Subject Guide
What is a literature review?
A literature review discusses published research studies on a specific topic or subject area.
What is the purpose of writing it?
The goal of the lit review is to describe, summarize, and evaluate previous research in a given area. It should explain important conclusions about your topic as well as identify any gaps in the research or areas for future study.
Choose a Topic and Find Articles
Choose a topic that interests you and remember to keep an open mind. Depending on how much research there is, you may need to narrow or broaden your topic.
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Psychology and Behavioral Health
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Call Number: BF636 .S25 2023ISBN: 9781637004630Publication Date: 2023-04-30This specialized encyclopedia covers the history of the field, as well as major developments and theorists. Great for background information and definitions.
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ProQuest Central This link opens in a new windowThe largest single periodical resource available, bringing together complete databases across all major subject areas, including Business, Health and Medical, Social Sciences, Education, Science and Technology, and Humanities.
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Google ScholarSearch for scholarly articles and books. Be aware that the full text may not always be available.
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Psychology TodayThis is a website geared towards a more general reader (NOT scholarly) that can help you understand your topic.
Read the Articles
You want to read and understand each of your articles. A good starting point is to answer these 3 questions about each article:
1. What was the study's research question? In other words, what were they trying to find out?
2. What was the study's method? Briefly describe HOW they collected data and WHO their participant group was.
3. What do the results mean? Or what conclusions can we draw from the results?
Write the Lit Review
Connect: Think about what YOUR research question is for your lit review. Each article you found should connect to your topic/theme in some way and you should be able to describe your topic as a research question and your articles as answers to that question. Your summary for each article should show how they further our knowledge in relation to your topic.
Organize: Can you organize your articles into a few distinct groups? It could be by treatment method or age/ethnic group or other factor. The way you organize will depend on your topic and the research, but it will help you if you can group articles in some way.
Analyze: Think beyond just summary and about what we still don't know about this topic. Are there gaps in the research? Do too many studies use just one method of gathering data? What else is important to know? The "Discussion" section of your articles may help guide you in your analysis.
Additional Sources
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College Drinking Games Literature ReviewLit Review published in a scholarly journal. Good example of how lit reviews work in the field.
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How to Write a Literature Review from Psychology in ActionGood advice on choosing a topic and searching for articles.
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Writing a Literature Review in Psychology from University of WashingtonHelpful info on all aspects of writing a lit review. Great resource.
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Literature Reviews from UNC Chapel Hill Writing CenterThis is not specific to Psychology, but has good tips on organizing your paper.