have organized and written their literature reviews.

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Citation Management Software

Citation management software is available to help you collect references, organize your references, insert and cite references automatically while writing, and automatically generate formatted bibliographies. There are MANY options, both free and paid. Below are the tools that UNCW librarians support and can teach you how to use:

• EndNote Basic Free online tool to manage referential materials from electronic and traditional sources.
• Randall Library Guide to EndNote Check out our guide on how to sign up and get started with EndNote.
• Zotero Free and open-source online tool to manage citations. Includes paid options to increase storage limits.
• Randall Library Guide to Zotero Explore our guide on how to get started with Zotero and advanced tips and tricks.

Writing a Literature Review?

View this full video in Sage Research Methods .

• SAGE Research Methods: Reviewing the Literature The literature review is an important part of every research project. This guide takes you through the literature review process, explaining the reasons for reviewing the literature and differentiation between the types of literature available.
• ProQuest Research Companion ProQuest Research Companion contains more than 80 short videos are organized into nine Learning Modules that answer questions like "How do I choose a topic?" "Where do I find information?" and "How do I evaluate sources?" Different kinds of "pre" and "post" assessment questions make the viewing experience more interactive, while allowing educators to measure students’ learning and identify gaps in their understanding.
• Literature Reviews: Raul Pacheco-Vega, PhD Collection of blog posts from Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega on writing literature reviews.
• Literature Reviews: UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Center The UNC Writing Center offers a general overview of what literature reviews are and how to organize them.

Finding Tests and Measures

• APA PsycTests The library's best bet for finding psychological instruments. APA PsycTests indexes a wide variety of test types and instruments including aptitude tests, personality scales and cognitive functioning measures. Instruments are available as PDF downloads or multimedia files.
• Sage Research Methods Contains more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences. Designed to guide users to the content they need to learn a little or a lot about their method. Access includes research methods case studies and datasets. Search for terms like "psychometrics," "assessment," "instruments," "measurement," "scaling," or "testing" to learn about conducting research with these methods and techniques.
• Mental Measurements Yearbook Provides critical reviews on the construction, use, and validity of more than 3,000 contemporary testing instruments. Includes measures from psychology, sociology, education, business, and leadership.
• APA PsycINFO This database is the American Psychological Association (APA)'s renowned resource for abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations. If searching by topic, add the term "appended" to a separate search box from your topic keywords and change the dropdown to the right of the search box from "Anywhere" to "TM Tests and Measures." Alternatively, use the Tests & Measures filter which you will find on the left side of the search results page.
• Psychological Measurement and Testing Guide Explore this Randall Library Subject Guide to learn about finding tests, measures, questionnaires, and surveys for use in social sciences research.
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• Literature Reviews

What Is a Literature Review?

Umbc library literature review workshop recordings.

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Tips, Help & Tutorials

• Sage Knowledge: Reviewing Literature Sage Knowledge database's Research Skills tutorial guides students through the steps of planning and writing a literature review.
• Harvard Graduate School of Education - The Literature Review: A Research Journey Excellent online guide that introduces the basics of conducting a literature review in the social sciences, with a focus on education.
• UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Guide for Literature Reviews This handout from UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Lab offers detailed information and tips for writing a literature review.
• Literature Review Matrix Examples This page from Walden University gives examples of different types of literature review matrices. A matrix can be very helpful in taking notes and preparing sources for your literature review.

A literature review is a  systematic review of the published literature on a specific topic or research question designed to analyze-- not just summarize-- scholarly writings that are related directly to your research question .  That is, it represents the literature that provides background information on your topic and shows a correspondence between those writings and your research question.

NCSU Libraries  http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/litreview/

Keep in mind that a literature review defines and sets the stage for your later research.  While you may take the same steps in researching your literature review, your literature review is not:

• Not an annotated bibliography  in which you summarize each article that you have reviewed.  A lit review goes beyond basic summarizing to focus on the critical analysis of the reviewed works and their relationship to your research question.
• Not a research paper   where you select resources to support one side of an issue versus another.  A lit review should explain and consider all sides of an argument in order to avoid bias, and areas of agreement and disagreement should be highlighted.
• Types of Literature Reviews Charles Sturt University's guide describes different types of literature reviews, including traditional reviews, scoping reviews, and systematic reviews
• How to Write a Social Science/Humanities Literature Review recording
• How to Write a STEM Literature Review (Introduction) recording
• How to Write a STEM Literature Review (Advanced) recording
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Literature reviews: an overview for graduate students, citation mining and searching.

