literature review process social science

USC Libraries
Research Guides

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

5. The Literature Review
Purpose of Guide
Design Flaws to Avoid
Independent and Dependent Variables
Glossary of Research Terms
Reading Research Effectively
Narrowing a Topic Idea
Broadening a Topic Idea
Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
Academic Writing Style
Applying Critical Thinking
Choosing a Title
Making an Outline
Paragraph Development
Research Process Video Series
Executive Summary
The C.A.R.S. Model
Background Information
The Research Problem/Question
Theoretical Framework
Citation Tracking
Content Alert Services
Evaluating Sources
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Tiertiary Sources
Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
Insiderness
Using Non-Textual Elements
Limitations of the Study
Common Grammar Mistakes
Writing Concisely
Avoiding Plagiarism
Footnotes or Endnotes?
Further Readings
Generative AI and Writing
USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides
Bibliography

A literature review surveys prior research published in books, scholarly articles, and any other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem being investigated. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have used in researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits within existing scholarship about the topic.

Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . Fourth edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2014.

Importance of a Good Literature Review

A literature review may consist of simply a summary of key sources, but in the social sciences, a literature review usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis, often within specific conceptual categories . 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 in a way that informs how you are planning to investigate a research problem. The analytical features of a literature review might:

Give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations,
Trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates,
Depending on the situation, evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant research, or
Usually in the conclusion of a literature review, identify where gaps exist in how a problem has been researched to date.

Given this, the purpose of a literature review is to:

Place each work in the context of its contribution to understanding the research problem being studied.
Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration.
Identify new ways to interpret prior research.
Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.
Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies.
Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.
Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research.
Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important].

Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005; Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998; Jesson, Jill. Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques . Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2011; Knopf, Jeffrey W. "Doing a Literature Review." PS: Political Science and Politics 39 (January 2006): 127-132; Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students . 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2012.

Types of Literature Reviews

It is important to think of knowledge in a given field as consisting of three layers. First, there are the primary studies that researchers conduct and publish. Second are the reviews of those studies that summarize and offer new interpretations built from and often extending beyond the primary studies. Third, there are the perceptions, conclusions, opinion, and interpretations that are shared informally among scholars that become part of the body of epistemological traditions within the field.

In composing a literature review, it is important to note that it is often this third layer of knowledge that is cited as "true" even though it often has only a loose relationship to the primary studies and secondary literature reviews. Given this, while literature reviews are designed to provide an overview and synthesis of pertinent sources you have explored, there are a number of approaches you could adopt depending upon the type of analysis underpinning your study.

Argumentative Review This form examines literature selectively in order to support or refute an argument, deeply embedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the literature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarian viewpoint. Given the value-laden nature of some social science research [e.g., educational reform; immigration control], argumentative approaches to analyzing the literature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However, note that they can also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of the sort found in systematic reviews [see below].

Integrative Review Considered a form of research that reviews, critiques, and synthesizes representative literature on a topic in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on the topic are generated. The body of literature includes all studies that address related or identical hypotheses or research problems. A well-done integrative review meets the same standards as primary research in regard to clarity, rigor, and replication. This is the most common form of review in the social sciences.

Historical Review Few things rest in isolation from historical precedent. Historical literature reviews focus on examining research throughout a period of time, often starting with the first time an issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged in the literature, then tracing its evolution within the scholarship of a discipline. The purpose is to place research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likely directions for future research.

Methodological Review A review does not always focus on what someone said [findings], but how they came about saying what they say [method of analysis]. Reviewing methods of analysis provides a framework of understanding at different levels [i.e. those of theory, substantive fields, research approaches, and data collection and analysis techniques], how researchers draw upon a wide variety of knowledge ranging from the conceptual level to practical documents for use in fieldwork in the areas of ontological and epistemological consideration, quantitative and qualitative integration, sampling, interviewing, data collection, and data analysis. This approach helps highlight ethical issues which you should be aware of and consider as you go through your own study.

Systematic Review This form consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent to a clearly formulated research question, which uses pre-specified and standardized methods to identify and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect, report, and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review. The goal is to deliberately document, critically evaluate, and summarize scientifically all of the research about a clearly defined research problem . Typically it focuses on a very specific empirical question, often posed in a cause-and-effect form, such as "To what extent does A contribute to B?" This type of literature review is primarily applied to examining prior research studies in clinical medicine and allied health fields, but it is increasingly being used in the social sciences.

Theoretical Review The purpose of this form is to examine the corpus of theory that has accumulated in regard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. The theoretical literature review helps to establish what theories already exist, the relationships between them, to what degree the existing theories have been investigated, and to develop new hypotheses to be tested. Often this form is used to help establish a lack of appropriate theories or reveal that current theories are inadequate for explaining new or emerging research problems. The unit of analysis can focus on a theoretical concept or a whole theory or framework.

NOTE : Most often the literature review will incorporate some combination of types. For example, a review that examines literature supporting or refuting an argument, assumption, or philosophical problem related to the research problem will also need to include writing supported by sources that establish the history of these arguments in the literature.

Baumeister, Roy F. and Mark R. Leary. "Writing Narrative Literature Reviews." Review of General Psychology 1 (September 1997): 311-320; Mark R. Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005; Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998; Kennedy, Mary M. "Defining a Literature." Educational Researcher 36 (April 2007): 139-147; Petticrew, Mark and Helen Roberts. Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide . Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2006; Torracro, Richard. "Writing Integrative Literature Reviews: Guidelines and Examples." Human Resource Development Review 4 (September 2005): 356-367; Rocco, Tonette S. and Maria S. Plakhotnik. "Literature Reviews, Conceptual Frameworks, and Theoretical Frameworks: Terms, Functions, and Distinctions." Human Ressource Development Review 8 (March 2008): 120-130; Sutton, Anthea. Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review . Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2016.

Structure and Writing Style

I. Thinking About Your Literature Review

The structure of a literature review should include the following in support of understanding the research problem :

An overview of the subject, issue, or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review,
Division of works under review into themes or categories [e.g. works that support a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative approaches entirely],
An 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.

The critical evaluation of each work should consider :

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]?
Methodology -- were the techniques used to identify, gather, and analyze the data appropriate to addressing the research problem? Was the sample size appropriate? Were the results effectively interpreted and reported?
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 convincing or least convincing?
Validity -- are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the work ultimately contribute in any significant way to an understanding of the subject?

II. Development of the Literature Review

Four Basic Stages of Writing 1. Problem formulation -- which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues? 2. Literature search -- finding materials relevant to the subject being explored. 3. Data evaluation -- determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic. 4. Analysis and interpretation -- discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature.

