mechanical engineering literature review example

Mechanical Engineering

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Starting a Literature Review

If you have never completed a literature review, it can be daunting at first, or tempting to rush through without taking the steps needed to complete the review.  The main point to remember is that you are trying to summarize the current state of research in a specific area/field.  This is done by looking through different sources from different authors/research groups and then putting that information into a single document.

What can be confusing is that literature reviews will vary in length and number of references depending on the topic, field, and depth of research.  For example, a basic literature review for a graduate class might have 15-20 references while a literature review conducted for a dissertation may have 100 or more references.  It is the researcher's job to assess what is needed for their application like any other engineering project.

Finally, be sure to check out the UMD Libraries' Ethical Use of Information Guide to help you through this process!

Literature Review Steps

The basic steps of a literature review include: Search - Record - Evaluate & Analyze - Synthesize.  These can be more explicitly put into the following six steps:

1. Define your topic/research question

2. Search relevant databases, journals, and more (Search)

3. Document references found applicable to topic in a citation manager or similar (Evaluate)

4. Organize references into sub-topics (Analyze)

5. Document results through a summary of the state of research discovered via the steps above (Synthesize)

6. (Recommended) Publish your results!

Examples & Further Information

Literature Review Tips:

• Ten Simple Rules for Literature Reviews
• Avoiding Common Errors
• Case Western Reserve University Engineering Literature Reviews Overview of literature review process for engineers from another engineering school.
• Literature Reviews for Harvard Engineering Graduate Students Library resource for engineering graduate students.

Finally, check out information on systematic reviews - a growing type of scholarly review that contains more analysis as part of the review process:

• Systematic Review by Nedelina Tchangalova Last Updated May 8, 2024 22423 views this year
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Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

• Getting Started
• Keeping Current

Introduction

Gather Your Tools

Determine the Project's Scope

Create the Search Strategy

Determine What Resources to Use

Search, read, refine, repeat.

Saved Searches, Alerts and Feeds

• STEM Biographies & Info
• Writing & Citing

This page focuses on how to do an in-depth literature review for a dissertation, thesis, grant application or lengthy term paper in electrical engineering.  

• For a more general description of what an in-depth literature review is and how it looks, see our guide on " Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies " created by Ed Oetting, history and political science librarian.
• For lower-level engineering undergraduate students who are doing a short term paper, the " How to Research a Topic " page on the " Engineerng Basics" guide may be more applicable.

Library Account Is your library account clear of fines?   If not, you may not be allowed to check out more books nor renew books you already have.  All library notices are sent via email to your "asu.edu" address; if you prefer to receive email at a different address make sure you have forwarded your asu.edu correctly.  Also, make sure that your spam filter allows the library email to come through. 

Illiad (Interlibrary Loan) Account   If you don't already have an ILLiad account, please register for one.  Interlibrary loan services will get you material not available at the ASU Library and also scan or deliver materials from the libraries on the other ASU campuses.

Determine the Project's Scope.

Do you know what you are looking for?  Can you describe your project using one simple sentence or can you phrase the project as a question?  Without a clear idea of the project, you may not be able to determine which are the best resources to search, what terminology should be used in those resources, and if the results are appropriate and sufficient.    

If you're having difficulty getting your project described succinctly, try using a PICO chart to identify the concepts involved:

• P is the popluation, problem, predicament or process
• I is the intervention or improvement
• C is what you'll compare your intervention/improvment to, and
• O is the outcome (or results of the comparison of I and C ) 

For example: 

Your client, the owner of a nuclear power generating facility, has had several less than optimal safety inspections recently.  The inspectors have singled out operator error as a major concern and have required changes in employee training.  But is more training the solution?  The employees complain that the plant's poorly designed control room hampers their ability to respond to non-standard situations.  Could a redesign improve performance and decrease the occurance of unsafe events?   Your client wants more than just your opinion, he wants to see the data to back it up.   So, what can you find in the literature?

Here's one way that the PICO chart could be filled out:     

• P =   nuclear power safety  
• I  = human factors engineering
• C  =  additional training; little or no human factors engineering used  
• O = accident rate or safety inspection comparison

And here are examples of possible search statements:  

• I am looking for ways that human factors engineering can improve safety in the nuclear power industry.
• Is additional training or employing human factors engineering the better method for reducing safety violations in a nuclear power plant? 

Your research will always start with a " P AND I " search; those are the most important pieces of the puzzle.  However, once you have the results from that search, you'll need to know where you want to go with those results; that's when the C and O concepts need to be considered.  

 Also, don't forget --- determine if your project has limits.  For example:

• Are you reviewing the literature only within a specific time frame?
• Are you looking at English-language material only?
• Are you considering research from just the United States or worldwide?
• Are there types of material you won't be covering (trade magazines, patents, technical reports, etc.)?  

Take the simple sentence or question that describes what you are looking for.  What are the concepts in the sentence? Are there synonyms that describe the same concept?   If you filled out a PICO chart, concentrate on the  P (problem) and the  I (intervention) for the concept chart.  

Concept Chart:

Concept 1:   _______  OR _______  OR _______  AND Concept 2:   _______   OR   _______  OR   _______  AND Concept 3:  _______  OR  _______  OR   _______ 

  Example:  

I am looking for ways that human factors engineering can improve safety in the nuclear power industry. 

