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Approaching literature review for academic purposes: The Literature Review Checklist

Debora f.b. leite.

I Departamento de Ginecologia e Obstetricia, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, BR

II Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, PE, BR

III Hospital das Clinicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, PE, BR

Maria Auxiliadora Soares Padilha

Jose g. cecatti.

A sophisticated literature review (LR) can result in a robust dissertation/thesis by scrutinizing the main problem examined by the academic study; anticipating research hypotheses, methods and results; and maintaining the interest of the audience in how the dissertation/thesis will provide solutions for the current gaps in a particular field. Unfortunately, little guidance is available on elaborating LRs, and writing an LR chapter is not a linear process. An LR translates students’ abilities in information literacy, the language domain, and critical writing. Students in postgraduate programs should be systematically trained in these skills. Therefore, this paper discusses the purposes of LRs in dissertations and theses. Second, the paper considers five steps for developing a review: defining the main topic, searching the literature, analyzing the results, writing the review and reflecting on the writing. Ultimately, this study proposes a twelve-item LR checklist. By clearly stating the desired achievements, this checklist allows Masters and Ph.D. students to continuously assess their own progress in elaborating an LR. Institutions aiming to strengthen students’ necessary skills in critical academic writing should also use this tool.

INTRODUCTION

Writing the literature review (LR) is often viewed as a difficult task that can be a point of writer’s block and procrastination ( 1 ) in postgraduate life. Disagreements on the definitions or classifications of LRs ( 2 ) may confuse students about their purpose and scope, as well as how to perform an LR. Interestingly, at many universities, the LR is still an important element in any academic work, despite the more recent trend of producing scientific articles rather than classical theses.

The LR is not an isolated section of the thesis/dissertation or a copy of the background section of a research proposal. It identifies the state-of-the-art knowledge in a particular field, clarifies information that is already known, elucidates implications of the problem being analyzed, links theory and practice ( 3 - 5 ), highlights gaps in the current literature, and places the dissertation/thesis within the research agenda of that field. Additionally, by writing the LR, postgraduate students will comprehend the structure of the subject and elaborate on their cognitive connections ( 3 ) while analyzing and synthesizing data with increasing maturity.

At the same time, the LR transforms the student and hints at the contents of other chapters for the reader. First, the LR explains the research question; second, it supports the hypothesis, objectives, and methods of the research project; and finally, it facilitates a description of the student’s interpretation of the results and his/her conclusions. For scholars, the LR is an introductory chapter ( 6 ). If it is well written, it demonstrates the student’s understanding of and maturity in a particular topic. A sound and sophisticated LR can indicate a robust dissertation/thesis.

A consensus on the best method to elaborate a dissertation/thesis has not been achieved. The LR can be a distinct chapter or included in different sections; it can be part of the introduction chapter, part of each research topic, or part of each published paper ( 7 ). However, scholars view the LR as an integral part of the main body of an academic work because it is intrinsically connected to other sections ( Figure 1 ) and is frequently present. The structure of the LR depends on the conventions of a particular discipline, the rules of the department, and the student’s and supervisor’s areas of expertise, needs and interests.

Interestingly, many postgraduate students choose to submit their LR to peer-reviewed journals. As LRs are critical evaluations of current knowledge, they are indeed publishable material, even in the form of narrative or systematic reviews. However, systematic reviews have specific patterns 1 ( 8 ) that may not entirely fit with the questions posed in the dissertation/thesis. Additionally, the scope of a systematic review may be too narrow, and the strict criteria for study inclusion may omit important information from the dissertation/thesis. Therefore, this essay discusses the definition of an LR is and methods to develop an LR in the context of an academic dissertation/thesis. Finally, we suggest a checklist to evaluate an LR.

WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW IN A THESIS?

Conducting research and writing a dissertation/thesis translates rational thinking and enthusiasm ( 9 ). While a strong body of literature that instructs students on research methodology, data analysis and writing scientific papers exists, little guidance on performing LRs is available. The LR is a unique opportunity to assess and contrast various arguments and theories, not just summarize them. The research results should not be discussed within the LR, but the postgraduate student tends to write a comprehensive LR while reflecting on his or her own findings ( 10 ).

Many people believe that writing an LR is a lonely and linear process. Supervisors or the institutions assume that the Ph.D. student has mastered the relevant techniques and vocabulary associated with his/her subject and conducts a self-reflection about previously published findings. Indeed, while elaborating the LR, the student should aggregate diverse skills, which mainly rely on his/her own commitment to mastering them. Thus, less supervision should be required ( 11 ). However, the parameters described above might not currently be the case for many students ( 11 , 12 ), and the lack of formal and systematic training on writing LRs is an important concern ( 11 ).

An institutional environment devoted to active learning will provide students the opportunity to continuously reflect on LRs, which will form a dialogue between the postgraduate student and the current literature in a particular field ( 13 ). Postgraduate students will be interpreting studies by other researchers, and, according to Hart (1998) ( 3 ), the outcomes of the LR in a dissertation/thesis include the following:

• To identify what research has been performed and what topics require further investigation in a particular field of knowledge;
• To determine the context of the problem;
• To recognize the main methodologies and techniques that have been used in the past;
• To place the current research project within the historical, methodological and theoretical context of a particular field;
• To identify significant aspects of the topic;
• To elucidate the implications of the topic;
• To offer an alternative perspective;
• To discern how the studied subject is structured;
• To improve the student’s subject vocabulary in a particular field; and
• To characterize the links between theory and practice.

A sound LR translates the postgraduate student’s expertise in academic and scientific writing: it expresses his/her level of comfort with synthesizing ideas ( 11 ). The LR reveals how well the postgraduate student has proceeded in three domains: an effective literature search, the language domain, and critical writing.

Effective literature search

All students should be trained in gathering appropriate data for specific purposes, and information literacy skills are a cornerstone. These skills are defined as “an individual’s ability to know when they need information, to identify information that can help them address the issue or problem at hand, and to locate, evaluate, and use that information effectively” ( 14 ). Librarian support is of vital importance in coaching the appropriate use of Boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT) and other tools for highly efficient literature searches (e.g., quotation marks and truncation), as is the appropriate management of electronic databases.