Consider the following issues before writing the literature review: Clarify If your assignment is not specific about what form your literature review should take, seek clarification from your professor by asking these questions: 1. Roughly how many sources would be appropriate to include? 2. What types of sources should I review (books, journal articles, websites; scholarly versus popular sources)? 3. Should I summarize, synthesize, or critique sources by discussing a common theme or issue? 4. Should I evaluate the sources in any way beyond evaluating how they relate to understanding the research problem? 5. Should I provide subheadings and other background information, such as definitions and/or a history? Find Models Use the exercise of reviewing the literature to examine how authors in your discipline or area of interest have composed their literature review sections. Read them to get a sense of the types of themes you might want to look for in your own research or to identify ways to organize your final review. The bibliography or reference section of sources you've already read, such as required readings in the course syllabus, are also excellent entry points into your own research. Narrow the Topic The narrower your topic, the easier it will be to limit the number of sources you need to read in order to obtain a good survey of relevant resources. Your professor will probably not expect you to read everything that's available about the topic, but you'll make the act of reviewing easier if you first limit scope of the research problem. A good strategy is to begin by searching the USC Libraries Catalog for recent books about the topic and review the table of contents for chapters that focuses on specific issues. You can also review the indexes of books to find references to specific issues that can serve as the focus of your research. For example, a book surveying the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may include a chapter on the role Egypt has played in mediating the conflict, or look in the index for the pages where Egypt is mentioned in the text. Consider Whether Your Sources are Current Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. This is particularly true in disciplines in medicine and the sciences where research conducted becomes obsolete very quickly as new discoveries are made. However, when writing a review in the social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may be required. In other words, a complete understanding the research problem requires you to deliberately examine how knowledge and perspectives have changed over time. Sort through other current bibliographies or literature reviews in the field to get a sense of what your discipline expects. You can also use this method to explore what is considered by scholars to be a "hot topic" and what is not.

III. Ways to Organize Your Literature Review

Chronology of 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 Order your sources by publication chronology, then, only if the order demonstrates a more 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. Thematic [“conceptual categories”] A thematic literature review is the most common approach to summarizing prior research in the social and behavioral sciences. Thematic reviews are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the progression of time, although the progression of time may still be incorporated into 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 would still be organized chronologically reflecting technological developments in media. The difference in this example between a "chronological" and a "thematic" approach is what is emphasized the most: themes related to the role of the Internet in presidential politics. Note 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 being made. Methodological 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.

Other Sections of Your Literature Review Once you've decided on the organizational method for your literature review, the sections you need to include in the paper should be easy to figure out because they arise from your organizational strategy. In other words, a chronological review would have subsections for each vital time period; a thematic review would have subtopics based upon factors that relate to the theme or issue. However, sometimes you may need to add additional sections that are necessary for your study, but do not fit in the organizational strategy of the body. What other sections you include in the body is up to you. However, only include what is necessary for the reader to locate your study within the larger scholarship about the research problem.

Here are examples of other sections, usually in the form of a single paragraph, you may need to include depending on the type of review you write:

Current Situation : Information necessary to understand the current topic or focus of the literature review.
Sources Used : Describes the methods and resources [e.g., databases] you used to identify the literature you reviewed.
History : The chronological progression of the field, the research literature, or an idea that is necessary to understand the literature review, if the body of the literature review is not already a chronology.
Selection Methods : Criteria you used to select (and perhaps exclude) sources in your literature review. For instance, you might explain that your review includes only peer-reviewed [i.e., scholarly] sources.
Standards : Description of the way in which you present your information.
Questions for Further Research : What questions about the field has the review sparked? How will you further your research as a result of the review?

IV. Writing Your Literature Review

Once you've settled on how to organize your literature review, you're ready to write each section. When writing your review, keep in mind these issues.

Use Evidence A literature review section is, in this sense, just like any other academic research paper. Your interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence [citations] that demonstrates that what you are saying is valid. Be Selective Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review. The type of information you choose to mention should relate directly to the research problem, whether it is thematic, methodological, or chronological. Related items that provide additional information, but that are not key to understanding the research problem, can be included in a list of further readings . Use Quotes Sparingly Some short quotes are appropriate if you want to emphasize a point, or if what an author stated cannot be easily paraphrased. Sometimes you may need to quote certain terminology that was coined by the author, is not common knowledge, or taken directly from the study. Do not use extensive quotes as a substitute for using your own words in reviewing the literature. Summarize and Synthesize Remember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each thematic paragraph as well as throughout the review. Recapitulate important features of a research study, but then synthesize it by rephrasing the study's significance and relating it to your own work and the work of others. Keep Your Own Voice While the literature review presents others' ideas, your voice [the writer's] should remain front and center. For example, weave references to other sources into what you are writing but maintain your own voice by starting and ending the paragraph with your own ideas and wording. Use Caution When Paraphrasing When paraphrasing a source that is not your own, be sure to represent the author's information or opinions accurately and in your own words. Even when paraphrasing an author’s work, you still must provide a citation to that work.

V. Common Mistakes to Avoid

These are the most common mistakes made in reviewing social science research literature.

Sources in your literature review do not clearly relate to the research problem;
You do not take sufficient time to define and identify the most relevant sources to use in the literature review related to the research problem;
Relies exclusively on secondary analytical sources rather than including relevant primary research studies or data;
Uncritically accepts another researcher's findings and interpretations as valid, rather than examining critically all aspects of the research design and analysis;
Does not describe the search procedures that were used in identifying the literature to review;
Reports isolated statistical results rather than synthesizing them in chi-squared or meta-analytic methods; and,
Only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contrary findings and alternative interpretations found in the literature.

Cook, Kathleen E. and Elise Murowchick. “Do Literature Review Skills Transfer from One Course to Another?” Psychology Learning and Teaching 13 (March 2014): 3-11; Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005; Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998; Jesson, Jill. Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques . London: SAGE, 2011; Literature Review Handout. Online Writing Center. Liberty University; Literature Reviews. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J. and Rebecca Frels. Seven Steps to a Comprehensive Literature Review: A Multimodal and Cultural Approach . Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2016; Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students . 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2012; Randolph, Justus J. “A Guide to Writing the Dissertation Literature Review." Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation. vol. 14, June 2009; Sutton, Anthea. Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review . Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2016; Taylor, Dena. The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Writing a Literature Review. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra.

Writing Tip

Break Out of Your Disciplinary Box!

Thinking interdisciplinarily about a research problem can be a rewarding exercise in applying new ideas, theories, or concepts to an old problem. For example, what might cultural anthropologists say about the continuing conflict in the Middle East? In what ways might geographers view the need for better distribution of social service agencies in large cities than how social workers might study the issue? You don’t want to substitute a thorough review of core research literature in your discipline for studies conducted in other fields of study. However, particularly in the social sciences, thinking about research problems from multiple vectors is a key strategy for finding new solutions to a problem or gaining a new perspective. Consult with a librarian about identifying research databases in other disciplines; almost every field of study has at least one comprehensive database devoted to indexing its research literature.

Frodeman, Robert. The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity . New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Another Writing Tip

Don't Just Review for Content!

While conducting a review of the literature, maximize the time you devote to writing this part of your paper by thinking broadly about what you should be looking for and evaluating. Review not just what scholars are saying, but how are they saying it. Some questions to ask:

How are they organizing their ideas?
What methods have they used to study the problem?
What theories have been used to explain, predict, or understand their research problem?
What sources have they cited to support their conclusions?
How have they used non-textual elements [e.g., charts, graphs, figures, etc.] to illustrate key points?

When you begin to write your literature review section, you'll be glad you dug deeper into how the research was designed and constructed because it establishes a means for developing more substantial analysis and interpretation of the research problem.

Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1 998.

Yet Another Writing Tip

When Do I Know I Can Stop Looking and Move On?

