1.2 What is a literature review?

What is a literature review?

A literature review is a summary, analysis and synthesis of the scientific literature on a particular topic. Literature reviews build a picture of what is known about a topic and what questions remain unanswered.

How does my literature review assignment relate to the real world?

Literature reviews are a crucial part of theses and dissertations, grant proposals and journal articles.

Scientists use literature reviews to justify their research, identify knowledge gaps to study further and demonstrate how their research fits into the wider field. 

Activity