Language domain

Academic writing must be concise and precise: unnecessary words distract the reader from the essential content ( 15 ). In this context, reading about issues distant from the research topic ( 16 ) may increase students’ general vocabulary and familiarity with grammar. Ultimately, reading diverse materials facilitates and encourages the writing process itself.

Critical writing

Critical judgment includes critical reading, thinking and writing. It supposes a student’s analytical reflection about what he/she has read. The student should delineate the basic elements of the topic, characterize the most relevant claims, identify relationships, and finally contrast those relationships ( 17 ). Each scientific document highlights the perspective of the author, and students will become more confident in judging the supporting evidence and underlying premises of a study and constructing their own counterargument as they read more articles. A paucity of integration or contradictory perspectives indicates lower levels of cognitive complexity ( 12 ).

Thus, while elaborating an LR, the postgraduate student should achieve the highest category of Bloom’s cognitive skills: evaluation ( 12 ). The writer should not only summarize data and understand each topic but also be able to make judgments based on objective criteria, compare resources and findings, identify discrepancies due to methodology, and construct his/her own argument ( 12 ). As a result, the student will be sufficiently confident to show his/her own voice .

Writing a consistent LR is an intense and complex activity that reveals the training and long-lasting academic skills of a writer. It is not a lonely or linear process. However, students are unlikely to be prepared to write an LR if they have not mastered the aforementioned domains ( 10 ). An institutional environment that supports student learning is crucial.

Different institutions employ distinct methods to promote students’ learning processes. First, many universities propose modules to develop behind the scenes activities that enhance self-reflection about general skills (e.g., the skills we have mastered and the skills we need to develop further), behaviors that should be incorporated (e.g., self-criticism about one’s own thoughts), and each student’s role in the advancement of his/her field. Lectures or workshops about LRs themselves are useful because they describe the purposes of the LR and how it fits into the whole picture of a student’s work. These activities may explain what type of discussion an LR must involve, the importance of defining the correct scope, the reasons to include a particular resource, and the main role of critical reading.

Some pedagogic services that promote a continuous improvement in study and academic skills are equally important. Examples include workshops about time management, the accomplishment of personal objectives, active learning, and foreign languages for nonnative speakers. Additionally, opportunities to converse with other students promotes an awareness of others’ experiences and difficulties. Ultimately, the supervisor’s role in providing feedback and setting deadlines is crucial in developing students’ abilities and in strengthening students’ writing quality ( 12 ).

HOW SHOULD A LITERATURE REVIEW BE DEVELOPED?

A consensus on the appropriate method for elaborating an LR is not available, but four main steps are generally accepted: defining the main topic, searching the literature, analyzing the results, and writing ( 6 ). We suggest a fifth step: reflecting on the information that has been written in previous publications ( Figure 2 ).

First step: Defining the main topic

Planning an LR is directly linked to the research main question of the thesis and occurs in parallel to students’ training in the three domains discussed above. The planning stage helps organize ideas, delimit the scope of the LR ( 11 ), and avoid the wasting of time in the process. Planning includes the following steps:

• Reflecting on the scope of the LR: postgraduate students will have assumptions about what material must be addressed and what information is not essential to an LR ( 13 , 18 ). Cooper’s Taxonomy of Literature Reviews 2 systematizes the writing process through six characteristics and nonmutually exclusive categories. The focus refers to the reviewer’s most important points of interest, while the goals concern what students want to achieve with the LR. The perspective assumes answers to the student’s own view of the LR and how he/she presents a particular issue. The coverage defines how comprehensive the student is in presenting the literature, and the organization determines the sequence of arguments. The audience is defined as the group for whom the LR is written.
• Designating sections and subsections: Headings and subheadings should be specific, explanatory and have a coherent sequence throughout the text ( 4 ). They simulate an inverted pyramid, with an increasing level of reflection and depth of argument.
• Identifying keywords: The relevant keywords for each LR section should be listed to guide the literature search. This list should mirror what Hart (1998) ( 3 ) advocates as subject vocabulary . The keywords will also be useful when the student is writing the LR since they guide the reader through the text.
• Delineating the time interval and language of documents to be retrieved in the second step. The most recently published documents should be considered, but relevant texts published before a predefined cutoff year can be included if they are classic documents in that field. Extra care should be employed when translating documents.

Second step: Searching the literature

The ability to gather adequate information from the literature must be addressed in postgraduate programs. Librarian support is important, particularly for accessing difficult texts. This step comprises the following components:

• Searching the literature itself: This process consists of defining which databases (electronic or dissertation/thesis repositories), official documents, and books will be searched and then actively conducting the search. Information literacy skills have a central role in this stage. While searching electronic databases, controlled vocabulary (e.g., Medical Subject Headings, or MeSH, for the PubMed database) or specific standardized syntax rules may need to be applied.

In addition, two other approaches are suggested. First, a review of the reference list of each document might be useful for identifying relevant publications to be included and important opinions to be assessed. This step is also relevant for referencing the original studies and leading authors in that field. Moreover, students can directly contact the experts on a particular topic to consult with them regarding their experience or use them as a source of additional unpublished documents.

Before submitting a dissertation/thesis, the electronic search strategy should be repeated. This process will ensure that the most recently published papers will be considered in the LR.

• Selecting documents for inclusion: Generally, the most recent literature will be included in the form of published peer-reviewed papers. Assess books and unpublished material, such as conference abstracts, academic texts and government reports, are also important to assess since the gray literature also offers valuable information. However, since these materials are not peer-reviewed, we recommend that they are carefully added to the LR.

This task is an important exercise in time management. First, students should read the title and abstract to understand whether that document suits their purposes, addresses the research question, and helps develop the topic of interest. Then, they should scan the full text, determine how it is structured, group it with similar documents, and verify whether other arguments might be considered ( 5 ).

