Write a Literature Review

Because literature reviews can vary based on discipline, subject specialist librarians can provide online or in-person assistance with your literature review search.  If ever you are in need of research assistance, don't hesitate to consult a specialist based on your subject area.

You may also find additional guidance about conducting literature reviews in your discipline by browsing our Research Guides by Subject. 

You can look for other literature reviews in your subject area to see how they are written. To see how a literature review is formatted in a particular discipline, look for peer-reviewed examples of other work in that field. You’ll find literature reviews in the introduction to a primary research article, but they can also stand alone to summarize the current state of knowledge in a field.

You can locate examples by adding "literature review" to your search terms, as demonstrated in the screenshot below:

VCU Libraries has various online books about conducting research that can provide you with in depth information about conducting literature reviews.