Literature review

For a focused scientific review with pre-defined methodology, see Systematic review.

For the British magazine, see Literary Review. For the American magazine, see The Literary Review.

A literature review is an overview of previously published works on a particular topic. The term can refer to a full scholarly paper or a section of a scholarly work such as books or articles. Either way, a literature review provides the researcher/author and the audiences with general information of an existing knowledge of a particular topic. A good literature review has a proper research question, a proper theoretical framework, and/or a chosen research methodology. It serves to situate the current study within the body of the relevant literature and provides context for the reader. In such cases, the review usually precedes the methodology and results sections of the work.

Producing a literature review is often part of a graduate and post-graduate requirement, included in the preparation of a thesis, dissertation, or a journal article. Literature reviews are also common in a research proposal or prospectus (the document approved before a student formally begins a dissertation or thesis). ^[1]

A literature review can be a type of a review article. In this sense, it 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. Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such reviews are found in academic journals and are not to be confused with book reviews, which may also appear in the same publication. Literature reviews are a basis for research in nearly every academic field.

Types

Since the concept of a systematic review was formalized (codified) in the 1970s, a basic division among types of reviews is the dichotomy of narrative reviews versus systematic reviews. The term literature review without further specification still refers (even now, by convention) to a narrative review.

The main types of narrative reviews are evaluative, exploratory, and instrumental. ^[2]

A fourth type of review, the systematic review, also reviews literature (the scientific literature), but because the term literature review conventionally refers to narrative reviews, the usage for referring to it is "systematic review." A systematic review is focused on a specific research question, trying to identify, appraise, select, and synthesize all high-quality research evidence and arguments relevant to that question. A meta-analysis is typically a systematic review using statistical methods to effectively combine the data used on all selected studies to produce a more reliable result. ^[3]

Torraco (2016) ^[4] describes an integrative literature review. The purpose of an integrative literature review is to generate new knowledge on a topic through the process of review, critique, and synthesis of the literature under investigation.

George et al (2023) ^[5] offer an extensive overview of review approaches and describe six different types of review, each with their own unique purposes. First, the exploratory or scoping review which focuses on broadness as opposed to depth. Second, the systematic or integrative review which integrates empirical studies on a topic. Third, the meta-narrative review which is a qualitative review approach that uses literature to compare different research or practice communities. Fourth, the problematizing or critical review which proposes new ways of thinking about a concept by linking it with other literature. Fifth, the meta-analysis and meta-regression which provide an integration of quantitative studies and identify moderators. And, finally, the mixed research synthesis which combines other review approaches in the same paper. They also propose a model for selecting an approach by looking at the purpose, object, subject, community, and practices of the review.

Process and product

Shields and Rangarajan (2013) distinguish between the process of reviewing the literature and a finished work or product known as a literature review. ^{[6] : 193–229} The process of reviewing the literature is often ongoing and informs many aspects of the empirical research project.

The process of reviewing the literature requires different kinds of activities and ways of thinking. ^[7] Shields and Rangarajan (2013) and Granello (2001) link the activities of doing a literature review with Benjamin Bloom's revised taxonomy of the cognitive domain (ways of thinking: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating). ^{[6] [8]}

Use of artificial intelligence in a literature review

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping traditional literature reviews across various disciplines. ^[9] Generative pre-trained transformers, such as ChatGPT, are often used by students ^[10] and academics for review purposes. ^[11]

Nevertheless, the employment of ChatGPT in academic reviews is problematic due to ChatGPT's propensity to "hallucinate". ^[12] In response, efforts are being made to mitigate these hallucinations through the integration of plugins. For instance, Rad et al. (2023) used ScholarAI for review in cardiothoracic surgery. ^{[13] [ example needed ]}

See also

• Empirical study of literature
• Living review
• Media monitoring
• Review journal

