definition of literature review of research

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Literature Reviews

• What is a literature review?
• Steps in the Literature Review Process
• Define your research question
• Determine inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Choose databases and search
• Review Results
• Synthesize Results
• Analyze Results
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What is a Literature Review?

A literature or narrative review is a comprehensive review and analysis of the published literature on a specific topic or research question. The literature that is reviewed contains: books, articles, academic articles, conference proceedings, association papers, and dissertations. It contains the most pertinent studies and points to important past and current research and practices. It provides background and context, and shows how your research will contribute to the field. 

A literature review should: 

• Provide a comprehensive and updated review of the literature;
• Explain why this review has taken place;
• Articulate a position or hypothesis;
• Acknowledge and account for conflicting and corroborating points of view

From  S age Research Methods

Purpose of a Literature Review

A literature review can be written as an introduction to a study to:

• Demonstrate how a study fills a gap in research
• Compare a study with other research that's been done

Or it can be a separate work (a research article on its own) which:

• Organizes or describes a topic
• Describes variables within a particular issue/problem

Limitations of a Literature Review

Some of the limitations of a literature review are:

• It's a snapshot in time. Unlike other reviews, this one has beginning, a middle and an end. There may be future developments that could make your work less relevant.
• It may be too focused. Some niche studies may miss the bigger picture.
• It can be difficult to be comprehensive. There is no way to make sure all the literature on a topic was considered.
• It is easy to be biased if you stick to top tier journals. There may be other places where people are publishing exemplary research. Look to open access publications and conferences to reflect a more inclusive collection. Also, make sure to include opposing views (and not just supporting evidence).

Source: Grant, Maria J., and Andrew Booth. “A Typology of Reviews: An Analysis of 14 Review Types and Associated Methodologies.” Health Information & Libraries Journal, vol. 26, no. 2, June 2009, pp. 91–108. Wiley Online Library, doi:10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x.

Meryl Brodsky : Communication and Information Studies

Hannah Chapman Tripp : Biology, Neuroscience

Carolyn Cunningham : Human Development & Family Sciences, Psychology, Sociology

Larayne Dallas : Engineering

Janelle Hedstrom : Special Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Ed Leadership & Policy ​

Susan Macicak : Linguistics

Imelda Vetter : Dell Medical School

For help in other subject areas, please see the guide to library specialists by subject .

Periodically, UT Libraries runs a workshop covering the basics and library support for literature reviews. While we try to offer these once per academic year, we find providing the recording to be helpful to community members who have missed the session. Following is the most recent recording of the workshop, Conducting a Literature Review. To view the recording, a UT login is required.

• October 26, 2022 recording
• Last Updated: Jun 18, 2024 1:00 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.utexas.edu/literaturereviews

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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.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

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.

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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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Literature reviews, what is a literature review, learning more about how to do a literature review.

• Planning the Review
• The Research Question
• Choosing Where to Search
• Organizing the Review
• Writing the Review

A literature review is a review and synthesis of existing research on a topic or research question. A literature review is meant to analyze the scholarly literature, make connections across writings and identify strengths, weaknesses, trends, and missing conversations. A literature review should address different aspects of a topic as it relates to your research question. A literature review goes beyond a description or summary of the literature you have read. 

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Writing a Literature Review

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A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis ). The lit review is an important genre in many disciplines, not just literature (i.e., the study of works of literature such as novels and plays). When we say “literature review” or refer to “the literature,” we are talking about the research ( scholarship ) in a given field. You will often see the terms “the research,” “the scholarship,” and “the literature” used mostly interchangeably.

Where, when, and why would I write a lit review?

There are a number of different situations where you might write a literature review, each with slightly different expectations; different disciplines, too, have field-specific expectations for what a literature review is and does. For instance, in the humanities, authors might include more overt argumentation and interpretation of source material in their literature reviews, whereas in the sciences, authors are more likely to report study designs and results in their literature reviews; these differences reflect these disciplines’ purposes and conventions in scholarship. You should always look at examples from your own discipline and talk to professors or mentors in your field to be sure you understand your discipline’s conventions, for literature reviews as well as for any other genre.

A literature review can be a part of a research paper or scholarly article, usually falling after the introduction and before the research methods sections. In these cases, the lit review just needs to cover scholarship that is important to the issue you are writing about; sometimes it will also cover key sources that informed your research methodology.

Lit reviews can also be standalone pieces, either as assignments in a class or as publications. In a class, a lit review may be assigned to help students familiarize themselves with a topic and with scholarship in their field, get an idea of the other researchers working on the topic they’re interested in, find gaps in existing research in order to propose new projects, and/or develop a theoretical framework and methodology for later research. As a publication, a lit review usually is meant to help make other scholars’ lives easier by collecting and summarizing, synthesizing, and analyzing existing research on a topic. This can be especially helpful for students or scholars getting into a new research area, or for directing an entire community of scholars toward questions that have not yet been answered.

What are the parts of a lit review?

Most lit reviews use a basic introduction-body-conclusion structure; if your lit review is part of a larger paper, the introduction and conclusion pieces may be just a few sentences while you focus most of your attention on the body. If your lit review is a standalone piece, the introduction and conclusion take up more space and give you a place to discuss your goals, research methods, and conclusions separately from where you discuss the literature itself.

Introduction:

• An introductory paragraph that explains what your working topic and thesis is
• A forecast of key topics or texts that will appear in the review
• Potentially, a description of how you found sources and how you analyzed them for inclusion and discussion in the review (more often found in published, standalone literature reviews than in lit review sections in an article or research paper)
• 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 sentence to draw connections, comparisons, and contrasts.

Conclusion:

• Summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance
• Connect it back to your primary research question

How should I organize my lit review?

Lit reviews can take many different organizational patterns depending on what you are trying to accomplish with the review. Here are some examples:

• Chronological : The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time, which helps familiarize the audience with the topic (for instance if you are introducing something that is not commonly known in your field). If you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order. Try to analyze the patterns, turning points, and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred (as mentioned previously, this may not be appropriate in your discipline — check with a teacher or mentor if you’re unsure).
• Thematic : If you have found some recurring central themes that you will continue working with throughout your piece, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic. For example, if you are reviewing literature about women and religion, key themes can include the role of women in churches and the religious attitude towards women.
• Qualitative versus quantitative research
• Empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the research by sociological, historical, or cultural sources
• Theoretical : In many humanities articles, the literature review is the foundation for the theoretical framework. You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts. You can argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach or combine various theorical concepts to create a framework for your research.

What are some strategies or tips I can use while writing my lit review?

Any lit review is only as good as the research it discusses; make sure your sources are well-chosen and your research is thorough. Don’t be afraid to do more research if you discover a new thread as you’re writing. More info on the research process is available in our "Conducting Research" resources .

As you’re doing your research, create an annotated bibliography ( see our page on the this type of document ). Much of the information used in an annotated bibliography can be used also in a literature review, so you’ll be not only partially drafting your lit review as you research, but also developing your sense of the larger conversation going on among scholars, professionals, and any other stakeholders in your topic.

Usually you will need to synthesize research rather than just summarizing it. This means drawing connections between sources to create a picture of the scholarly conversation on a topic over time. Many student writers struggle to synthesize because they feel they don’t have anything to add to the scholars they are citing; here are some strategies to help you:

• It often helps to remember that the point of these kinds of syntheses is to show your readers how you understand your research, to help them read the rest of your paper.
• Writing teachers often say synthesis is like hosting a dinner party: imagine all your sources are together in a room, discussing your topic. What are they saying to each other?
• Look at the in-text citations in each paragraph. Are you citing just one source for each paragraph? This usually indicates summary only. When you have multiple sources cited in a paragraph, you are more likely to be synthesizing them (not always, but often
• Read more about synthesis here.

The most interesting literature reviews are often written as arguments (again, as mentioned at the beginning of the page, this is discipline-specific and doesn’t work for all situations). Often, the literature review is where you can establish your research as filling a particular gap or as relevant in a particular way. You have some chance to do this in your introduction in an article, but the literature review section gives a more extended opportunity to establish the conversation in the way you would like your readers to see it. You can choose the intellectual lineage you would like to be part of and whose definitions matter most to your thinking (mostly humanities-specific, but this goes for sciences as well). In addressing these points, you argue for your place in the conversation, which tends to make the lit review more compelling than a simple reporting of other sources.

• University of Oregon Libraries
• Research Guides

How to Write a Literature Review

What's a literature review.

• Literature Reviews: A Recap
• Reading Journal Articles
• Does it Describe a Literature Review?
• 1. Identify the Question
• 2. Review Discipline Styles
• Searching Article Databases
• Finding Full-Text of an Article
• Citation Chaining
• When to Stop Searching
• 4. Manage Your References
• 5. Critically Analyze and Evaluate
• 6. Synthesize
• 7. Write a Literature Review

What's a Literature Review? 

A literature review (or "lit review," for short) is an in-depth critical analysis of published scholarly research related to a specific topic. Published scholarly research (aka, "the literature") may include journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations and thesis, or conference proceedings. 

A solid lit review must:

• be organized around and related directly to the thesis or research question you're developing
• synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known
• identify areas of controversy in the literature
• formulate questions that need further research

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• What is a Literature Review? | Guide, Template, & Examples

What is a Literature Review? | Guide, Template, & Examples

Published on 22 February 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 7 June 2022.

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.

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 summarise sources – it analyses, synthesises, and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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Table of contents

Why write 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, frequently asked questions about literature reviews, introduction.

