Writing a Literature Review

What is a Literature Review?  

A literature review is a written overview of what researchers have already discovered about a topic. It requires you to evaluate and synthesize "the literature" on a topic, including published articles, reports, studies, and experiments.

Think of it as a map of a topic's knowledge landscape —an exploration into what is known, what is not known, and what is still being debated.

What a Literature Review is NOT

• Not a research paper: You’re not making an original argument  or answering your own original research question. Instead, you’re summarizing and synthesizing what other researchers have already discovered.
• Not an annotated bibliography: You’re not simply listing and summarizing sources one by one; you’re weaving them together to provide a clear overview of what is known about your topic.

What Skills Are Required?

• Researching: Identify and collect the relevant literature on your topic (sometimes your sources may be provided for you).
• Evaluating: Assess your sources for reliability, relevance, and quality. 
• Summarizing: Condense the main ideas so readers can quickly grasp the essentials. 
• Synthesizing: Show how the sources connect, contrast, or build on one another. 

How are Literature Reviews Organized?

Like essays, your literature review will have an introduction, body, and conclusion. 

But within the body of the review, you’ll need a logical structure to organize and discuss your sources. Here are some common approaches:

Thematic Structure
Organize your sources by recurring themes or categories you’ve identified.
Example: The effects of social media (social, cognitive, psychological) or the motives behind censorship (identity, history, public perception).

Chronological Structure
Organize your sources to show how research and debates have developed over time — highlighting key turning points and shifts in understanding.
Example: Research on cigarettes and lung cancer moving from early correlation studies (1950s) → causation (1960s) → expanded risks like secondhand smoke and addiction (1970s–80s) → policy and prevention strategies (1990s–2000s) → current debates about vaping (2010s–present).

Methodological Structure
Organize your sources by the methods researchers use to study the topic.
Example: Studies on screen time grouped by experimental research (short-term attention effects), survey research (self-reported use and wellbeing), and theoretical models (screen time framed in context of the attention economy).

Theoretical Structure
Organize research based on different theories, models, or key concepts.
Example: Research on learning organized by behaviorist theories (stimulus-response), cognitive theories (information processing), and constructivist theories (knowledge built through experience).

Choosing the Best Organizational Structure

The best structure depends on your topic, your purpose, and the sources you’ve found.

• Thematic works well when your sources fall naturally into categories or recurring ideas.

• Chronological is a good choice when you want to show how research and debates have unfolded over time.

• Methodological highlights the different ways researchers have approached the same problem.

• Theoretical helps you compare key concepts or competing explanations.

Combining Structures

You don’t have to stick to just one structure. Many literature reviews use a hybrid approach—for example, organizing sources chronologically within larger themes, or comparing methods across different theoretical frameworks.