Literature reviews are a necessary step in a research process and often required when writing your research proposal. They involve gathering, analyzing, and evaluating existing knowledge about a topic in order to find gaps in the literature where future studies will be needed.
Ideally, once you have completed your literature review, you will be able to identify how your research project can build upon and extend existing knowledge in your area of study.
Generally, for my undergraduate research students, I recommend a narrative review, where themes can be generated in order for the students to develop sufficient understanding of the topic so they can build upon the themes using unique methods or novel research questions.
For more advanced students and scholars, literature reviews like systematic and meta-analyses may be more fitting, especially if the review is not to identify potential areas of research but to present practical and clinical recommendations based directly upon a reading of the literature.
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Literature Review Examples
For the following types of literature review, I present an explanation and overview of the type, followed by links to some real-life literature reviews on the topics.
1. Narrative Review Examples
Also known as a traditional literature review, the narrative review provides a broad overview of the studies done on a particular topic.
It often includes both qualitative and quantitative studies and may cover a wide range of years.
The narrative review’s purpose is to identify commonalities, gaps, and contradictions in the literature.
I recommend to my students that they should gather their studies together, take notes on each study, then try to group them by themes that form the basis for the review (see my step-by-step instructions at the end of the article).
Example Study
Title: Communication in healthcare: a narrative review of the literature and practical recommendations
Citation: Vermeir, P., Vandijck, D., Degroote, S., Peleman, R., Verhaeghe, R., Mortier, E., … & Vogelaers, D. (2015). Communication in healthcare: a narrative review of the literature and practical recommendations. International journal of clinical practice, 69(11), 1257-1267.
Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ijcp.12686
Overview: This narrative review analyzed themes emerging from 69 articles about communication in healthcare contexts. Five key themes were found in the literature: poor communication can lead to various negative outcomes, discontinuity of care, compromise of patient safety, patient dissatisfaction, and inefficient use of resources. After presenting the key themes, the authors recommend that practitioners need to approach healthcare communication in a more structured way, such as by ensuring there is a clear understanding of who is in charge of ensuring effective communication in clinical settings.
Other Examples
- Burnout in United States Healthcare Professionals: A Narrative Review (Reith, 2018) – read here
- Examining the Presence, Consequences, and Reduction of Implicit Bias in Health Care: A Narrative Review (Zestcott, Blair & Stone, 2016) – read here
- A Narrative Review of School-Based Physical Activity for Enhancing Cognition and Learning (Mavilidi et al., 2018) – read here
- A narrative review on burnout experienced by medical students and residents (Dyrbye & Shanafelt, 2015) – read here
2. Systematic Review Examples
This type of literature review is more structured and rigorous than a narrative review. It involves a detailed and comprehensive plan and search strategy derived from a set of specified research questions.
The key way you’d know a systematic review compared to a narrative review is in the methodology: the systematic review will likely have a very clear criteria for how the studies were collected, and clear explanations of exclusion/inclusion criteria.
The goal is to gather the maximum amount of valid literature on the topic, filter out invalid or low-quality reviews, and minimize bias. Ideally, this will provide more reliable findings, leading to higher-quality conclusions and recommendations for further research.
You may note from the examples below that the ‘method’ sections in systematic reviews tend to be much more explicit, often noting rigid inclusion/exclusion criteria and exact keywords used in searches.
Example Study
Title: The importance of food naturalness for consumers: Results of a systematic review
Citation: Roman, S., Sánchez-Siles, L. M., & Siegrist, M. (2017). The importance of food naturalness for consumers: Results of a systematic review. Trends in food science & technology, 67, 44-57.
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092422441730122X
Overview: This systematic review included 72 studies of food naturalness to explore trends in the literature about its importance for consumers. Keywords used in the data search included: food, naturalness, natural content, and natural ingredients. Studies were included if they examined consumers’ preference for food naturalness and contained empirical data. The authors found that the literature lacks clarity about how naturalness is defined and measured, but also found that food consumption is significantly influenced by perceived naturalness of goods.
Other Examples
- A systematic review of research on online teaching and learning from 2009 to 2018 (Martin, Sun & Westine, 2020) – read here
- Where Is Current Research on Blockchain Technology? (Yli-Huumo et al., 2016) – read here
- Universities—industry collaboration: A systematic review (Ankrah & Al-Tabbaa, 2015) – read here
- Internet of Things Applications: A Systematic Review (Asghari, Rahmani & Javadi, 2019) – read here
3. Meta-analysis
This is a type of systematic review that uses statistical methods to combine and summarize the results of several studies.