• Quick Run-through
• Step 1 & 2

When you write a dissertation or thesis, you will 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 scholarly context
• Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
• Position yourself in relation to other researchers and theorists
• Show how your dissertation addresses a gap or contributes to a debate

You might also have to write a literature review as a stand-alone assignment. In this case, the purpose is to evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of scholarly debates around a topic.

The content will look slightly different in each case, but the process of conducting a literature review follows the same steps. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

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 objectives and questions .

If you are writing a literature review as a stand-alone assignment, you will have to choose a focus and develop a central question to direct your search. Unlike a dissertation research question, this question has to be answerable without collecting original data. You should be able to answer it based only on a review of existing publications.

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research topic. 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 if 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 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 use boolean operators to help narrow down your search:

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.

To identify the most important publications on your topic, take note of recurring citations. If the same authors, books or articles keep appearing in your reading, make sure to seek them out.

You probably won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on the topic – you’ll have to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your questions.

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?
• How does the publication contribute to your understanding of the topic? What are its key insights and arguments?
• 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 find out how many times an article has been cited on Google Scholar – a high citation count means the article has been influential in the field, and should certainly be included in your literature review.

The scope of your review will depend on your topic and discipline: in the sciences you usually only review recent literature, but in the humanities you might take a long historical perspective (for example, to trace how a concept has changed in meaning over time).

Remember that you can use our template to summarise and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using!

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’s important to keep track of your sources with references to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography, where you compile full reference 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.

You can use our free APA Reference Generator for quick, correct, consistent citations.

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To begin organising your literature review’s argument and structure, you need to 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 organising the body of a literature review. You should have a rough idea of your strategy before you start writing.

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 summarising sources in order.

Try to analyse 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 organise 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.

If you are writing the literature review as part of your dissertation or thesis, reiterate your central problem or research question and give a brief summary of the scholarly context. You can emphasise the timeliness of the topic (“many recent studies have focused on the problem of x”) or highlight a gap in the literature (“while there has been much research on x, few researchers have taken y into consideration”).

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, make sure to follow these tips:

• Summarise and synthesise: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole.
• Analyse and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers – add your own interpretations, 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 transitions and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts.

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

If the literature review is part of your dissertation or thesis, reiterate how your research addresses gaps and contributes new knowledge, or discuss how you have drawn on existing theories and methods to build a framework for your research. This can lead directly into your methodology section.

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 dissertation , thesis, research paper , or proposal .

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

• To familiarise 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  dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

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• UConn Library
• Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide
• Introduction

Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide — Introduction

• Getting Started
• How to Pick a Topic
• Strategies to Find Sources
• Evaluating Sources & Lit. Reviews
• Tips for Writing Literature Reviews
• Writing Literature Review: Useful Sites
• Citation Resources
• Other Academic Writings

What are Literature Reviews?

So, what is a literature review? "A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries." Taylor, D.  The literature review: A few tips on conducting it . University of Toronto Health Sciences Writing Centre.

Goals of Literature Reviews

What are the goals of creating a Literature Review?  A literature could be written to accomplish different aims:

• To develop a theory or evaluate an existing theory
• To summarize the historical or existing state of a research topic
• Identify a problem in a field of research 

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1997). Writing narrative literature reviews .  Review of General Psychology , 1 (3), 311-320.

What kinds of sources require a Literature Review?

• A research paper assigned in a course
• A thesis or dissertation
• A grant proposal
• An article intended for publication in a journal

All these instances require you to collect what has been written about your research topic so that you can demonstrate how your own research sheds new light on the topic.

Types of Literature Reviews

What kinds of literature reviews are written?

Narrative review: The purpose of this type of review is to describe the current state of the research on a specific topic/research and to offer a critical analysis of the literature reviewed. Studies are grouped by research/theoretical categories, and themes and trends, strengths and weakness, and gaps are identified. The review ends with a conclusion section which summarizes the findings regarding the state of the research of the specific study, the gaps identify and if applicable, explains how the author's research will address gaps identify in the review and expand the knowledge on the topic reviewed.

• Example : Predictors and Outcomes of U.S. Quality Maternity Leave: A Review and Conceptual Framework:  10.1177/08948453211037398  

Systematic review : "The authors of a systematic review use a specific procedure to search the research literature, select the studies to include in their review, and critically evaluate the studies they find." (p. 139). Nelson, L. K. (2013). Research in Communication Sciences and Disorders . Plural Publishing.

• Example : The effect of leave policies on increasing fertility: a systematic review:  10.1057/s41599-022-01270-w

Meta-analysis : "Meta-analysis is a method of reviewing research findings in a quantitative fashion by transforming the data from individual studies into what is called an effect size and then pooling and analyzing this information. The basic goal in meta-analysis is to explain why different outcomes have occurred in different studies." (p. 197). Roberts, M. C., & Ilardi, S. S. (2003). Handbook of Research Methods in Clinical Psychology . Blackwell Publishing.

• Example : Employment Instability and Fertility in Europe: A Meta-Analysis:  10.1215/00703370-9164737

Meta-synthesis : "Qualitative meta-synthesis is a type of qualitative study that uses as data the findings from other qualitative studies linked by the same or related topic." (p.312). Zimmer, L. (2006). Qualitative meta-synthesis: A question of dialoguing with texts .  Journal of Advanced Nursing , 53 (3), 311-318.

• Example : Women’s perspectives on career successes and barriers: A qualitative meta-synthesis:  10.1177/05390184221113735

Literature Reviews in the Health Sciences

• UConn Health subject guide on systematic reviews Explanation of the different review types used in health sciences literature as well as tools to help you find the right review type
• << Previous: Getting Started
• Next: How to Pick a Topic >>
• Last Updated: Sep 21, 2022 2:16 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uconn.edu/literaturereview

What Is A Literature Review?

A plain-language explainer (with examples).

By:  Derek Jansen (MBA) & Kerryn Warren (PhD) | June 2020 (Updated May 2023)

If you’re faced with writing a dissertation or thesis, chances are you’ve encountered the term “literature review” . If you’re on this page, you’re probably not 100% what the literature review is all about. The good news is that you’ve come to the right place.

Literature Review 101

• What (exactly) is a literature review
• What’s the purpose of the literature review chapter
• How to find high-quality resources
• How to structure your literature review chapter
• Example of an actual literature review

What is a literature review?

The word “literature review” can refer to two related things that are part of the broader literature review process. The first is the task of  reviewing the literature  – i.e. sourcing and reading through the existing research relating to your research topic. The second is the  actual chapter  that you write up in your dissertation, thesis or research project. Let’s look at each of them:

Reviewing the literature

The first step of any literature review is to hunt down and  read through the existing research  that’s relevant to your research topic. To do this, you’ll use a combination of tools (we’ll discuss some of these later) to find journal articles, books, ebooks, research reports, dissertations, theses and any other credible sources of information that relate to your topic. You’ll then  summarise and catalogue these  for easy reference when you write up your literature review chapter. 

The literature review chapter

The second step of the literature review is to write the actual literature review chapter (this is usually the second chapter in a typical dissertation or thesis structure ). At the simplest level, the literature review chapter is an  overview of the key literature  that’s relevant to your research topic. This chapter should provide a smooth-flowing discussion of what research has already been done, what is known, what is unknown and what is contested in relation to your research topic. So, you can think of it as an  integrated review of the state of knowledge  around your research topic. 

What’s the purpose of a literature review?

The literature review chapter has a few important functions within your dissertation, thesis or research project. Let’s take a look at these:

Purpose #1 – Demonstrate your topic knowledge

The first function of the literature review chapter is, quite simply, to show the reader (or marker) that you  know what you’re talking about . In other words, a good literature review chapter demonstrates that you’ve read the relevant existing research and understand what’s going on – who’s said what, what’s agreed upon, disagreed upon and so on. This needs to be  more than just a summary  of who said what – it needs to integrate the existing research to  show how it all fits together  and what’s missing (which leads us to purpose #2, next). 

Purpose #2 – Reveal the research gap that you’ll fill

The second function of the literature review chapter is to  show what’s currently missing  from the existing research, to lay the foundation for your own research topic. In other words, your literature review chapter needs to show that there are currently “missing pieces” in terms of the bigger puzzle, and that  your study will fill one of those research gaps . By doing this, you are showing that your research topic is original and will help contribute to the body of knowledge. In other words, the literature review helps justify your research topic.  

Purpose #3 – Lay the foundation for your conceptual framework

The third function of the literature review is to form the  basis for a conceptual framework . Not every research topic will necessarily have a conceptual framework, but if your topic does require one, it needs to be rooted in your literature review. 

For example, let’s say your research aims to identify the drivers of a certain outcome – the factors which contribute to burnout in office workers. In this case, you’d likely develop a conceptual framework which details the potential factors (e.g. long hours, excessive stress, etc), as well as the outcome (burnout). Those factors would need to emerge from the literature review chapter – they can’t just come from your gut! 

So, in this case, the literature review chapter would uncover each of the potential factors (based on previous studies about burnout), which would then be modelled into a framework. 

Purpose #4 – To inform your methodology

The fourth function of the literature review is to  inform the choice of methodology  for your own research. As we’ve  discussed on the Grad Coach blog , your choice of methodology will be heavily influenced by your research aims, objectives and questions . Given that you’ll be reviewing studies covering a topic close to yours, it makes sense that you could learn a lot from their (well-considered) methodologies.

