A literature review can be a section of a research proposal, research report or dissertation, or it might be a self-contained review of writings on a subject.
A literature review looks at what other people have already said, thought, or discovered about a topic - you might think of it as pulling together all the important conversations and findings on your topic or in your field so far.
Why would you write one?
- To show what's already out there - Collecting and explaining what others have said about your topic helps give context to your own ideas.
- To spot what's missing - By reviewing the work that exists you might notice what hasn't been explored yet. That gap might be where you take your own creative or academic work next.
- To compare different ideas or findings - There might be areas that everyone agrees on, and there might be areas where there's strong disagreement. A lit review helps you show this debate or 'discourse'.
- To clarify the conversation - For example, you might find that different writers use the same word or term in different ways, i.e. 'aesthetic' or 'authenticity' - a lit review can help you clear that up.
- To support creative or academic projects - If you're planning a research project or creative work, the lit review can help build a strong foundation and show where your work fits in the broader conversation.
- To help make sense of your own findings - if you're collecting data - through interviews, surveys, textual analysis, creative practice, or other methods - your lit review helps you interpret what you find. It can give you a framework to analyse your work in relation to what's known, and to help you discuss and explain how your insights connect, challenge, or add something new to the conversation. In this way, the lit review can be referred back to in the other sections of a research report such as the method and discussion sections, for example.
