Literature review

Overview

A literature review is a synthesis of past academic discussion and research findings.

Primary and secondary research

Literature reviews can be considered secondary research, which may then lead on to original research (primary research). Sometimes the boundary between primary and secondary research is not clear (e.g., a critical review of previously published ideas and data can lead to the discovery of new ideas).

Types

Literature reviews can be[1]:

1. Scoping (Munn et al., 2018)
2. Traditional or narrative
3. Systematic (Munn et al., 2018)
4. Meta-analytic
5. Meta-synthesis

See also

• Formulating literature reviews (UC-Pharmacy-Research Wikiversity)
• Literature review (Wikipedia)
• Literature review (UC-Pharmacy-Research Wikiversity)

References

Munn, Z., Peters, M.D.J., Stern, C. et al. (2018). Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach. BMC Med Res Methodol 18(143). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0611-x