So, when you’re reviewing the literature, you’ll need to  pay close attention to the research design , methodology and methods used in similar studies, and use these to inform your methodology. Quite often, you’ll be able to  “borrow” from previous studies . This is especially true for quantitative studies , as you can use previously tried and tested measures and scales. 

How do I find articles for my literature review?

Finding quality journal articles is essential to crafting a rock-solid literature review. As you probably already know, not all research is created equally, and so you need to make sure that your literature review is  built on credible research . 

We could write an entire post on how to find quality literature (actually, we have ), but a good starting point is Google Scholar . Google Scholar is essentially the academic equivalent of Google, using Google’s powerful search capabilities to find relevant journal articles and reports. It certainly doesn’t cover every possible resource, but it’s a very useful way to get started on your literature review journey, as it will very quickly give you a good indication of what the  most popular pieces of research  are in your field.

One downside of Google Scholar is that it’s merely a search engine – that is, it lists the articles, but oftentimes  it doesn’t host the articles . So you’ll often hit a paywall when clicking through to journal websites. 

Thankfully, your university should provide you with access to their library, so you can find the article titles using Google Scholar and then search for them by name in your university’s online library. Your university may also provide you with access to  ResearchGate , which is another great source for existing research. 

Remember, the correct search keywords will be super important to get the right information from the start. So, pay close attention to the keywords used in the journal articles you read and use those keywords to search for more articles. If you can’t find a spoon in the kitchen, you haven’t looked in the right drawer. 

Need a helping hand?

How should I structure my literature review?

Unfortunately, there’s no generic universal answer for this one. The structure of your literature review will depend largely on your topic area and your research aims and objectives.

You could potentially structure your literature review chapter according to theme, group, variables , chronologically or per concepts in your field of research. We explain the main approaches to structuring your literature review here . You can also download a copy of our free literature review template to help you establish an initial structure.

In general, it’s also a good idea to start wide (i.e. the big-picture-level) and then narrow down, ending your literature review close to your research questions . However, there’s no universal one “right way” to structure your literature review. The most important thing is not to discuss your sources one after the other like a list – as we touched on earlier, your literature review needs to synthesise the research , not summarise it .

Ultimately, you need to craft your literature review so that it conveys the most important information effectively – it needs to tell a logical story in a digestible way. It’s no use starting off with highly technical terms and then only explaining what these terms mean later. Always assume your reader is not a subject matter expert and hold their hand through a journe y of the literature while keeping the functions of the literature review chapter (which we discussed earlier) front of mind.

Example of a literature review

In the video below, we walk you through a high-quality literature review from a dissertation that earned full distinction. This will give you a clearer view of what a strong literature review looks like in practice and hopefully provide some inspiration for your own. 

Wrapping Up

In this post, we’ve (hopefully) answered the question, “ what is a literature review? “. We’ve also considered the purpose and functions of the literature review, as well as how to find literature and how to structure the literature review chapter. If you’re keen to learn more, check out the literature review section of the Grad Coach blog , as well as our detailed video post covering how to write a literature review . 

Psst… there’s more!

This post is an extract from our bestselling short course, Literature Review Bootcamp . If you want to work smart, you don't want to miss this .

16 Comments

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What is a literature review? [with examples]

What is a literature review?

The purpose of a literature review, how to write a literature review, the format of a literature review, general formatting rules, the length of a literature review, literature review examples, frequently asked questions about literature reviews, related articles.

A literature review is an assessment of the sources in a chosen topic of research.

In a literature review, you’re expected to report on the existing scholarly conversation, without adding new contributions.

If you are currently writing one, you've come to the right place. In the following paragraphs, we will explain:

• the objective of a literature review
• how to write a literature review
• the basic format of a literature review

Tip: It’s not always mandatory to add a literature review in a paper. Theses and dissertations often include them, whereas research papers may not. Make sure to consult with your instructor for exact requirements.

The four main objectives of a literature review are:

• Studying the references of your research area
• Summarizing the main arguments
• Identifying current gaps, stances, and issues
• Presenting all of the above in a text

Ultimately, the main goal of a literature review is to provide the researcher with sufficient knowledge about the topic in question so that they can eventually make an intervention.

The format of a literature review is fairly standard. It includes an:

• introduction that briefly introduces the main topic
• body that includes the main discussion of the key arguments
• conclusion that highlights the gaps and issues of the literature

➡️ Take a look at our guide on how to write a literature review to learn more about how to structure a literature review.

First of all, a literature review should have its own labeled section. You should indicate clearly in the table of contents where the literature can be found, and you should label this section as “Literature Review.”

➡️ For more information on writing a thesis, visit our guide on how to structure a thesis .

There is no set amount of words for a literature review, so the length depends on the research. If you are working with a large amount of sources, it will be long. If your paper does not depend entirely on references, it will be short.

Take a look at these three theses featuring great literature reviews:

• School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist's Perceptions of Sensory Food Aversions in Children [ PDF , see page 20]
• Who's Writing What We Read: Authorship in Criminological Research [ PDF , see page 4]
• A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experience of Online Instructors of Theological Reflection at Christian Institutions Accredited by the Association of Theological Schools [ PDF , see page 56]

Literature reviews are most commonly found in theses and dissertations. However, you find them in research papers as well.

There is no set amount of words for a literature review, so the length depends on the research. If you are working with a large amount of sources, then it will be long. If your paper does not depend entirely on references, then it will be short.

No. A literature review should have its own independent section. You should indicate clearly in the table of contents where the literature review can be found, and label this section as “Literature Review.”

The main goal of a literature review is to provide the researcher with sufficient knowledge about the topic in question so that they can eventually make an intervention.

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Introduction to Literature Reviews

Introduction.

• Step One: Define
• Step Two: Research
• Step Three: Write
• Suggested Readings

A literature review is a written work that :

• Compiles significant research published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers;
• —Surveys scholarly articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings, and other sources;
• —Examines contrasting perspectives, theoretical approaches, methodologies, findings, results, conclusions.
• —Reviews critically, analyzes, and synthesizes existing research on a topic; and,
• Performs a thorough “re” view, “overview”, or “look again” of past and current works on a subject, issue, or theory.

From these analyses, the writer then offers an overview of the current status of a particular area of knowledge from both a practical and theoretical perspective.

Literature reviews are important because they are usually a  required  step in a thesis proposal (Master's or PhD). The proposal will not be well-supported without a literature review. Also, literature reviews are important because they help you learn important authors and ideas in your field. This is useful for your coursework and your writing. Knowing key authors also helps you become acquainted with other researchers in your field.

Look at this diagram and imagine that your research is the "something new." This shows how your research should relate to major works and other sources.

Olivia Whitfield | Graduate Reference Assistant | 2012-2015

• Next: Step One: Define >>
• Last Updated: Jul 9, 2024 9:53 AM
• URL: https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/literaturereview

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What is a literature review?

A literature review is a critical analysis of the literature related to your research topic. It evaluates and critiques the literature to establish a theoretical framework for your research topic and/or identify a gap in the existing research that your research will address.

A literature review is not a summary of the literature. You need to engage deeply and critically with the literature. Your literature review should show your understanding of the literature related to your research topic and lead to presenting a rationale for your research.

A literature review focuses on:

• the context of the topic
• key concepts, ideas, theories and methodologies
• key researchers, texts and seminal works
• major issues and debates
• identifying conflicting evidence
• the main questions that have been asked around the topic
• the organisation of knowledge on the topic
• definitions, particularly those that are contested
• showing how your research will advance scholarly knowledge (generally referred to as identifying the ‘gap’).

This module will guide you through the functions of a literature review; the typical process of conducting a literature review (including searching for literature and taking notes); structuring your literature review within your thesis and organising its internal ideas; and styling the language of your literature review.

The purposes of a literature review

A literature review serves two main purposes:

1) To show awareness of the present state of knowledge in a particular field, including:

• seminal authors
• the main empirical research
• theoretical positions
• controversies
• breakthroughs as well as links to other related areas of knowledge.

2) To provide a foundation for the author’s research. To do that, the literature review needs to:

• help the researcher define a hypothesis or a research question, and how answering the question will contribute to the body of knowledge;
• provide a rationale for investigating the problem and the selected methodology;
• provide a particular theoretical lens, support the argument, or identify gaps.

Before you engage further with this module, try the quiz below to see how much you already know about literature reviews.

Research and Writing Skills for Academic and Graduate Researchers Copyright © 2022 by RMIT University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Writing Tips

What is the Purpose of a Literature Review?

4-minute read

• 23rd October 2023

If you’re writing a research paper or dissertation , then you’ll most likely need to include a comprehensive literature review . In this post, we’ll review the purpose of literature reviews, why they are so significant, and the specific elements to include in one. Literature reviews can:

1. Provide a foundation for current research.

2. Define key concepts and theories.

3. Demonstrate critical evaluation.

4. Show how research and methodologies have evolved.

5. Identify gaps in existing research.

6. Support your argument.

Keep reading to enter the exciting world of literature reviews!

What is a Literature Review?

A literature review is a critical summary and evaluation of the existing research (e.g., academic journal articles and books) on a specific topic. It is typically included as a separate section or chapter of a research paper or dissertation, serving as a contextual framework for a study. Literature reviews can vary in length depending on the subject and nature of the study, with most being about equal length to other sections or chapters included in the paper. Essentially, the literature review highlights previous studies in the context of your research and summarizes your insights in a structured, organized format. Next, let’s look at the overall purpose of a literature review.