Third step: Analyzing the results

Critical reading and thinking skills are important in this step. This step consists of the following components:

• Reading documents: The student may read various texts in depth according to LR sections and subsections ( defining the main topic ), which is not a passive activity ( 1 ). Some questions should be asked to practice critical analysis skills, as listed below. Is the research question evident and articulated with previous knowledge? What are the authors’ research goals and theoretical orientations, and how do they interact? Are the authors’ claims related to other scholars’ research? Do the authors consider different perspectives? Was the research project designed and conducted properly? Are the results and discussion plausible, and are they consistent with the research objectives and methodology? What are the strengths and limitations of this work? How do the authors support their findings? How does this work contribute to the current research topic? ( 1 , 19 )
• Taking notes: Students who systematically take notes on each document are more readily able to establish similarities or differences with other documents and to highlight personal observations. This approach reinforces the student’s ideas about the next step and helps develop his/her own academic voice ( 1 , 13 ). Voice recognition software ( 16 ), mind maps ( 5 ), flowcharts, tables, spreadsheets, personal comments on the referenced texts, and note-taking apps are all available tools for managing these observations, and the student him/herself should use the tool that best improves his/her learning. Additionally, when a student is considering submitting an LR to a peer-reviewed journal, notes should be taken on the activities performed in all five steps to ensure that they are able to be replicated.

Fourth step: Writing

The recognition of when a student is able and ready to write after a sufficient period of reading and thinking is likely a difficult task. Some students can produce a review in a single long work session. However, as discussed above, writing is not a linear process, and students do not need to write LRs according to a specific sequence of sections. Writing an LR is a time-consuming task, and some scholars believe that a period of at least six months is sufficient ( 6 ). An LR, and academic writing in general, expresses the writer’s proper thoughts, conclusions about others’ work ( 6 , 10 , 13 , 16 ), and decisions about methods to progress in the chosen field of knowledge. Thus, each student is expected to present a different learning and writing trajectory.

In this step, writing methods should be considered; then, editing, citing and correct referencing should complete this stage, at least temporarily. Freewriting techniques may be a good starting point for brainstorming ideas and improving the understanding of the information that has been read ( 1 ). Students should consider the following parameters when creating an agenda for writing the LR: two-hour writing blocks (at minimum), with prespecified tasks that are possible to complete in one section; short (minutes) and long breaks (days or weeks) to allow sufficient time for mental rest and reflection; and short- and long-term goals to motivate the writing itself ( 20 ). With increasing experience, this scheme can vary widely, and it is not a straightforward rule. Importantly, each discipline has a different way of writing ( 1 ), and each department has its own preferred styles for citations and references.

Fifth step: Reflecting on the writing

In this step, the postgraduate student should ask him/herself the same questions as in the analyzing the results step, which can take more time than anticipated. Ambiguities, repeated ideas, and a lack of coherence may not be noted when the student is immersed in the writing task for long periods. The whole effort will likely be a work in progress, and continuous refinements in the written material will occur once the writing process has begun.

LITERATURE REVIEW CHECKLIST

In contrast to review papers, the LR of a dissertation/thesis should not be a standalone piece or work. Instead, it should present the student as a scholar and should maintain the interest of the audience in how that dissertation/thesis will provide solutions for the current gaps in a particular field.

A checklist for evaluating an LR is convenient for students’ continuous academic development and research transparency: it clearly states the desired achievements for the LR of a dissertation/thesis. Here, we present an LR checklist developed from an LR scoring rubric ( 11 ). For a critical analysis of an LR, we maintain the five categories but offer twelve criteria that are not scaled ( Figure 3 ). The criteria all have the same importance and are not mutually exclusive.

First category: Coverage

1. justified criteria exist for the inclusion and exclusion of literature in the review.

This criterion builds on the main topic and areas covered by the LR ( 18 ). While experts may be confident in retrieving and selecting literature, postgraduate students must convince their audience about the adequacy of their search strategy and their reasons for intentionally selecting what material to cover ( 11 ). References from different fields of knowledge provide distinct perspective, but narrowing the scope of coverage may be important in areas with a large body of existing knowledge.

Second category: Synthesis

2. a critical examination of the state of the field exists.

A critical examination is an assessment of distinct aspects in the field ( 1 ) along with a constructive argument. It is not a negative critique but an expression of the student’s understanding of how other scholars have added to the topic ( 1 ), and the student should analyze and contextualize contradictory statements. A writer’s personal bias (beliefs or political involvement) have been shown to influence the structure and writing of a document; therefore, the cultural and paradigmatic background guide how the theories are revised and presented ( 13 ). However, an honest judgment is important when considering different perspectives.

3. The topic or problem is clearly placed in the context of the broader scholarly literature

The broader scholarly literature should be related to the chosen main topic for the LR ( how to develop the literature review section). The LR can cover the literature from one or more disciplines, depending on its scope, but it should always offer a new perspective. In addition, students should be careful in citing and referencing previous publications. As a rule, original studies and primary references should generally be included. Systematic and narrative reviews present summarized data, and it may be important to cite them, particularly for issues that should be understood but do not require a detailed description. Similarly, quotations highlight the exact statement from another publication. However, excessive referencing may disclose lower levels of analysis and synthesis by the student.

4. The LR is critically placed in the historical context of the field

Situating the LR in its historical context shows the level of comfort of the student in addressing a particular topic. Instead of only presenting statements and theories in a temporal approach, which occasionally follows a linear timeline, the LR should authentically characterize the student’s academic work in the state-of-art techniques in their particular field of knowledge. Thus, the LR should reinforce why the dissertation/thesis represents original work in the chosen research field.

5. Ambiguities in definitions are considered and resolved

Distinct theories on the same topic may exist in different disciplines, and one discipline may consider multiple concepts to explain one topic. These misunderstandings should be addressed and contemplated. The LR should not synthesize all theories or concepts at the same time. Although this approach might demonstrate in-depth reading on a particular topic, it can reveal a student’s inability to comprehend and synthesize his/her research problem.

6. Important variables and phenomena relevant to the topic are articulated

The LR is a unique opportunity to articulate ideas and arguments and to purpose new relationships between them ( 10 , 11 ). More importantly, a sound LR will outline to the audience how these important variables and phenomena will be addressed in the current academic work. Indeed, the LR should build a bidirectional link with the remaining sections and ground the connections between all of the sections ( Figure 1 ).

