Q. How do I write a literature review?

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.   

• The library's Everything search box (aka Primo) is the best place to start, because it searches most of our library's databases at once.  But, you can also find databases by academic school and by subject.
• Keywords are key!  Click here to learn how to find the best search terms.  Once you've mastered that, check out these advanced research skills.
• See also: 
  • What's the best way to save articles for later?
  • How can one good source lead me to other good sources?
  • I found a great source for my topic. Is there a quick way to find articles or books that have cited it?

Next, you'll carefully read and take notes from the scholarly sources that you've found.  Reading research articles can be daunting at first;  click here for power-reading tips.   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. 

• The Graduate Writing section of Writing@APUS provides tips on writing a literature review (undergraduates are welcome to use it, too).  Navigate to A Focused Look and click The Literature Review.
• Watch the helpful video produced by the APUS Research and Academic Excellence team: Writing the Literature Review
• Another helpful resource is SAGE Project Planner: Reviewing the Literature. 

Don't forget that you'll need to correctly paraphrase or quote and cite your sources.   Your style guide and/or a good citation manager can help you with this part. 

See also:  

• Pautasso, M. (2013). Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Literature Review. PLoS Computational Biology, 9(7), e1003149. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003149
   

• How do I paraphrase or quote my sources correctly?

• What's the difference between an annotated bibliography and a literature review?

• What is a scholarly literature review? How can I find one?