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Literature reviews are considered an integral part of research across most academic subjects and fields. The primary purpose of a literature review in your study is to:

Provide a Foundation for Current Research

Since the literature review provides a comprehensive evaluation of the existing research, it serves as a solid foundation for your current study. It’s a way to contextualize your work and show how your research fits into the broader landscape of your specific area of study.  

Define Key Concepts and Theories

The literature review highlights the central theories and concepts that have arisen from previous research on your chosen topic. It gives your readers a more thorough understanding of the background of your study and why your research is particularly significant .

Demonstrate Critical Evaluation 

A comprehensive literature review shows your ability to critically analyze and evaluate a broad range of source material. And since you’re considering and acknowledging the contribution of key scholars alongside your own, it establishes your own credibility and knowledge.

Show How Research and Methodologies Have Evolved

Another purpose of literature reviews is to provide a historical perspective and demonstrate how research and methodologies have changed over time, especially as data collection methods and technology have advanced. And studying past methodologies allows you, as the researcher, to understand what did and did not work and apply that knowledge to your own research.  

Identify Gaps in Existing Research

Besides discussing current research and methodologies, the literature review should also address areas that are lacking in the existing literature. This helps further demonstrate the relevance of your own research by explaining why your study is necessary to fill the gaps.

Support Your Argument

A good literature review should provide evidence that supports your research questions and hypothesis. For example, your study may show that your research supports existing theories or builds on them in some way. Referencing previous related studies shows your work is grounded in established research and will ultimately be a contribution to the field.  

Literature Review Editing Services 

Ensure your literature review is polished and ready for submission by having it professionally proofread and edited by our expert team. Our literature review editing services will help your research stand out and make an impact. Not convinced yet? Send in your free sample today and see for yourself! 

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Home » Literature Review – Types Writing Guide and Examples

Literature Review – Types Writing Guide and Examples

Table of Contents

Literature Review

Definition:

A literature review is a comprehensive and critical analysis of the existing literature on a particular topic or research question. It involves identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing relevant literature, including scholarly articles, books, and other sources, to provide a summary and critical assessment of what is known about the topic.

Types of Literature Review

Types of Literature Review are as follows:

• Narrative literature review : This type of review involves a comprehensive summary and critical analysis of the available literature on a particular topic or research question. It is often used as an introductory section of a research paper.
• Systematic literature review: This is a rigorous and structured review that follows a pre-defined protocol to identify, evaluate, and synthesize all relevant studies on a specific research question. It is often used in evidence-based practice and systematic reviews.
• Meta-analysis: This is a quantitative review that uses statistical methods to combine data from multiple studies to derive a summary effect size. It provides a more precise estimate of the overall effect than any individual study.
• Scoping review: This is a preliminary review that aims to map the existing literature on a broad topic area to identify research gaps and areas for further investigation.
• Critical literature review : This type of review evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature on a particular topic or research question. It aims to provide a critical analysis of the literature and identify areas where further research is needed.
• Conceptual literature review: This review synthesizes and integrates theories and concepts from multiple sources to provide a new perspective on a particular topic. It aims to provide a theoretical framework for understanding a particular research question.
• Rapid literature review: This is a quick review that provides a snapshot of the current state of knowledge on a specific research question or topic. It is often used when time and resources are limited.
• Thematic literature review : This review identifies and analyzes common themes and patterns across a body of literature on a particular topic. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature and identify key themes and concepts.
• Realist literature review: This review is often used in social science research and aims to identify how and why certain interventions work in certain contexts. It takes into account the context and complexities of real-world situations.
• State-of-the-art literature review : This type of review provides an overview of the current state of knowledge in a particular field, highlighting the most recent and relevant research. It is often used in fields where knowledge is rapidly evolving, such as technology or medicine.
• Integrative literature review: This type of review synthesizes and integrates findings from multiple studies on a particular topic to identify patterns, themes, and gaps in the literature. It aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of knowledge on a particular topic.
• Umbrella literature review : This review is used to provide a broad overview of a large and diverse body of literature on a particular topic. It aims to identify common themes and patterns across different areas of research.
• Historical literature review: This type of review examines the historical development of research on a particular topic or research question. It aims to provide a historical context for understanding the current state of knowledge on a particular topic.
• Problem-oriented literature review : This review focuses on a specific problem or issue and examines the literature to identify potential solutions or interventions. It aims to provide practical recommendations for addressing a particular problem or issue.
• Mixed-methods literature review : This type of review combines quantitative and qualitative methods to synthesize and analyze the available literature on a particular topic. It aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the research question by combining different types of evidence.

Parts of Literature Review

Parts of a literature review are as follows:

Introduction

The introduction of a literature review typically provides background information on the research topic and why it is important. It outlines the objectives of the review, the research question or hypothesis, and the scope of the review.

Literature Search

This section outlines the search strategy and databases used to identify relevant literature. The search terms used, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and any limitations of the search are described.

Literature Analysis

The literature analysis is the main body of the literature review. This section summarizes and synthesizes the literature that is relevant to the research question or hypothesis. The review should be organized thematically, chronologically, or by methodology, depending on the research objectives.

Critical Evaluation

Critical evaluation involves assessing the quality and validity of the literature. This includes evaluating the reliability and validity of the studies reviewed, the methodology used, and the strength of the evidence.

The conclusion of the literature review should summarize the main findings, identify any gaps in the literature, and suggest areas for future research. It should also reiterate the importance of the research question or hypothesis and the contribution of the literature review to the overall research project.

The references list includes all the sources cited in the literature review, and follows a specific referencing style (e.g., APA, MLA, Harvard).

How to write Literature Review

Here are some steps to follow when writing a literature review:

• Define your research question or topic : Before starting your literature review, it is essential to define your research question or topic. This will help you identify relevant literature and determine the scope of your review.
• Conduct a comprehensive search: Use databases and search engines to find relevant literature. Look for peer-reviewed articles, books, and other academic sources that are relevant to your research question or topic.
• Evaluate the sources: Once you have found potential sources, evaluate them critically to determine their relevance, credibility, and quality. Look for recent publications, reputable authors, and reliable sources of data and evidence.
• Organize your sources: Group the sources by theme, method, or research question. This will help you identify similarities and differences among the literature, and provide a structure for your literature review.
• Analyze and synthesize the literature : Analyze each source in depth, identifying the key findings, methodologies, and conclusions. Then, synthesize the information from the sources, identifying patterns and themes in the literature.
• Write the literature review : Start with an introduction that provides an overview of the topic and the purpose of the literature review. Then, organize the literature according to your chosen structure, and analyze and synthesize the sources. Finally, provide a conclusion that summarizes the key findings of the literature review, identifies gaps in knowledge, and suggests areas for future research.
• Edit and proofread: Once you have written your literature review, edit and proofread it carefully to ensure that it is well-organized, clear, and concise.

Examples of Literature Review

Here’s an example of how a literature review can be conducted for a thesis on the topic of “ The Impact of Social Media on Teenagers’ Mental Health”:

• Start by identifying the key terms related to your research topic. In this case, the key terms are “social media,” “teenagers,” and “mental health.”
• Use academic databases like Google Scholar, JSTOR, or PubMed to search for relevant articles, books, and other publications. Use these keywords in your search to narrow down your results.
• Evaluate the sources you find to determine if they are relevant to your research question. You may want to consider the publication date, author’s credentials, and the journal or book publisher.
• Begin reading and taking notes on each source, paying attention to key findings, methodologies used, and any gaps in the research.
• Organize your findings into themes or categories. For example, you might categorize your sources into those that examine the impact of social media on self-esteem, those that explore the effects of cyberbullying, and those that investigate the relationship between social media use and depression.
• Synthesize your findings by summarizing the key themes and highlighting any gaps or inconsistencies in the research. Identify areas where further research is needed.
• Use your literature review to inform your research questions and hypotheses for your thesis.

For example, after conducting a literature review on the impact of social media on teenagers’ mental health, a thesis might look like this:

“Using a mixed-methods approach, this study aims to investigate the relationship between social media use and mental health outcomes in teenagers. Specifically, the study will examine the effects of cyberbullying, social comparison, and excessive social media use on self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. Through an analysis of survey data and qualitative interviews with teenagers, the study will provide insight into the complex relationship between social media use and mental health outcomes, and identify strategies for promoting positive mental health outcomes in young people.”

Reference: Smith, J., Jones, M., & Lee, S. (2019). The effects of social media use on adolescent mental health: A systematic review. Journal of Adolescent Health, 65(2), 154-165. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.03.024

Reference Example: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), page range. doi:0000000/000000000000 or URL

Applications of Literature Review

some applications of literature review in different fields:

• Social Sciences: In social sciences, literature reviews are used to identify gaps in existing research, to develop research questions, and to provide a theoretical framework for research. Literature reviews are commonly used in fields such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, and political science.
• Natural Sciences: In natural sciences, literature reviews are used to summarize and evaluate the current state of knowledge in a particular field or subfield. Literature reviews can help researchers identify areas where more research is needed and provide insights into the latest developments in a particular field. Fields such as biology, chemistry, and physics commonly use literature reviews.
• Health Sciences: In health sciences, literature reviews are used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments, identify best practices, and determine areas where more research is needed. Literature reviews are commonly used in fields such as medicine, nursing, and public health.
• Humanities: In humanities, literature reviews are used to identify gaps in existing knowledge, develop new interpretations of texts or cultural artifacts, and provide a theoretical framework for research. Literature reviews are commonly used in fields such as history, literary studies, and philosophy.

