Remember that the purpose of a literature review is to:
- Demonstrate that you are familiar with the existing research on your topic.
- Provide a context for your own investigation by showing how it fits in with the existing research.
Your first step will be to thoroughly research your topic. You need to try to find all of the relevant scholarly articles and books that you can.
- We recommend that you bookmark your course research guide -- you'll find all of the library's relevant databases linked on the Find Articles and Books tabs.
Next, you'll carefully read and take notes from the scholarly sources that you've found. In particular, be on the lookout for:
- Themes or trends in the various authors' results or interpretation
- Controversies surrounding your topic
- Strengths and weaknesses in the studies that you read
- Aspects of the topic that are not well studied, and merit further research
Now you will be ready to start writing.
