Systematic & Literature Reviews

Literature reviews are overviews which bring together all the published literature or academic writing on a specific topic or research question. The literature or academic writing that is reviewed can be: journal articles, academic books, government pamphlets, conference proceedings, association papers and dissertations. The literature review is comprehensive and contains an analysis of the compiled information. It also contains the most relevant studies and highlights the most crucial past and current research and practices. It provides background and context and shows how your research will contribute to the field.

Seven steps to create a literature review:

1. Select a research question.
2. Review discipline styles.
3. Search the literature that has been published in the topic area.
4. Manage the literature search results.
5. Critically analyze and evaluate the research literature. 
6. Synthesize the research literature. 
7. Write the literature review. 

Continue to rethink, refine and revise the review in an iterative process until it is complete.