Andre John C.

Manliguez XI –Faraday
How to Review Literature and Studies?
1. A literature review surveys books, scholarly articles, and any other sources
relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing,
provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works in relation
to the research problem being investigated. Literature reviews are designed to
provide an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular
topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits within a larger
field of study.
Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: 5. The Literature Review. (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/literaturereview
2. A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area,
and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time
period. A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it
usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and
synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a
synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a
new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it
might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And
depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and
advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/literature-reviews/
3. A literature review is a critical analysis of published sources, or literature, on a
particular topic. It is an assessment of the literature and provides a summary,
classification, comparison and evaluation. At postgraduate level literature reviews
can be incorporated into an article, a research report or thesis. At undergraduate
level literature reviews can be a separate stand-alone assessment. The literature
review is generally in the format of a standard essay made up of three components:
an introduction, a body and a conclusion. It is not a list like an annotated
bibliography in which a summary of each source is listed one by one.
Peacock, J. (n.d.). Writing a literature review. Retrieved from
https://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/litreview.jsp
4. A literature review is not an annotated bibliography in which you summarize
briefly each article that you have reviewed. While a summary of the what you
have read is contained within the literature review, it goes well beyond merely
summarizing professional literature. It focuses on a specific topic of interest to
you and includes a critical analysis of the relationship among different works, and
relating this research to your work. It mfrom ay be written as a stand-alone paper
 or to provide a theoretical framework and rationale for a research study (such as
a thesis or dissertation).
Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: 5. The Literature Review.
(n.d.). Retrieved https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/literaturereview

5. A literature review is a summary of studies related to a particular area of

research. It identifies and summarizes all the relevant research conducted on a
particular topic. It is important that your literature review is focused. Therefore,
you should choose a limited number of studies that are central to your topic
rather than trying to collect a wide range of studies that might not be closely
connected.
 Evaluate past research
Collecting relevant resources will help you see what research has already been
done. This will also help avoid duplication.
 Identify experts
It is important to identify credible researchers who have knowledge in a given
field, in order to seek their help if you get stuck with certain aspects of your
research.
 Identify key questions
Your ultimate aim is to bring something new to the conversation. Collecting
resources will help you determine the important questions that need to be
addressed.
 Determine methodologies used in past studies
Knowing how others have approached a particular topic will give you the
opportunity to identify problems and find new ways to research and study a topic.
If the reported methodology was successful, you can use it and save time that
you would otherwise be spending on optimization.
Arvi, M. (2019, December 5). Literature Review Tips for the Introduction and
Discussion Sections. Retrieved from https://www.enago.com/academy/literature-
review-tips-for-the-introduction-and-discussion-sections/