Writing a Literature Review

Your final project in this class involves writing a scientific paper. A key component of scientific papers in the health sciences, "a review of the literature is a classification and evaluation of what accredited scholars and researchers have written on a topic" (Taylor, n.d., para. 1). It should be "organized according to a guiding concept such as your research objective, thesis, or the problem/issue you wish to address" (Taylor, para. 1).

Your objective is not to rack up points by listing as many articles as possible; rather, you want to demonstrate your intellectual ability to recognize relevant information, and to synthesize and evaluate it according to the guiding concept you have determined for yourself. Your reader not only wants to know what literature exists, but also your informed evaluation of the literature (Taylor, para. 2).

More guidelines for writing literature reviews can be found at the following sites:

	Literature Review Tutorial
	Writing a Literature Review In the Health Sciences and Social Work
	Review of Literature (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center

Taylor, D. (n.d.). Writing a literature review in the health sciences and social work. Retrieved January 4, 2005, from the University of Toronto, Canada, Health Sciences Writing Centre Web site: http://www.hswriting.ca/handouts/lit-review.asp

This page was created by Molly R. Flaspohler
Last updated: 09 March, 2006