Role of Literature Review in Research

Here are some applications of literature review in research:

• Identifying Research Gaps : Literature review helps researchers identify gaps in existing research and literature related to their research question. This allows them to develop new research questions and hypotheses to fill those gaps.
• Developing Theoretical Framework: Literature review helps researchers develop a theoretical framework for their research. By analyzing and synthesizing existing literature, researchers can identify the key concepts, theories, and models that are relevant to their research.
• Selecting Research Methods : Literature review helps researchers select appropriate research methods and techniques based on previous research. It also helps researchers to identify potential biases or limitations of certain methods and techniques.
• Data Collection and Analysis: Literature review helps researchers in data collection and analysis by providing a foundation for the development of data collection instruments and methods. It also helps researchers to identify relevant data sources and identify potential data analysis techniques.
• Communicating Results: Literature review helps researchers to communicate their results effectively by providing a context for their research. It also helps to justify the significance of their findings in relation to existing research and literature.

Purpose of Literature Review

Some of the specific purposes of a literature review are as follows:

• To provide context: A literature review helps to provide context for your research by situating it within the broader body of literature on the topic.
• To identify gaps and inconsistencies: A literature review helps to identify areas where further research is needed or where there are inconsistencies in the existing literature.
• To synthesize information: A literature review helps to synthesize the information from multiple sources and present a coherent and comprehensive picture of the current state of knowledge on the topic.
• To identify key concepts and theories : A literature review helps to identify key concepts and theories that are relevant to your research question and provide a theoretical framework for your study.
• To inform research design: A literature review can inform the design of your research study by identifying appropriate research methods, data sources, and research questions.

Characteristics of Literature Review

Some Characteristics of Literature Review are as follows:

• Identifying gaps in knowledge: A literature review helps to identify gaps in the existing knowledge and research on a specific topic or research question. By analyzing and synthesizing the literature, you can identify areas where further research is needed and where new insights can be gained.
• Establishing the significance of your research: A literature review helps to establish the significance of your own research by placing it in the context of existing research. By demonstrating the relevance of your research to the existing literature, you can establish its importance and value.
• Informing research design and methodology : A literature review helps to inform research design and methodology by identifying the most appropriate research methods, techniques, and instruments. By reviewing the literature, you can identify the strengths and limitations of different research methods and techniques, and select the most appropriate ones for your own research.
• Supporting arguments and claims: A literature review provides evidence to support arguments and claims made in academic writing. By citing and analyzing the literature, you can provide a solid foundation for your own arguments and claims.
• I dentifying potential collaborators and mentors: A literature review can help identify potential collaborators and mentors by identifying researchers and practitioners who are working on related topics or using similar methods. By building relationships with these individuals, you can gain valuable insights and support for your own research and practice.
• Keeping up-to-date with the latest research : A literature review helps to keep you up-to-date with the latest research on a specific topic or research question. By regularly reviewing the literature, you can stay informed about the latest findings and developments in your field.

Advantages of Literature Review

There are several advantages to conducting a literature review as part of a research project, including:

• Establishing the significance of the research : A literature review helps to establish the significance of the research by demonstrating the gap or problem in the existing literature that the study aims to address.
• Identifying key concepts and theories: A literature review can help to identify key concepts and theories that are relevant to the research question, and provide a theoretical framework for the study.
• Supporting the research methodology : A literature review can inform the research methodology by identifying appropriate research methods, data sources, and research questions.
• Providing a comprehensive overview of the literature : A literature review provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on a topic, allowing the researcher to identify key themes, debates, and areas of agreement or disagreement.
• Identifying potential research questions: A literature review can help to identify potential research questions and areas for further investigation.
• Avoiding duplication of research: A literature review can help to avoid duplication of research by identifying what has already been done on a topic, and what remains to be done.
• Enhancing the credibility of the research : A literature review helps to enhance the credibility of the research by demonstrating the researcher’s knowledge of the existing literature and their ability to situate their research within a broader context.

Limitations of Literature Review

Limitations of Literature Review are as follows:

• Limited scope : Literature reviews can only cover the existing literature on a particular topic, which may be limited in scope or depth.
• Publication bias : Literature reviews may be influenced by publication bias, which occurs when researchers are more likely to publish positive results than negative ones. This can lead to an incomplete or biased picture of the literature.
• Quality of sources : The quality of the literature reviewed can vary widely, and not all sources may be reliable or valid.
• Time-limited: Literature reviews can become quickly outdated as new research is published, making it difficult to keep up with the latest developments in a field.
• Subjective interpretation : Literature reviews can be subjective, and the interpretation of the findings can vary depending on the researcher’s perspective or bias.
• Lack of original data : Literature reviews do not generate new data, but rather rely on the analysis of existing studies.
• Risk of plagiarism: It is important to ensure that literature reviews do not inadvertently contain plagiarism, which can occur when researchers use the work of others without proper attribution.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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• Process: Literature Reviews
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Does your assignment or publication require that you write a literature review? This guide is intended to help you understand what a literature is, why it is worth doing, and some quick tips composing one.

Understanding Literature Reviews

What is a literature review  .

Typically, a literature review is a written discussion that examines publications about  a particular subject area or topic. Depending on disciplines, publications, or authors a literature review may be: 

A summary of sources An organized presentation of sources A synthesis or interpretation of sources An evaluative analysis of sources

A Literature Review may be part of a process or a product. It may be:

A part of your research process A part of your final research publication An independent publication

Why do a literature review?

The Literature Review will place your research in context. It will help you and your readers:  

Locate patterns, relationships, connections, agreements, disagreements, & gaps in understanding Identify methodological and theoretical foundations Identify landmark and exemplary works Situate your voice in a broader conversation with other writers, thinkers, and scholars

The Literature Review will aid your research process. It will help you to:

Establish your knowledge Understand what has been said Define your questions Establish a relevant methodology Refine your voice Situate your voice in the conversation

What does a literature review look like?

The Literature Review structure and organization may include sections such as:  

An introduction or overview A body or organizational sub-divisions A conclusion or an explanation of significance

The body of a literature review may be organized in several ways, including:

Chronologically: organized by date of publication Methodologically: organized by type of research method used Thematically: organized by concept, trend, or theme Ideologically: organized by belief, ideology, or school of thought

• Find a focus
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Additional Sources

• Reviewing the literature. Project Planner.
• Literature Review: By UNC Writing Center
• PhD on Track
• CU Graduate Students Thesis & Dissertation Guidance
• CU Honors Thesis Guidance

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• University of Colorado Boulder Libraries
• Research Guides
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• URL: https://libguides.colorado.edu/strategies/litreview
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Literature Review as a Research Methodology: An overview and guidelines

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Research Methods: Literature Reviews

• Annotated Bibliographies
• Literature Reviews
• Scoping Reviews
• Systematic Reviews
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Persuasive Arguments
• Subject Specific Methodology

A literature review involves researching, reading, analyzing, evaluating, and summarizing scholarly literature (typically journals and articles) about a specific topic. The results of a literature review may be an entire report or article OR may be part of a article, thesis, dissertation, or grant proposal. A literature review helps the author learn about the history and nature of their topic, and identify research gaps and problems.

Steps & Elements

Problem formulation

• Determine your topic and its components by asking a question
• Research: locate literature related to your topic to identify the gap(s) that can be addressed
• Read: read the articles or other sources of information
• Analyze: assess the findings for relevancy
• Evaluating: determine how the article are relevant to your research and what are the key findings
• Synthesis: write about the key findings and how it is relevant to your research

Elements of a Literature Review

• Summarize subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with objectives of the review
• Divide works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, those offering alternative theories entirely)
• Explain how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others
• Conclude which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of an area of research

Writing a Literature Review Resources

• How to Write a Literature Review From the Wesleyan University Library
• Write a Literature Review From the University of California Santa Cruz Library. A Brief overview of a literature review, includes a list of stages for writing a lit review.
• Literature Reviews From the University of North Carolina Writing Center. Detailed information about writing a literature review.
• Undertaking a literature review: a step-by-step approach Cronin, P., Ryan, F., & Coughan, M. (2008). Undertaking a literature review: A step-by-step approach. British Journal of Nursing, 17(1), p.38-43

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A literature review is a discussion of the literature (aka. the "research" or "scholarship") surrounding a certain topic. A good literature review doesn't simply summarize the existing material, but provides thoughtful synthesis and analysis. The purpose of a literature review is to orient your own work within an existing body of knowledge. A literature review may be written as a standalone piece or be included in a larger body of work.

You can read more about literature reviews, what they entail, and how to write one, using the resources below. 

Am I the only one struggling to write a literature review?

Dr. Zina O'Leary explains the misconceptions and struggles students often have with writing a literature review. She also provides step-by-step guidance on writing a persuasive literature review.

An Introduction to Literature Reviews

Dr. Eric Jensen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, and Dr. Charles Laurie, Director of Research at Verisk Maplecroft, explain how to write a literature review, and why researchers need to do so. Literature reviews can be stand-alone research or part of a larger project. They communicate the state of academic knowledge on a given topic, specifically detailing what is still unknown.

This is the first video in a whole series about literature reviews. You can find the rest of the series in our SAGE database, Research Methods:

Videos covering research methods and statistics

Identify Themes and Gaps in Literature (with real examples) | Scribbr

Finding connections between sources is key to organizing the arguments and structure of a good literature review. In this video, you'll learn how to identify themes, debates, and gaps between sources, using examples from real papers.

4 Tips for Writing a Literature Review's Intro, Body, and Conclusion | Scribbr

While each review will be unique in its structure--based on both the existing body of both literature and the overall goals of your own paper, dissertation, or research--this video from Scribbr does a good job simplifying the goals of writing a literature review for those who are new to the process. In this video, you’ll learn what to include in each section, as well as 4 tips for the main body illustrated with an example.

