Skip to main content
LibApps staff login

Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies

Planning Your Review

Writing a literature review will take time to gather and analyze the research relevant to your topic, so it is best to start early and give yourself enough time to gather and analyze your sources.  The process of writing a literature review usually covers the following steps:

  1. Define your Research question
  2. Plan your approach to your research 
  3. Search the literature
  4. Analyze the material 
  5. Manage the results of your research
  6. Write your review

Defining Your Question

Defining your research question is the key to the beginning, so while you may be clear on the area you want to study, chances are there are some nuances you need to consider. 

Part of this process may require exploratory searching in databases so that you can see what's already been published on your topic. Even if it's a new area, something has likely already been published in at least an adjacent study area. 

Some things to consider:

  • What is my central question or issue that the literature can help define?
  • What is already known about the topic?
  • Is the scope of the literature being reviewed wide or narrow enough?
  • Is there a conflict or debate in the literature?
  • What connections can be made between the texts being reviewed?
  • What sort of literature should be reviewed? Historical? Theoretical? Methodological? Quantitative? Qualitative?
  • What criteria should be used to evaluate the literature being reviewed?
  • How will reviewing the literature justify the topic I plan to investigate?

Source: https://libguides.library.kent.edu/c.php?g=389868&p=2645658

Subjects: General, History

The ASU Library acknowledges the twenty-three Native Nations that have inhabited this land for centuries. Arizona State University's four campuses are located in the Salt River Valley on ancestral territories of Indigenous peoples, including the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) Indian Communities, whose care and keeping of these lands allows us to be here today. ASU Library acknowledges the sovereignty of these nations and seeks to foster an environment of success and possibility for Native American students and patrons. We are advocates for the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies within contemporary library practice. ASU Library welcomes members of the Akimel O’odham and Pee Posh, and all Native nations to the Library.