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Stage 10: Conducting a comprehensive literature review

Now that your project is defined and your research and writing are underway, it’s time to further develop your review of the literature relevant to your topic.

Why is this stage important?

A comprehensive literature review helps you build a case for your own research and helps you base your research on a strong scholarly foundation

Step 1: Review the materials that you used in your [See Stage 1: Initial literature survey] and the feedback you received from your committee.

Step 2: Identify gaps in your research based on step 1 review.

Step 3: Conduct in-depth literature review.
  1. Review bibliographies/reference lists from sources you have already collected

  2. Use citation indexes to track landmark articles and find related articles
    1. Go to citation indexes
    2. Check out the online help pages for directions

  3. Scan the table of contents in current issues of key journals

  4. Set up automatic alerts for these key journals
    1. Check out the Ovid Auto Alert Service (Note: This is for a range of topics, not just health sciences as implied in the linked document)

  5. Locate additional dissertations
    1. Guide to locating dissertations
    2. University of Minnesota Digital Dissertations

  6. Arrange access to special collections and archives
    1. Local collections and archives
      1. Online finding aids for local collections and archives
    2. Identify other relevant collections and archives
      1. UNESCO Archives Portal
      2. Repositories of Primary Sources - from the University of Idaho

  7. Find additional journal articles and books
    1. See Stage 4

Step 4: Formulate literature review.
  1. Consult with your advisor and subject librarian to determine when to stop researching
  2. Guide to literature reviews by Helen Mongan-Rallis, University of Minnesota, Duluth
  3. Tips on writing literature reviews - from the University of Toronto
  4. UT's Review of Literature guidelines
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Last revised: February 02, 2009
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