Here are several strategies you can utilize to assess whether you've thoroughly reviewed the literature:

Look for repeating patterns in the research findings . If the same thing is being said, just by different people, then this likely demonstrates that the research problem has hit a conceptual dead end. At this point consider: Does your study extend current research? Does it forge a new path? Or, does is merely add more of the same thing being said?
Look at sources the authors cite to in their work . If you begin to see the same researchers cited again and again, then this is often an indication that no new ideas have been generated to address the research problem.
Search Google Scholar to identify who has subsequently cited leading scholars already identified in your literature review [see next sub-tab]. This is called citation tracking and there are a number of sources that can help you identify who has cited whom, particularly scholars from outside of your discipline. Here again, if the same authors are being cited again and again, this may indicate no new literature has been written on the topic.

Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J. and Rebecca Frels. Seven Steps to a Comprehensive Literature Review: A Multimodal and Cultural Approach . Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2016; Sutton, Anthea. Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review . Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2016.

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Chapter 5: The Literature Review

5.1 The Literature Review

A literature review is a survey of everything that has been written about a particular topic, theory, or research question. The word “literature” means “sources of information”. The literature will inform you about the research that has already been conducted on your chosen subject. This is important because we do not want to repeat research that has already been done unless there is a good reason for doing so (i.e., examining a new development in this area or testing a theory with a new population, or even just seeing if the research can be reproduced). A literature review usually serves as a background for a larger work (e.g., as part of a research proposal), or it may stand on its own. Much more than a simple list of sources, an effective literature review analyzes and synthesizes information about key themes or issues.

Purpose of a literature review

The literature review involves an extensive study of research publications, books and other documents related to the defined problem. The study is important because it advises you, as a researcher, whether or not the problem you identified has already been solved by other researchers. It also confirms the status of the problem, techniques that have been used by other researchers to investigate the problem, and other related details.

A literature review goes beyond the search for information; it includes the identification and articulation of relationships between existing literature and your field of research. The literature review enables the researcher to discover what material exists about a topic and to understand the relationship between the various contributions. This will enable the researcher to determine the contributions of each source (books, articles, etc.) to the topic. A literature review also enables the researcher to identify and (if possible) resolve contradictions, and determine research gaps and/or unanswered questions.

Even though the nature of the literature review may vary with different types of studies, the basic purposes remain constant and could be summarized as follows:

Provide a context for your research.
Justify the research you are proposing.
Ensure that your proposed research has not been carried out by another person (and if you find it has, then your literature review should specify why replication is necessary).
Show where your proposed research fits into the existing body of knowledge.
Enable the researcher to learn from previous theories on the subject.
Illustrate how the subject has been studied previously.
Highlight flaws in previous research.
Outline gaps in previous research.
Show how your proposed research can add to the understanding and knowledge of the field.
Help refine, refocus, or even move the topic in a new direction.

Research Methods for the Social Sciences: An Introduction Copyright © 2020 by Valerie Sheppard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Research methods for social sciences.

Research Philosophy
Literature Review
Research Design
Data Collection
Data Analysis and Reporting
Beyond the Traditional Methods
Research Ethics

Dissertations

A comprehensive literature review often includes reviewing theses and dissertations on a topic. The UNT Libraries has two sources of electronic theses and dissertations: UNT Electronic Thesis & Dissertations (just those created by students at UNT) or ProQuest Dissertations and Theses , which includes those from other institutions. You may also request a dissertation through Interlibrary Loan if it is only available in print from the institution where the work was completed. Visit the Digital Dissertation and Theses Research Guide for search examples.

Types of Literature Review

The goal of a literature review is to explore and gather scholarly work to identify gaps in previously conducted research and justification for conducting new research. In general, there are two common ways to conduct and present literature review:

An exploratory way to discover the conceptual development of a topic or technique. The trends, patterns, or gaps identified from the review may be presented in a thematic, theoretical, or chronological way.
An analytical way to analyze interventions or outcomes from prior work to synthesize evidence (for example, a systematic review, meta-analysis, or meta-synthesis). This type of literature review is often published as a complete study.

The UNT Libraries provides several library guides on literature reviews, either in general or within a discipline:

Literature Review Process A guide about how to plan and conduct a literature review. See the page, "Select a Review Type," for resources about four review types: traditional/narrative, scoping, systematic, and meta-analyses.
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Writing a Literature Review in Social Sciences

Checklist for getting started, what to expect, 1) understand the purpose of your literature review, 2) building or polishing your research toolbox.

2. Select / Refine a Topic
2.1 Find Review Articles
3. Search Literature
3.1 Find Scholarly Journals
3.2 Find Theses or Dissertations
3.3 Track Citations
4. Evaluate Literature
5. Take Notes & Manage References
6. Keep Current
7. Prepare First Draft & Revise
7.1 Grammar & Writing
FSU Resources

1) Understand the purpose of your literature review 2) Building or polishing your research toolbox

Writing a literature review is about making connections with the related works and with your own research. See the big picture.
It is quite often impossible to search (and read) "everything" that has been written and published on a topic. Be selective.
At some point, you have to STOP searching and reading, and start to write a draft. Know when to stop.
It could be an overwhelming task. Setting up your research toolbox before you jump into the task will help you manage the process better. Get prepared.

Depending on the purpose of your literature review, you will need different ways to get prepared. The following tips will help you visualize what your final product will look like.

Length, due dates, # of sources to use, which style the paper should be formatted, etc.
If you have a specific journal in mind to publish your research article, read the literature review section of 2-3 articles published in the journal. Read the "Instructions for Authors," a set of requirements to submit a paper to the journal, to see if there is any requirement on the literature review section of the paper.
Make yourself familiar with the common format of review articles in the field
E.g., International Journal of Management Reviews Psychology of Men and Masculities's Literature Review Guideline
E.g., Annual Review of Information Science and Technology Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior
Systematic Review is a type of review to identify, appraise, and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a specific research question.
For resources and strategies to conduct a systematic review project, see the Libraries' Systematic Reviews Guide .
E.g., " How to Find Theses & Dissertations "

Toolbox for Searching:

Know key databases and journals in the field
A video tutorial on Boolean Operators for Database Searching (from VCU) (3:02)
Check out "Help" page of a database (if available) to learn the techniques
Download Search Log Template (or create your own)
Sample Search Log (Topic: Adolescent Depression & Attachment ) to learn how to use the Template
Know citation chaining methods (or how to search cited references)
Know Interlibrary Loan procedures
Check out Research Guides in your field
Schedule an appointment with Liaison Librarian

Toolbox for Writing:

Make yourself familiar with the required publishing style (e.g., APA, MLA, etc.)
Learn how to use citation management tools
Understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it
Check out Research Guide to Citations
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The Literature Review in the Social Sciences: Home

What is a literature review?
Literature Review Work flow
Identifying sources of information

About this guide

LibGuide – conducting a Literature Review –

Instructional goal – graduate students provided with appropriate information resources and computer tools and software can plan, conduct, and write a literature review for a research report.

This instructional LibGuide includes text, audio, and video screencast components providing instruction in writing a graduate level literature review in the social sciences.

Learning environment –

Learners – graduate students enrolled in a higher education program with access to the internet, scholarly databases, information resources, and who are seeking to learn more about research methods in the social sciences.

Learning outcomes - participants can identify the elements of a literature review and can state in writing the purpose and process of the literature review as they relate to the research process. Participants can search for and access information in multiple formats and use found sources to mine for additional sources. Participants can manage information resources and a workflow process in support of the literature review process.

