A review of the literature is a text of an academic paper which includes current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. Bibliographic reviews are secondary sources, and do not report new or original experimental works. Most often associated with academic oriented literature, such reviews are found in academic journals, and should not be confused with book reviews that may also appear in the same publication. Bibliographic examinations are a basis for research in almost all academic fields. A limited-scope literature review can be included as part of a peer-reviewed article presenting new research, which serves to place the current study within the body of relevant literature and to provide context for the reader. In such a case, the revision usually precedes the sections of methodology and results of the work.
Producing a literature review can also be part of the work of postgraduate and graduate students, including in the preparation of a thesis, thesis or magazine article. Literature examinations are also common in a research proposal or prospectus (the document that is approved before a student formally begins a thesis or thesis). A literature review discusses information published in a particular thematic area and sometimes information in a particular thematic area within a given period of time.
A review of the literature may be just a simple summary of the sources but it usually has an organisational pattern and combines synthesis and synthesis. A summary is a recapitulation of the important information from the source but a synthesis is a reorganisation, or a reorganisation, of that information. It could give a new interpretation of the old material or combine new interpretations with old ones. Or it could track the intellectual progression of the field including major debates. And depending on the situation the literature review can assess the sources and advise the reader on the most relevant or relevant.