What is a literature review?

A literature review is a survey and discussion of the literature in a given area of study. It is a concise overview of what
has been studied, argued, and established about a topic, and it is usually organized chronologically or thematically. A
literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research,
or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. 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 to 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.

A literature review is written in essay format and groups related works together and discusses trends and
developments rather than focusing on one item at a time. It is not a summary; rather, it evaluates previous and
current research in regard to how relevant and/or useful it is and how it relates to your own research. The format of a
review of literature may vary from discipline to discipline and from assignment to assignment. A review may be a self-
contained unit -- an end in itself -- or a preface to and rationale for engaging in primary research.

What is the purpose?

Situate your research and place it in context as well as to establish your
expertise in this area -- this means you do not need to read everything
about this topic but you should have read enough and be familiar enough
to make sure you have hit the definitive and seminal pieces and be able
to name the authors known for their work in this area.
Mutual support
The statement of the research problem and the literature review are
mutually supportive. The statement of the research problem clearly
defines the subject area to be treated. The literature review
demonstrates that the research problem has received prior attention,
and shows that further research is needed to resolve the problem. James
B. Fisher states, "To be EFFECTIVE, a literature review must be a CLEAR,
COHERENT, and PERSUASIVE analysis of the current state of the
literature."
Focus is key...
You do not need to exhaustively cover every aspect of your topic but you
do need to cover it thoroughly. This means that you may not need to
quote every key person involved and some you can simply include. It is
wise to lump like-minded folks together. Strive for maximum coverage
for a minimal word count.
Answer all the key questions
Have you answered all the questions that newcomers to your topic will
have about it? The purpose of the literature review is to give your
reader all the information (and no more) they need to understand your
research problem and the work that you are doing.