7. A synthesized new perspective on the literature has been established

The LR is a ‘creative inquiry’ ( 13 ) in which the student elaborates his/her own discourse, builds on previous knowledge in the field, and describes his/her own perspective while interpreting others’ work ( 13 , 17 ). Thus, students should articulate the current knowledge, not accept the results at face value ( 11 , 13 , 17 ), and improve their own cognitive abilities ( 12 ).

Third category: Methodology

8. the main methodologies and research techniques that have been used in the field are identified and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed.

The LR is expected to distinguish the research that has been completed from investigations that remain to be performed, address the benefits and limitations of the main methods applied to date, and consider the strategies for addressing the expected limitations described above. While placing his/her research within the methodological context of a particular topic, the LR will justify the methodology of the study and substantiate the student’s interpretations.

9. Ideas and theories in the field are related to research methodologies

The audience expects the writer to analyze and synthesize methodological approaches in the field. The findings should be explained according to the strengths and limitations of previous research methods, and students must avoid interpretations that are not supported by the analyzed literature. This criterion translates to the student’s comprehension of the applicability and types of answers provided by different research methodologies, even those using a quantitative or qualitative research approach.

Fourth category: Significance

10. the scholarly significance of the research problem is rationalized.

The LR is an introductory section of a dissertation/thesis and will present the postgraduate student as a scholar in a particular field ( 11 ). Therefore, the LR should discuss how the research problem is currently addressed in the discipline being investigated or in different disciplines, depending on the scope of the LR. The LR explains the academic paradigms in the topic of interest ( 13 ) and methods to advance the field from these starting points. However, an excess number of personal citations—whether referencing the student’s research or studies by his/her research team—may reflect a narrow literature search and a lack of comprehensive synthesis of ideas and arguments.

11. The practical significance of the research problem is rationalized

The practical significance indicates a student’s comprehensive understanding of research terminology (e.g., risk versus associated factor), methodology (e.g., efficacy versus effectiveness) and plausible interpretations in the context of the field. Notably, the academic argument about a topic may not always reflect the debate in real life terms. For example, using a quantitative approach in epidemiology, statistically significant differences between groups do not explain all of the factors involved in a particular problem ( 21 ). Therefore, excessive faith in p -values may reflect lower levels of critical evaluation of the context and implications of a research problem by the student.

Fifth category: Rhetoric

12. the lr was written with a coherent, clear structure that supported the review.

This category strictly relates to the language domain: the text should be coherent and presented in a logical sequence, regardless of which organizational ( 18 ) approach is chosen. The beginning of each section/subsection should state what themes will be addressed, paragraphs should be carefully linked to each other ( 10 ), and the first sentence of each paragraph should generally summarize the content. Additionally, the student’s statements are clear, sound, and linked to other scholars’ works, and precise and concise language that follows standardized writing conventions (e.g., in terms of active/passive voice and verb tenses) is used. Attention to grammar, such as orthography and punctuation, indicates prudence and supports a robust dissertation/thesis. Ultimately, all of these strategies provide fluency and consistency for the text.

Although the scoring rubric was initially proposed for postgraduate programs in education research, we are convinced that this checklist is a valuable tool for all academic areas. It enables the monitoring of students’ learning curves and a concentrated effort on any criteria that are not yet achieved. For institutions, the checklist is a guide to support supervisors’ feedback, improve students’ writing skills, and highlight the learning goals of each program. These criteria do not form a linear sequence, but ideally, all twelve achievements should be perceived in the LR.

CONCLUSIONS

A single correct method to classify, evaluate and guide the elaboration of an LR has not been established. In this essay, we have suggested directions for planning, structuring and critically evaluating an LR. The planning of the scope of an LR and approaches to complete it is a valuable effort, and the five steps represent a rational starting point. An institutional environment devoted to active learning will support students in continuously reflecting on LRs, which will form a dialogue between the writer and the current literature in a particular field ( 13 ).

The completion of an LR is a challenging and necessary process for understanding one’s own field of expertise. Knowledge is always transitory, but our responsibility as scholars is to provide a critical contribution to our field, allowing others to think through our work. Good researchers are grounded in sophisticated LRs, which reveal a writer’s training and long-lasting academic skills. We recommend using the LR checklist as a tool for strengthening the skills necessary for critical academic writing.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Leite DFB has initially conceived the idea and has written the first draft of this review. Padilha MAS and Cecatti JG have supervised data interpretation and critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors have read the draft and agreed with this submission. Authors are responsible for all aspects of this academic piece.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to all of the professors of the ‘Getting Started with Graduate Research and Generic Skills’ module at University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, for suggesting and supporting this article. Funding: DFBL has granted scholarship from Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) to take part of her Ph.D. studies in Ireland (process number 88881.134512/2016-01). There is no participation from sponsors on authors’ decision to write or to submit this manuscript.

No potential conflict of interest was reported.

1 The questions posed in systematic reviews usually follow the ‘PICOS’ acronym: Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, Study design.

2 In 1988, Cooper proposed a taxonomy that aims to facilitate students’ and institutions’ understanding of literature reviews. Six characteristics with specific categories are briefly described: Focus: research outcomes, research methodologies, theories, or practices and applications; Goals: integration (generalization, conflict resolution, and linguistic bridge-building), criticism, or identification of central issues; Perspective: neutral representation or espousal of a position; Coverage: exhaustive, exhaustive with selective citations, representative, central or pivotal; Organization: historical, conceptual, or methodological; and Audience: specialized scholars, general scholars, practitioners or policymakers, or the general public.

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• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

• Search for relevant literature
• Evaluate sources
• Identify themes, debates, and gaps
• Outline the structure
• Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

• Quick Run-through
• Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

• Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
• Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
• Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
• Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
• Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

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Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

• Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
• Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
• Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
• Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

• Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
• Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
• Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

• Your university’s library catalogue
• Google Scholar
• Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
• Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
• EconLit (economics)
• Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

• What question or problem is the author addressing?
• What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
• What are the key theories, models, and methods?
• Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
• What are the results and conclusions of the study?
• How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

• Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
• Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
• Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
• Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
• Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

• Most research has focused on young women.
• There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
• But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

• Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
• Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

• Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

Scribbr slides are free to use, customize, and distribute for educational purposes.

