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Literature Reviews in Social Work

About This Guide

The purpose of this guide is to provide background and guidelines related to literature reviews in social work. 

The following book will be a key resource to you as you write your literature review: 

Purpose of a Literature Review

A literature review is a comprehensive summary of the ideas, issues, approaches, and research findings published on a particular subject area or topic. A literature review is not a simple description of all you have read on a topic. Instead, we are analyzing the resources as we present their findings. We are addressing the contributions and gaps illustrated by the resource. As we write a literature review, we are: 

  • Demonstrating your knowledge of the research related to your specific research topic
  • Showing that you are aware of other authors, thinkers, and researchers who have laid the foundation of your research topic
  • Illustrating your ability to evaluate relevant information
  • Indicating your ability to synthesize existing information 
  • Arguing what gaps, inconsistencies, or problems still need to be addressed in further research on the topic
  • Unifying your research materials (books, articles, resources) under a central theme 
  • Convincing your reader you will be making a contribution to the research topic

Tutorial: Literature Reviews in Social Work

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