Due to its robust methodology, a meta-analysis is often considered the ‘gold standard’ of secondary research, as it provides a more precise estimate of a treatment effect than any individual study contributing to the pooled analysis.
Furthermore, by aggregating data from a range of studies, a meta-analysis can identify patterns, disagreements, or other interesting relationships that may have been hidden in individual studies.
This helps to enhance the generalizability of findings, making the conclusions drawn from a meta-analysis particularly powerful and informative for policy and practice.
Example Study
Title: Cholesterol and Alzheimer’s Disease Risk: A Meta-Meta-Analysis
Citation: Sáiz-Vazquez, O., Puente-Martínez, A., Ubillos-Landa, S., Pacheco-Bonrostro, J., & Santabárbara, J. (2020). Cholesterol and Alzheimer’s disease risk: a meta-meta-analysis. Brain sciences, 10(6), 386.
Source: https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060386
Overview: This study examines the relationship between cholesterol and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Researchers conducted a systematic search of meta-analyses and reviewed several databases, collecting 100 primary studies and five meta-analyses to analyze the connection between cholesterol and Alzheimer’s disease. They find that the literature compellingly demonstrates that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels significantly influence the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
Other Examples
- The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of educational feedback research (Wisniewski, Zierer & Hattie, 2020) – read here
- How Much Does Education Improve Intelligence? A Meta-Analysis (Ritchie & Tucker-Drob, 2018) – read here
- A meta-analysis of factors related to recycling (Geiger et al., 2019) – read here
- Stress management interventions for police officers and recruits (Patterson, Chung & Swan, 2014) – read here
Other Types of Reviews
- Scoping Review: This type of review is used to map the key concepts underpinning a research area and the main sources and types of evidence available. It can be undertaken as stand-alone projects in their own right, or as a precursor to a systematic review.
- Rapid Review: This type of review accelerates the systematic review process in order to produce information in a timely manner. This is achieved by simplifying or omitting stages of the systematic review process.
- Integrative Review: This review method is more inclusive than others, allowing for the simultaneous inclusion of experimental and non-experimental research. The goal is to more comprehensively understand a particular phenomenon.
- Critical Review: This is similar to a narrative review but requires a robust understanding of both the subject and the existing literature. In a critical review, the reviewer not only summarizes the existing literature, but also evaluates its strengths and weaknesses. This is common in the social sciences and humanities.
- State-of-the-Art Review: This considers the current level of advancement in a field or topic and makes recommendations for future research directions. This type of review is common in technological and scientific fields but can be applied to any discipline.
How to Write a Narrative Review (Tips for Undergrad Students)
Most undergraduate students conducting a capstone research project will be writing narrative reviews. Below is a five-step process for conducting a simple review of the literature for your project.
- Search for Relevant Literature: Use scholarly databases related to your field of study, provided by your university library, along with appropriate search terms to identify key scholarly articles that have been published on your topic.
- Evaluate and Select Sources: Filter the source list by selecting studies that are directly relevance and of sufficient quality, considering factors like credibility, objectivity, accuracy, and validity.
- Analyze and Synthesize: Review each source and summarize the main arguments in one paragraph (or more, for postgrad). Keep these summaries in a table.
- Identify Themes: With all studies summarized, group studies that share common themes, such as studies that have similar findings or methodologies.
- Write the Review: Write your review based upon the themes or subtopics you have identified. Give a thorough overview of each theme, integrating source data, and conclude with a summary of the current state of knowledge then suggestions for future research based upon your evaluation of what is lacking in the literature.
Conclusion
Literature reviews don’t have to be as scary as they seem. Yes, they are difficult and require a strong degree of comprehension of academic studies. But it can be feasibly done through following a structured approach to data collection and analysis. With my undergraduate research students (who tend to conduct small-scale qualitative studies), I encourage them to conduct a narrative literature review whereby they can identify key themes in the literature. Within each theme, students can critique key studies and their strengths and limitations, in order to get a lay of the land and come to a point where they can identify ways to contribute new insights to the existing academic conversation on their topic.
References
Ankrah, S., & Omar, A. T. (2015). Universities–industry collaboration: A systematic review. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 31(3), 387-408.
Asghari, P., Rahmani, A. M., & Javadi, H. H. S. (2019). Internet of Things applications: A systematic review. Computer Networks, 148, 241-261.
Dyrbye, L., & Shanafelt, T. (2016). A narrative review on burnout experienced by medical students and residents. Medical education, 50(1), 132-149.