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

• To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
• To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
• To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
• To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
• To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

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• DOI: 10.12697/IL.2014.19.1.5
• Corpus ID: 53473668

Intertextuality and National Literatures in the Context of Comparative Literature Research

• Anneli Mihkelev
• Published 1 July 2014

20 References

Intertextuality: debates and contexts, palimpsests, the anxiety of influence : a theory of poetry, between traditions and innovations: tensions in modernist art at the beginning of the 20th century, memory and literature, introduction, estonian literary reader, the anxiety of influence, related papers.

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The National Library of Medicine is the world’s largest biomedical library and a leader in research in computational health informatics. NLM plays a pivotal role in translating biomedical research into practice. NLM’s research and information services support scientific discovery, health care, and public health. NLM pioneers new ways to make biomedical data and information more accessible; builds tools for better data management and personal health; and helps create a more diverse and data-skilled workforce. NLM enables researchers, clinicians, and the public to use the vast wealth of biomedical data to improve health.

NLM’s cutting-edge research and training programs—with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, computational biology, and biomedical informatics and health data standards—help catalyze basic biomedical science, data-driven discovery, and health care delivery.

Every day, millions of scientists, health professionals, and members of the public from around the world use NLM’s online information resources to translate research results into new treatments, develop new products, inform clinical decision making, and improve public health. In addition, NLM leads research and research training in biomedical informatics, information science, and data science. Its vibrant intramural and extramural research programs conduct and support research and training in institutions across the United States.

NLM is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and located in Bethesda, Maryland. NLM started in 1836 as a small collection of medical books and journals in the office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General.

Leveraging its 187-history, NLM develops and applies innovative approaches to acquire, organize, curate, and deliver biomedical information across the United States and the world. NLM’s advanced biomedical information services are among the most visited websites in the Federal Government.

NLM carries out its mission of enabling biomedical research, supporting health care and public health, and promoting healthy behavior by:

• Acquiring, organizing, preserving, and providing free online access to scholarly biomedical literature from around the world.
• Providing access to biomedical and health information across the country in partnership with the over 8,100 members of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine  (NNLM).
• Serving as a leading global resource for building, curating, and providing sophisticated access to molecular biology and genomic, clinical trial, environmental health and other types of biomedical data, including those from high-profile, trans-NIH initiatives.
• Conducting research and development on biomedical communications systems, methods, technologies, and networks and information dissemination and utilization among health professionals, patients, and the public.
• Funding advanced biomedical informatics and data science research and serving as the primary supporter of pre- and post-doctoral research training in biomedical informatics and data science at 16 U.S. universities.

Important Events in NLM History

1836 —Library of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army (the present National Library of Medicine) established.

1865 —John Shaw Billings, MD, appointed to supervise Surgeon General's Library, which he developed into a national resource of biomedical literature. He served as director until 1895.

1879 —First volume of Index Medicus, the first attempt to identify and code the medical literature, published.

1880 —First volume of Index-Catalogue, a multi-part printed bibliography, published.

1922 —Library of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army) renamed Army Medical Library.

1952 —Army Medical Library renamed Armed Forces Medical Library.

1956 —Act of Congress moved Armed Forces Medical Library to U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and renamed it the National Library of Medicine.

1961 —New National Library of Medicine building, #38 (8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland, on the NIH campus), dedicated.

1964 —Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System ( MEDLARS ), a computer-based system for medical professionals to retrieve biomedical information, became operational at NLM.

1965 —Medical Library Assistance Act gave NLM responsibility of helping the nation's medical libraries through a grant program and created the Regional Medical Library Network (now the  National Network of Libraries of Medicine ).

1968 —NLM became a component of NIH. The  Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications , NLM's research and development component, created by Congress.

1971 —MEDLINE ("MEDLARS Online") initiated to provide online access to a subset of references in the MEDLARS database.

1972 — TOXLINE , an online bibliographic service covering pharmacology and toxicology, became operational.

1980 —NLM's Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, building #38A, dedicated. Adjacent to the Library, it houses NLM's research and development components.

1986 —Grateful Med, user-friendly software for accessing MEDLARS, introduced to the health community.

1988 —The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) established at NLM by Congress as a national resource for molecular biology information.

1992 —NCBI assumed responsibility for GenBank and US participation in the International Nucleotide Sequence Consortium.

1993 — National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology  established at NLM by Congress as a national resource for health services research and evidence-based practice guidelines.

1993 —NLM's website ( www.nlm.nih.gov ) appeared.

1994 —The  Visible Human Male , a large computer dataset of images based on a cadaver, was introduced. The  Visible Human Female  appeared one year later.

1997 —Access to NLM's  MEDLINE /PubMed database became free via the World Wide Web.

1998 — MedlinePlus  released, providing access to consumer health information.

2000 — ClinicalTrials.gov , an online resource to give the public easy access to information about research studies, launched.

2000 — PubMed Central (PMC), a free archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature, launched.

2002 —NLM launched traveling historical exhibition program with release of Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature .

2003 —NLM released standard format for electronic archiving and publishing of journal articles—the journal article tagging suite or JATS, which later became a national standard.

2004 —The Secretary of HHS designated NLM as the HHS Coordinating Body for Clinical Terminology Standards.

2006 — NIH MedlinePlus magazine launched to provide Americans with reliable, current health information in a consumer-friendly format. The Spanish-English version,  Salud , followed two years later.

2006 —dbGaP, the database of genomes and phenomes, launched to provide access genome-wide association studies.

2006 —DailyMed made FDA-approved electronic structured product labels (drug package inserts) available to the public and system developers.

2008 —NIH public access policy, requiring deposit in PMC of peer-reviewed articles resulting from NIH-funded research became mandatory, as specified in 2008 appropriations law.

2008 —Deposit of summary results data in ClinicalTrials.gov became mandatory for selected clinical trials of FDA-regulated drugs and devices, as specified in the FDA Amendments Act of 2007.

2010— MedlinePlus Connect , a service linking patients or providers in electronic health record (EHR) systems to related MedlinePlus information on conditions or medications, released.

2010— Vocabulary standards supported or developed by NLM (LOINC, RxNorm, SNOMED CT) included in rule specifying U.S. certification criteria for electronic health record systems.

2015 —AccessGUDID made medical device information submitted to the FDA available to the public.