• Literature Review This chapter in SAGE's Encyclopedia of Research Design describes the types of literature reviews and scientific standards for conducting literature reviews.
• UNC Writing Center: Literature Reviews This handout from the Writing Center at UNC will explain what literature reviews are and offer insights into the form and construction of literature reviews in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
• Purdue OWL: Writing a Literature Review The overview of literature reviews comes from Purdue's Online Writing Lab. It explains the basic why, what, and how of writing a literature review.

Organizational Tools for Literature Reviews

One of the most daunting aspects of writing a literature review is organizing your research. There are a variety of strategies that you can use to help you in this task. We've highlighted just a few ways writers keep track of all that information! You can use a combination of these tools or come up with your own organizational process. The key is choosing something that works with your own learning style.

Citation Managers

Citation managers are great tools, in general, for organizing research, but can be especially helpful when writing a literature review. You can keep all of your research in one place, take notes, and organize your materials into different folders or categories. Read more about citations managers here:

• Manage Citations & Sources

Concept Mapping

Some writers use concept mapping (sometimes called flow or bubble charts or "mind maps") to help them visualize the ways in which the research they found connects.

There is no right or wrong way to make a concept map. There are a variety of online tools that can help you create a concept map or you can simply put pen to paper. To read more about concept mapping, take a look at the following help guides:

• Using Concept Maps From Williams College's guide, Literature Review: A Self-guided Tutorial

Synthesis Matrix

A synthesis matrix is is a chart you can use to help you organize your research into thematic categories. By organizing your research into a matrix, like the examples below, can help you visualize the ways in which your sources connect. 

• Walden University Writing Center: Literature Review Matrix Find a variety of literature review matrix examples and templates from Walden University.
• Writing A Literature Review and Using a Synthesis Matrix An example synthesis matrix created by NC State University Writing and Speaking Tutorial Service Tutors. If you would like a copy of this synthesis matrix in a different format, like a Word document, please ask a librarian. CC-BY-SA 3.0
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• Last Updated: May 7, 2024 9:51 AM

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• Published: 16 July 2024

Interprofessional education in cancer care – a scoping review

• Virpi Sulosaari   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0898-3297 1 ,
• Nikolina Dodlek   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0534-721X 2 ,
• Andreas Brandl   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1990-2584 3 ,
• Johan De Munter 4 ,
• Jesper Grau Eriksen   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1145-6033 5 ,
• Wendy McInally   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9900-4612 6 ,
• Niall O’Higgins 7 ,
• Kim Benstead   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5106-7438 8 &
• Celia Díez de los Ríos de la Serna   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2630-2106 9  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  767 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Comprehensive cancer care requires effective collaboration by interprofessional healthcare teams. The need to develop educational initiatives to improve interprofessional collaboration is increasingly recognised. However, there is no agreement regarding the interprofessional competencies required for effective cancer care leading to much variation on the focus of research, planning and managing change. A scoping review was conducted to identify the current status of IPE in cancer care and to summarise the results of previous research in order to guide the development of interprofessional education in cancer care.

The JBI Scoping Review guidelines were used to guide the process of the review. A search of the available literature was conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE (Ovid), PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus databases from January 2012 to March 2023 to investigate IPE for health professional clinicians working in cancer care.

Of the 825 initial references and 153 studies imported for screening, a total of 28 studies were included in the final review. From those studies, seven focused on the need for IPE and interprofessional competence for oncology healthcare professionals, four reviewed existing IPE programs and 17 described the development and evaluation of interprofessional education. Findings show variation and lack of concept definitions underpinning research in IPE in cancer care settings. Variation also exists in the range of research activities in IPE, most notably related to communication, teamwork and the development of interprofessional practice. The evaluation of impact of IPE is mainly focused on health care professionals’ self-evaluation and general feedback. Impact on patient care was only evaluated in one study.

Conclusions

Based on the results, interprofessional education research in the field of cancer care is limited in Europe. Thus, there is a significant increase in publications in the last five years. A more systematic focus on the theoretical framework and definition of concepts would be of value. Research and programme development should be based on a shared understanding on what constitutes the interprofessional competences and IPE. Programmes to develop interprofessional practice should be developed and implemented systematically with inclusion of validated assessment methods, and evaluated and improved regularly.

Peer Review reports

Over the last decade, there has been increased interest in developing educational initiatives to improve interprofessional collaboration and practice in the cancer care setting [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Non-communicable and life-style related diseases, including cancer, are among the biggest challenges facing EU health systems and countries, causing illness, premature death and associated social and economic costs. The number of cancer cases is expected to increase in Europe by 24% by the year 2035 [ 8 ]. As the demand in cancer care continues to increase, health systems require a workforce of educated oncology specialists and professions to provide continuity and sustainability of care. Current educational systems have yet to match all the requirements needed in cancer care [ 9 ]. Furthermore, quality cancer care requires effective collaboration by an interprofessional healthcare team [ 10 , 11 ]. People with cancer benefit when the health care professionals caring for them, not only collaborate, but strive to learn from each other [ 12 ].

Interprofessional collaboration can be defined as collaborative interaction among experts with different professional backgrounds involved in care of people with cancer and who share common goals [ 13 ]. Models vary across cancer units [ 14 ] and can involve professionals from different oncology specialties (radiation, medical and surgical oncologists) and disciplines (such as pathology), professionals from nursing and social affairs and allied health professions such as physiotherapists, psychologists, nutritionists and speech therapists [ 15 ]. Professionals from varying disciplines and professions have different knowledge bases, premises and competences for cancer care and interprofessional collaboration [ 10 , 11 ]. Interprofessional healthcare teams need to understand how to optimize the skills of their members, share case management and provide better health services to patients and the community. Such collaboration results in a strengthened health system and leads to improved health outcomes [ 12 ]. Furthermore, effective communication is important not only for patients but for the well-being of all healthcare professionals (HCPs) [ 16 ]. Thus, interprofessional practice requires effective leadership,administrative support [ 17 , 18 ] and continuous evaluation [ 18 ].

According to The Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) interprofessional education (IPE) concept can be defined as occasions when two or more professionals learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care [ 19 ]. The primary goal of IPE is to improve patient care by better interprofessional collaboration [ 6 ]. This concept should be reflected in the training of cancer care workforce. In oncology, the concept of multidisciplinary care is an established part of the clinical practice [ 20 ]. Training of oncology specialists and professions needs to recognise the value of interprofessional care. Interprofessional collaboration has been seen as necessary for example in precision oncology [ 21 ] and radiation oncology [ 22 ], but IPE programmes vary substantially across countries [ 23 ]. In Europe, many professional societies provide opportunities for post graduate training for medical professions. The existing training curricula of ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology), ESSO (European Society of Surgical Oncology and ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology), all recognise the importance of interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding among specialists in radiation oncology, cancer surgery and medical oncology. Yet, gaps exist in mutual understanding among the three disciplines on interprofessional practice [ 24 ]. Very few training programmes in the European curricula for oncology specialists involve formal interdisciplinary attachments or integrated interprofessional approach on cancer care. These deficits limit both the scope and the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and the drive for better care. Interdisciplinary dialogue also drives standards and improves communication [ 24 ].

In 2010, the World Health Organization issued a report Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice stipulating that teamwork is the first among interprofessional learning domains in a clinical setting, the others being roles and responsibilities, communication, learning and critical reflection, understanding of the needs of the patient, and ethical practice [ 12 ]. Interprofessional learning (IPL) has become a more prominent feature of health professional education at both pre-qualification and post-qualification levels. While the terms interprofessional learning (IPL) and interprofessional education (IPE) may relate to differing processes, with IPL focusing more on micro learning processes and IPE being more strongly reflective of an overarching educational framework, they tend to be used interchangeably in the existing literature [ 25 ].

Recent research relates to collaborative practice skills within clinical oncology [ 2 ] and radiation oncology [ 6 ] in determination of the impact and value of interprofessional learning [ 26 ] and interprofessional communication [ 27 ]. Among the barriers to successful implementation on interprofessional education, are the variations, both in definition and in concept, underlying research on IPE. Commonly used concepts are ‘interprofessional learning’ and ‘interprofessional education’. However, recently, the European Commission has launched the concept of ‘inter-specialty training’ to combine education and training of medical, nursing and allied health professionals in the cancer care setting [ 28 ]. The concept was defined later by McInally et al. (2023): “Inter-specialty training in oncology occurs when two or more specialties within professions collaborate by learning and interacting with each other during training in order to provide high quality cancer care” [ 29 ]. However, in order to understand the context of previous studies and to inform both training programmes and future research it was considered that a scoping review was required.

The objective of this scoping review was to describe the extent and type of evidence regarding interprofessional education (IPE) in oncology. The aim was to identify how IPE has been defined, how methodology underlying the research and implementation of the IPE has been utilised, describe the state of IPE in oncology. This review is part of a European collaborative project on inter-specialty training with the intention of providing useful training programmes across Europe and beyond (INTERACT-EUROPE).

Methodology

The current review followed the scoping review methodology. This type of evidence synthesis aims to systematically identify and map the breadth of evidence available on a particular topic, field, concept or issue. Scoping reviews can clarify key concept definitions in the literature and identify key characteristics or factors related to this concept [ 30 ]. The scoping review involved five stages: 1), Development of a scoping review protocol including research questions, and the purpose of the study; 2) Literature search on CINAHL, MEDLINE (Ovid), PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus data bases [ 3 ], Selection of studies, 4) Data extraction, 5) qualitative analysis and presentation of results.