Instructional objectives

Define a literature review

· Identify sources of information

· Conducting the literature review

· Using bibliographic management software

· Managing the literature review process

· Writing the literature review

Additional objectives

· Use EBSCO folders

· Use Zotero bibliographic management program

Learn More - The Literature Review

The OWL at Purdue: Writing a Literature Review Guidelines on writing the Literature Review can be found on this website.

Scholarly Articles - The Literature Review

Boote, D. N., & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation Literature Review in research preparation. Educational Researcher, 34 (6), 3-15.

Combs, J. P., Bustamante, R. M., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2010). An interactive model for facilitating development of literature reviews. International Journal Of Multiple Research Approaches , 4 (2), 159-182. doi:10.5172/mra.2010.4.2.159

Maxwell, J. A. (2006). Literature reviews of, and for, educational research: A commentary on Boote and Beile’s “Scholars Before Researchers”. Educational Researcher, 35 (9), 28-31.

Define a Literature Review

A literature review provides a summary of the published literature on a selected topic. It includes a comprehensive survey of a topic including a concise history, description, and critical evaluation of an area of published research. A synthesis of the discovered literature provides opportunity for presenting a perspective from which to launch a new study.

Overview of the Literature Review process

What is the Literature Review?

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Preparing Literature Reviews in the Social Sciences: Overview

This guide is an unrevised HTML document, in need of updating.

This informal guide identifies useful resources for preparing literature reviews in the social science disciplines. That is, it's primarily interested in examining the secondary literature in the social sciences. It also provides suggestions for using specific resources to grow citation lists.

General Reference Sources - Van Pelt special bibliography
Van Pelt special bibliographies on specific disciplines: Communication | Education | International Relations | Linguistics | Political Science | Psychology | Sociology
Van Pelt special bibliographies on techniques and formats: Public Opinion Polls | Quantitative Skills | Researching Cities | Tests and Measurements
Handbooks for the literature review process
Reading other people's dissertations Penn dissertations | The world of dissertations
Browsing likely journals Journal Citation Reports | Journal directories, author guides, and vade-mecums | Finding the right database
Clever citation index tricks
Reading other people's literature reviews Textbooks | Literature reviews in periodicals
Tough-to-find literature Grey literature | Research centers, learned societies, organizations | Dataset bibliographies
Specialized library collections
Readings on literature reviews
Reaching out for help

1. HANDBOOKS FOR THE LITERATURE REVIEW PROCESS

These books and others like them describe the basic steps of the research and writing process for creating literature reviews. Many vade-mecums and "student guides" also contain chapters on the literature review process, too. Although these books usually provide excellent guidance on notetaking and writing, their guidance on researching is often dated and may reflect only those resources favored by the author.

2. READING OTHER PEOPLE'S DISSERTATIONS

Penn dissertations.

Dissertations produced at the University of Pennsylvania are cataloged in Franklin . The Penn Library's current practice is to assign two subject headings whose elements rotate:

Call numbering makes it easy to browse recent dissertations in your program! A circulating copy of each dissertation is kept in the appropriate library's open stacks, with call numbers constructed from the awarding program's Library of Congress class and a class number that puts dissertations at the very beginning of the class numbering sequence:

Within that call number, individual dissertations are arranged by year of award and then alphabetically by author's last name.

Of course, older dissertations will have been treated in different ways. For instance, pre-World War II dissertations often exist only as published offprints, sometimes escaping the usual subject heading and classification.

ProQuest Digital Dissertations Also known as Dissertation Abstracts or UMI , [Online via Penn Library Web ] provides fulltext for Penn dissertations received since 1997 (and many older ones, too), in Adobe Acrobat PDF-format -- usually as page images, rather than searchable fulltext. Abstracts of Penn dissertations received from 1980 to the present are searchable.

Dissertation Abstracts assigns three subject headings to each dissertation record. The first subject heading appears to designate the awarding program, but not always!
Use Dissertation Abstracts for subject searching among Penn dissertations. Franklin 's subject access points are restricted to dissertation titles and the awarding program.

THE WORLD OF DISSERTATIONS

Electronic These Online Service - British Library . Br /> Provides free fulltext for recent and past British doctoral dissertations.
Index to theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by the universities of Great Britain and Ireland and the Council for National Academic Awards . Aslib, 1950-present. [Online, 1970-present, via Penn Library Web (as Index to British university theses ] [Print, 1950-2010: Van Pelt: Z5055 .G69 A8. Latest 5 years in Van Pelt Reference.] [Also online, 1716-present via ProQuest Digital Dissertations .
Dissertations (CRL Topic Guide) CRL Catalog Click on the "Dissertations" tab to search. Request dissertations you find in the CRL catalog's Dissertation scope through Penn Library Interlibrary Loan . Be sure to include the CRL dissertation call number. CRL holdings will appear in BorrowDirect in early 2011.

3. BROWSING LIKELY JOURNALS

Whether you've got a favorite journal and want to know which journals are similar, or don't even know where to start browsing, here are tools to begin wading.

JOURNAL CITATION REPORTS

"Subject category" searching allows you to identify the major journals in specific research areas (at least according to ISI's criteria).
"Cited journal" and "Citing journal" features allow you to identify journals whose articles frequently cite your journal or those which are frequently cited by articles in your journal.

JOURNAL DIRECTORIES, AUTHOR GUIDES, AND VADE-MECUMS

Handbook of research synthesis and meta-analysis / Harris Cooper, Larry V Hedges, & Jeffrey C Valentine, eds. 2nd ed. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2009. [Online, via Project MUSE ]
Handbook of research design & social measurement / Delbert C Miller and Neil J Salkind. 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2002. [Online, via SAGE Research Methods ]

FINDING THE RIGHT DATABASE

You know the journal title, you need to know where it's indexed ... or available in fulltext. These will do the trick.

4. CLEVER CITATION INDEX TRICKS

"You are what you read, er, cite." By providing implied subject access through article bibliographies, and updating weekly, ISI Web of Science combines the three ISI citation indexes -- SCI , SSCI , and AHCI -- with ISI's Current contents tearsheets.

Always use the "Full search" interface.
"Related records" feature finds articles that share items in your article's bibliography. Literature review articles can retrieve very powerful "related records" results.
"Combine searches" and "Advanced searches" features allow you to search for articles using several items in their bibliographies, very handy for cutting-edge or interdisciplinary topics that are difficult to describe yet are dominated by one or two authors or definitive publications.
Don't forget that data sets and procedures may also be cited in bibliographies!

5. READING OTHER PEOPLE'S LITERATURE REVIEWS

Published literature reviews can help you by identifying important works and also by framing the parameters of current and past scholarship.

What a clever idea! A textbook's chief purpose is to summarize its topic. Too bad the Penn Library tries to avoid purchasing textbooks. Also, Library of Congress subject heading practice does not assign a textbook format subdivision for this sort of book.

Visit the Penn Bookstore's course materials section. Then search Franklin for interesting titles.
Visit Penn graduate and professional program homepages and Penn's Blackboard and other courseware sites for course reading lists. Then search Franklin for interesting titles.
Browse the Penn Library stacks in your subject area's call number ranges. Textbooks and other "general" materials are usually at the beginning of the call number sequence -- after Penn dissertations and relevant periodicals.

