The use of literature is of paramount importance when conducting research projects. Reviewing existing literature is a common and simple way to become knowledgeable about a topic. Researchers in the social sciences build their cases for their projects by examining existing literature. The existing literature can answer many questions. For example, how will their new research project add to the existing literature? What have other researchers concluded about a particular topic? Has their research already been conducted and published? You will understand the value of conducting a review of the literature for your chosen project, how a literature review can aid in your professional growth, and basic steps to perform a literature review after reading this chapter.

Why Do I Need to Conduct a Literature Review?

Reading the previous chapters is likely to have you thinking about a research project. Jumping right into your research project may seem like the best and most exciting way to move forward. However, reviewing what has been written previously will be remarkably beneficial to your future research. Researchers may define a literature review differently, but many researchers see the value of revisiting past work and posit the literature review dictates the direction of the current research (Creswell, 2012; Hays & Singh; 2012; Maxwell, 2005; Onwuegbuzie & Weinbaum, 2017). The literature review helps describe how your research fits into previous research, how it adds to the literature, and what theoretical framework guides your research (Maxwell, 2005). Hays and Singh (2012) asserted “a review of the literature sets the proposed research in context, frames it within what has already been done, and provides a rationale for the current investigation (p. 115). The literature review may help define the research problem or what Creswell (2013) called the “need for the study.” The literature review answers the “so what” question about your research; just because it can be conducted does not mean it should be conducted.

Does My Research Need to Be Conducted?

Conducting a literature review will expand your knowledge on the topic you wish to research. For example, you can identify seminal publications that have influenced research on your chosen topic. Citing these seminal sources within your research project accomplishes two important aspects of research. First, citing major contributions adds to the legitimacy of your research. Second, citing previous research acknowledges the hard work of past researchers. As a community of scholars, we learn that adding to existing literature through original research takes time and can be challenging, therefore, citing past literature recognizes the accomplishments of previous researchers.

Diving into previous literature can guide your research study by identifying important contributions and authors related to your study. For example, identifying one major author can lead to other contributions from that author and aid in building your literature review. Your review initially starts out wide like the top of a funnel, but the more you expand your knowledge, the better able you are to narrow the information down like the tip of a funnel.

Literature is used differently for those conducting action research, program evaluation, and certain other applied research approaches. In those cases, the need for the study is determined locally, rather than from the existing research literature. That existing research literature is rather used to contextualize the problem, identify what is known about the phenomenon and/or intervention, and explore similar settings to what is to be studied locally.

Where Do I Find Literature to Use?

Published literature is readily available as scholarly articles and books in libraries and online. For example, students at a university have much access to research sources from their institution. These resources may include government documents or handbooks and encyclopedias. Many institutions also have a writing center which will have many resources to help your research.

Once you find an article that relates to your topic, the references of that article may lead you to additional resources and authors. Remember that professors, librarians, and others in your field are here to help you as you navigate your research project. These people with more research experience are great resources to discuss your project with and aid in finding relevant literature. There are also search engines aimed at research, such as Google Scholar, which allow you to search for scholarly work for free. Furthermore, Howland et al. (2009) claimed using Google Scholar may provide more resources than merely using traditional searches. Using multiple ways of searching for resources is especially important if finding information related to your research topic is challenging.

The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Reviewing the Literature

Employing AI to aid in conducting research is becoming more popular, and perhaps the most useful place to use AI is in the literature review. Using AI in conducting a literature review can identify potential sources and provide preliminary summaries. The use of AI may help a researcher sift through large numbers of sources in a small amount of time. AI is advancing quickly and may be a useful tool in reducing some of the more time-consuming steps of reviewing literature. However, make sure to check assignment guidelines, publication venue expectations, and/or institutional policies prior to conducting a review of the literature to make sure the use of AI is acceptable.

The Use of Literature & Best Practices

Performing a literature review can identify credible sources such as peer-reviewed journals, books, encyclopedias, and government documents instead of non-peer reviewed sources such as blogs or websites. Conducting a literature review may also show a gap in the literature. A gap in the literature means something is missing and further research needs to be conducted (Aveyard, 2023; Lunenburg & Irby, 2008). Identifying a gap in the literature can help narrow your research project. For example, maybe research has been conducted with a particular population, but needs to be conducted with a different population.

