According to McCombes (2019), a literature review is a way of collecting information from scholarly sources about a specific topic.
It helps you understand what is already known, spot relevant theories and methods, and identify gaps in existing research. To write a literature review, you need to find relevant sources such as books, journal articles, and other academic publications.
There are five key steps to help you analyse the sources and explain what you discovered:
- Search for relevant literature
- Evaluate your sources for quality and relevance
- Identify key themes, debates, and gaps
- Outline the structure of your review
- Write your literature review
There are also different types of literature reviews, like systematic reviews. The type you choose depends on your research question, not all questions are suitable for every type of review. Take a look at the table below to see the main types of literature reviews and their definitions.
Types of Literature Reviews
| Type of Review | Definition | Short Example |
|---|---|---|
| Narrative Review | Provides a broad summary of research on a topic, without a strict method. | Reviewing general studies on the effects of exercise on mental health. |
| Systematic Review | Uses a clear, structured process to search, select, and analyse studies to answer a specific research question. | Collecting and analysing all published studies on the effectiveness of a new nursing intervention. |
| Scoping Review | Maps the existing research on a topic to show trends, gaps, and key concepts, usually when an area is new or complex. | Checking what types of studies exist on mobile apps in nursing education. |
| Critical Review | Goes beyond description to critically analyse the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of studies. | Assessing the quality of studies on patient safety practices in hospitals. |
| Integrative Review | Brings together findings from both experimental and non-experimental studies to give a more complete understanding of a topic. | Combining survey results, clinical trials, and case studies on nursing burnout. |
| Meta-analysis | A statistical technique that combines results from several studies to give stronger evidence. | Pooling results from multiple clinical trials on pain management in post-surgery patients. |
| Meta-synthesis | Integrates findings from qualitative studies to create new interpretations or theories. | Synthesising themes from interviews with patients about chronic illness experiences. |
| Rapid Review | A streamlined version of a systematic review, done quickly to support timely decisions. | Quickly reviewing evidence on infection control practices during an outbreak. |
| Umbrella Review | A review of systematic reviews; summarises evidence from multiple systematic reviews in one place. | Summarising all systematic reviews on diabetes self-management programmes. |
Table adapted from Duke University
Examples of different types of reviews:
Systematic review:
Barriers and facilitators to health screening in men: A systematic review
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.023
Literature review:
A Literature review of mentorship programs in academic nursing
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2017.02.007
Scoping review:
How do patients experience caring? Scoping review
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2017.03.029
Rapid review:
Blended foods for tube-fed children: a safe and realistic option? A rapid review of the evidence
https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2016-311030
Resources
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
Duke University. Systematic reviews. https://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/sysreview/types [18 September2025].
JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis
McCombes, S. 2019. What is a literature review: step-by-step guide & example. https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/#:~:text=A%20lit… [25 March 2022].