Concept 1:   nuclear power    OR _ nuclear industry _____   AND Concept 2:   _safety___  OR   _accident prevention____   AND Concept 3: _ human factors engineering ___   

What resources you'll use for your literature review depends on what types of materials you want to find.  

• Background Information The more you know about a topic, the better you'll be able to research it.  You'll be familiar with the terminology, understand the underlining science/technology and be aware of the issues in the field. Most importantly, you'll be able to understand what you've retrieved from your search.  But no matter how much you know before hand you'll likely run across terms and concepts with which you're unfamiliar.    Materials such as encyclopedias, dictionaries and handbooks will not only help you learn about the basics of your topic before you begin your search but they'll also help you understand the terminology used in the documents you found from your literature review.    You'll find these types of resources listed on the Dictionaries and Handbooks pages on this guide.
• Books The large size of books (usually 100-500 pages) allows a topic to be studied braodly, covering many different issues.  Conversely, the large size also allows for a specific aspect of the topic to be covered in great detail.  Because of the time it takes to publish, sci-tech books generally do not contain the most current information. To find print and online books from both the ASU Library as well as in other libraries, see the Books page on this guide.
• Conference Papers Scientists and engineers frequently present new findings at conferences before these findings are written up in journal articles or books.  Not every conference, however, publishes it proceedings.  In some cases, conferences publish only a few of the papers presented but not all.   Many resources that help you find journal articles, may also be used to find conference papers, see the Articles page on this guide.
• Journal and Trade Magazine Articles Articles in journals (also called magazines) are short, usually 5-20 pages in length and cover a specific finding, experiment or project.  Articles in scholary journals are usually written by academics or professional scientists/engineers and are aimed at others at the same level.   Articles in trade journals/magazines are written by the journal staff and report on industry news suchs as sales, mergers, prices, etc.   To find journal and trade magazine articles, use the resources listed on the Articles page on this guide. 
• Patents Patents are grants from governments that gives the inventor certain rights of manufacture.  Patents provide a wealth of information for how a technology is being advanced and by which companies.  It is frequently stated that 80% of the information in patents never appears elsewhere in the literature. 
• To identify patents granted in the U.S. and internationally see the " Searching for Patents " guide.
• To see statistical information for U.S. patents by technology class see the US Patent and Trademark's website.
• Technical Reports Technical reports are part of the "gray literature";  gray literature refers to documents that are not published commercially, hence they are difficult to both identify and find.  Technical reports focus on a specific experiment or research project and are meant to convey the results of the experiment or project back to the funding organization.  In the United States, common sources of technical reports are the government agencies that sponsor research projects.  Reports generated within a private corporation and funded soley by that corporation are seldom ever available to anyone outside of the company.      To find technical reports, use the resources listed on the Technical Reports page on this guide.     

Search, Read, Refine and Repeat

Now it's time to apply your search strategy in the resources you've decided to use.

• Use the Advanced Search feature (or whatever search is set up with the 3 lines of boxes) and enter your search strategy just as you recorded in your search strategy chart.  Don't forget to set your limits.   If the resource only provides a single search box, rearrange your chart from vertical into horizontal so that the search statement looks like this:   (Concept#1 OR synonym) AND (Concept#2 OR synonym) AND (Concept#3 OR synonym) Example: (nuclear power OR nuclear industry) AND (safety OR accident prevention) AND (human factors engineering)
• Examine the results to find the most appropriate items.  Keep your one-sentence project description (and/or your PICO chart) in mind to help you stay on track.
• Export the records/citations you want to keep into a citation manager.
• If there are subjects (may also be called subject headings, index terms, descriptors or controlled vocabulary) assigned to each item, make sure that those also transferred into a citation manager.  If not, add them manually.
• Get the full text of the items 
• Read the full text of the items and look at the subjects assigned to the item and consider:
• Do I have to change (narrow) my topic to something more specific because I'm finding way too much? 
• Do I have to change (broaden) my topic because I can't find enough about it? 
• Is there additional terminology for my topic/concepts that I hadn't included in my original search?
• Redo your search strategy according to what you found in step #6 and rerun the search in the resources again.
• You may need to repeat this cycle several times before you are able to identify the best terminology to use in each resource. 

If there will be several months in between when you search the literature and when you turn in the paper, consider setting up alerts and feeds so that you are notified should new items about your topic appear.   How you set up an alert or feed will vary.  In most cases you'll be required to set up a personal account or profile with the journal or database --- there is no charge for this but you will have to identify yourself and provide an email address.  

For instructions on setting up alerts and feeds, see the " Keep Current " page.

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Mechanical Engineering

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Tips on reading articles better

Reading a lot of articles in short period of time is tough! It's important to take breaks, and to take quick notes after each article. Otherwise it will all blend together.

See this article for advice from different STEM researchers on how they read articles: https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/03/how-seriously-read-scientific-paper

Guides to writing articles and literature reviews in STEM

For individual help with your writing, it's best to book an appointment with the Academic Help Writing Centre on campus .

• How to Write a good technical paper Short article from Concrete International magazine.

• Ten Simple Rules for writing a literature review, by Marco Pautasso (2013) A popular article published in PLoS Computational Biology.

Examples of literature reviews

If you're writing a published article or a thesis, it's always good to read different examples in your field. In a research database like Scopus or Web of Science, you can search for review articles on your topic - see the Find Articles tab. You can also see previous theses in your program. Follow this link, and modify the search to find ones from your department.

