Graduate Nursing and DNP Students' Guide to McKillop Library

An important component of your scholarly project is a review of the existing literature that is relevant to your research. Literature reviews critically examine a selection of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, theoretical articles and sometimes additional reviews of literature (University of Wisconsin Writing Center). This analysis serves to situate your research ideas in the context of established research. Information below will help you in preparing a review of literature.

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

• an annotated bibliography, in which you summarize each article that you have selected.  A literature review goes beyond basic summarizing to focus on the critical analysis of the reviewed works and their relationship to your research question.
• a research paper, in which you select resources to support one side of an issue versus another.  A literature review explains and considers all sides of an argument in order to avoid bias, and areas of agreement and disagreement should be highlighted.

• Are you focusing on methodological approaches; on theoretical issues; on qualitative or quantitative research?
• How detailed? Will it be a review of ALL relevant material or will the scope be limited to more recent material, e.g., the last five years.
• What is known about the subject?
• How are sources similar in terms of methodologies, philosophies, claims, choice and interpretation of evidence, reliability, etc.? 
• How do they differ?
• Are there any gaps in the knowledge of the subject?
• Have areas of further study been identified by other researchers that you may want to consider?
• Is there consensus about the topic?
• What aspects have generated significant debate on the topic?
• Do particular issues or problems stand out?
• Who are the significant research personalities in this area?
• What methods or problems were identified by others studying in the field and how might they impact your research?
• What is the most productive methodology for your research based on the literature you have reviewed?
• What sources of information or data were identified that might be useful to you?

• Determine your purpose. Understanding the purpose will help you place appropriate emphasis on analysis or summary.
• Keep track of sources by writing a brief summary for each.
• Consider making a table or chart to map how different sources relate to/contrast with one another.
• Consider the significance of each work to the field. The amount of space you dedicate to an individual source denotes its significance within the body of literature.

• The introduction should explain why you are writing the review (“so what/who cares?”) and make some central claims about the current state of the literature (e.g. trends, debates, gaps, etc.).
• Organize the body of the paper by common denominators among sources, such as methodologies, conclusions, philosophical approaches, or possibly chronology (assuming topical subsections).
• The conclusion should summarize significant contributions to the field, situate the reviewed literature in the larger context of the discipline, point out flaws or gaps in the research, and/or suggest future areas of study.

Information on this page comes from the following sources: 

Literature Reviews, from the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University: https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lit-review-1.original.pdf

Planning Your Review, from the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh: https://pitt.libguides.com/literaturereview