Every discipline has one or two stand-out publishers, whose chapter-compilation books on timely topics are carefully compiled with a comprehensive introductory essay and strong bibliographies. Two examples are:

LITERATURE REVIEWS IN PERIODICALS

No two indexing or abstracting databases treat literature reviews consistently. Most databases treats articles that are literature reviews similarly to research articles that include brief literature reviews.

If you've got a literature review published as a periodical article, try to find it in the database. From its complete or full record, try to pick out the subject headings, descriptors, or other buzzwords that distinguish its survey nature. Search again using those terms.
When stumped, try something stupid: search on " literature and (review or reviews) "

Few journals specialize in publishing literature reviews. But there are a few. Guides to the literature and vade-mecums will suggest some. These are a few major ones.

Some indexes include regular or occasional literature reviews in individual issues. Online versions of these indexes other than JSTOR's do not provide fulltext and may, in fact, omit records describing their own original literature reviews!

6. TOUGH-TO-FIND LITERATURE

Grey literature.

"Grey literature", in its broadest sense, is the ephemeral literature of research and policy: conference papers, working papers, etc. These are difficult materials to identify and obtain, yet they're often where the cutting-edge appears.

PolicyFile . Chadwyck-Healey.
EconPapers .

RESEARCH CENTERS, LEARNED SOCIETIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS

So many organizations put their research products on the web that it pays to locate the right organization first.

ACLS Directory of Constituent Societies (ACLS web)
Encyclopedia of Associations (including International , National , Regional, state and local ).
Research centers directory (including International ... and Government ... ).

DATASET BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Many social science datasets are distributed with the proviso that writings using the data are forwarded to the data producer. Bibliographies associated with these datasets can be very useful.

7. SPECIALIZED LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

Ever notice how every Franklin search turns up books about South Asia? Even the biggest research university libraries specialize in specific world regions or subject areas.

North American title count (every three years, latest is 2001) identifies relative collection strengths for some major U.S. and Canadian university research libraries. See me about using it.
Read the [More] pages for specific Penn Library Web databases or the front matter for printed indexes, abstracts, and bibliographies. Some bibliographic tools -- Anthropological Literature probably is the most prominent -- are based on one library's collections.
Read the prefaces and acknowledgements of relevant books. In addition to thanking their own library's interlibrary loan librarians, most scholars give thanks to the major specialist libraries for their subject.
American library directory and related special collections directories may also be useful, but I find myself turning pages with little results and even less lust.

8. READINGS ON LITERATURE REVIEWS

9. reaching out for help.

If you're stuck, or can't even find a thread to begin unravelling, ask for help!

Librarian & Coordinator of Social Sciences Collections

Last Updated: Apr 10, 2023 9:32 AM
URL: https://guides.library.upenn.edu/socscilitrev

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: The Literature Review

Purpose of Guide
Writing a Research Proposal
Design Flaws to Avoid
Independent and Dependent Variables
Narrowing a Topic Idea
Broadening a Topic Idea
The Research Problem/Question
Academic Writing Style
Choosing a Title
Making an Outline
Paragraph Development
The C.A.R.S. Model
Background Information
Theoretical Framework
Citation Tracking
Evaluating Sources
Reading Research Effectively
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
Is it Peer-Reviewed?
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
Common Grammar Mistakes
Writing Concisely
Avoiding Plagiarism [linked guide]
Annotated Bibliography
Grading Someone Else's Paper

A literature review surveys books, scholarly articles, and any other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem being investigated. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits within a larger field of study.

Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . Fourth edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2014.

Importance of a Good Literature Review

Give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations,
Trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates,
Depending on the situation, evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant research, or
Usually in the conclusion of a literature review, identify where gaps exist in how a problem has been researched to date.

The purpose of a literature review is to:

Place each work in the context of its contribution to understanding the research problem being studied.
Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration.
Identify new ways to interpret prior research.
Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.
Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies.
Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.
Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research.
Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important].

Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005; Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998; Jesson, Jill. Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques . Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2011; Knopf, Jeffrey W. "Doing a Literature Review." PS: Political Science and Politics 39 (January 2006): 127-132; Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students . 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2012.

Integrative Literature Reviews

Structure and Writing Style

I. Thinking About Your Literature Review

The structure of a literature review should include the following :

An overview of the subject, issue, or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review,
Division of works under review into themes or categories [e.g. works that support a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative approaches entirely],
An 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.

The critical evaluation of each work should consider :

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]?
Methodology -- were the techniques used to identify, gather, and analyze the data appropriate to addressing the research problem? Was the sample size appropriate? Were the results effectively interpreted and reported?
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 convincing or 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?

II. Development of the Literature Review

Four Stages 1. Problem formulation -- which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues? 2. Literature search -- finding materials relevant to the subject being explored. 3. Data evaluation -- determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic. 4. Analysis and interpretation -- discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature.

Consider the following issues before writing the literature review: Clarify If your assignment is not very specific about what form your literature review should take, seek clarification from your professor by asking these questions: 1. Roughly how many sources should I include? 2. What types of sources should I review (books, journal articles, websites; scholarly versus popular sources)? 3. Should I summarize, synthesize, or critique sources by discussing a common theme or issue? 4. Should I evaluate the sources? 5. Should I provide subheadings and other background information, such as definitions and/or a history? Find Models Use the exercise of reviewing the literature to examine how authors in your discipline or area of interest have composed their literature review sections. Read them to get a sense of the types of themes you might want to look for in your own research or to identify ways to organize your final review. The bibliography or reference section of sources you've already read are also excellent entry points into your own research. Narrow the Topic The narrower your topic, the easier it will be to limit the number of sources you need to read in order to obtain a good survey of relevant resources. Your professor will probably not expect you to read everything that's available about the topic, but you'll make your job easier if you first limit scope of the research problem. A good strategy is to begin by searching the HOMER catalog for books about the topic and review the table of contents for chapters that focuses on specific issues. You can also review the indexes of books to find references to specific issues that can serve as the focus of your research. For example, a book surveying the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may include a chapter on the role Egypt has played in mediating the conflict, or look in the index for the pages where Egypt is mentioned in the text. Consider Whether Your Sources are Current Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. This is particularly true in disciplines in medicine and the sciences where research conducted becomes obsolete very quickly as new discoveries are made. However, when writing a review in the social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may be required. In other words, a complete understanding the research problem requires you to deliberately examine how knowledge and perspectives have changed over time. Sort through other current bibliographies or literature reviews in the field to get a sense of what your discipline expects. You can also use this method to explore what is considered by scholars to be a "hot topic" and what is not.

III. Ways to Organize Your Literature Review

Thematic [“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.

IV. Writing Your Literature Review

Once you've settled on how to organize your literature review, you're ready to write each section. When writing your review, keep in mind these issues.

Use Evidence A literature review section is, in this sense, just like any other academic research paper. Your interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence [citations] that demonstrates that what you are saying is valid. Be Selective Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review. The type of information you choose to mention should relate directly to the research problem, whether it is thematic, methodological, or chronological. Related items that provide additional information but that are not key to understanding the research problem can be included in a list of further readings . Use Quotes Sparingly Some short quotes are okay if you want to emphasize a point, or if what an author stated cannot be easily paraphrased. Sometimes you may need to quote certain terminology that was coined by the author, not common knowledge, or taken directly from the study. Do not use extensive quotes as a substitute for your own summary and interpretation of the literature. Summarize and Synthesize Remember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each thematic paragraph as well as throughout the review. Recapitulate important features of a research study, but then synthesize it by rephrasing the study's significance and relating it to your own work. Keep Your Own Voice While the literature review presents others' ideas, your voice [the writer's] should remain front and center. For example, weave references to other sources into what you are writing but maintain your own voice by starting and ending the paragraph with your own ideas and wording. Use Caution When Paraphrasing When paraphrasing a source that is not your own, be sure to represent the author's information or opinions accurately and in your own words. Even when paraphrasing an author’s work, you still must provide a citation to that work.