Here is an example of a review paper written by a uOttawa PhD student in civil engineering, which is structured by analytical approach.

• Example journal article with highlights This is a journal article written by two members of the School of EECS here. I have highlighted key phrases in their lit review in which they synthesize and summarize the previous literature.

Science and Engineering Librarian | Bibliothécaire spécialisé en sciences et génie

Doing a systematic review?

If you've been asked to do a systematic review , we have a guide for doing them . But another type of review might actually be better suited to your project! This chart describes different types of reviews and why you might use them.

What do your professors want in a literature review?

Whether you are doing a topic summary for a term paper, a state-of-the-art survey, or a full literature review for a thesis or article, there are some common expectations that your professors have for graduate student work. They are not looking for you to simply describe some papers that you have read on the topic, one after the other. What they do expect is:

• That you have found and thoroughly read enough papers to have a solid grasp of the particular topic. This is where it's very important to properly define your topic so you can do a good job, and do a structured database search! You should start to encounter some of the same authors and papers repeatedly as you read, indicating that you are finding the major works in this topic. For searching advice, see the Find Articles tab. You should use at least two search tools (Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, etc).
• That you have understood them enough to identify major trends, methods, approaches, and differences . This takes work! You do not want to just re-phrase the abstract. See below for some tips on doing this.
• That you can communicate your own perspective and informed opinion on what is truly important - including where the current research is lacking (where there is a gap). If you are doing your own research, this is a very important part of the literature review as it justifies the rest of your project.

The process of doing a literature review

Source: North Carolina State University. (n.d.). Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students . https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/litreview/

Reading and note-taking efficiently

Getting started.

You want to be organized from the start when doing a literature review, especially for a project that will take a long time. 

• In a Word or Excel file, keep track of your searching - which search databases and tools you use, and paste in all the search queries you run that are useful, with parameters. In Scopus, for example, this might be ' TITLE-ABS-KEY   (   anaerobic   AND  digestion   AND  feedstock   )   AND   PUBYEAR   >   2013'. This will help you avoid duplicating work later.
• Use a citation manager program like Zotero or Mendeley, to keep track of your papers as you find them, and format citations later. See this guide for details on the programs. Save the PDFs to your computer, and attach them to the entries in your citation manager if it isn't added automatically.

Reading and Note-taking on Individual papers

When you actually read the papers that you find, most people take a staged approach to save time:

• Read the abstract fully to determine if it's actually on topic.
• If so, read the discussion and conclusion, and the figures and graphs, to figure out if the results were significant or produced interesting results.
• If so, make sure it is saved. Then read the full article, and annotate the article right away.

What does annotating mean? Take very short notes (on paper or digital) of the most important findings and/or highlight important lines in the paper. You can highlight and annotate the PDF file if you want, or in your citation manager. You don't usually need to summarize the whole article - instead focus on what is important for your research or review, and write it in your own words. This could be the

• whether the study was theoretical, experimental, numerical simulation, etc
• main theoretical approach, model, algorithms, etc
• number of test specimens or subjects
• key assumptions made that might impact its general validity
• key outcome measured, statistical significance of it, etc
• Your own comments - for example, strengths and weaknesses

Synthesizing the papers and structuring your review

Concept mapping.

One technique is to create a concept map or 'mind map' showing the relationships or groupings of the key papers on your topic, with short labels. This way, you can try out different options for how to structure your paper and see which one makes the most sense. You can do this on paper:

You can also do this digitally, using a mind-mapping website. There are some easy-to-use, free tools that are available now. Two that I have used are Coggle and Miro. You can also just sketch on paper.

Created using  Coggle.it, based on a chart in Huang, H. (2018). Methods for Rolling Element Bearing Fault Diagnosis under Constant and Time-varying Rotational Speed Conditions (Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ottawa). http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-21835

Image: Pacheco-Vega, R. (2016, June 15). How to do a literature review: Citation tracing, concept saturation and results’ mind-mapping. Retrieved from http://www.raulpacheco.org/2016/06/how-to-do-a-literature-review-citation-tracing-concept-saturation-and-results-mind-mapping/

After you have taken notes on individual articles, it can be very helpful to create a chart with key variables that seem important. Not every article will cover the same material. But there should be some common factors, and some differences between them. This chart is called a synthesis matrix.

Example of a 'synthesis matrix'

Source: University of Western Ontario Library (n.d.). “Writing your literature review”. https://guides.lib.uwo.ca/mme9642/litreview

See this blog post by researcher Raul Pacheco-Vega for another example of how he does this.

This chart can help you decide how to organize your review. If it's a very short review, some people write it chronologically - they describe how the topic evolved, one paper at a time. But if you have more than 10 papers, this is not a good approach. Instead, it is best to organize your review thematically . In this approach, you group the papers into several groups or themes, and discuss each theme in a separate section. Usually the groups are major methods of tackling the problem, or concepts, or techniques.

In each section of your paper, you introduce the theme, and then discuss and compare the papers in the group. Using this approach lets you show that you have not just read the papers, but have understood the topic as a whole, and can synthesize the literature.

For example, this paper co-authored by Ping Li , a Civil Engineering PhD graduate of uOttawa, organizes the papers into three categories: ones that used a 'traditional' approach; ones based on characterization of the soil microstructure, and ones that also incorporate soil mechanics. The strengths and weaknesses of category are discussed, and in the conclusion, the authors recommend approaches for future studies. 