To illustrate, reviewing literature could be beneficial for mental health professionals who are new to the field or working with an unfamiliar diagnosis. If they were treating a person with depression, performing a review of literature regarding techniques or interventions that have been empirically validated related to treating depression can be greatly beneficial to the client. Implementing empirically validated theories and interventions may also be required when billing insurance companies.

The Use of Literature & Self-Care

Not only can research a particular area of concern produce helpful outcomes by those being served in a social science profession, it can also contribute to the wellness of practitioners. Reducing anxiety and being prepared for those you serve can be part of a beneficial self-care routine. For example, reviewing literature can ameliorate the anxiety of a mental health professional who is working with a new diagnosis or someone who is new to the field in a number of ways. Competence and effectiveness have been identified as the top two worries of counselors-in-training (Jordan & Kelly, 2004). Reviewing the literature related to theories and interventions can build confidence and expand the knowledge of mental health practitioners. Learning how to conduct a review of the literature during a graduate program can have benefits that last well into a person’s career.

Imposter syndrome often plagues many new graduates. Am I good enough to be teaching this topic? Am I good enough to be working with these clients? New graduates often doubt their abilities. A short review of literature related to the contributions of beginning counselors can demonstrate that those new to the field have the latest education, are up to date on ethical codes, and often start with a positive attitude and motivation which can be contagious to those who have been in the field for decades (Fall et al., 2003). Whether someone new to their field is struggling with imposter syndrome or anxiety, the use of literature is an easy and common way to improve confidence and effectiveness.

The Use of Literature & Publishing

Peer-reviewed journal articles require much smaller literature reviews than a thesis or dissertation.  Literature reviews that merely gather information are not usually publishable; but literature reviews that synthesize the information may be published on their own, because much information is gathered into one resource for others conducting research or practitioners learning more about a particular topic (Watts, 2011).

Reviewing literature is so important to the research study that it is the second chapter of dissertations and often written before the introduction (Lunenburg & Irby, 2008). Why would the second chapter be written before the first? As stated before, existing literature helps define the need for research. Your literature is often revisited at the end of your research project to legitimize the current study (van der Waldt, 2021). For example, your study could confirm the findings of previous research or fill a gap in existing literature. Another reason good literature reviews are important is peer-reviewed articles with poorly conducted literature reviews are less likely to be published (Onwuegbuzie & Daniel, 2005).

If you plan to submit an article for publication, find the journal you would like to submit the article to and look up their submission guidelines. These guidelines will give you much useful information such as page requirements, writing style, and deadlines.

The Use of Literature & Ethics

As previously stated, the use of literature can help enhance self-care. Self-care is directly related to many ethical codes in the social sciences. “Self-care is not a luxury; it is an ethical mandate” (Corey & Corey, 2016, p. 358). Ethically, we must take care of ourselves if we are to take care of others. The best thing we can bring to a practitioner setting is a healthy us.

Reviewing literature also keeps professionals up to date on the most recent ethical codes and concerns. For example, when diagnoses and guidelines are updated, the literature is where we go to understand the new updates. These changes in professions are why most professionals are required to get a certain number of Continuing Education Units (CEUs) before renewing their license. Often, reading existing literature and taking exams will satisfy the CEU requirement.

How to Create an Effective Literature Review

One of the first actions I take in creating a literature review is to dedicate time to reading. If you do not have time to read existing research, then you do not have time to conduct new research. “Your attitude as a researcher is critical. First, you must think of yourself as a researcher and writer, and not just as a graduate or doctoral student” (Lunenburg & Irby, 2008, p. 28). If you are reading this, you have likely already successfully navigated an undergraduate degree and are enrolled in a graduate program. Lean into your previous success and how the knowledge you have already earned can be applied to research. As previously stated, the best way to expand your knowledge is to read what has already been published.

