Literature Reviews: A Research Guide

This guide offers information on what a literature review is, how to go about conducting one, and links to library resources that will help you with the process.

Beyond Google Scholar

To do a thorough search for literature related to your topic, Google Scholar isn't enough. You'll need to search subject specific journal databases. You might also benefit from the expertise and assistance of your subject specialist librarian.

Databases
Lists of databases most useful for each subject discipline. Each list ranks the databases in order of usefulness. If you're not sure which discipline to choose, try a General Studies database like Academic Search Complete.
Research Guides
U of C Librarians share their expertise about the literature of different disciplines by developing these guides. Do a key word search to find relevant guides, or browse through the 'Subject' guides (the 'How do I..' guides can also be useful).
Consult with a librarian
Use this form to book an appointment with a subject specialist librarian, who can help you formulate the most effective search strategies.

Staying Current

You'll want to stay abreast of relevant new publications about your topic as you do your research and write your thesis or dissertation. Here are a couple of ways to do that.

Save your searches

Set up a personal (free) account in a database and then save your search. You can then periodically repeat the search, without having to re-formulate your search strategy.

Set up Alerts

Set up 'alerts' that will automatically notify you when new material of interest is published. You can choose to receive your alerts via e-mail or RSS feed. Choose the method that integrates best into your workflow.

Depending on the database, the following types of alerts are possible:

Search alerts automatically run a previous search and inform you if new titles have been discovered
Table of Contents alerts notify you when a new issue of a particular journal is added
Citation/author alerts tell you when a particular work has been cited by someone else

Download the R Discovery app

The R Discovery app (available for Android or iPhone) lets you set up a profile with your favourite topics, and sends you new literature. You can indicate whether the articles it sends are useful or not useful, so its recommendations improve with time.