Literature Reviews
A literature review is a systematic review of the published literature on a specific topic. The literature review is designed to analyze -- and not just summarize -- scholarly writings that are related to your topic. In other words, it reviews the literature that provides background information on your topic and shows a correspondence between those writings and your topic.
Examples
Annual Review of Anthropology
Boivin, Mylène, and Ghadya Hassan. 2015. "Ethnic identity and psychological adjustment in transracial adoptees: a review of the literature." Ethnic And Racial Studies 38, no. 7: 1084-1103 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2014.992922.
Yang, Youngran, Frances Marcus Lewis, and Daniel L. Kraushaar. 2013. "HIV Transmission from Husbands to Wives in Cambodia: A Systematic Review of the Literature." Culture, Health & Sexuality 15 (9): 1115-1128. doi:10.1080/13691058.2013.793403.
Zak, Alison. A. (2016). Mischevious monkeys: Ecologogical and ethnographic components of crop raiding by moor macaques (macaca maura) in south Sulawesi, Indonesia. (master's thesis, San Diego State University). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
Getting organized
Further reading
Galvan, Jose L., and Galvan, Melisa. 2017. Writing Literature Reviews: A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. New York: Routledge. (Print book)
