a comparative review of the literature

A comparative review may, e.g., require you to examine two schools of thought, two issues, or the positions taken by two persons. You may create a hierarchy of issues and sub-issues to compare and contrast, as suggested by the following general plan.

This model lists 3 options for structuring the body of the review. In all cases, you are expected to deal with the similarities ( compare ) and then with the differences ( contrast ): Introduction, Body, & Conclusion

Literature Review Example 3 offers an excellent example of  a comparative review [ Language and gender ]. This was written by Alastair Pennycook for his undergraduate students as a model of (among other things) of how to structure a  review of the literature - for an example of the above structure.

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The Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature was published from 1999 to 2013.

From the original publication: The Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature is an on-line journal whose purpose is to make available in a timely fashion reviews of new books in the field. It is modeled on its sister journal, Bryn Mawr Classical Review , which has been highly successful in circulating reviews soon after publication. The editors hope to reflect the evolving, dynamic nature of Comparative Literature in the range of books covered, from studies of national literatures to theoretical, interdisciplinary and cultural inquiries.

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Learn how to write a review of literature

What is a review of literature.

The format of a review of literature may vary from discipline to discipline and from assignment to assignment.

A review may be a self-contained unit — an end in itself — or a preface to and rationale for engaging in primary research. A review is a required part of grant and research proposals and often a chapter in theses and dissertations.

Generally, the purpose of a review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles.

Writing the introduction

In the introduction, you should:

Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern, thus providing an appropriate context for reviewing the literature.

Point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic; or conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps in research and scholarship; or a single problem or new perspective of immediate interest.

Establish the writer’s reason (point of view) for reviewing the literature; explain the criteria to be used in analyzing and comparing literature and the organization of the review (sequence); and, when necessary, state why certain literature is or is not included (scope).

Writing the body

In the body, you should:

Group research studies and other types of literature (reviews, theoretical articles, case studies, etc.) according to common denominators such as qualitative versus quantitative approaches, conclusions of authors, specific purpose or objective, chronology, etc.

Summarize individual studies or articles with as much or as little detail as each merits according to its comparative importance in the literature, remembering that space (length) denotes significance.

Provide the reader with strong “umbrella” sentences at beginnings of paragraphs, “signposts” throughout, and brief “so what” summary sentences at intermediate points in the review to aid in understanding comparisons and analyses.

Writing the conclusion

In the conclusion, you should:

Summarize major contributions of significant studies and articles to the body of knowledge under review, maintaining the focus established in the introduction.

Evaluate the current “state of the art” for the body of knowledge reviewed, pointing out major methodological flaws or gaps in research, inconsistencies in theory and findings, and areas or issues pertinent to future study.

Conclude by providing some insight into the relationship between the central topic of the literature review and a larger area of study such as a discipline, a scientific endeavor, or a profession.

For further information see our handouts on Writing a Critical Review of a Nonfiction Book or Article or Reading a Book to Review It .

To learn more about literature reviews, take a look at our workshop on Writing Literature Reviews of Published Research.

Sample Literature Reviews

An important strategy for learning how to compose literature reviews in your field or within a specific genre is to locate and analyze representative examples. The following collection of annotated sample literature reviews written and co-written by colleagues associated with UW-Madison showcases how these reviews can do different kind of work for different purposes. Use these successful examples as a starting point for understanding how other writers have approached the challenging and important task of situating their idea in the context of established research.

• Sample 1 (PDF) A brief literature review within a political scientists’  National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship  grant
• Sample 2 (PDF) A several-page literature review at the beginning of a published, academic article about philosophy
• Sample 3 (PDF) A brief literature review at the beginning of a published, academic article about photochemistry

Academic and Professional Writing

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Analysis Papers

Reading Poetry

A Short Guide to Close Reading for Literary Analysis

Using Literary Quotations

Play Reviews

Writing a Rhetorical Précis to Analyze Nonfiction Texts

Incorporating Interview Data

Grant Proposals

Planning and Writing a Grant Proposal: The Basics

Additional Resources for Grants and Proposal Writing

Job Materials and Application Essays

Writing Personal Statements for Ph.D. Programs

• Before you begin: useful tips for writing your essay
• Guided brainstorming exercises
• Get more help with your essay
• Frequently Asked Questions

Resume Writing Tips

CV Writing Tips

Cover Letters

Business Letters

Proposals and Dissertations

Resources for Proposal Writers

Resources for Dissertators

Research Papers

Planning and Writing Research Papers

Quoting and Paraphrasing

Writing Annotated Bibliographies

Creating Poster Presentations

Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper

Thank-You Notes

Advice for Students Writing Thank-You Notes to Donors

Reading for a Review

Critical Reviews

Writing a Review of Literature

Scientific Reports

Scientific Report Format

Sample Lab Assignment

Writing for the Web

Writing an Effective Blog Post

Writing for Social Media: A Guide for Academics

Literature Review: Why and How?

• Literature Review Overview
• Finding Books
• Sources for your Lit Review
• More Resources

What is a Literature Review?

  A critical analysis of a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles.

( University of Wisconsin Writing Center )

Why do a literature review?

• Understand the existing body of knowledge 
• Discover your research niche and create your research agenda
• Identify controversies in your discipline
• Expose gaps in knowledge areas of dispute and uncertainty 
• Identify the vocabulary of their topic
• Identify appropriate research methodologies
• Justify your proposed study as one that contributes something new to the body of knowledge

Literature Review Sources

UNC Chapel Hil l general description of a literature review and description of the steps for completing one

Learn how to write a review of the literature from University of Wisconsin Madison

Stages of a Literature Review

See this video on literature reviews from North Carolina State University: 

Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students

Scoping search

Try a search by keyword in a few subject specialized databases

Keep in mind the difference between keyword and subject searching.

By trial and error and reading titles and abstracts, identify the vocabulary of your topic in your discipline

Identify key search terms (by subject and keyword)

Take notes on your searches already completed and how effective they were

Thorough, full search

Methodically check all book catalogs and article databases using keyword and subject terms (subject terms may change for each database used)

By reading books and articles, identify major authors

Do an author search for this author

• Who do these authors cite?
• Do an author search for these cited authors

Repeat your search in various book catalogs and article databases

Search for unpublished or grey literature using Google Scholar, think tank websites, and government sources (government reports often do not show up in Google results—search relevant agency sites for reports)

Take notes on any modification of the search as more information is gathered

Reference chaining :

• Go back in time with your topic
• Search bibliographies of papers found for additional studies related to your topic
• Go forward in time with your topic: use Google Scholar “cited by” to see how each article informed future studies on your topic. Also gives an idea of an author or article’s prominence in the field

Consider contacting experts to determine if all relevant writing has been reviewed.

How Do You Know When You're Done with Your Literature Review?

Your literature review should be an ongoing process as you’re writing. Check in on the literature at certain points as you write. You can also subscribe to alerts from databases and use RSS feeds to keep abreast of your topic.

You will start to see the same arguments, theories, and authors pop up again and again.

You’ll find that you're discovering no new citations.

You’ve already read articles cited in newly discovered literature.

If this happens, you're done!

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