2015 —Other HHS agencies and other Federal Departments elected to require deposit of publications resulting from their funded research into PMC.

2016— Patricia Flatley Brennan, RN, PhD, became the first woman and first nurse appointed to head the Library.

2017 —HHS issued final rule for registration and reporting of summary results of clinical trials at ClinicalTrials.gov. NIH issued policy extending the requirements to all NIH-funded clinical trials.

2017 —NLM launched its Strategic Plan 2017-2027: A Platform for Biomedical Discovery and Data-Powered Health

2019 — NIH MedlinePlus magazine became available in both English and Spanish online. 

2019 —NLM’s Sequence Read Archive (SRA) public data moved to the cloud, completing the first phase of an ongoing effort to better position these data for large-scale computing. 

2020 —NLM launched an updated version of PubMed , providing an enhanced design and technology to improve the user experience.

NLM Legislative Chronology

August 3, 1956 —An amendment to Title III of the Public Health Service Act, the National Library of Medicine Act, placed the Armed Forces Medical Library under the PHS, and renamed it the National Library of Medicine (Public Law 84-941).

October 22, 1965 —The Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-291) authorized NLM's extramural programs of grant assistance to help expand and improve the nation's medical library and health communications resources, technology, and professional staff for service to the health community.

August 3, 1968 —Public Law 90-456 authorized the designation of the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications.

November 4, 1988 —Health Omnibus Programs Extension Act (Public Law 100-607) authorized establishment of the National Center for Biotechnology Information at NLM.

June 10, 1993 —National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act (Public Law 103-43) authorized establishment of the National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology at NLM.

November 21, 1997 —The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (Public Law 105-115) called for the creation of a centralized, consumer-friendly online listing of clinical trials, which became  ClinicalTrials.gov .

September 27, 2007 —The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (Public Law 111-85) extended the scope of clinical trials to be registered at ClinicalTrials.gov and expanded the data bank to include summary results of completed clinical trials.

Biographical Sketch of NLM Acting Director Stephen Sherry, PhD

Stephen Sherry, PhD, is the Acting Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NLM is a leader in biomedical informatics and computational health data science research and the world’s largest biomedical library.

Dr. Sherry brings a history of innovation and leadership to NLM. Prior to serving as Acting Director in October 2023, Dr. Sherry served as Director of NLM’s National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and NLM Associate Director for Scientific Data Resources. Under his leadership, NLM developed advanced computational solutions for life and health science information needs and facilitated open science and scholarship through a growing array of data, literature, and other information offerings and services made available by NLM.

Dr. Sherry’s vision to advance NLM’s mission includes enhancing health and research through robust, sustainable information resources and transformative information science, engineering, and technology development, all while leading in engineering excellence for resilience, reliability, and representation in the era of artificial intelligence. He is recognized for his inventiveness in leveraging research assets to support public health emergency response. Dr. Sherry has been central in key innovations at NLM including the ClinicalTrials.gov Modernization effort and development of the NIH Comparative Genomics Resource, ensuring public input and technical innovation in the process. Dr. Sherry positioned NCBI as a strong collaborative force across the NIH and in support of major NLM projects including the NIH Preprint Pilot for rapid access to NIH-funded research and the MEDLINE 2022 initiative, which resulted in 100% automated indexing of the biomedical literature available through NLM’s PubMed and PubMed Central (PMC).

Throughout his tenure at NLM, Dr. Sherry has participated in many NIH efforts to characterize human genetic diversity and has served on numerous working groups across NIH to address a range of data science issues including the development of the genomic data sharing policy, privacy analysis for risk-sensitive data sets and advances in scientific publications.

Dr. Sherry earned his PhD in Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University in 1996 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Louisiana State University Medical Center prior to joining NLM in 1998.

NLM Directors

Major Divisions

NLM’s Extramural Programs Division offers grant support for research projects and research training in biomedical informatics and data science. Biomedical informatics and data science research develop methods and approaches to improve the capture, integration, management, analysis, visualization, retrieval, and use of biomedical and behavioral information and data relating to human health. The Extramural Programs Division provides research support for both basic and applied research in these and related areas.

To expand the biomedical workforce in the area of biomedical informatics and data science, NLM supports training in biomedical informatics at educational institutions throughout the U.S. These programs offer pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training for research careers in health care informatics, biomedical data science, translational informatics, clinical research informatics, public health informatics, and related areas. In addition, individual pre-doctoral fellowships in biomedical informatics or data science are offered, as are career transition awards.

Grants are also made to U.S. small businesses that seek to undertake informatics research and development leading to commercialization. Critical research areas include helping consumers visualize health data, data integration of large disparate data resources, artificial intelligence techniques for biomedical data resources, and the enhancement of biomedical data, including personal health data, to allow access to data for more than one user at the same time. NLM also participates in NIH initiatives for small businesses relating to the adoption of the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard for exchanging electronic health information, and seeking improved therapies and techniques to enhance pain measurement  and treatment in support of the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative .

The Extramural Programs Division has two unique programs to support developing information resources to help reduce health disparities and developing resources related to the history and philosophy of medicine and public health.

NLM is a leader in research training in biomedical informatics, computational biology, and data science. NLM supports 200 pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees per year in biomedical informatics and data science in 16 university-based programs across the country. These programs encourage applications from people traditionally underrepresented in biomedical informatics and research; eleven of the programs offer special short-term summer training to enhance recruitment. In FY 2019, NLM partnered with the National Science Foundation to engage data science research experts with biomedical researchers studying and developing advanced analytical methods applied to health.

All active grant programs of NLM, lists of recent awardees, and contact information for grant staff are provided at  https://www.nlm.nih.gov/ep/ .

Division of Library Operations (LO)

The Division of Library Operations acquires, organizes, preserves, and provides access to the NLM Collection, which represents the intellectual content and diversity of the world’s biomedical literature, data, and other research objects and information. These activities are guided by the NLM Collection and Preservation Policy approved by the NLM Board of Regents in 2019. LO also creates and disseminates controlled vocabularies including  MeSH ,  UMLS , and  RxNorm , and a library classification scheme. LO is home to the National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology, which provides resources such as HSRProj , a database of health services research projects.

