Conducting and writing a literature review

Now that the previous chapter has introduced you to using library resources, we are going to put some of these skills into practice. In this chapter, we are going to take you step-by-step through the process of undertaking a literature review. We start with some background information about literature reviews, describe some of the different types of literature reviews and emerging developments in this field and explain when they may be used. Mostly though, we focus on the 'how to', taking you stepwise through developing a focused research question and how it can be used to search the literature. We describe how to develop search terms, screen the literature against inclusion/ exclusion criteria, critically appraise the literature and extract data. Important considerations about how to record your literature search and how to prioritise the literature are also discussed. Even if you are not ready to undertake a literature review right now, having a good understanding of the steps involved will stand you in good stead for future research projects.