You can often include a form of a synthesis chart in your paper or thesis, as a visual summary of your lit review. This is part of a chart included in a Masters' thesis in Computer Science from uOttawa.

From Le Page, S. (2019). Understanding the Phishing Ecosystem (M.Sc. Thesis, University of Ottawa). http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-23629

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Mechanical Engineering

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• Article Research
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What is Literature Review?

What is a literature review.

A literature review is a study of existing published information on a specific topic. Literature reviews:

• identify key information relevant to a topic
• assess the status or quality of existing research
• critically examine support for alternative theories or arguments
• evaluate research methods used in previous studies.

A good literature review will consist of a summary of key sources, and is analytical and synthesizes information. Usually a literature review is organized, not however a chronological description of discoveries in your field, and explains how your research will address gaps in existing literature on a particular topic.

Doing a literature review. (2010). In Thomas, D. R., & Hodges, I. D.  Designing and managing your research project: Core skills for social and health research  (pp. 105-130). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9781446289044

The Elements of a Literature Review:

An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review

Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)

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, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research

Steps for Starting Your Literature Review:

1. Choose a topic. Define your research question.

2. Decide on the scope of your review.

• How many technical studies do you need to look at?
• How comprehensive should it be?
• How many years should it cover? 

3. Select the databases you will use to conduct your searches.

4. Conduct your searches and find the literature. 

• Review the abstracts of technical studies carefully; you could also look at the conclusion of the technical study. This will save you time. 
• Write down the searches you conduct in each database so that you may duplicate them if you need to later.You could use our RefWorks Citation Manager or Mendeley to keep yourself organized. (Please see the 'Cite Your Sources' page for tutorials.)
• Use the bibliographies and references of technical studies you find to locate others.

5. Review the literature.

Writing a Literature Review

Our writer's center has a great research guide for steps on how to write a literature review:  writing the literature review.

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Mechanical Engineering

• Getting Started
• Indigenous Information Sources
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Introduction to Literature Reviews

Books about literature reviews at ubc library.

• Keeping Track
• Research Data Management

This comprehensive guide is designed for students preparing an honours thesis, graduating paper, Master's thesis or doctoral dissertation.  

What is a literature review?

"Literature review" typically refers to work produced in the context of an article in an academic publication or as part of a Master's thesis or doctoral dissertation.

"A literature review is an evaluative report of information found in the literature related to your selected area of study. The review should describe, summarize, evaluate and clarify this literature. It should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the author) determine the nature of your research." 1

For information on systematic reviews - a particular type of literature review used primarily in health sciences - please refer to this guide:  Knowledge Synthesis: Systematic, Scoping & Other Reviews .

What are the purposes of a literature review?

• situate your work in its discipline/area/subfield 
• develop an understanding of how knowledge in your discipline/field/area has changed over time
• develop mastery of what's known in your area, and part of the larger discipline that contains it
• compare different conceptual or sub-disciplinary approaches to your topic
• compare and contrast different theoretical schools or leading researchers in your area
• identify methodologies that you might use in your work

Types of Literature Reviews

" Traditional Review : adopts a critical approach, which might assess theories or hypotheses by critically examining the methods and results of single primary studies, with an emphasis on background and contextual material.

Conceptual Review : synthesizes areas of conceptual knowledge that contribute to a better understanding of the issues. State of the art: brings readers up to date on the most recent research on the subject.  Could be a useful beginning to your research project.

Scoping Review : sets the scene for a future research agenda.  This review documents what is already known and then, using a critical analysis of gaps in knowledge, helps to refine the research questions,  concepts and theories to point the way to future research."  1  

Systematic Review : "attempts to identify, appraise and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre-specified eligibility criteria to answer a given research question [about health care or health policy]. Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit methods aimed at minimizing bias, in order to produce more reliable findings that can be used to inform decision making." 2   More info at guide:  Knowledge Synthesis: Systematic, Scoping & Other Reviews.

1. Jesson, Jill, Lydia Matheson, and Fiona M. Lacey.   Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques . Los Angeles: SAGE, 2011. Print.

2.  About Cochrane Systematic Reviews

General 

• Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper (print)
• Doing your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques  (print)
• Evaluating Research Articles from Start to Finish  (print)
• The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for sSudents  (print)
• The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing (Chapter 11: Writing a Literature Review) (online)
• Telling a research story: writing a literature review  (print)
• Writing the Literature Review: A Practical Guide (online)

Engineering

• So, Your Have to Write a Literature Review: A Guided Workbook for Engineers (online)
• Writing for Science and Engineering: Papers, Presentations and Reports - Chapter 4 (online)
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Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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What is a literature review & an annotated bibliography?

Review articles - finding the gaps and advances in your area, preparing a literature review, further help.

• Referencing and assignments

A literature review is an assessment and critical analysis of the literature (what has been published) on a particular topic.

An annotated bibliography provides:

• A reference list with a summary of the main arguments or idea of each source
• A critique or evaluation of the source’s usefulness, reliability, objectivity or bias 
• A reflection on how the source fits into your research

Both provide a critical review of the literature.

For more information visit the  literature reviews  library guide.

• Finding review articles using Web of Science Short video [YouTube, 02:33] produced by UC Davis University Library.
• Annual reviews online This database provides review journals from across the sciences, with articles that review significant primary research literature to help you keep up to date in the area of your research.
• Scopus A multidisciplinary abstract and citation database of peer reviewed literature, book reviews and conference proceedings.
• Web of Science A collection of citation databases and citation analysis tools covering the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities.

