Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies

Need help with the writing process? Connect with the ASU Writing Center for help with the following: 

• explore, plan, and develop ideas
• review strategies to organize and structure a paper
• discuss ways to integrate and cite sources
• engage in writing and revision
• talk about editing and proofreading strategies
• find a place to write

Graduate students, instructors/teaching assistants (TA), and researchers/research assistants (RA) should explore our Graduate Student Library Guide resources for many different library resources and tools. 

• ​​​​Focus on your research question and the most pertinent studies.
• Pick an organizational structure, i.e., themes, approaches, researchers, concepts, and methodologies.
  • Ex: Background, Current Practices, Critics and Proponents, and Where/How will this study fit?
• Do not over "quote."
  • If you quote heavily, you are not showing any original thinking or analysis.
  • You can use quotes to highlight a particular passage or thought that exemplifies the research, theory, or topic you are researching.
  • You can use paraphrasing to report, in your own words, what the author was reporting or theorizing.
• Analyzing the literature:
  • Your analysis should lead to insight. This is how you will contribute to the field. 
  • Analysis requires that you have an approach or a point of view to evaluate the material you found
  • Are there gaps in the literature?
  • Where has significant research taken place, and who has done it?
  • Is there consensus or debate on this topic?
  • Which methodological approaches work best?
  • Analysis is the part of the literature review process where you justify why your research is needed, how others have not addressed it, and/or how your research advances the field.
• Compile the bibliography using the appropriate citation format for the field.

• Write a Literature Review (UC Santa Cruz)
• Online Tutorial (North Carolina State University Libraries)
• Write a Literature Review ( Virginia Commonwealth University)
• The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting it (University of Toronto)
• Write a Review of Literature (UW-Madison's Writing Center)
• Write a Literature Review (Johns Hopkins University)
• Doing your Undergraduate Project: The Literature Review(ASU Access only): Sage Research Methods