A literature review is a systematic synthesis of previous research on a topic.
Literature reviews are the first step in your graduate studies research.
Steps in the Literature Review Process
- Define your research question. Consider:
- Setting: What is the context of your inquiry?
- Population or Problem: Who or what are you investigating?
- Intervention or Idea of Interest: What are you measuring, doing or changing?
- Comparison or Control Conditions: Are there any comparison groups?
- Evaluation: How are you measuring outcomes? What outcomes are you interested in?
- Identify sources for published and grey literature
- Library Databases
- Professional organizations
- Think tanks, policy institutes, NGOs
- Plan a systematic search strategy
- Identify key concepts & keywords
- Map to relevant controlled vocabulary (subject terms)
- Replicate the strategy across multiple databases
- Collect & organize references using citation management software
- Screen results for inclusion in the literature review
- Read and synthesize the literature as it relates to your research question
Doing a Literature Review in Health and Social Care by 
