How to Write a Literature Review

Abstract

Learning how to effectively write a literature review is a critical tool for success for an academic, and perhaps even professional career. Being able to summarize and synthesize prior research pertaining to a certain topic not only demonstrates having a good grasp on available information for a topic, but it also assists in the learning process. Although literature reviews are important for one's academic career, they are often misunderstood and underdeveloped. This article is intended to provide both undergraduate and graduate students in the criminal justice field specifically, and social sciences more generally, skills and perspectives on how to develop and/or strengthen their skills in writing a literature review. Included in this discussion are foci on the structure, process, and art of writing a literature review.What is a Literature Review?In essence, a literature review is a comprehensive overview of prior research regarding a specific topic. The overview both shows the reader what is known about a topic, and what is not yet known, thereby setting up the rationale or need for a new investigation, which is what the actual study to which the literature review is attached seeks to do. Stated a bit differently (Creswell 1994, pp. 20, 21) explains:The literature in a research study accomplishes several purposes: (a) It shares with the reader the results of other studies that are closely related to the study being reported (Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990. (b) It relates a study to the larger, ongoing dialog in the literature about a topic, filling in gaps and extending prior studies (Marshall & Rossman, 1989). (c) It provides a framework for establishing the importance of the study.As an overview, a well done literature review includes all of the main themes and subthemes found within the general topic chosen for the study. These themes and subthemes are usually interwoven with the methods or findings of the prior research. Also, a literature review sets the stage for and JOURNAL

Evidence revisited: literature on smart specialisation calls for more mixed research designs

“…The data was collected by applying recommended methodologies for conducting a literature review (Denney and Tewksbury, 2013). The papers were obtained using the search words "smart specialization" and "smart specialisation" for the abstract, title and keywords of studies in literature databases such as Scopus, EBSCO and ScienceDirect until the end of 2015.…”

The Identification Characteristic about Charismatic Leadership on Islamic Non-Profit Oriented Organization in Indonesia

“…The approach used in this study is a conceptual approach to literature study methods. This literature study uses various references in the form of journals, previous research, and documents as related data sources [14].…”

The anatomy of an excellent review paper

“…An integrative review is not a catalogue of past studies. A weak review strings together results in a way that reads like a list of annotations about individual studies (Denney & Tewksbury, 2013;Webster & Watson, 2002). There is no element of synthesis in "Study X showed A, study Y showed B, and study Z demonstrated C".…”

“…But that does not make writing a good review paper easy; it requires substantial investment of time and thought, and a large dose of creativity. A good review paper not only summarises the current state of knowledge in a particular area, it also synthesises the literature to provide new insights and advance that field of research (Denney & Tewksbury, 2013;Pautasso, 2013;Torraco, 2005;Van Wee & Banister, 2016;Webster & Watson, 2002). So a good review is not just about looking back and summarising what has been done-it is about synthesising knowledge to show the way forward.There are very few general guidelines for how to write a good review paper because the format and structure are more flexible than that of a standard research paper.…”