LO produces authoritative indexing and cataloging records and builds and distributes bibliographic, directory, and full-text databases including MEDLINE through PubMed and DailyMed.

NLM uses multiple channels to reach the public, including consumer-friendly websites, direct contact, and community networks. Trusted and authoritative consumer health information is available through MedlinePlus , MedlinePlus en español , and MedlinePlus Connect , a free service that links patient portals and electronic health records to consumer health information.

LO is also home to the  NIH Common Data Element Repository , part of an NIH-wide initiative to encourage health data standards in clinical research and patient registries. LO provides document delivery, primarily through the NLM system DOCLINE , and customer service that helps people effectively use NLM collections and resources.

The History of Medicine Division collects, preserves, makes available, and interprets the world’s richest collection of historical materials, spanning the 11 th to 21 st centuries in both physical and digital formats, including a historical exhibitions program and a blog called Circulating Now .

NLM’s Office of Engagement and Training (OET), home of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM), engages more than 8,100 academic health science libraries, hospital and public libraries, and community organizations across the United States to improve access to health information. In partnership with NIH’s All of Us Research Program , NNLM engages communities that are underrepresented in biomedical research to provide information about precision medicine. NNLM also increases the data science capacity of research libraries and librarians to manage and analyze biomedical data. OET coordinates training, engagement, and capacity-building on NLM offerings for priority stakeholders and the public.

Intramural Research Program

NLM conducts pioneering research to advance knowledge in biomedical informatics, computational biology, and data science. The NLM Intramural Research Program brings together the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications and the National Center for Biotechnology Information's (NCBI) Computational Biology Branch.

NLM’s research portfolio includes artificial intelligence, computational biology, clinical decision support, and public health surveillance. NLM’s research produces novel analytical approaches and visualization tools that help scientists accelerate discovery from data and translate findings to clinical solutions. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the effects of medications, procedures, and other factors that influence human health and the prevention and treatment of disease. NLM produces tools that make discoveries and health data more understandable to patients and helps people access, store, use, and understand their own health data. 

NLM supports research in medical language processing, high-speed access to biomedical information, analysis and use of high-quality biomedical imaging data, and large-scale analysis of clinical and administrative data to predict patient outcomes. Its work has validated findings from clinical research, helped locate and identify viruses that pose a threat to public health, and enhanced machine learning and image processing to screen for cervical cancer and assist in early treatment. NLM’s computational biology research creates new ways to represent and connect genomic and biological data with the biomedical literature and advance the understanding of evolutionary genomics. NLM produces analytic software tools for gaining insights about genetic mutational patterns and factors in disease, molecular binding, and protein structure and function.

NLM also hosts postdoctoral research fellows who apply informatics science to research, education, and clinical care. 

Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications (LHNCBC)

Congress established the Lister Hill Center for Biomedical Communications in 1968 to improve communication about health education, research, and practice. Today, LHNCBC focuses on improving health through methodological advances in Health Data Science and Informatics. LHNCBC activities are centered on clinical data and aim to produce interoperable data, scalable methods, and translation of research discoveries into operations.

In addition to contributing to the NLM Intramural Research Program, LHNCBC staff translate research insights into products and services offered to the public (e.g., Open-i ® , an open access biomedical image search engine) and to the research community (e.g., the NLM Scrubber, a software package for de-identifying clinical text) or for use in NLM operations (e.g., the Medical Text Indexer, a tool that produces indexing recommendations for MEDLINE citations). LHNCBC has a long tradition of applying artificial intelligence techniques to clinical images for diagnostic or prognostic purposes. Examples include identification of malaria parasites in blood smears, classification of chest X-rays for tuberculosis, and detection and staging of cervical cancer from uterine cervix photographs and histology images. LHNCBC staff also lead the development, enhancement, and adoption of clinical vocabulary (e.g., SNOMED CT, LOINC and RxNorm) and information model standards, with focus on the HL7 FHIR standard (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) for exchanging clinical information.

National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)

Congress established the National Center for Biotechnology Information in 1988 as a division of NLM and as a national resource for molecular biology information. Since then, NCBI has been a leading source for public biomedical databases, software tools for analyzing molecular and genomic data, and research in computational biology

NCBI creates and maintains over 40 databases for the medical and scientific communities as well as the general public; these include literature, molecular, and genomic databases. NCBI’s core literature database is PubMed, which provides abstracts and citations for millions of articles from thousands of biomedical journals. PubMed records include links to full-text versions of the articles (when available) from NCBI’s PubMed Central (PMC) electronic archive and from journal websites, as well as links to related information from other NCBI sites, such as the genomic and molecular databases.

Some of NCBI’s core genomic and genetic resources include GenBank, an annotated collection of all publicly available DNA sequences; RefSeq, a curated collection of DNA, RNA, and protein sequences; the Sequence Read Archive (SRA), which houses high-throughput sequencing data; dbSNP, a database of short genetic variations (areas of the genome that have been found to vary among humans); dbGaP, a database that connects genotype and phenotype data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and other studies; ClinVar, a collection of reported relationships between genetic variations and observed health status; the Genetic Testing registry, a database of genetic tests; and the Pathogen Detection resource, which integrates sequence data for bacterial pathogens obtained from food, the environment, and human patients to facilitate active, real-time surveillance of pathogens and foodborne disease. NCBI also produces ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world. Additional databases include information on chemical structures and their biological activities, protein sequences, protein structure, chromosomal aberrations in cancer, genes and gene expression, taxonomy, and more.

Office of Computer and Communications Systems (OCCS)

The Office of Computer and Communications Systems provides information technology services and technical advice to support the research and management programs offered through NLM. OCCS manages and operates the NLM network backbone, connections to the Internet and Internet2 networks, internal computer networks within NLM, NLM’s onsite and offsite data center facilities, platforms for enterprise compute and storage, platforms for end-user computation, and mobile user and remote access technologies.

OCCS develops and operates IT services and software applications that support the Library’s mission. OCCS develops applications both for internal and public use—with specific expertise in developing software applications that use standardized medical terminology.

OCCS provides customer support, training, and documentation for computer and network users. In addition, OCCS develops standards and guidance for managing and using information technology at NLM in accordance with industry best practices and applicable federal government mandates. OCCS provides oversight of all information security programs at NLM and ensures that NLM information systems comply with federal information security standards.