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Overview video created by the NCSU Libraries.

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ABA, Health Admin, Social Work and More: How to Write a Literature Review

• Traditional or Narrative Literature Review

Getting started

1. start with your research question, 2. search the literature, 3. read & evaluate, 4. finalize results, 5. write & revise, brainfuse online tutoring and writing review.

• RESEARCH HELP

The best way to approach your literature review is to break it down into steps.  Remember, research is an iterative process, not a linear one.  You will revisit steps and revise along the way.  Get started with the handout below that provides an excellent overview.  Then move on to the specific steps recommended on this page.

• UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Center Literature Review Handout, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center Learn how to write a review of literature, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• University of Toronto-- Writing Advice The Literature Review: A few tips on conducting it, from the University of Toronto.
• Begin with a topic.
• Understand the topic. 
• Familiarize yourself with the terminology.  Note what words are being used and keep track of these for use as database search keywords. 
• See what research has been done on this topic before you commit to the topic.  Review articles can be helpful to understand what research has been done .
• Develop your research question.  (see handout below)
• How comprehensive should it be? 
• Is it for a course assignment or a dissertation? 
• How many years should it cover?
• Developing a good research question Handout. Reviews PICO method and provides search tips. Nursing focus, but very relevant and helpful for other allied health fields!

Your next step is to construct a search strategy and then locate & retrieve articles.

•  There are often 2-4 key concepts in a research question.
• Search for primary sources (original research articles.)
• These are based on the key concepts in your research question.
• Remember to consider synonyms and related terms.
• Which databases to search?
• What limiters should be applied (peer-reviewed, publication date, geographic location, etc.)?

Review articles (secondary sources)

Use to identify literature on your topic, the way you would use a bibliography.  Then locate and retrieve the original studies discussed in the review article. Review articles are considered secondary sources.

• Once you have some relevant articles, review reference lists to see if there are any useful articles.
• Which articles were written later and have cited some of your useful articles?  Are these, in turn, articles that will be useful to you? 
• Keep track of what terms you used and what databases you searched. 
• Use database tools such as save search history in EBSCO to help.
• Keep track of the citations for the articles you will be using in your literature review. 
• Use RefWorks or another method of tracking this information. 
• Database Search Strategy Worksheet Handout. How to construct a search.
• TUTORIAL: How to do a search based on your research question This is a self-paced, interactive tutorial that reviews how to construct and perform a database search in CINAHL.

The next step is to read, review, and understand the articles.

• Start by reviewing abstracts. 
• Make sure you are selecting primary sources (original research articles).
• Note any keywords authors report using when searching for prior studies.
• You will need to evaluate and critique them and write a synthesis related to your research question.
• Consider using a matrix to organize and compare and contrast the articles . 
• Which authors are conducting research in this area?  Search by author.  
• Are there certain authors’ whose work is cited in many of your articles?  Did they write an early, seminal article that is often cited?
• Searching is a cyclical process where you will run searches, review results, modify searches, run again, review again, etc. 
• Critique articles.  Keep or exclude based on whether they are relevant to your research question.
• When you have done a thorough search using several databases plus Google Scholar, using appropriate keywords or subject terms, plus author’s names, and you begin to find the same articles over and over.
• Remember to consider the scope of your project and the length of your paper.  A dissertation will have a more exhaustive literature review than an 8 page paper, for example.
• What are common findings among each group or where do they disagree? 
• Identify common themes. Identify controversial or problematic areas in the research. 
• Use your matrix to organize this.
• Once you have read and re-read your articles and organized your findings, you are ready to begin the process of writing the literature review.

