You will likely write review papers early in your course work. In a review paper, you report on and evaluate the research that has been published in the field about a particular topic. A literature review does not merely summarize researchers’ findings but argues a position with evidence that you assemble from the empirical (that is, experiment-based) studies that you review.
Sometimes a literature review stands alone as a paper, such as a survey of research findings over the past century on the question of what causes memory loss in old age. In some cases, you will be asked to write a critical review, in which you will analyze the methods and interpretations of data in one or more journal articles.
More often a literature review is an introduction to a larger piece of writing, such as a report of your own empirical study. In that case, the literature review surveys previously published findings relevant to the question that the empirical study investigates.
Sample student paper: Literature review
Related topics:
Research papers
Theoretical papers
Poster presentations