Geiger, J. L., Steg, L., Van Der Werff, E., & Ünal, A. B. (2019). A meta-analysis of factors related to recycling. Journal of environmental psychology, 64, 78-97.
Martin, F., Sun, T., & Westine, C. D. (2020). A systematic review of research on online teaching and learning from 2009 to 2018. Computers & education, 159, 104009.
Mavilidi, M. F., Ruiter, M., Schmidt, M., Okely, A. D., Loyens, S., Chandler, P., & Paas, F. (2018). A narrative review of school-based physical activity for enhancing cognition and learning: The importance of relevancy and integration. Frontiers in psychology, 2079.
Patterson, G. T., Chung, I. W., & Swan, P. W. (2014). Stress management interventions for police officers and recruits: A meta-analysis. Journal of experimental criminology, 10, 487-513.
Reith, T. P. (2018). Burnout in United States healthcare professionals: a narrative review. Cureus, 10(12).
Ritchie, S. J., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2018). How much does education improve intelligence? A meta-analysis. Psychological science, 29(8), 1358-1369.
Roman, S., Sánchez-Siles, L. M., & Siegrist, M. (2017). The importance of food naturalness for consumers: Results of a systematic review. Trends in food science & technology, 67, 44-57.
Sáiz-Vazquez, O., Puente-Martínez, A., Ubillos-Landa, S., Pacheco-Bonrostro, J., & Santabárbara, J. (2020). Cholesterol and Alzheimer’s disease risk: a meta-meta-analysis. Brain sciences, 10(6), 386.
Vermeir, P., Vandijck, D., Degroote, S., Peleman, R., Verhaeghe, R., Mortier, E., … & Vogelaers, D. (2015). Communication in healthcare: a narrative review of the literature and practical recommendations. International journal of clinical practice, 69(11), 1257-1267.
Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2020). The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of educational feedback research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 3087.
Yli-Huumo, J., Ko, D., Choi, S., Park, S., & Smolander, K. (2016). Where is current research on blockchain technology?—a systematic review. PloS one, 11(10), e0163477.
Zestcott, C. A., Blair, I. V., & Stone, J. (2016). Examining the presence, consequences, and reduction of implicit bias in health care: a narrative review. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 19(4), 528-542
Chris Drew (PhD)
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Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education.
FAQs
How long should a literature review be for a 15 page paper? ›
In the absence of specific instructions about the length of a literature review, a general rule of thumb is that it should be proportionate to the length of your entire paper. For example, if your total paper is expected to be 15 pages long, 2-3 pages will likely suffice for the literature review.
How much literature review is enough? ›In a PhD thesis, the literature review typically comprises one chapter (perhaps 8-10,000 words), for a Masters dissertation it may be around 2-3,000 words, and for an undergraduate dissertation it may be no more than 2,000 words.
How many sources for a 3,000 word literature review? ›| Article Size (Word Count) | Median Number of References |
|---|---|
| (1000, 2000] | 15 |
| (2000, 3000] | 28 |
| (3000, 4000] | 36 |
| (4000, 5000] | 44 |
If you're a slow, hesitant writer, an hour per page is the maximum I would ever suggest. In all likelihood, you can probably write a fairly decent 10-to-12-page paper in about five hours. Set a paced schedule for yourself and then work carefully but briskly.
How many hours does it take to write a 15 page research paper? ›Writing 15 pages will take about 3.1 hours for the average writer typing on a keyboard and 6.3 hours for handwriting. However, if the content needs to include in-depth research, links, citations, or graphics such as for a blog article or high school essay, the length can grow to 25 hours.
Are literature reviews hard? ›After you've selected a topic, one of the first major tasks is writing the literature review — the section some experts say is the most difficult and time-consuming.
How long is the average literature review? ›The length largely depends on your area of study. However, I have found that most literature reviews are between 40-60 pages.
How long does it take to write a 20 page literature review? ›Writing 20 pages will take about 4.2 hours for the average writer typing on a keyboard and 8.3 hours for handwriting. However, if the content needs to include in-depth research, links, citations, or graphics such as for a blog article or high school essay, the length can grow to 33.3 hours.
How many references do I need for a 2000 word literature review? ›For example: In a 2000 word essay, you will have 1500 words to use. Each main point you make should typically use 1-3 paragraphs, which should average around 200-400 words in total. This will give you room for around 5 key points, each supported by 2 or 3 references.
