LibGuides: Literature Reviews &amp; Annotated Bibliographies: Literature Reviews

What is a literature review?

A literature review is an account of the research published on a specific topic. Literature reviews help establish what is known or believed about an issue and help identify gaps in knowledge and new areas for research. Literature reviews are not simply summaries of articles but take a more critical view of the literature that has been published on a topic.

Literature reviews:

provide context for new research
explore the history of the topic
show relationships between articles on the topic
show gaps in the research and highlight areas in need of further research

Tools to Help you Organize

Use an article matrix to organize and keep track of your sources. A matrix will allow you to see patterns and relationships between the articles you read. Here are two different matrix you can modify for your needs.

1. This Article Matrix is in a spreadsheet. It works well for literature reviews of primary research studies.