A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic that provides an overview of the previously published works on that topic. It can be a standalone piece or a section of a scholarly work such as a book, article, thesis, or dissertation. The purpose of a literature review is to establish the reviewers own position in the existing field of scholarship on that topic. It is an important genre in many disciplines, not just literature, and is often assigned to graduate and post-graduate students as part of their work. Literature reviews are also common in research proposals or prospectuses.

A literature review can be a type of review article, which is a scholarly paper that presents the current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources and do not report new or original experimental work.

The basic components of a literature review include a description of the publication, a summary of the publications main points, a discussion of gaps in research, and an evaluation of the publications contribution to the topic. A literature review is different from an annotated bibliography, which is a list of references with a summary of the content and the publications relationship to the research question.

To write a literature review, one should start by searching broadly for scholarly books, journal articles, and dissertations on the topic. The analysis of the literature collected around the topic should explore relationships, major themes, and any critical gaps in the research expressed in the work. The literature review should also critically analyze the authority, currency, coverage, methodology, and relationship to other works of each source.

In summary, a literature review is a comprehensive survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic that provides an overview of the previously published works on that topic. It is an important genre in many disciplines and is often assigned to graduate and post-graduate students as part of their work. The basic components of a literature review include a description of the publication, a summary of the publications main points, a discussion of gaps in research, and an evaluation of the publications contribution to the topic.