Literature Review
Definition
Researchers often review research records on a given topic to better understand effects and phenomena of interest before embarking on a new research project, to understand how theory links to evidence or to investigate common themes and directions of existing study results and claims. Different types of reviews can be conducted depending on the research question and literature scope. To determine the scope and key concepts in a given field, researchers may want to conduct a scoping literature review. Systematic reviews aim to access and review all available records for the most accurate and unbiased representation of existing literature. Non-systematic or focused literature reviews synthesise information from a selection of studies relevant to the research question although they are uncommon due to susceptibility to biases (e.g. researcher bias; Siddaway et al., 2019).
References:
- Huelin, R., Iheanacho, I., Payne, K., & Sandman, K. (2015). What’s in a name? Systematic and non-systematic literature reviews, and why the distinction matters. The Evidence Forum, 34–37. Retrieved from https://www.evidera.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Whats-in-a-Name-Systematic-and-Non-Systematic-Literature-Reviews-and-Why-the-Distinction-Matters.pdf
- (2018). Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0611-x
- Pautasso, M. (2013). Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Literature Review. PLoS Computational Biology, 9(7), e1003149. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003149
- Siddaway, A. P., Wood, A. M., & Hedges, L. V. (2019). How to do a systematic review: a best practice guide for conducting and reporting narrative reviews, meta-analyses, and meta-syntheses. Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 747–770. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102803
Originally drafted by: Marta Topor
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