ITLS 6520: Conducting a Literature Review

A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by credible scholars and researchers. 

Your goal in a literature review is to present and analyze the literature about a particular topic. In research and grant proposals, literature reviews show the gaps in knowledge your study or project will address.

Each source in a lit review is a piece of a larger puzzle. You'll want to discover:

• Which sources talk about what part of your topic?
• Where do your sources agree?
• Where do your sources contradict one another or show lack of consensus?
• Where are the gaps in knowledge about your topic?
• How did research on your topic develop over time?

A Lit Review Must:

1. Be organized around and related directly to the thesis or research question you are developing
2. Synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known
3. Identify areas of controversy in the literature
4. Formulate questions that need further research
5. Include sources from multiple perspectives

SAMPLE LIT REVIEWS

• "Cascading Effects of Fire Exclusion in Rocky Mountain Ecosystems: A Literature Review" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. by Robert E. Keane, Kevin C. Ryan, Tom T. Veblen, Craig D. Allen, Jesse Logan, Brad Hawkes, USU. 
• "Nature of the Charge Localized Between Alkali Adatoms and Metal Substrates" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., G. K. Wertheim, D. Mark Riffe, P. H. Citrin, USU.