V. Common Mistakes to Avoid

These are the most common mistakes made in reviewing social science research literature.

Sources in your literature review do not clearly relate to the research problem;
You do not take sufficient time to define and identify the most relevent sources to use in the literature review related to the research problem;
Relies exclusively on secondary analytical sources rather than including relevant primary research studies or data;
Uncritically accepts another researcher's findings and interpretations as valid, rather than examining critically all aspects of the research design and analysis;
Does not describe the search procedures that were used in identifying the literature to review;
Reports isolated statistical results rather than synthesizing them in chi-squared or meta-analytic methods; and,
Only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contrary findings and alternative interpretations found in the literature.

Cook, Kathleen E. and Elise Murowchick. “Do Literature Review Skills Transfer from One Course to Another?” Psychology Learning and Teaching 13 (March 2014): 3-11; Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005; Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998; Jesson, Jill. Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques . London: SAGE, 2011; Literature Review Handout . Online Writing Center. Liberty University; Literature Reviews . The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J. and Rebecca Frels. Seven Steps to a Comprehensive Literature Review: A Multimodal and Cultural Approach . Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2016; Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students . 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2012; Randolph, Justus J. “A Guide to Writing the Dissertation Literature Review." Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation . vol. 14, June 2009; Sutton, Anthea. Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review . Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2016; Taylor, Dena. The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It . University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Writing a Literature Review . Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra.

Writing Tip

Break out of your disciplinary box.

Frodeman, Robert. The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity . New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Another Writing Tip

Don't just review for content.

How are they organizing their ideas?
What methods have they used to study the problem?
What theories have been used to explain, predict, or understand their research problem?
What sources have they cited to support their conclusions?
How have they used non-textual elements [e.g., charts, graphs, figures, etc.] to illustrate key points?

Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1 998.

Yet Another Writing Tip

When do i know i can stop looking and move on.

Here are several strategies you can utilize to assess whether you've thoroughly reviewed the literature:

Look for repeating patterns in the research findings. If the same thing is being said, just by different people, then this likely demonstrates that the research problem has hit a conceptual dead end. At this point consider: Does your study extend current research? Does it forge a new path? Or, does is merely add more of the same thing being said?
Look at sources the authors cite to in their work. If you begin to see the same researchers cited again and again, then this is often an indication that no new ideas have been generated to address the research problem.
Search the Web of Science [a.k.a., Web of Knowledge] Citation database and Google Scholar to identify who has subsequently cited leading scholars already identified in your literature review. This is called citation tracking and there are a number of sources that can help you identify who has cited whom, particularly scholars from outside of your discipline. Here again, if the same authors are being cited again and again, this may indicate no new literature has been written on the topic.

<< Previous: Theoretical Framework
Next: Citation Tracking >>
Last Updated: Sep 8, 2023 12:19 PM
URL: https://guides.library.txstate.edu/socialscienceresearch

Literature Reviews in the Social Sciences: Structure your literature review

Get started
Search tips
Select Databases
Organize your sources
Evaluate your sources
Structure your literature review

The basic organization

Introduction: layout the general structure of your lit review & how it will be organized

Body: The body needs to be well-organized (see box below)

Conclusion: Sum up the 'state of the literature'. Expose what is lacking and how your research can contribute. How will you move the conversation forward?

Structuring the body

There are a couple different ways to structure the body of your literature review. Here are some ideas:

Thematic: organize by themes or sub-topics within your general topic
Methodological: by different methodologies or approaches to the subject
Argumentative: organize by the different arguments surrounding and composing your topic
Theoretical: organize by the different theories that have been used to explain a topic

Things to keep in mind...

Use your sources to support your argument and make a point, but don't forget to keep your own voice. This is your research paper and your argument.
That said, it's also important to see how your sources play off of and are in conversation with each other.
Don't take what the authors say at face value--this is your opportunity to be critical of their research design & conclusions.
Don't rely too much on secondary sources--make sure to include primary research and data when appropriate.
<< Previous: Evaluate your sources
Last Updated: Apr 13, 2024 7:36 PM
URL: https://guides.nyu.edu/litreviews

University Libraries
Research Guides
Subject Guides

Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences

What is a systematic review in the social sciences?

Guides to conducting systematic reviews

Registering a systematic review, useful books.

Searching Article Databases
Covidence, Zotero, etc.

Social Sciences Librarian

Types of reviews

The form of a review generally depends on its purpose and area of interest and might focus on effectiveness of interventions, key conceptual debates, or something else. Reviews generally fall along a continuum from aggragative to interpretive.

Traditional/narrative review - flexible methods and means of analysis, aims to identify gaps in knowledge
Systematic review - very structured, aims to be comprehensive and rigorous, promotes knowledge; focus on outcomes/evidence
Rapid review - may use some of a systematic review's procedures, but more streamlined and quicker
Scoping review - quickly draws main parameters of a topic & maps key publications, doesn't usually aim to appraise quality of publications ( See Covidence's guide to conducting scoping reviews )
Systematic maps- more extensive than scoping reviews, maps out./categorizes literature on a specific topic
Meta-analysis - analyzes review findings using standard statistical analysis
Meta-synthesis - non-statistical; evaluates and analyzes findings from qualitative studies and aims to build on previous conceptualizations and interpretations

For more information see Shaw & Holland (2014). Reviewing research. In Doing Qualitative Research in Social Work . Sage.

Temple University Health Sciences Library also offers a good overview of review types related to a HEALTH SCIENCES PERSPECTIVE -- remember, this is not aimed at social scientists, but could still be a useful guide.

Below is a summary of a good overview published by Viktor, L. (2008). Systematic Reviewing.Social Research Update, 54. University of Surrey . For more information, also see the "Useful Books" box at the bottom of this page.

What is a systematic review?

"Systematic reviews are a method of identifying and synthesising all the available research evidence of sufficient quality concerning a specific subject. The aim is to review and synthesise evidence in a transparent and rigorous way to enhance the validity and reliability of the findings."

Systematic reviews came to prominence in clinical medicine focused on interventions and outcomes and prioritized studies that were randomized controlled trials. They are usually conducted in a staged process and are focused on answering a particular question or set of questions.

How is it different from a traditional literature review?

In a systematic review, the focus on the comprehensiveness of the search, the quality of the evidence, and the fact that it is conducted very systematically using transparent and rigorous processes contributes to the reliability and validity of its findings as compared to a traditional literature review. Systematic reviews, focused on answering a specific question, are "less a discussion of the literature, and more a scientific tool...to summarize, appraise, and communicate the results and implications of otherwise unmanageable quantities of research." (Petticrew & Roberts, 2006, p. 10).

