Community Sustainability (CSUS) Research Resources: Literature Review

The term "literature review" can mean different things in different contexts.  All share in common the idea of examining the scholarly literature on a topic.  It is the end result that differs:

An Annotated Bibliography is "a bibliography that includes brief explanations or notes for each reference" (from Dictionary.com)  The notes may be evaluative or simply a summary.

A literature review can be free-standing article. "A review article or review of the literature article considers the state and progress of current literature on a given topic or problem by organizing, integrating, and evaluating previously published books and articles. In short, a review article is a critical evaluation of material that has already been published." (Writing Literature Reviews)  "The purpose is to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic." (Write a Literature Review)

A literature review is a vital part of research papers including theses and dissertations.  "Surveying the literature is necessary because scholarship is cumulative -- no matter what you write, you are standing on someone else's shoulders. Scholars must say something new while connecting what they say to what has already been said." (Writing Literature Reviews);

Below are some useful links for writing a literature review.

Learn How to Write a Review of Literature - University of Wisconsin Writing Center

Guidelines for Writing a Literature Review - University of Minnesota, Duluth

Write a Literature Review - UC Santa Cruz

Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting It - University of Toronto

Literature Review Tutorial - CQ University

Writing Literature Reviews - Clarmont Graduate University