LibGuides: Literature Reviews: Home

What is a Literature (Narrative) Review?

A literature review (also known as a narrative review) is an integrated analysis of the existing literature used to summarize a body of literature, draw conclusions about a topic, and identify research gaps. By understanding the current state of the literature, you can show how new research fits into the larger research landscape.

A Literature Review is NOT:

Just a summary of sources
A review of everything written on a particular topic
A research paper arguing for a specific viewpoint - a lit review should avoid bias and highlight areas of disagreements
A systematic review

Purposes of a Literature Review

Explain the background of research on a topic
Demonstrate the importance of a topic
Suggest new areas of research
Identify major themes, concepts, and researchers in a topic
Identify critical gaps, points of disagreement, or flawed approaches for a research topic

Request Form for Research Assistance and Review Consultation

Levels of Librarian Assistance

We recommend you work with a librarian during the planning and searching phase of your literature review. The A.T. Still Memorial Library provides three levels of assistance for literature reviews.

Consultant	Education with Co-Author	Co-Author
Assist with refining the research topic Recommend databases and literature resources Provide training on citation management Provide education on developing search strategies Provide education on tracking your searches across all databases and literature resources Assist with locating full-text for any articles that do not have open access to the full-text	Assist with refining the research topic Recommend databases and litertaure resources Provide training on citation management Split up the work for searching the different databases and literature resources Provide education and assist with developing search strategies Provide education and help with tracking searches across all databases and literature resources Assist with locating full-text for any articles that do not have open access to the full-text	Assist with refinement of research question Select databases and literature sources Perform searching and tracking of the search Provide a list of articles that apply to the research question Assist with locating full-text for any articles that do not have open access to the full-text Provide training on citation management

Don't forget that we also provide scholarly communication services, including but not limited to helping you identify and evaluate journals for publication, understanding copyright, and publishing your work open access.

If you are interested in any of the above services, please complete our research assistance and review consultation form, and one of the liaison librarians will reach out to you.