In the social sciences, systematic reviews generally come out of the social policy area. Traditionally, they followed the methodology and approach taken in clinical medicine, using a highly prescribed staged methodology, statistical meta-analysis, etc. This approach has been adapted and extended in the social sciences allowing for more flexibility, less focus on comprehensiveness, the inclusion of a wider range of research and other methods of analysis (e.g. narrative), and using the method as a means to build theory.

These organizations are focused on systematic reviews and provide resources to support conducting them.

PRISMA PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) provides guidance on the reporting and conducting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Authors conducting systematic reviews can use PRISMA requirements for best practices, registration of reviews, protocols, checklists, and work flowcharts. See the PRISMA STATEMENT, EXTENSIONS and PROTOCOLS tabs for guidance.
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Cochrane Systematic Reviews are conducted to draw conclusions about the quality of healthcare interventions and Cochrane has created a manual that describes the process of preparing and maintaining their systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions.
Campbell Collaboration A sister organization to Cochrane (see description above) focused on sytematic reviews of social interventions. See their TRAINING INFORMATION for excellent videos.
EPPI-Centre Organization focused on systematic reviews and research synthesis in many areas of social policy. See their TOOLS page for helpful resources.
What Works Clearinghouse Established by the US Dept of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to review the quality of education research and compile systematic reviews to guide practice. See their Handbooks and Other Resources tab for useful guidance.

The above resources include detailed guidelines and procedures for conducting systematic reviews. Some first steps to consider include:

1) Reviews should start with a meaningful and useful question, do you have a defined question? Is a systematic review the best way to approach this question?

2) Have you searched for other systematic reviews that have already been done on this question/topic?

3) Develop your detailed protocol.

4) Develop an effective search strategy.

Often a systematic review is registered before it is undertaken. This article details why and where one might do this (e.g. in addtion to registries at Cochrane and Campbell, which are restricted to systematic reviews conducted within their organizations, other registries are more open, such as PROSPERO, Research Registry, INPLASY, OSF Registries, and protocols.io ). See this article for more info:

Pieper, D. & Rombey, T. (2022). Where to prospectively register a systematic review. Systematic Reviews, 11(8). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-021-01877-1

Software to Manage Systematic Reviews: Covidence

UNM has a subscription to COVIDENCE software. Visit the Library's research guide on using Covidence software for conducting systematic reviews -- learn why and how to use it.

Covidence: Systematic Review Tool guide by Todd Quinn Last Updated Jan 23, 2024 1149 views this year

Examples of social sciences systematic reviews

One good source for examples of systematic reviews in the social sciences is the Campbell Collaboration's journal, Campbell Systematic Review s .
Try searching in a disciplinary database using a search limiter for "systematic reviews." For example, in PsycInfo the METHODOLOGY field has a defined limiter for systematic reviews. If there is no defined limiter, add the phrase "systematic reviews" to your search.

Learn about Research Methods

Learn about research methods including systematic reviews....

UNM Library Research Guide on Qualitative Research Methods & Tools Visit our guide to learn more about qualitative research methods and tools at UNM and beyond.
Next: Searching Article Databases >>
Last Updated: Nov 8, 2023 7:26 PM
URL: https://libguides.unm.edu/socscisr

The Library Is Open

The Wallace building is now open to the public. More information on services available.

RIT Libraries
Social/Behavioral Sciences Research Guide
Literature Review Search

This InfoGuide assists students starting their research proposal and literature review.

Introduction
Research Process
Types of Research Methodology
Data Collection Methods
Anatomy of a Scholarly Article
Finding a topic
Identifying a Research Problem
Problem Statement
Research Question
Research Design
Search Strategies
Psychology Database Limiters
Annotated Bibliography
Writing a Literature Review
Writing a Research Proposal

Literature Review

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, topic. You may want to try Research Rabbit , a literature review tool. Then you can look up our journals and find the article.

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

Search for relevant literature
Evaluate sources
Identify themes, debates, and gaps
Outline the structure
Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes, and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

When you write a research paper, you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Research Rabbit Presentation

Literature Review Steps

Before searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic.

If you are writing the literature review section of a research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions.

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in your literature search.

Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. See the database list under the Topic tab.

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Read the abstract to determine whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

Evaluate and select sources

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

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What are the key concepts, and how are they defined?
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What are the results and conclusions of the study?
How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible, and read any landmark studies and major theories in your research. .

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Systematic Review in the Realm of Social Science

We are starting to introduce you our speakers for the IFLA Social Sciences Libraries’ webinar Systematic Review Success: An Introductory Workshop for Librarians & Information Professionals

First presenter is Muhammad Yousuf Ali (Karachi, Pakistan).

Dr. Muhammad Yousuf Ali is a professional librarian, information literacy trainer, and library researcher. He has completed the PhD 2023, from The Islamia University Bahawalpur, Punjab. He has done M. Phil from Hamdard University Karachi 2016 and MLIS from the University of Karachi with the distinction of 2nd Position, 2008.

Currently, he has been serving as an Associate Librarian at The Aga Khan University, Karachi since January 2017 till date. Before this, he served as Deputy Librarian at SMIU from September 2012 to Jan 2017; also performed Job assignments at the Defence Central Library (DCL), Karachi from Aug 2009 to Aug 2012.

He has written 29 research paper in reputable research journals. His Research area of Interest are Web 2.0, Scholarly Communication, Academic Scholarly Networks Sites, Digital Literacy, and Social Media Networks. Since 2019 he has been working as a member of the IFLA Social Science Libraries Standing Committee (2nd term till 2027).

The theme of the presentation: Systematic Review in the Realm of Social Science

Abstract: Systematic review is the core methodology to carry out evidence-based literature synthesis in a systematic way. Systematic review is very popular methodology in the field of Health/Medical Sciences The first systematic review was published in 1753 by James Lind, who provided a summary of evidence on scurvy (Egger et al., 2022). The term “systematic review” was first introduced in social sciences in the 1930s to summarize previous studies that tested a hypothesis (Moosapour et al., 2021).

Today Systematic review is not limited only to health science and now days systematic review conducted in the core subjects of social science, like Education, Economics, Journalism, Health Science etc. Last one-decade social science there is substantial growth of systematic review the field of social sciences. In this discussion discuss how to carry out systematic review in the field of social sciences and role of the social science librarian in the building of search strategy and literature search and retrieved the studies from different databases.

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We invite you to attend our webinar on June 5, Wednesday, 10 am-11:30 am EST . Please check your time zone . Registration link: https://tinyurl.com/IFLASocSciWebinar1

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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

The view of synthetic biology in the field of ethics: a thematic systematic review provisionally accepted.