Narrowing down a list of key words to help you search for resources is an important initial step (Creswell, 2012; Hays & Singh, 2012). After creating a list of key words, decide where to begin your search, such as the university library. Most libraries will have an online search engine. Not all libraries will have every resource available, but you will likely be able to get most resources through interlibrary loan (ILL). Interlibrary loan is a way to request resources from other libraries through the library you have access to which exponentially expands the amount of information available to you. If you use the internet to search for sources, remember to be cautious and double check the credibility of the source.

The amount of information available can be overwhelming at first. Organize your literature review like a funnel where broad information is at the top and more detailed information is at the bottom. Older resources or resources that barely meet your criteria may belong at the top of the funnel and beginning of the literature review, while resources more specific to your research project belong at the bottom of the funnel and later in your review (Lunenburg & Irby, 2008). When organizing your research, you may have to choose articles based on the requirements of the project. For example, many classroom projects only allow using resources that are five to ten years old. This date restriction may not extend to seminal research, which are more historical resources that significantly added to the literature.

Once you collect a few resources related to your study, then you begin to critically analyze them and see how they relate to your proposed study. Those at the top of the funnel will only be discussed briefly while those towards the bottom of the funnel relate more closely to your research and should be discussed in greater detail (Lunenburg & Irby, 2008).  Some researchers recommend using a literature map (Hays & Singh, 2012; Lunenburg & Irby, 2008). A literature map visually shows how your study fits into the existing literature and how your resources relate to each other.

After analyzing and organizing your literature, the time has come to write your literature review. You should celebrate this time because you have put much work into reading and choosing resources that relate and possibly validate your research. As previously stated, the closer the resource relates to your study, the more detail you should include. In the beginning of your study, you use literature to prove why your study is important. When you come to the discussion or conclusion of your research paper, revisiting important resources shows how your results fit into existing literature. For example, your study may confirm past research or provide a new direction based on differing results.

Practical Considerations in Writing a Literature Review

When writing a literature review, you should not summarize source-by-source; rather, your goal should be to write a coherent narrative of what is known about the topic you are researching. Think of the writing style by asking yourself, “If there were no sources cited here to visually clutter this part of my paper, does this explain what I want it to explain to my readers?” Obviously, you must cite sources in the literature review, but this question should help guide your writing style. You should also seek to synthesize ideas from your sources, which Purdue OWL (n.d.) described as when the researcher “collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other” (para. 1). That synthesis should be citation-rich and not rely heavily on direct quotes. Consider the following as an exemplar of the writing style in a literature review:

Mendez, S. L., Tygret, J. A., Bruwer, A., & Haynes, C. (2025). Critical components of successful cross-race mentoring relationships: Perspectives of mentees and mentors. The Qualitative Report, 30(1), 3010-3023. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2025.7186

There are some differences of opinion in exactly how the literature review should be structured or if it should vary by methodology; however, a general concept is that you will have two to four major topics and then demonstrate the gap in what we know about the topic that your study will help fill. The topics in a literature review should help your readers understand the major sub-topics and any existing knowledge that is closely related to your study. For example, if you were to research the impacts of poverty on early elementary academic achievement in a specific geographic area, you might utilize the following topics in your literature review: (1) poverty in the United States generally, (2) academic development in the early elementary years, and (3) the impacts of poverty on academic achievement generally. Then, you could conclude that literature review section noting that there have been no studies of this specifically on the early elementary years nor in this specific geographic region (ex., Kansas City, Missouri). Your study will help fill those gaps.

Finally, the question arises as to how comprehensive a literature review should be. Expectations scale widely based on the purpose of the project. A thesis or, especially, a dissertation might have a literature review that spans dozens if not a hundred pages. In a journal article-length paper, the literature review might be only 700 words. Before beginning your literature review process, consult instructions from your institution or intended publication outlet.

Conclusion

Whether you are writing a small research paper for a class or a large dissertation for a doctoral program, the use of literature is beneficial from the beginning to the end of your research project. A literature review at the beginning of a research project guides your topic and research problem. Literature is used at the end of a research project to validate findings.