References

1. Baglione, L. (2012). Writing a Research Paper in Political Science. Thousand Oaks, California: CQ Press.
2. Adams, John; Khan, Hafiz T. A.; Raeside, Robert (2007). Research methods for graduate business and social science students . New Delhi: SAGE Publications. p.  56. ISBN   9780761935896.
3. Bolderston, Amanda (June 2008). "Writing an Effective Literature Review". Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences. 39 (2): 86–92. doi: 10.1016/j.jmir.2008.04.009 . PMID   31051808.
4. Torraco, Richard J. (December 2016). "Writing Integrative Literature Reviews: Using the Past and Present to Explore the Future". Human Resource Development Review. 15 (4): 404–428. doi:10.1177/1534484316671606. ISSN   1534-4843. S2CID   152155091.
5. George, Bert; Andersen, Lotte B.; Hall, Jeremy; Pandey, Sanjay K (December 2023). "Writing impactful reviews to rejuvenate public administration: A framework and recommendations". Public Administration Review. 83 (6): 1517–1527. doi: 10.1111/puar.13756 .
6. Shields, Patricia; Rangarjan, Nandhini (2013). A Playbook for Research Methods: Integrating Conceptual Frameworks and Project Management. Stillwater, Oklahoma: New Forums Press. ISBN   978-1-58107-247-1.
7. Baker, P. (2000). "Writing a Literature Review". The Marketing Review. 1 (2): 219–247. doi:10.1362/1469347002529189.
8. Granello, D. H. (2001). "Promoting cognitive complexity in graduate written work: Using Bloom's taxonomy as a pedagogical tool to improve Literature Reviews". Counselor Education & Supervision. 40 (4): 292–307. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6978.2001.tb01261.x.
9. Wagner, Gerit; Lukyanenko, Roman; Paré, Guy (2022). "Artificial intelligence and the conduct of literature reviews". Journal of Information Technology. 37 (2): 209–226. doi: 10.1177/02683962211048201 . ISSN   0268-3962.
10. "What Students Are Saying About ChatGPT". The New York Times. 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
11. Haman, Michael; Školník, Milan (2023-03-06). "Using ChatGPT to conduct a literature review". Accountability in Research: 1–3. doi:10.1080/08989621.2023.2185514. ISSN   0898-9621. PMID   36879536. S2CID   257377232.
12. Alkaissi, Hussam; McFarlane, Samy I.; Alkaissi, Hussam; McFarlane, Samy I. (2023-02-19). "Artificial Hallucinations in ChatGPT: Implications in Scientific Writing". Cureus. 15 (2): e35179. doi: 10.7759/cureus.35179 . ISSN   2168-8184. PMC   9939079 . PMID   36811129.
13. Rad, Arian Arjomandi; Nia, Peyman Sardari; Athanasiou, Thanos (2023). "ChatGPT: revolutionizing cardiothoracic surgery research through artificial intelligence". Interdisciplinary CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery. 36 (6). doi:10.1093/icvts/ivad090. ISSN   2753-670X. PMC   10287897 . PMID   37349973.

Further reading

• Cooper, Harris M. (1998). Synthesizing Research: A Guide for Literature Reviews. Applied Social Research Methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. ISBN   978-0761913481.
• Creswell, John W. (2013). "Review of the Literature". Research Design. Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. ISBN   9781452226101.
• Dellinger, Amy B. (2005). "Validity and the Review of Literature". Research in the Schools. 12 (2): 41–54.
• Dellinger, Amy B.; Leech, Nancy L. (2007). "Toward a Unified Validation Framework in Mixed Methods Research". Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 1 (4): 309–332. doi:10.1177/1558689807306147. S2CID   145367484.
• Galvan, José L. (2015). Writing Literature Reviews: A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (6th ed.). Pyrczak Publishing. ISBN   978-1936523375.
• Green, Bart N.; Johnson, Claire D.; Adams, Alan (2006). "Writing Narrative Literature Reviews for Peer-Reviewed Journals: Secrets of the Trade". Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. 5 (3): 101–114. doi:10.1016/S0899-3467(07)60142-6. PMC   2647067 . PMID   19674681.
• Phelps, Richard P. (2018). "To save the research literature, get rid of the literature review". LSE Impact Blog, London School of Economics.