In some cases a literature review is a summary of available research. In the social sciences, the literature review is a summary and also a more conceptual investigation or synthesis of existing literature; this synthesis is meant to explain how the authors/researcher plan to examine the research problem or question.
Narrative: a summary that draws conclusions about the research problem/topic. Identifies voids or gaps in the literature. Requires a very specific research question.
Systematic: Identifies a timeline within the existing literature. Researchers may conduct statistical or non-statistical analysis in this type of review.
Argumentative: Explores the literature in order to prove or disprove a perspective, philosophy, etc. Bias is a threat to this review type.
Integrative: Examines secondary data in order to develop new groundwork or perspectives on a topic.
Theoretical: Focuses on theories related to a particular research question or topic. Here the researcher(s) explore existing theories, how they relate to one another, and how to test such theories.
SJSU Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library
TIP: When searching for academic articles pay close attention to those that have a literature review section to get an understanding of how scholars accomplish the review.
This document is a guide to help keep you organized and remind you of some advanced techniques to research.