As the chief information officer of NLM, the director of OCCS approves acquisitions related to information technology, oversees the governance process for NLM investments in information technology and ensures NLM complies with relevant federal laws, directives and standards.

This page last reviewed on November 3, 2023

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ENG 611: American National Literature: Home

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ENG 611: American National Literature

The development of the American novel in the decades following the Civil War as the nation reconstructed and redefined itself as an American empire through western expansion, colonization in the Pacific, European immigration, and progressive era reforms.

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American Literature Resources

*Highly Recommended Resources The following resource is accessible through the HathiTrust Digital Library.

• *The Cambridge History of American Literature

The following resources are accessible through GALILEO. Off-campus users must log in through OpenAthens.

• American Literary Realism, Critical Theory, and Intellectual Prestige, 1880–1995 Focusing on key works of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American literary realism, Phillip Barrish traces the emergence of new ways of gaining intellectual prestige--that is, new ways of gaining cultural recognition as unusually intelligent, sensitive or even wise. Through extended readings of works by Henry James, William Dean Howells, Abraham Cahan and Edith Wharton, Barrish emphasises the differences between literary realist modes of intellectual and cultural authority and those associated with the rise of the social sciences.
• *The Cambridge Introduction to American Literary Realism Emphasizing realism's historical context, this introduction traces the genre's relationship with powerful, often violent, social conflicts involving race, gender, class and national origin. It also examines how the realist style was created; the necessarily ambiguous relationship between realism produced on the page and reality outside the book; and the different, often contradictory, forms "realism" took in literary works by different authors.
• The Cambridge Introduction to The Nineteenth-Century American Novel Gregg Crane tells the story of the American novel from its beginnings in the early republic to the end of the nineteenth century. Treating the famous and many less well-known works, Crane discusses the genre's major figures, themes and developments. He analyses the different types of American fiction--romance, sentimental fiction, and the realist novel--in detail, while the historical context is explained in relation to how novelists explored the changing world around them.
• Documents of American Realism and Naturalism Through introductions to each of the three sections, Pizer provides background, delineating the underlying issues motivating attempts to attack, defend, or describe American realism and naturalism. In particular, Pizer attempts to reveal the close ties between criticism of the two movements and significant cultural concerns of the period in which the criticism appeared.
• Haunting Realities: Naturalist Gothic and American Realism Haunting Realities: Naturalist Gothic and American Realism is an innovative collection of essays examining the sometimes paradoxical alignment of Realism and Naturalism with the Gothic in American literature to highlight their shared qualities.
• The Oxford History of the Novel in English: The American Novel 1870-1940 Contributors discuss the professionalization of literary production after the Civil War alongside legal and political debates over segregation and citizenship; while chapters on journalism, geography, religion, and immigration offer discussions on everything from the lasting role of literary realism in American fiction to the Spanish-American War's effect on developing theories of aesthetics and popular culture.
• Realism and Naturalism in Nineteenth-century American Literature The book contains definitions of real­ism and naturalism based on representative novels of the period ranging from Howells’ Rise of Silas Lapham to Crane’s Red Badge of Courage; analyses of the literary criticism of the age, stressing that of Howells, Garland, and Norris; and close readings of specific works by major figures of the period.
• The Vast and Terrible Drama: American Literary Naturalism in the Late Nineteenth Century Themes addressed include the traditionally close connection between French naturalism and American literary naturalism; relationships between the movement and the romance tradition in American literature, as well as with utopian fictions of the 19th century; narrative strategies employed by the key writers; the dominant naturalist theme of determinism; and textual readings that provide broad examples of the role of the reader.
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Let me begin by drawing your attention to three terms by which writing by Filipinos are usually designated in our textbooks or in conferences: "Literature of the Philippines." "Filipino Literature." "National Literature."

"Literature of the Philippines" emphasizes the totality of the literary output of the geographical territory called the Philippines. The term implies that some forces working together have affected the unity discerned in the literary production of the country, and these may be race, culture and political organization. "Philippine Literature" often takes the place of this term.

Now, the term "Filipino Literature." The emphasis here is on nationality which, it is assumed, leaves a distinctive mark on an author's work. When the term is used, the purpose is to set off a certain body of writing against a larger body coming from various countries in the world, so that its racial, ethnic and possibly political characteristics may be highlighted as contexts for understanding the literary works.

And now we come to the term "National Literature." In contrast to the term noted earlier, "national literature" is unmistakably political in implication. The underlying assumption behind it is that the authors are a conscious component of the Filipino nation and are willing if not necessarily active participants in the realization of the aspirations of the people who constitute the nation.

Let us now address the concern of this Congress which has been so cautiously worded thus "Towards a National Literature." Either the theme is suggesting that the body of literature produced so far by Filipino writers is still in the process of attaining Consciousness of its "national" character, or that the said body needs to be read And validated as expression of the writers' consciousness of the history and culture of the people who constitute the Filipino nation.

I think it is the latter sense that this Congress ought to pursue in the various panel discussions for the next two days. How to read the works of our authors and draw out from there the growth and achievements of the nation, so that subsequent writers and their audiences may learn from the earlier generations and learn to track new and ever newer paths from a recognition of the gains and losses discernible in the earlier literary...

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• > The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
• > Literature and nationalism

Book contents

• The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
• Series page
• Copyright page
• Notes on contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• I Literary criticism as an institution
• II National developments in literary criticism
• 4 Literature and nationalism
• 6 France: the continuing debate over Classicism
• 7 England: Romantic legacies
• 8 England: literature and culture
• 9 Literary nationalism and US Romantic aesthetics
• 10 Russia: literature and society
• III Critical movements and patterns of influence
• IV Later nineteenth-century developments: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence
• V Some major critics of the period
• VI Genre criticism
• VII Literature and other disciplines
• Select bibliography and further reading

4 - Literature and nationalism

from II - National developments in literary criticism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2013

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• Literature and nationalism
• By Julia M. Wright
• Edited by M. A. R. Habib , Rutgers University, New Jersey
• Book: The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
• Online publication: 05 February 2013
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9781139018456.007

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