Literature Review

Updated 17 Sep 2026

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What it is
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  a critical syntehsis of existing research relevant to a question, showing established findings, disagreements, limitations, and unresolved issues
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Process
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  define search terms and selection criteria
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  combine synonyms and concepts using Boolean operators; adapt query syntax to the search service
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  examine relevant primary studies and trace useful references
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  compare studies by questions, methods, data, evaluation conditions, and findings
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Distinguish from
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  an annotated bibliography summarizes papers individually; a literature review explains relationships across them
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Caution
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  recency and citation counts do not replace relevance and methodological quality
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  document search and selection decisions so the review can be understood and updated
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Related

Linked references 3