1 Ankara University, Türkiye
2 Department of Medical History and Ethics, School of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye, Türkiye

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Synthetic biology is designing and creating biological tools and systems for useful purposes. It uses knowledge from biology, such as biotechnology, molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and other disciplines, such as engineering, mathematics, computer science, and electrical engineering. It is recognized as both a branch of science and technology. The scope of synthetic biology ranges from modifying existing organisms to gain new properties to creating a living organism from non-living components. Synthetic biology has many applications in important fields such as energy, chemistry, medicine, environment, agriculture, national security, and nanotechnology. The development of synthetic biology also raises ethical and social debates. This article aims to identify the place of ethics in synthetic biology. In this context, the theoretical ethical debates on synthetic biology from the 2000s to 2020, when the development of synthetic biology was relatively faster, were analyzed using the systematic review method. Based on the results of the analysis, the main ethical problems related to the field, problems that are likely to arise, and suggestions for solutions to these problems are included. The data collection phase of the study included a literature review conducted according to protocols, including planning, screening, selection and evaluation. The analysis and synthesis process was carried out in the next stage, and the main themes related to synthetic biology and ethics were identified. Searches were conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, PhilPapers and MEDLINE databases. Theoretical research articles and reviews published in peer-reviewed journals until the end of 2020 were included in the study. The language of publications was English. According to preliminary data, 1453 publications were retrieved from the four databases. Considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 58 publications were analyzed in the study. Ethical debates on synthetic biology have been conducted on various issues. In this context, the ethical debates in this article were examined under five themes: the moral status of synthetic biology products, synthetic biology and the meaning of life, synthetic biology and metaphors, synthetic biology and knowledge, and expectations, concerns, and problem solving: risk versus caution.

Keywords: Synthetic Biology, Ethics, Bioethics, Systematic review, Technology ethics, Responsible research and innovation

Received: 08 Mar 2024; Accepted: 10 May 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Kurtoglu, Yıldız and Arda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: PhD. Ayse Kurtoglu, Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye

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5. The Literature Review
A literature review may consist of simply a summary of key sources, but in the social sciences, a literature review usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis, often within specific conceptual categories.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 in a way that ...
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It should be noted that this method modifies the entire literature review process by making it more iterative, reflexive, and exploratory (and therefore less formal and standardized), ... The review protocol is comparable to a research design in social science studies. It is a preset plan that specifies the methods utilized in conducting the ...
Literature Reviews in the Social Sciences: Home
A literature review is the systematic written analysis of previously published research on a specific topic or subject. A literature review is not merely a summary of another scholar's articles or books. Instead, it provides a contextual analysis of the data, ideas, or theoretical concepts presented in the article, book, or other publication.
PDF LITERATURE REVIEWS
2. MOTIVATE YOUR RESEARCH in addition to providing useful information about your topic, your literature review must tell a story about how your project relates to existing literature. popular literature review narratives include: ¡ plugging a gap / filling a hole within an incomplete literature ¡ building a bridge between two "siloed" literatures, putting literatures "in conversation"
How to Write a Literature Review
Examples of literature reviews. Step 1 - Search for relevant literature. Step 2 - Evaluate and select sources. Step 3 - Identify themes, debates, and gaps. Step 4 - Outline your literature review's structure. Step 5 - Write your literature review.
Building a Literature Review
Building a Literature Review What to know: Literature reviews are opportunities for you to build a conversation between sources that will inform your work. They require you to think critically about the research that has already been conducted and center that around what you hope to accomplish with your research.
4
A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources that establishes familiarity with and an understanding of current research in a particular field. It includes a critical analysis of the relationship among different works, seeking a synthesis and an explanation of gaps, while relating findings to the project at hand.
PDF Conducting a Literature Review
Literature Search Search Web of Science to track ideas across disciplines and time from over 1.7 billion cited references from over 171 million records. With Web of Science Core Collection, search the top journals, conference proceedings and books, in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities
5.1 The Literature Review
The literature review involves an extensive study of research publications, books and other documents related to the defined problem. The study is important because it advises you, as a researcher, whether or not the problem you identified has already been solved by other researchers. It also confirms the status of the problem, techniques that ...
Literature review as a research methodology: An ...
Social Sciences: Systematic review and meta-analysis ... The process of conducting a literature review. Independent of what approach will be used to conduct the literature review, a number of steps that must be taken and decisions made to create a review that meets the requirements for publication (for specific considerations in relationship to ...
Literature Review
In general, there are two common ways to conduct and present literature review: An exploratory way to discover the conceptual development of a topic or technique. The trends, patterns, or gaps identified from the review may be presented in a thematic, theoretical, or chronological way. An analytical way to analyze interventions or outcomes from ...
Writing a Literature Review in Social Sciences
Process of Literature Review . This guide was created to help FSU graduate students in Social Sciences with writing a literature review. Whether you are writing a literature review for your term paper, research article, or thesis/dissertation, you will find some helpful tips for completing the task.
Writing a Literature Review in Social Sciences
If you have a specific journal in mind to publish your research article, read the literature review section of 2-3 articles published in the journal. Read the "Instructions for Authors," a set of requirements to submit a paper to the journal, to see if there is any requirement on the literature review section of the paper.
The Literature Review in the Social Sciences: Home
Learning outcomes - participants can identify the elements of a literature review and can state in writing the purpose and process of the literature review as they relate to the research process. Participants can search for and access information in multiple formats and use found sources to mine for additional sources.
Preparing Literature Reviews in the Social Sciences: Overview
This informal guide identifies useful resources for preparing literature reviews in the social science disciplines. That is, it's primarily interested in examining the secondary literature in the social sciences. It also provides suggestions for using specific resources to grow citation lists. General Reference Sources - Van Pelt special ...
The Literature Review
A literature review may consist of simply a summary of key sources, but in the social sciences, a literature review usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis, often within specific conceptual categories.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 in a way that ...
Literature Reviews in the Social Sciences: Structure your literature review
Use your sources to support your argument and make a point, but don't forget to keep your own voice. This is your research paper and your argument.; That said, it's also important to see how your sources play off of and are in conversation with each other.
Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences
Written by two highly-respected social scientists, provides an overview of systematic literature review methods: Outlining the rationale and methods of systematic reviews; Giving worked examples from social science and other fields; Applying the practice to all social science disciplines; It requires no previous knowledge, but takes the reader through the process stage by stage.
Making social sciences more scientific: Literature review by structured
The process of literature research could potentially be liberated from manual labor also by the generation of datasets and reports of various forms to serve data analysis purposes. ... therefore, promising to reform the traditional approach to conduct a literature review. For humanities and social sciences, this method provided a structured ...
How-to conduct a systematic literature review: A quick guide for
Method details Overview. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is a research methodology to collect, identify, and critically analyze the available research studies (e.g., articles, conference proceedings, books, dissertations) through a systematic procedure [12].An SLR updates the reader with current literature about a subject [6].The goal is to review critical points of current knowledge on a ...
Writing a literature review
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 ...
Literature Review Search
Write your literature review; A good literature review doesn't just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes, and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject. When you write a research paper, you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge ...
Characteristics of systematic reviews in the social sciences
The use of the systematic review as a research methodology in the social sciences is increasing, creating a need for social science librarians to become more familiar with the process (Riegelman & Kocher, 2018).Librarians, as information experts, can play an important role and contribute to the success of the overall project (Bullers et al., 2018; Dalton, 2019; Riegelman & Kocher, 2018).
Systematic Review in the Realm of Social Science
The term "systematic review" was first introduced in social sciences in the 1930s to summarize previous studies that tested a hypothesis (Moosapour et al., 2021). Today Systematic review is not limited only to health science and now days systematic review conducted in the core subjects of social science, like Education, Economics ...
Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab
To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time. Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page if you have any questions or comments.
Frontiers
The data collection phase of the study included a literature review conducted according to protocols, including planning, screening, selection and evaluation. The analysis and synthesis process was carried out in the next stage, and the main themes related to synthetic biology and ethics were identified.
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1. HANDBOOKS FOR THE LITERATURE REVIEW PROCESS

2. READING OTHER PEOPLE'S DISSERTATIONS

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