2. Synthesize.  (see handout below)

• Include a synthesis of the articles you have chosen for your literature review.
• A literature review is NOT a list or a summary of what has been written on a particular topic. 
• It analyzes the articles in terms of how they relate to your research question. 
• While reading, look for similarities and differences (compare and contrast) among the articles.  You will create your synthesis from this.
• Synthesis Examples Handout. Sample excerpts that illustrate synthesis.

Regis Online students have access to Brainfuse.  Brainfuse is an online tutoring service available through a link in Moodle.

• Brainfuse Tutoring and Writing Assistance for Regis Online Students by Tricia Reinhart Last Updated Oct 26, 2023 480 views this year
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Doctor of Nursing Practice: Lit Review

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"What is a literature review used for?" .cls-1{fill:#fff;stroke:#79a13f;stroke-miterlimit:10;stroke-width:5px;}.cls-2{fill:#79a13f;} Literature reviews can communicate what the current state of a problem or question is. You might find a literature review in a journal article. An original experiment, in theory, would be based on where previous research had led in order to progress past stopping points.

• Literature Reviews
• Review Articles
• Search Strategy For Your Lit Review

What is a Literature Review?

“A review of the literature consists of reading, analyzing, and writing a synthesis of scholarly materials about a specific topic. When the review is of scientific literature, the focus is on the hypotheses, the scientific methods, the strengths and weaknesses of the study, the results, and the authors’ interpretations and conclusions. A review of the scientific literature is fundamental to understanding the accumulated knowledge about the topic being reviewed" (Gerard, 2017).

• Literature Reviews from the Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill This handout will explain what literature reviews are and offer insights into the form and construction of literature reviews in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
• Health sciences literature review made easy: The matrix method by Judith Garrard The Matrix Method is an organizational system that guides you through the literature review process from start to finish, outlined in the book Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy by Judith Garrard. It is “intended to teach you how to read a paper, organize the review using the Matrix Method, analyze it, and create a narrative synthesis” (2017, p. 31).
• Demystifying literature reviews by Brian T. Conner This brief, easy-to-read article describes different types of literature reviews.
• Matrix Method Handout This handout provides a general introduction to the Matrix Method. Please refer to Garrard’s book for further instructions on using the Matrix Method.

Structure of a Literature Review

When you're writing a literature review, you won't just summarize all of the articles that you've found on your topic. Instead, you'll synthesize the evidence. This means that you'll look at the state of the evidence as a whole, telling your reader what it means when you put it all together. Rather than reviewing your sources one at a time, you'll organize your lit review by concept, chronology, methodology, etc. -- whatever makes the most sense for your topic.

Watch Video

This video from the North Carolina State Libraries offers a thorough 10-minute introduction to literature reviews. It's a great resource if you still aren't sure how to approach your lit review.

Garrard, J. (2017). Health sciences literature review made easy: The matrix method . Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Libncsu [Username]. (July 30, 2009). Literature reviews: An overview for graduate students [Video]. Youtube. Retrieved April 29, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2d7y_r65HU&feature=youtu.be

University of North Carolina Writing Center. (n.d.). Literature reviews . Retrieved April 29, 2020 from https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/literature-reviews

Comparing Different Types of Reviews

Here you will find descriptions of narrative, integrative, and systematic reviews. You will also find additional information about finding and understanding systematic reviews. Once you understand what a systematic review is and where to search for them, see the Search Tips page in this guide for help with finding the articles you need.

From the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

Literature Review (Narrative Review)

"Literature reviews in the introduction to a report provide readers with an overview of existing evidence, and contribute to the argument for the new study. These reviews are usually only 2 to 4 double spaced pages, and so, only key studies can be cited. The emphasis is on summarizing and evaluating an overall body of evidence" (Polit & Beck, 2012).

Integrative Reviews

"An integrative review is a specific review method that summarizes past empirical or theoretical literature to provide a more comprehensive understanding of a particular phenomenon or healthcare problem...Well-done integrative reviews present the state of the science, contribute to theory development, and have direct applicability to practice and policy" (Whittemore & Knafl, 2005).

If you're conducing an integrative review, read Whittemore and Knafl because they clearly explain what an integrative review is and how to design and implement one.