How many sources should a 10 page literature review have? ›Example: A stand-alone literature review that has 10 pages of content (the body of the paper) should examine at least 30 sources. These are not hard and fast rules by any means.
How many sources should a 15 page research paper have? ›
If you are writing a 15-page paper, you should prepare at least 15 sources to use in the paper.
What are the 5 rules for writing a literature review? ›- Rule 1: Define a Topic and Audience.
- Rule 2: Search and Re-search the Literature.
- Rule 3: Take Notes While Reading.
- Rule 4: Choose the Type of Review You Wish to Write.
- Rule 5: Keep the Review Focused, but Make It of Broad Interest.
- Rule 6: Be Critical and Consistent.
- Rule 7: Find a Logical Structure.
Just like most academic papers, literature reviews also must contain at least three basic elements: an introduction or background information section; the body of the review containing the discussion of sources; and, finally, a conclusion and/or recommendations section to end the paper.
How do you write a strong literature review? ›- Narrow your topic and select papers accordingly.
- Search for literature.
- Read the selected articles thoroughly and evaluate them.
- Organize the selected papers by looking for patterns and by developing subtopics.
- Develop a thesis or purpose statement.
- Write the paper.
- Review your work.
While it's not ideal, a research paper can be done in a day. Spend a few hours brainstorming, researching, and creating a brief outline. After preparing everything, find a distraction-free environment and start writing. Remember to write quickly so you can finish the paper by the end of the day.
Can I write 30 pages in 2 hours? ›Writing 30 pages will take about 6.3 hours for the average writer typing on a keyboard and 12.5 hours for handwriting.
Can I write 10 pages in 2 hours? ›Writing 10 pages will take about 2.1 hours for the average writer typing on a keyboard and 4.2 hours for handwriting.
Can you write a literature review in a week? ›Even if you are a slow writer, you can write a whole paper in a single week — if you follow my strategy. Read below about what you need to prepare and how to approach this project. I wrote my first scientific research article in 7 days. It started as a desperate effort to stop my procrastination and “just do it”.
Can I write a 15 page paper in two days? ›Assuming you are writing 15 pages per day, it will only take you two days. However, if you are a slow writer, you will need to take up to 5 days to complete a 30-page research paper. As a student with much time, planning, writing, and polishing, a 30-page paper should be in less than a week.
Can you write a literature review in 2 days? ›Write a Literature Review in a Day: Yes, It's Possible, and It's Actually Fun. Literature reviews: they are every writer's least favorite part of writing. Still, they are a fundamental aspect of scholarly work.
What is a poor literature review? ›
A Bad Literature Review rambles from topic to topic without a clear focus. studies without making distinctions about quality or relevance. biases and limitations.
What makes a literature review fail? ›There are several mistakes that may happen while writing an effective literature review includes no proper lines like dispute statement, absences of appropriate research, indicating the sources incorrectly, the poor formation of paper, plagiarism checking.
What is the hardest part of literature review? ›If you're writing a thesis or dissertation, for example, the lit review chapter (usually chapter 2) is often the hardest chapter to write, perhaps rivaled only by the “discussion” chapter.
Is 1000 words enough for a literature review? ›Literature reviews can form part of a research project or proposal, or they can be stand-alone extended documents. A literature review that is part of a course assignment might be of 500 to 1000 words, while a literature review that is presented as a journal article might be in excess of 5000 words.
How many papers should I read for literature review? ›In general, undergraduate students will usually be required to use somewhere between 5 and 20 sources; graduate students typically will need between 20 and 40. However, the number can vary greatly, so always read your requirements and ask your professor.
What percentage should literature review be? ›How long should a literature review be? As a general guide, the dissertation literature review should be around 25% of the complete dissertation, although this will also depend on the wider structure of your dissertation and the scope of literature available to you.
How many pages can you write in 24 hours? ›You could write 1-2 pages (500-1000 words) in an hour, if you know where your story is going and you're in a groove. If you have kids as well as a full time day job, perhaps you can only squeeze in 10 minutes. However, you could still write ½ page (250 words) if you really focus for those 10 minutes.
Can you write a literature review in 5 days? ›Depends on how well you know the material. First year - maybe 10 days but taking frequent breaks to not lose my mind. Now (5th year), maybe 5 days. I still have to take breaks but not as frequently.
Can I write a 10 page paper in a day? ›Can you even write a 10-page paper in one day? The answer is yes, you can. But that would depend on several factors. These include your ability to avoid any distraction, typing speed, and knowledge of the topic you're writing.
