Searching the Literature: Social Sciences and Humanities

Before you begin searching for sources for your literature review, it is helpful to know what a literature review is so that you include all the necessary sources.  A literature review is a systematic examination of the scholarly literature about one's topic.  It critically analyzes, evaluates, and synthesizes research findings, theories, and practices by scholars and researchers that are related to an area of focus.  In reviewing the literature, the write should present a comprehensive, critical and accurate understanding tof the current state of knowledge, compare different research studies and theories, reveal gaps in current literature, and indicate what is already known about the topic of choice (p. 2  Efron, Sara Efrat, and Ruth Ravid. Writing the Literature Review : A Practical Guide, Guilford Publications, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vand/detail.action?docID=5522670.