The questions guiding the scoping review were:

How has IPE been defined in previous research in cancer care?

What competences have been used to guide the curriculum development of IPE in cancer care?

What teaching, learning and assessment methods have been used in previous studies?

The PRISMA checklist extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) was used to guide the process of the review. A detailed scoping review protocol was produced including databases and subject headings [ 31 ]. MESH terms, when applicable, were used to capture all the relevant literature. In consultation with a librarian, initial search titles and abstracts ( N  = 825) were reviewed by one researcher. All 153 items identified in this way were then downloaded into Covidence Systematic Review software (r) for further screening by three researchers. This process was followed by full text screening by the same researchers to identify articles that met the specified inclusion criteria.

Data retrieval protocol

Databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE (Ovid), PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus

The PCC that featured the search: P(articipants) = oncology medical professionals (medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, oncology surgeon) and nurses, C(oncept) = inter-specialty or interprofessional education or interprofessional learning, C(ontext) = Cancer care setting

Inclusion: Quantitative, qualitative studies and systematic reviews; papers with focus on IPE/IPL, development of interprofessional collaboration and teamwork through IPE; teaching, learning and assessment methods of IPE in the context of oncology.

Exclusion: Editorials, discussion papers, focus on other healthcare professionals outside oncology setting, non-oncological professionals, only on pre-registration students, conference abstracts and proceedings.

Limits: English language, 2012–2022 original search, updated search – to April 2023.

The main search terms: clinical oncology [MESH], medical oncology [MESH], radiation oncology [MESH], surgical oncology [MESH], oncology nursing [MESH], interprofessional training, interprofessional education, interdisciplinary education, interprofessional learning, interspecialty training, inter-specialty training.

Any conflicting screening results were discussed and decisions were made collaboratively. Full-text articles were filtered and reviewed. A data extraction sheet was pre-planned to extract the key information of the studies and reviews including authors, year, country, purpose of the study or review, study or review type and method, concept used, definition of concepts, interprofessional learning or education focus and/or competences, programme characteristics, teaching, assessment, and evaluation methods used and the main results.The data were extracted by three researchers and analysed with narrative content analysis. The process, analysis and summary of results were further discussed with the full research group including all the authors.

Characteristics of the studies

A total of 28 studies were identified through database searching, of which one study was identified by reviewing reference lists (Fig.  1 ). There were fourteen quantitative studies, four reviews, six mixed methods studies and four qualitative studies (Table  1 ). The articles reported interprofessional educational programmes in United States ( n  = 15), Canada ( n  = 7), United Kingdom ( n  = 3), Denmark ( n  = 1), Germany ( n  = 1) and Switzerland ( n  = 1). Articles were published between 2012 and 2022. Nineteen of the articles were published in the last five years. From the included papers eight focused on describing the need and competences of oncology healthcare professionals [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 9 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], three reviewed existing IPE [ 1 , 36 , 37 ] or the development and evaluation ( n  = 17) of oncology interprofessional training [ 2 , 5 , 16 , 22 , 26 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]. The target groups of the IPE included nurses, pharmacists, physicians (medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology and palliative care), radiographers, technicians and staff with healthcare backgrounds such as psychology, occupational therapy and other support workers (such as social workers, chaplaincy, or administration staff in contact with oncology patients).

Data retrieval

Collaborative care in cancer

In oncology, medical, nursing and allied health professionals provide complex care in an interprofessional context [ 33 , 37 , 41 , 45 ]. To provide the best treatment and care for people with cancer, healthcare professionals are required to collaborate [ 1 , 37 ]. According to Head et al. (2022) interprofessional collaborative practice is an essential component of quality healthcare in oncology [ 42 ]. Effective interprofessional care was seen as necessary to provide optimal care for patients [ 16 ], improve the safety of care delivery [ 38 ] and better outcomes of patient care [ 16 , 32 , 38 ].

Terminology

Eight of the papers [ 3 , 6 , 26 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 44 ] reported using the concept of IPE or IPL with reference to existing definition in literature. One study used the concept of “Interprofessional clinical training “ [ 38 ], one “Interdisciplinary education and training”, and one “Multidisciplinary education and training” [ 49 ], however no definition of these concepts were provided [ 36 ]. None used the concept of ‘inter-specialty or interspecialty education or training’. Nine of the included papers had some concepts described but did not include clear definitions and eleven had no mention or definition of IPE or IPL. (Appendix Table).

The concept of interprofessional education (IPE) can be seen as a means to improve health system function and delivery of care [ 34 ]. In order to achieve positive transformations in healthcare delivery, healthcare professionals (HCPs) must develop skills in interprofessional collaborative practice [ 42 ]. The principles of IPE should be embedded into every aspect of programs [ 36 ]. IPE would ideally result in greater understanding and improved communication between disciplines and professions [ 22 , 32 , 36 ], improved coordination [ 32 , 36 , 39 ], enhance team-based care management [ 32 ] and optimize more culturally affirming care [ 46 ]. Desired outcomes from IPE include also articulating one’s professional role as well as those of other professions, mutual respect, trust and willingness to collaborate [ 5 ].

Competency domains

In the field of oncology, increasing and building on a set of foundational knowledge, skills, and attitudes within physical, psychological, social/cultural, and spiritual domains, and collaborating with other HCPs, an early learner/novice practitioner will move towards an identity as an expert interprofessional practitioner. A competence framework on the shared set of competencies can bring professionals together, while recognizing the individuality of each profession as possessing distinct and complementary skills [ 9 ].

Of the papers describing competence framework development for interprofessional education, one focused on finding consensus on shared interprofessional competences in oncology [ 9 ], one on teamwork competences [ 32 ], one on integrative oncology [ 35 ], one on communication skills [ 36 ], one on cultural competence [ 46 ], two on paediatric oncology [ 1 , 37 ], one on palliative care in oncology [ 42 ], two on psychosocial training needs in oncology [ 4 , 33 ] and three papers described the specific needs of radiation oncology professionals [ 3 , 6 , 34 ]. Development of frameworks considered the challenges to effective coordination and the impact on patient and clinical outcomes as essential to optimal, high-quality care [ 32 ].

Four of the papers reported development competences for IPE. The development process was informed by guidance from an expert advisory panel with a Delphi study based on a literature review in two of the studies [ 9 , 35 ]. Both Esplen and colleagues [ 9 ] and Wells-Di Gregorio and colleagues [ 33 ] started from domains proposed by an expert subgroup, Esplen and colleagues [ 9 ] incorporating also focus group interviews. In the Warsi et al. (2022) study the focus group was used to determine intervention objectives [ 49 ]. The expert panels all involved oncology professionals, and one [ 35 ] included patient and public representatives. All included shared competences divided into the domains of knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Participants

Target groups included in six of ten studies multidisciplinary professionals working in general oncology [ 16 , 38 , 39 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], four in radiation oncology [ 2 , 22 , 26 , 44 ], one in gynaecology-oncology [ 43 ], one in paediatrics [ 48 ] and four in different departments within the hospital or in primary care [ 5 , 40 , 41 , 49 ]. Focus on the programmes varied. Thus, interprofessional collaboration and practice in general was included in the learning goals of the IPE in six papers [ 3 , 6 , 9 , 25 , 35 ], communication in five papers [ 9 , 16 , 26 , 35 , 39 ] and teamwork in [ 2 , 3 , 22 , 26 , 39 , 46 ] representing the main areas of interest of IPE in the cancer care setting.

Five studies described existing IPE education [ 6 , 36 , 37 , 42 , 46 ], while two focused on paediatric oncology [ 1 , 37 ] and one on interdisciplinary education [ 36 ]. Three of the studies used literature reviews to identify IPE [ 1 , 37 , 49 ] and one [ 36 ] got the information from a survey carried out by oncology physicians from different specialties.

Teaching methods

Teaching methods varied in methods and usefulness and included face-to-face and web-based didactic content such as lectures, workshops, educational sessions, role play and reflections. Three papers concluded that there is a lack of interdisciplinary education in oncology and also highlighted the value of IPE to professionals. (Table  2 ). Teaching varied in time from a one hour-long discussion group session accompanied by online modules [ 48 ] to a year-long course [ 44 ]. The mode of delivery also varied including simulated cases and scenarios ( n  = 5) [ 2 , 16 , 22 , 26 , 40 ] some specified having standardized patients [ 2 , 16 ] and others were cases discussed and developed in teams [ 22 , 26 , 40 ] and/or by use of self-reflection [ 16 ]. Five of the studies included e-learning modules [ 5 , 16 , 38 , 41 , 48 ] alone [ 38 , 41 ] or in combination with face-to-face training [ 5 , 16 , 48 ]; in the case of the other nine, all the training was face-to-face [ 2 , 22 , 26 , 38 , 40 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 47 ] All but one of the studies were focused on learners. One exception was based on a train-the-trainer model [ 39 ].

Of the 18 papers which described the evaluation of IPE programme (Table  3 ), 11 described also the development process [ 5 , 22 , 26 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 44 , 46 , 48 , 49 ].

In the evaluation of education programmes, ten used pre- and post-programme evaluation methods [ 5 , 16 , 22 , 26 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 45 , 47 , 48 ], two had mixed methods with observation and surveys [ 2 , 39 ], one used qualitative evaluation with semi-structured interviews [ 45 ] and one compared the professionals participating with participants from other education activities [ 44 ]. General feedback surveys with participant satisfaction were the most common programme evaluation surveys developed for the studies.