Can you write a 3000 word essay in a day? ›Writing 3,000 words can take anywhere between six and 24 hours depending on the topic. But, with our tips, you can easily get the essay done within a day. Get your head down and you could meet the deadline, and even produce an essay you're proud of.
Can you have too many citations in a research paper? ›
A major disadvantage of having too many references is that it may hinder the flow of the paper. Secondly, it may show that you are not very well versed in your field of research and have to rely on an overwhelming number of citations. It sends a signal that your work is not very interesting.
How old should sources be in a literature review? ›How old should sources be in a literature review? Sources for a literature review should be as current as possible or not older than ten years. The only exception to this rule is if you are reviewing a historical topic and need to use older sources.
What are the 4 parts of literature review? ›It helps to deconstruct the literature review into a four-part process, including: 1) Developing a Topic; 2) Searching the Literature; 3) Narrowing the Scope; and 4) Synthesizing Prior Research.
Is my literature review too broad? ›Your topic is probably too broad when:
you realize you won't have enough space in your paper to cover everything about your topic that you want to cover. you feel like your topic is pulling you in lots of different directions--it's hard to combine all of the information you are finding out about it.
Disciplinary Differences in Expected Citations
In fact, in Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics, even for papers in ISI listed journals that are 10 years old, 4-5 ISI citations might be enough to put an article in the top 50% most cited papers in their fields, around 20 citations puts you in the top 10%.
15 pages is 7,500 words single spaced, 3,750 words double spaced. 20 pages is 10,000 words single spaced, 5,000 words double spaced.
How many pages should literature review be? ›The length of a literature review varies depending on its purpose and audience. In a thesis or dissertation, the review is usually a full chapter (at least 20 pages), but for an assignment it may only be a few pages. There are several ways to organize and structure a literature review.
How do you organize a 15 page research paper? ›- Acknowledge the task ahead. ...
- Figure out a topic. ...
- Realize you can't always get what you want. ...
- Break down the task. ...
- Go. ...
- Make sure to cite. ...
- Power through the first paragraph. ...
- Give your brain a break.
The Five R's of creative non-fiction are: Real life, Research, Write, Reflect, and Read.
What should not be included in a literature review? ›Do not include extended quotations, and use direct quotes sparingly, if at all. The literature review is a synthesis and analysis of research on your topic in your own words. Most ideas can be and should be paraphrased. Professors sometimes perceive undue reliance on quotations as intellectual laziness.
What are four 4 best sources of literature for the literature review? ›
Peer reviewed journal articles. Edited academic books. Articles in professional journals. Statistical data from government websites.
How to start a literature review? ›One common way to approach a literature review is to start out broad and then become more specific. Think of it as an inverted triangle: First briefly explain the broad issues related to your investigation; you don't need to write much about this, just demonstrate that you are aware of the breadth of your subject.
What should a good literature review include? ›An effective literature review must include an overview, a summary, and a critique. The purpose of a literature review is to convey knowledge and ideas established for a specific topic, and to discuss their strengths and weaknesses.
What is the key to a good literature review? ›- summarise and analyse previous research and theories;
- identify areas of controversy and contested claims;
- highlight any gaps that may exist in research to date.
- The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health.
- The Role of Gender in Literary Works.
- The Influence of Technology on Education.
- The Significance of Race in Literature.
- The Impact of Climate Change on Literature.
- The Influence of Religion on Literature.
- The Impact of Globalization on Literature.
Ideally, the average length of a literature review should be between 20 and 40 percent of the entire project.
How long should a literature review be for a paper? ›In the absence of specific instructions about the length of a literature review, a general rule of thumb is that it should be proportionate to the length of your entire paper. If your paper is 15 pages long 2-3 pages might suffice for the literature review.
How many pages should a literature review be? ›The length of a literature review varies depending on its purpose and audience. In a thesis or dissertation, the review is usually a full chapter (at least 20 pages), but for an assignment it may only be a few pages. There are several ways to organize and structure a literature review.
How many paragraphs should a 15 page paper have? ›A 15 page essay word count is usually 3700 to 3750 words (12 pt., double-spaced). The length of a typical academic paragraph is 100 to 150 words. So, there are 25 to 37 paragraphs in a paper of 15 pages.
What is the easiest way to write a literature review? ›- Narrow your topic and select papers accordingly.
- Search for literature.
- Read the selected articles thoroughly and evaluate them.
- Organize the selected papers by looking for patterns and by developing subtopics.
- Develop a thesis or purpose statement.
- Write the paper.
- Review your work.