UQ study skills - writing a literature review

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Engineering -- Mechanical Engineering

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What is a Literature Review?

How to write a literature review, more resources.

• Web Resources
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• Careers & Writing

A literature review is a study of existing published information on a specific topic. Literature reviews:

• identify key information relevant to a topic
• assess the status or quality of existing research
• critically examine support for alternative theories or arguments
• evaluate research methods used in previous studies.

A good literature review will consist of a summary of key sources, and is analytical and synthesizes information. Usually a literature review is organized, not however a chronological description of discoveries in your field, and explains how your research will address gaps in existing literature on a particular topic.

Doing a literature review. (2010). In Thomas, D. R., & Hodges, I. D. Designing and managing your research project: Core skills for social and health research (pp. 105-130). London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9781446289044

Looking for more information on literature reviews? Check out the Engineering LibGuide:

Steps to Writing a Literature Review.

• Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Chapter 5: Defining the review question and developing criteria for including studies.
• How to Write a Literature Review University of North Carolina
• Learn How to Write a Literature Review University of Wisconson
• The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It University of Toronto
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Mechanical Engineering: Research Tips & Literature Reviews

• Getting Started
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Academic Research

Academic research requires a thorough investigation into the body of literature that has been published – and sometimes even unpublished – about a given topic. You must examine and refer to scholarly sources when completing academic assignments (unless otherwise indicated by your instructor).  Referring to scholarly sources will:

-    Add depth to your understanding. -    Strengthen your argument. -    Reduce bias and misconceptions.

START FIRST  with the  library website .  Library resources are built around your program, are screened and verified for credibility, provide targeted results using advanced search, are copyright licensed and freely available to the Sheridan community for most educational purposes.

This tutorial will cover:

• Defining your topic
• Using Library Resources
• Using Websites
• Improving your Search
• Writing Essays
• Citing your Sources

Literature Reviews

A literature review summarizes existing scholarly research on a topic from peer-reviewed articles, books, dissertations, and other sources. The reviewer searches for important research in a particular area of study, and then recaps their key findings in the article. It’s important to note that a literature review doesn’t simply describe what academic sources say on the topic.

Literature Review FAQs

Follow this FAQ Guide to learn about:

• How a literature review is organized
• Different types of literature reviews
• Keeping track of your sources

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Literature Reviews in Engineering

What is a literature review.

"A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Occasionally you will be asked to write one as a separate assignment ... but more often it is part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries."

--Written by Dena Taylor, Health Sciences Writing Centre and available at  http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/literature-review  (Accessed August 27th, 2019)

What is the purpose of a literature review?

Not to be confused with a book review, a  literature review  surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings, reports) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory.  Literature reviews provide a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to offer an overview of and background on significant literature published on a topic, as well as your own critical thinking on how these works comprise this background, and what questions remain unaddressed by the existing literature.  A literature review's purpose is to:

Place each work in the context of its contribution

Describe the relationship of each work to others under consideration

Identify new ways to interpret and shed light on any gaps in previous research

Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies

Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort (or retest previous effort to confirm or dispute it)

Point the way forward for further research

Place one's original work in the context of existing literature

The Literature Review Process:

Writing a literature review is a non-linear process. You may decide to revise your research question, find more resources and discard resources you've already found, change the way you want to structure your literature review, or how you want to address theories and ideas. Also, as you find resources on your topic, you will find that what you're writing is part of a larger conversation. There are already leading theories and a history on the topic you're pursuing and leaders who are already publishing their ideas. You'll become part of that conversation.

• Choose a topic to explore and develop a research question to focus your research. You may revise this as you go.
• Research and collect information from a variety of sources - books, journal articles, patents, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, etc.
• Make note of those who are leading the conversation and the main theories in this field of research.
• Make a brief note for each source of information. How do your sources support or contradict your theories?
• Keep track of citations. You may want to use a citation manager such as EndNote or Zotero.
• Organize your thoughts. What do you want to say and how do you want to say it?
• Read sources more completely that fit within the scope of your research question.
• Write, revise, proof-read, and add a bibliography.

Elements of a literature review:

An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review

Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)

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, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research  

The literature review does not present new  primary  scholarship.  That comes in the section of your research that describes your experimentation (see the Research Process tab under Getting Started With Research).

• Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students Created by the North Caroline State University Libraries
• The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It Written by Dena Taylor, Health Sciences Writing Centre, University of Toronto
• Tips & Tools on Literature Reviews Created by The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• "Learn How" from University of Wisconsin Clear definitions for each section of the lit review

What is a Literature Review and Why is it important?

A literature review not only summarizes the knowledge of a particular area or field of study, it also evaluates what has been done, what still needs to be done and why all of this is important to the subject.  , the stand-alone literature review:.

When a literature review stands alone, it is reviewing what is known about the topic, analyzed for trends, controversial issues, and what still needs to be studied to better understand the topic at hand. A stand-alone literature review can be as short as a few pages or may be more extensive with long bibliographies for in-depth reviews. 

• Three-dimensional display technologies for anatomical education: a literature review
• A systematic literature review of US engineering ethics interventions
• From Bitcoin to cybersecurity: A comparative study of blockchain application and security issues

The Literature Review as a Section:

Literature reviews can be used as part of dissertations, theses, research reports, and scholarly journal articles. They generally discuss what has been done before and how the research being introduced in this document fills a gap in the field's knowledge and why it is an important.  

