Every research project needs a literature review. And while it’s one of the most challenging parts of the assignment, in part because of the intensity of the research involved, it’s by far the most important section of a research paper.
Many students fail to write comprehensive literature reviews because they see the assignment as a formality.
For the most part, they’ll vaguely create a list of existing studies and consider the assignment complete. But such an approach overlooks why a literature review is important.
We need to take a step back and look beyond the definition of a literature review.
In particular, the goal of this guide is to help you explore the significance of the review of the existing literature.
Once you understand the role that literature reviews play in research projects, you’ll give the assignment the full attention that it deserves.
Key Takeaways
Writing a literature review is important for the following reasons:
- It demonstrates that you understand the issue you’re investigating.
- A literature review allows you to develop a more theoretical framework for your research.
- It justifies your research and shows the gaps present in the current literature.
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What is a Literature Review?
A literature review is a study of the already existing research in a given area of study.
While it’s common in physical and social sciences, instructors may also request student to complete the assignment within the humanities space.
The review can be a standalone project or a part of an academic assignment.
If your professor or instructor asks you to write the review as a standalone project, your focus will be on exploring how a specific field of inquiry has developed over the course of time.
In the case where you have to include the review as part of your academic paper, the goal will be to set the background for the topic (or issue) you’re currently investigating.
How is Literature Review Different from an Essay?
In an education setting whether students are used to writing tons of essays every month, it’s likely for many to wonder whether an essay could be the same as a literature review.
While a literature review and an essay both require research before writing, there are a number of differences between them that you need to know.
Essay | Literature Review | |
Purpose | Present an argument in response to a question and persuade a reader to consider your position as credible | Helps a researcher to determine what’s already known about the topic as well as where to direct future research |
Content | Focuses on an argument to a question and discusses the aspect of a topic, and may include explanations and examples | Focuses on the critical review of one or multiple literatures. It gives a response to a stimulus or question, and narrows the focus and scope of the research |
Structure | Has an introduction, body, and conclusion, and should be organized thematically based on the contribution to the overall argument | Varies, but it must include an introduction, body, and a conclusion |
Approach | In an essay, sources are used as evidence | In a review, sources are used as the subject matter |
Types of Literature Review
We’ll look at the significance of a literature review in a moment.
For now let’s look at the types of literature reviews that your instructor may ask you to write.
As of this writing, there are 6 types of reviews that you need to know about. These are:
1. Argumentative Review
Examines a literature review with the intention to support or refuse an argument, with the aim being to develop a body of literature that can establish a contrarian point of view.
2. Integrative Literature Review
This type of review critiques and synthesizes related literature to generate a new framework and perspective on a topic.
Researchers have to address identical and/or related hypotheses or research problems to comply with research standards with regards to replication, vigor, and clarity.
3. Historical Literature
The focus of the review is to examine research within a given period, and usually starts from the time a research problem or issue emerged.
Then, you have to trace its evolution throughout the suggested timeframe within the scholarship of that particular discipline.
4. Methodological Literature Review
The focus shifts from what someone said to how they ended up saying what they said.
Since the focus here is on the method of analysis, methodological reviews gives a better framework that help one to understand exactly how a researcher draws their conclusion from a wide range of knowledge.
5. Systematic Literature
A systematic review focuses on the existing evidence related to a specific research question.
You will need to use a pre-specified and standardized approach to identify, evaluate, and appraise research, not to mention collect, analyze, and report data collected from the review.
Understand that the goal of a systematic review is to evaluate, summarize, and document research that focuses on a specific (or clearly defined) research problem.
6. Theoretical Literature Review
Theoretical review focuses on examining theories that resulted from an issue, a concept, or a situation.
It’s through this type of review that a researcher can easily establish the kind of theories that already formulated, the degree to what researchers have investigated them, and the relationship between them.
It’s through theoretical review that one can develop new hypotheses for testing and can therefore help to determine what theories aren’t sufficient to explain emerging research problems.
Why Is Literature Review Important?
Now that you know the difference between an essay and a review as well as the different types of literature review, it’s important to look at why it’s important to examine existing literature in your research.
There are a number of reasons why instructors ask you to write a review, and they’re as follow:
1. Demonstrate a Clear Understanding of the Subject
Writing a literature review demonstrates that you have a clear understanding of the subject you’re investigating.
It also means that you can easily identify, evaluate, and summarize existing research that’s relevant to your work.
2. Justify Your Research
There’s more to writing a research paper than just identifying topic and generating your research question from it.
You also have to go as far as to justify your research, and the only way to do that is by including a literature review in your work.
It’s important to understand that looking at past research is the only way to identify gaps that exist in the current literature.
That can go a long way to help fill in the gap by addressing them in your own research work.
3. Helps to Set a Resourceful Theoretical Framework
Because a research paper assignment builds up on the ideas of already existing research, doing a literature review can help you to set a resourceful theoretical framework on which to base your study.
The theoretical framework will include concepts and theories that you will base your research on. And keep in mind that it’s this framework that professors will use to judge the overall quality of your work.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Are The Benefits of Literature Review in Research?
A literature review in research allows you to discover exiting knowledge in your field and the boundaries and limitations that exists within that field.
Moreover, doing a review of existing literature helps you to understand the theories that drive an area of investigation, making it easy for you to place your research question into proper context.
2. What is the Effect of a Good Literature Review?
In addition to providing context, reducing research redundancy, and informing methodology, a well-written literature review can maximize relevance, enhance originality, and ensure professional standards in writing.
3. What is a Strength of a Literature Review?
The strength of a literature review is the ability to improve your information seeking skills and enhancing your knowledge about the topic under investigation.
Conclusion
As you can see, a review is quite a significant part of a research project, so you should treat it with the seriousness that it deserves.
At the end of the day, you want to create a good connection between you and your readers, and the best way to do that is to pack just as much value as you can in your literature review project.