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Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies

ASU Resources

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. 

Tips

  • ​​​​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.

Useful sites with tips on how to write a Literature Review:

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.