• Ghost driver: A field study investigating the interaction between pedestrians and driverless vehicles
• An empirical study of wearable technology acceptance in healthcare

Annotated bibliographies

• What is an annotated bibliography?
• Writing an annotated bibliography
• Example annotations

WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

ANNOTATIONS VS. ABSTRACTS

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they may describe the author's point of view, authority, or clarity and appropriateness of expression.

Permission to use all content in the tabs on this page granted from: Olin Library Reference Research & Learning Services Cornell University Library Ithaca, NY, USA

This guide shared under a Creative Commons Commons Deed, version 2.0 regarding attribution, noncommercial use, and "Share Alike" reuse.

WRITING AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

• First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.
• Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style -- here is a page explaining and offering examples of the different major citation styles.
• Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE

The following example uses APA style ( Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 6th edition, 2010)  for the journal citation:

Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults.  American Sociological Review,   51 , 541-554. The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

This example uses MLA style ( MLA Handbook , 8th edition, 2016)  for the journal citation:

Waite, Linda J., et al. "Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults."  American Sociological Review,  vol. 51, no. 4, 1986, pp. 541-554. The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

• Additional examples from Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
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• Ulrich's -- One More Way To Find Peer-reviewed Papers

"Literature review," "systematic literature review," "integrative literature review" -- these are terms used in different disciplines for basically the same thing -- a rigorous examination of the scholarly literature about a topic (at different levels of rigor, and with some different emphases).  

1. Our library's guide to Writing a Literature Review

2. Other helpful sites

• Writing Center at UNC (Chapel Hill) -- A very good guide about lit reviews and how to write them
• Literature Review: Synthesizing Multiple Sources (LSU, June 2011 but good; PDF) -- Planning, writing, and tips for revising your paper

3. Welch Library's list of the types of expert reviews

Doing a good job of organizing your information makes writing about it a lot easier.

You can organize your sources using a citation manager, such as refworks , or use a matrix (if you only have a few references):.

• Use Google Sheets, Word, Excel, or whatever you prefer to create a table
• The column headings should include the citation information, and the main points that you want to track, as shown

Synthesizing your information is not just summarizing it. Here are processes and examples about how to combine your sources into a good piece of writing:

• Purdue OWL's Synthesizing Sources
• Synthesizing Sources (California State University, Northridge)

Annotated Bibliography  

An "annotation" is a note or comment. An "annotated bibliography" is a "list of citations to books, articles, and [other items]. Each citation is followed by a brief...descriptive and evaluative paragraph, [whose purpose is] to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited."*

• Sage Research Methods (database) --> Empirical Research and Writing (ebook) -- Chapter 3: Doing Pre-research  
• Purdue's OWL (Online Writing Lab) includes definitions and samples of annotations  
• Cornell's guide * to writing annotated bibliographies  

* Thank you to Olin Library Reference, Research & Learning Services, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY, USA https://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography

What does "peer-reviewed" mean?

• If an article has been peer-reviewed before being published, it means that the article has been read by other people in the same field of study ("peers").
• The author's reviewers have commented on the article, not only noting typos and possible errors, but also giving a judgment about whether or not the article should be published by the journal to which it was submitted.

How do I find "peer-reviewed" materials?

• Most of the the research articles in scholarly journals are peer-reviewed.
• Many databases allow you to check a box that says "peer-reviewed," or to see which results in your list of results are from peer-reviewed sources. Some of the databases that provide this are Academic Search Ultimate, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Sociological Abstracts.

What kinds of materials are *not* peer-reviewed?

• open web pages
• most newspapers, newsletters, and news items in journals
• letters to the editor
• press releases
• columns and blogs
• book reviews
• anything in a popular magazine (e.g., Time, Newsweek, Glamour, Men's Health)

If a piece of information wasn't peer-reviewed, does that mean that I can't trust it at all?

No; sometimes you can. For example, the preprints submitted to well-known sites such as  arXiv  (mainly covering physics) and  CiteSeerX (mainly covering computer science) are probably trustworthy, as are the databases and web pages produced by entities such as the National Library of Medicine, the Smithsonian Institution, and the American Cancer Society.

Is this paper peer-reviewed? Ulrichsweb will tell you.

1) On the library home page , choose "Articles and Databases" --> "Databases" --> Ulrichsweb

2) Put in the title of the JOURNAL (not the article), in quotation marks so all the words are next to each other

3) Mouse over the black icon, and you'll see that it means "refereed" (which means peer-reviewed, because it's been looked at by referees or reviewers). This journal is not peer-reviewed, because none of the formats have a black icon next to it:

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• Engineering Literature Review

Embark on an informative journey exploring the intricacies of an Engineering Literature Review, a critical component in the realm of engineering studies. This comprehensive guide is designed to aid in your understanding of the function and importance it holds in the discourse of Engineering. Throughout this document, you'll uncover the essential elements that make up the structure of a robust literature review, with practical examples taken from Civil and Mechanical Engineering. You'll also gain beneficial tips on crafting a top-notch review and discover how to sidestep common challenges. Lastly, a section dedicated to further reading will reinforce your knowledge and enhance your skills, making you proficient in delivering exceptional Engineering Literature Reviews.

