A literature review is a critical analysis and review of published literature on a certain topic or research question. It is specifically designed to examine, analyze, and critique scholarly writings that are related to and around a research question or topic. The purpose of a literature review is to represent the literature that surrounds a particular topic and shows resemblance between the works you have researched and your research question.
There are five basic steps involved in a literature review:
- Defining your research question
- Planning your approach
- Searching the literature
- Analyzing your material
- Managing your results
This guide on literature reviews goes over each of these steps in detail and provide examples to help students in writing their literature reviews.