Systematic Reviews

A systematic review attempts to identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a specific research question. Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit, systematic methods that are selected with a view aimed at minimizing bias, to produce more reliable findings to inform decision making. See the Cochrane Library

"A systematic review involves the identification, selection, appraisal, and synthesis of the best available evidence for clinical decision making. A properly conducted systematic review uses reproducible, preplanned strategies to reduce bias and instill rigor and pools information from both published and unpublished sources... Systematic reviews are conducted to answer specific, often narrow, clinical questions. These questions are formulated according to the mnemonic PICO addressing: a specific population (P) (such as people traveling long distance), the intervention of interest (I) (e.g., preventive measures for deep vein thrombosis), an optional comparison (C) (such as the standard of care, which may be no intervention), and one or more specific outcomes (such as prevention of deep vein thrombosis)" (Kazer & Fitzpatrick, 2012).

Meta-Analyses

Meta-analysis is a quantitative approach that permits the synthesis and integration of results from multiple individual studies focused on a specific research question. A meta-analysis is a rigorous alternative to the traditional narrative review of the literature. It involves the application of the research process to a collection of studies in a specific area. The individual studies are considered the sample.

A systematic review may include meta-analysis if it is able to combine the results of comparable randomized controlled trials. See Systematic Review in the Encyclopedia of Nursing Research .

Kazer, M. W., & Fitzpatrick, J. J. (2012). Systematic Reviews. In The Encyclopedia of Nursing Research , Third Edition. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. https://ezproxy.simmons.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=387241&site=ehost-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_500

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2012). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice . Lippincott Williams & Williams.

Whittemore R, & Knafl K. (2005). The integrative review: Updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing . 52 (5), 546–553. https://doi-org.ezproxy.simmons.edu/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x

Search Strategy For Your Lit Review (See also NURS 507/508 Search Basics )

For a narrative review as part of a research report, you want to conduct a comprehensive search to identify as many sources as possible on your topic. You'll then choose the key studies to include in your report.

Database Searching

Search health sciences databases (i.e. Cinahl, Medline) for keywords related to your topic. (See the Search Basics page of this guide for tips and resources). Having trouble? Meet with a librarian with a librarian to discuss databases, keywords, and search strategies.

Citation Searching

When you find a relevant article, use it to identify other potentially relevant articles: Look at its references to identify other relevant articles that you haven't found. Use Google Scholar or Scopus to identify more recent articles that have cited that one. Reviews that are part of a research report don't usually share their search strategy, but it's still a good idea to take notes to make the process as organized and efficient as possible.

Document Your Sources

• List the databases you search and the keywords you used
• Explain how you used citation searching to identify additional articles
• Discuss the exclusion criteria you used

Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

• Relevance to your topic (i.e. different meaning of a term, different aspect of your topic, etc.)
• Publication type (journals, grey literature, etc.)
• Language of publication
• Time period
• Geographic considerations

The Matrix Method

A synthesis matrix helps you compare research articles side-by-side so you can identify common themes and visualize the bigger picture.

• Using a Synthesis Matrix to Plan a Literature Review by Kevin Clark and Mary Buckley This very brief article explains what a synthesis matrix is and how to use one for your literature review.
• Health sciences literature review made easy: The matrix method by Judith Garrard This book goes into detail about the matrix method, which is a system of organizing the literature review process. Chapters 5 and 6 explain how to set up a synthesis matrix, with an example on pages 157-158.

Garrard, J. (2017). Health sciences literature review made easy: The matrix method . Fifth edition. Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://ezproxy.simmons.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1229455&site=ehost-live&scope=site

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Meet the 2024-25 ECL PhD Cohort

This fall, the Department of English and Comparative Literature welcomes seventeen new PhD students! We are excited to introduce them and their wide-ranging research interests below:

Ulyera Brooks studies African folklore and mythology and its literary effect on the African diaspora within the 20th and 21st century. Specific areas of interest for Brooks include key themes, motifs, and ritual practices in the creative composition of Black creatives.