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Understanding Engineering Literature Review: A Comprehensive Guide

An Engineering Literature Review is a detailed examination and analysis of scholarly articles, books, and other resources relevant to a specific aspect of engineering. It is not simply a summary, but a careful evaluation of the literature, synthesizing the available material and identifying trends, theories, practices, gaps in research, and areas of controversy.

Unpacking the Meaning of Engineering Literature Review

• Define the scope of your research
• Determine the current state of your field of study
• Identify any gaps in the existing literature
• Relate your study to the existing research

For example, if you're conducting a literature review on the latest advancements in green energy technology, you would search through various scholarly databases to find articles, books and other resources that discuss this topic. After reading and analyzing these sources, you would summarize your findings, highlighting the main theories, ongoing debates, and gaps in the knowledge about green energy technology.

Significance of Literature Review in Engineering Studies

Deep dive: Doing a literature review also acquaints you with research methodologies, techniques and tools in your field of study. Understanding how past studies were conducted - and their strengths and weaknesses - will help you plan your study more effectively.

How to Construct an Effective Engineering Literature Review Structure

Fundamental elements of an engineering literature review.

• Introduction : The initial part of your Literature Review should present your research topic, clarify its value, and show how exactly the review will build upon the existing compilation of scholarly works. Your readers should grasp the essence, significance, and the aim of your review from the introduction.
• Body : This is where you explore various resources, analyse them critically, and present the crucial points collected in a structured manner. The body could be arranged based on themes, trends, or chronologically, depending on the nature of your research.
• Conclusion : The conclusion should summarise the main observations from your compiled resources. It provides an avenue to underscore the gap in existing research, which your study intends to fill.

The process is not unlike solving an engineering problem where multiple components need to work together for an effective solution. Just as you wouldn't simply present an unordered list of all the components and their individual functionalities, in your literature review too, merely summarising the articles isn't enough. They have to be connected and analysed for the readers to understand the full picture.

Steps to Structure a Solid Engineering Literature Review

• Define your research question : Every Literature Review starts by defining a clear, concise, and relevant research question.

In the context of Engineering, a research question will focus on a specific problem, phenomenon, or component within the broader engineering landscape. It could be related to the efficiency of an existing design, exploring the impact of a particular process, or the development of a new technology.

• Search and Select Literature : Once you have established your research question, identify and gather resources related to your research topic. This might involve searching databases, examining journals, or going through conference papers. Always ensure the sources are reliable and up-to-date.
• Evaluate Sources : After your compilation, critically evaluate each work for its relevance, reliability, accuracy, and contribution to your research.
• Plan Structure : Plan an outline for your review regarding how the body will be arranged. This structure could be thematic, based on trends, chronologically arranged, or in any other way that best suits your research.
• Write your Review : With the plan in place and resources in hand, write your review, ensuring that each section (Introduction, Body, Conclusion) is well-crafted to encapsulate your entire research.

Practical Exploration of Engineering Literature Review Examples

Engineering literature review example: civil engineering, engineering literature review example: mechanical engineering, introduction to crafting an exceptional engineering literature review, essential tips for writing an engineering literature review.

• Focus on Relevance : Prioritise your reading and inclusion based on the relevance to your research question. Every article or book that is part of your review should contribute meaningfully to setting the context, highlighting the gap, or providing evidence for your arguments.
• Be Critical : A literature review isn't just a summarisation - it's essentially an evaluation. Critique the methodology, question the interpretations, explore the inconsistencies, and assimilate the ideas. But remember, criticism doesn't mean just pointing out flaws, it also involves recognising the strengths and unique contributions.
• Thoroughly Cite Sources : Remember that your literature review is based on the work of others, so always credit the original sources using appropriate citation styles.
• Stay Coherent : Your review should read as a unified document, and not a compilation of summarised articles. Each point or section should logically connect to the next. Often, using a table can help in structuring your thoughts and presenting the comparisons in a more reader-friendly form:

Challenges to Avoid When Conducting an Engineering Literature Review

• Not Critically Evaluating Sources : It's necessary to critically evaluate each source, and not just accept the content at face value. Does the article substantiate its claims with empirical evidence? Is the methodology suitable?
• Overlooking Relevant Research : Staying within the comforting walls of what we know and believe often results in confirmation bias. Even if some studies contradict your expectations or assumptions, if they are relevant, they need to be included.
• Lack of Organisation : A literature review can easily become overwhelming if adequate organisation isn't maintained. Schedule regular times for studying, organise your notes meticulously, and stay on top of your bibliography. Use LaTeX to maintain consistency. For instance, for organising your formulas, LaTeX's align environment can be much cleaner than inline math mode:
• Failing to Update Review : Remember, a literature review needs to be a living document, especially for lengthy research projects like a dissertation. New research papers relevant to your review can be published anytime, and it's essential to update your review to reflect such changes.

Advancing Your Knowledge: Further Reading on Engineering Literature Reviews

Revisiting crucial engineering literature review tips and examples.

• Define Your Scope : Understand the breadth of your research question. Knowing this helps in identifying relevant literature, contributing to your research while keeping it confined within manageable limits.
• Analyse, don't Summarise : Your literature review should demonstrate your deep understanding of the topic. It should pick apart and critique the chosen papers, not just summarise their abstracts. Your comprehension of the methodologies used, the robustness of their findings and their relevance to your study should shine through.
• Think Synthetically : Good literature reviews don't just dissect each source individually, they also synthesise them together, drawing connections between the findings and discussions of various papers. Considering your review like patchwork, each 'patch' or source should interlace with the others, providing a unified narrative.

