A literature review is a summary of what researchers have already said about a topic. It helps you understand the main ideas, methods, and debates in the field. By looking at books, articles, and other sources, a literature review shows patterns, disagreements, and questions that are still being explored. You can organize it by topic, method, time period, or important people who have studied the issue.
A literature review is often the first stage of a research project. It may stand alone or be part of a larger work, such as a thesis, journal article, or dissertation. Conducting a literature review helps you build a strong understanding of your topic and develop focused research questions. It can reveal:
The other tabs on this page will help you learn how to research and write a literature review and how to find professional literature reviews in library databases.
This guide is adapted from Literature Reviews created by the library staff at the University of Massachusetts Global and is used with permission. This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4. 0 