Margarita Buitrago focuses on Anglo-French-Iberian medieval literature and is especially interested in allegories and travel literature. Her research explores how the role of vernacular texts, history, translation, and visual culture shaped medieval transnational identities. In addition to medieval studies, Buitrago is also interested in pedagogy, the digital humanities, and the history of the book.

Valerie Burgess studies 20th and 21st-century American literature and the health humanities more broadly. She is primarily interested in investigating the intersection of psychology and literature to understand the depiction of mental illness, particularly themes of trauma and memory, in women’s writings and to gain a more complete understanding of how women relate to their labor and environment.

Reece Carter is in the master’s program for Literature, Medicine, and Culture. He is interested in the ways bodies and selves are represented in literature and how these representations reflect larger social constructions of embodiment. He is also curious about lay and professional rhetorics of health, how they vary and overlap, and in what ways they create problems for mutual understanding in the clinical setting.

Haeley Christensen explores Asian-American literature and multiethnic studies, with a focus on the mixed-race experience and the body in literature, graphic novels, and film. She aims to research how authors’ recreation of their own bodies in these mediums bridges gaps in readers’ understanding of complex, intersectional experiences, deepening engagement with the fluidity of identity in multiethnic contexts.

Spencer Doss studies British literature of the long nineteenth century, with special interests in understudied women’s literature of the fin-de-siècle, Gothic novels, and sensation fiction. Doss is intrigued by the narrative interventions of Victorian medical ideology, particularly gynecology, as a tool for both reinforcing and undermining patriarchal authority in the novel.

Cal Draper received his BA from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and his MA from Yale University. He plans to research early modern literature and religion.

F. Tyler Elrod works at the intersections of early American literature, critical theory, and ecology. He is particularly fascinated by the myriad ways in which nonhumans co-produce our cultural, political, and social structures; put differently, by the ways nonhumans and humans vibrantly (and sometimes violently) collaborate. Most recently, he’s written on figurations of eating and empire in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

Audrey Garcia focuses on visual and cultural studies with an emphasis in nationalism and national identity. She has previously studied how tropes in comics digest conceptions of identity within the American superhero genre and in Franco-Belgian Westerns.

Devin Gregg studies multiethnic literature of the global south. She is particularly interested in how Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latinidad literature reveal the intricacies of identities, theorize and explore spatiotemporality, and negotiate historical memory.

Steve Henry Liu studies how the humanities can be applied as a force for social change. In particular, he’s been working to imagine pathways for individuals and communities to slow down, use less energy, and develop creative means of coexistence.

Mitch Losito is a critical games scholar interested in thinking about how games reinscribe colonial histories and epistemologies, how players navigate these spaces, and, crucially, how we can begin to decolonize them.

Faith Rush studies 19th—21st-century American literature, focusing on female slave narratives and their use of writing as an act of agency and resistance. By analyzing the literary conventions used in these texts as a vehicle of creativity and social commentary, Rush argues for their acknowledgment within the American literary canon. Charlotte Scott received her BA from Haverford College and her MA from Trinity College (Dublin). She plans to research in the fields of comparative literature and psychology.

Simone Sparks received her BA and MA from St. Louis University and plans to research in the fields of rhetoric, composition, and digital humanities.

Holly Thompson is an incoming doctoral student and Teaching Fellow with a focus in rhetoric, composition, and literacy. She has a vested interest in the intersection between disability studies and rhet/comp. In her Master’s thesis, she investigated expert paratexts for autistic autobiographies and analyzed their perpetuation of epistemic injustice against autistic authors. Thompson is the 2025 recipient of the Erika Lindemann Fellowship.

Gray Underwood focuses on film aesthetics, genre history and cultural study, with an emphasis on cinematic horror and the macabre. His work thus far studies the historical, aesthetic, and cultural impact of horror and art cinema crossover, generation of atmosphere and narrative ambiguity, and the ways in which the horror genre impacts and engages viewers on an artistic, emotional, intellectual, and sociocultural level.

Yang Yang has a BA from the University of Richmond and is interested in global modernism, especially transatlantic literary experiments in the early twentieth century and its transformation in the latter half of the century.