Next Steps: Enhancing Your Skills in Writing Engineering Literature Reviews

• Quality over Quantity : Ensure that every source you include adds value to your review in its own unique way. Avoid unnecessary padding with irrelevant or weak sources.
• Stay Objective : A literature review isn't the place to let personal bias take the reins. Keep your review objective, substantiated by evidence, and let the literature guide your narrative.
• Application Coding Language : In Engineering Literature Reviews, you might encounter coding snippets, which you need to comprehend and explain. For instance, this is a Python code snippet that calculates force using Newton's second law:

Engineering Literature Review - Key takeaways

• Engineering Literature Review forms the foundation for developing innovative solutions and advancements in existing technologies. It involves critical thinking, careful reading, analysis, and synthesis of information.
• The key elements of an Engineering Literature Review include an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction presents the research topic, its significance, and how the review will build upon existing literature. The body involves exploring various resources, their critical analysis, and presenting crucial points in a structured manner. The conclusion summarizes the main observations from the resources, and highlights the gap in existing research.
• Structuring an Engineering Literature Review involves defining a clear research question, searching and selecting relevant literature, evaluating these sources critically, planning the structure of the review, and writing the review with a well-crafted introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Examples of Engineering Literature Reviews in Civil and Mechanical engineering may focus on advancements in sustainable building material, and innovations in biomedical devices respectively. They contain detailed explorations of scholarly articles and journals, critical analysis and comparison of studies, and a summary of the main findings with a highlight on areas requiring further research.
• Writing an Engineering Literature Review requires focus on relevance, critical evaluation of sources, thorough citation of sources, and coherent writing. Challenges to avoid include not critically evaluating sources, overlooking relevant research, and lack of organisation.

Flashcards inEngineering Literature Review 15

What is an Engineering Literature Review?

An Engineering Literature Review is a detailed examination and analysis of scholarly articles, books, and other resources relevant to a specific aspect of engineering. It synthesizes the available material and identifies trends, theories, practices, and gaps in research.

What are the objectives of an Engineering Literature Review?

The objectives are to define the scope of your research, determine the current state of your field of study, identify any gaps in the existing literature, and relate your study to the existing research.

Why is a Literature Review essential in Engineering Studies?

It develops critical thinking skills, acts as a knowledge repository, provides a foundation for new research, and acquaints you with research methodologies, techniques, and tools in your field of study.

What are the fundamental elements of an Engineering Literature Review?

An Engineering Literature Review contains an Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. The Introduction presents the research topic, the Body explores various resources and analyses them, and the Conclusion summarizes the main observations.

What is the process of crafting an effective Engineering Literature Review?

It involves defining a research question, searching and selecting literature, evaluating sources, planning the structure, and writing the review with well-crafted sections.

What is the significance of the structure in an Engineering Literature Review?

The structure of a Literature Review offers a logical path for your arguments, helps to maintain consistency and coherence in your review, and promotes better comprehension for your audience.

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Planning and Completing your Research

• Building your Research Confidence This guide contains information concerning the research process including completing a literature review.

What is a Literature Review?

The literature review surveys and evaluates the relevant and related scholarship on a particular area of research or issue. It summarizes and evaluates the discussions and debate surrounding the topic, noting limitations, interpretations and approaches that support and establish the significance of your argument, research or methodology.  

• Presents a justification for your paper/research: show how your work fills a gap, or fulfills a need that has been identified by other researchers in the field.
• Informs your methodology
• Provides data that can be used to test your theories or results.
• Helps generate a new theory.

The Process

Engineering: The Literature Research Process (Arizona State University)

Literature Review Process (Case Western)

Types of Research (MBA Knowledge Base)

Types of Literature Reviews  (Univ. of Alabama Libraries)

Choosing a topic (Eastern University)

5 Quick Tips- Writing a Literature Review

How to search

Database Searching Guide: Basic Search Tools (Columbia University)

Internet and Database Searching (Excelsior College Online Writing Lab)

Boolean (and,or,not) Searching MIT Libraries

Evaluate what you find

Literature evaluation and analysis (Case Western)

Evaluating Information tip sheet (University of Wisconsin)

Synthesizing the literature (Case Western)

• Literature Review Process: Question Prompts to Gide Graduate Research Projects/ Farooq, Omer

Online Tutorials

Searching the literature:

There are many online videos and other sources which discuss conducting an effective literature review.  The following links are to selected sources.  

• Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students (North Carolina State University)
• Writing the Literature Review (University of Maryland) [video]
• Writing a Literature Review (UNL)
• Construction Dissertation Guide
• The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It (University of Toronto)
• Writing a Literature Review (Boston College)
• T hesis Writing - Reviewing the Literature (University of Wollongong)
• Writing Engineering Reports (Purdue)
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What is Literature Review?

Literature review is a "systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners."

Why is it important?

• provides a context for the research topic
• identifies major themes and concepts of the research topic
• outlines gaps and flaws in previous research
• enables the researcher to learn from previous theory on the subject
• identifies what has been already covered to prevent duplication
• position the work within the existing literature
• discusses further research questions

Literature review ca be a short introduction to an article, an article by itself, or the first chapter of a thesis or dissertation.

Adapted from:

Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students

Revision Date

Revised and updated on 10/26/2021.

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