Studies included samples of between four [ 44 ] and 1,138 participants [ 41 ]. Three of the studies included three-month follow-ups [ 38 , 43 , 48 ] and three studies, six-month evaluation follow-ups [ 43 , 48 , 49 ] indicating that gained intervention outcomes were sustained in the long term.

The following instruments were used to evaluate the impact of the IPE: (i) Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale [ 3 , 22 , 26 ], (ii) UWE Entry Level Interprofessional Questionnaire [ 22 ], (iii) Trainee Test of Team Dynamics and Collaborative Behaviours Scale (CBS) [ 22 ], (iv) Assessment of Cultural Competence using the Intercultural Development Inventory [ 40 ], (v) Frommelt Attitudes Toward Caring of the Dying [ 40 ], (vi) Attitudes Toward Health-Care Teams Scale [ 3 ], (vii) Attitudes Toward Interdisciplinary Learning Scale [ 3 ], (viii) Self-Efficacy for Interprofessional Experiential Learning Scale and End-of-Life Professional Caregiver Survey [ 1 ], (ix) Cultural Competency Assessment (CCA), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Development of Clinical Skills Scale (LGBT-DOCSS), (x) Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale (ISVS) [ 46 ].

Other studies included in the review describe Delphi methods [ 9 ] and focus group interviews [ 4 , 6 , 9 , 33 , 39 , 45 ] and instruments developed for the purpose of the study [ 5 , 38 , 39 , 43 ].

Participants had positive reactions to the programmes indicating them as a promising strategy in improving cancer care [ 38 ]. They reported high levels of satisfaction [ 26 ], including improved relations within the team [ 22 ], the acquisition of new skills [ 41 ] as well as cross-cultural competence [ 40 ]. Confidence among the participants also increased [ 41 ]. Participants reported that they would highly recommend these programmes to their colleagues [ 2 ].

Participants considered that these educational events were valuable. They helped in areas such as consolidating communication, improving dialogue [ 5 ], valuing leadership [ 42 , 44 ] and better understanding of spiritual needs [ 48 ]. These programmes also improved understanding of specific issues such as the effects of therapy on patients, the place of palliative care, management of pain and other symptoms and quality of life [ 47 ] and also a comprehension of the legal issues surrounding cancer [ 43 ].

There was s tatistically significant improvement in knowledge of teamwork principles [ 39 ] developing shared mental models, cross-monitoring situational awareness and effective conflict resolution, agreements about roles and responsibilities [ 22 ], and behaviours. Participants valued the opportunity to gain the perspective of other professions, connecting with colleagues from other disciplines practising crisis response in a simulated environment [ 2 ], and demonstrating lower levels of concern and anxiety when communicating with other professionals [ 44 ]. Some participants incorporated meditation into their daily routine by involving other family members and making it part of a “family routine” [ 45 ].

Significant improvement was also noted in increased comfort when discussing survivorship issues with patients. Significant increase in knowledge of survivorship care for five types of cancer, more confidence in ability to explain a Survivorship Care Plan (SCP), and increased comfort in discussing late effects of cancer treatment [ 47 ] were all reported. The main challenges were “breaking down the walls and being more comfortable with vulnerability” [ 45 ], and in being more open-minded after training [ 43 ]. Training increased IPE recognition of participants’ home institutions [ 42 ].

To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first scoping review summarising the existing research on interprofessional education and learning in the cancer care setting. We identified 28 articles published between January 2012 and March 2023 with a significant increase in publication in the last five years. The results indicate growing interest of interprofessional education in this setting. Interestingly, most of the studies and reviews identified were from US and Canada, showing the need for further research and collaboration in Europe.

This highlights and strengthens the need for collaborative initiatives and projects such as INTERACT-EUROPE, launched in 2022. The project is based on the EU Beating Cancer Plan 2021 in which the concept of “inter-specialty training” was launched to combine education and training of medical, nursing and allied health professionals in the cancer care setting [ 27 ]. This extends the use of specialty to also include different professionals, not only specialties among one profession [ 29 ]. The EU Beating Cancer Plan is a key strategy document for cancer care development across Europe, including the training of cancer care workforce. The concept will be used in the European training programmes. Therefore, it was important to understand its similarities and differences with most used concepts, especially, interprofessional education (IPE). One important aim of the review was to identify the concepts used in research and IPE development in the field. We found that interprofessional education [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 9 , 16 , 22 , 26 , 33 , 36 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 45 ] is the most common term used. However, it seems that, in the oncology setting, there is need for improving the theoretical underpinnings of education research on interprofessional education. Inter-specialty training and interprofessional education are very similar. Thus, inter-specialty as a concept could refer to education including only specialities of one profession. To enhance the interprofessional practice it is, however, important to be inclusive for all professionals of the multidisciplinary teams. From 11 studies and reviews using the IPE or IPL, only eight studies defined or described the concept. In the McInally et al., (2023) study, medical doctors and nurses from the oncology field, expressed lack of understanding of the inter-specialty training as a concept [ 29 ]. IPE may have been more familiar to participants; however, the results of the study and our review indicate that conceptual clarity is needed in future studies and development of inter-specialty training.

The illustrates the multidisciplinary context of cancer care settings and the need for professionals to work together for people with cancer to achieve optimal care outcomes [ 10 , 11 , 50 ]. Interprofessional education, bringing the professionals together, can improve interprofessional practice and collaboration. According to our results, participants evaluate IPE positively and improving the collaboration. To support the development of interprofessional practice in oncology, as described in the WHO Interprofessional Collaborative Practice framework, describing and defining the common competences for inter-specialty training programme is important [ 12 ].

The shared set of competences in oncology practice included interprofessional collaboration, recognition and understanding or needs and experiences of a person affected by cancer, person-centred care and service approach, communication skills, use of technology in care delivery and understanding of one’s own limits and ability for self-care. James et al., (2016) also highlighted the values and ethics, roles and responsibilities [ 2 ] and Koo et al., (2014) attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration, in addition to communication competences and teamwork capabilities [ 3 ]. The above-mentioned are also key elements of interprofessional education. The aim is not for learners to master all the disciplines and professional expertise, but more about understanding the expertise of different professions and what they need to know about the specialty or the profession to work efficiently together [ 2 ]. Thus, our review provides information also on the common foci of the programmes in addition to more general interprofessional practice and team work focus; care and symptom management [ 2 , 22 ], paediatric oncology (1, 36, 47 ), safety [ 38 , 39 ], psycho-social oncology and psycho-oncology [ 4 , 5 , 33 , 43 ], palliative and end-of-life care [ 1 , 40 , 43 ], spiritual care [ 48 ], integrative oncology [ 35 ], survivorship [ 41 , 47 ] and well-being at work of healthcare professionals [ 45 ]. Although, our review focused on oncology, findings on theoretical underpinnings of the studies and programmes, teaching methods and evaluation of IPE could be used on other specialties also.

A variety of methods was used on the IPE. The content and focus and learning goals of IPE, and what constitutes interprofessional education varied between the studies and reviews. This has been highlighted also as common to IPE by the Committee on Measuring the Impact of Interprofessional Education on Collaborative Practice and Patient Outcomes (2015) [ 51 ]. Programme evaluation was mostly limited on participant satisfaction and feedback on delivery of the education. The evaluation methods mostly used in evaluation of the impact of education interventions were knowledge tests, behaviour change, confidence, comfort, intention to change practice and self-assessment of preparedness, Previously validated instruments were used in five studies [ 3 , 22 , 26 , 40 , 46 ], but it was common to use survey instruments developed for the study. Impact on patient care was not often measured. In one study patient incidence reports were included [ 14 ]. This result demonstrates a need for more systematic use of previously developed evaluation and assessment methods when appropriate, but also extent the evaluation of impact on care.

Limitations

A limitation of this study is that only publications in English were included. Neglecting the potential data of studies from non-English speaking countries can have an impact on the results. Furthermore, we used broad subject headings with Boolean operators in search of literature, but it is possible that we did not find all the papers published. To decrease this risk, a professional librarian was consulted in the literature search process. We did not include studies focusing only on one specific cancer type, and this also needs to be seen as a limitation. As is common in scoping reviews, the quality of publications was not assessed, and we included papers with a variety of methods in the review. This needs to be recognised in interpreting the results. Thus, this review approach produced more rich data for describing the current state of IPE in cancer care.

Based on the review, research on interprofessional education in the field of cancer care is limited. The need for interprofessional education is well recognised, yet provision and research in this field needs to be increased to enhance quality, person-centred care for people affected by cancer and efficient delivery of cancer care. In the future research would benefit from a more systematic approach to underpinning the theoretical framework on IPE. The evaluation of impact of IPE is currently mainly focused on HCPs perspective. Further research is needed to evaluate the impact on patient care. It is also evident that research and IPE programme development is very limited in the European context and therefore research is needed to strengthen the IPE development in Europe.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article. Clinical Trial Number: N/A.

Abbreviations

Interprofessional Education

Interprofessional Learning

Healthcare Professional

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the European Commission for funding this study conducted in the context of the INTERACTEUROPE Project (Grant Agreement No. 101056995). This review was conducted in collaboration with European Oncology Nursing Society, European Society of Surgical Oncology and European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology.

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union, EU4Health Programme 2021–2027 as part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan under Grant Agreement no. 101056995. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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Andreas Brandl

Cancer Centre University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

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Dept of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

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The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

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VS conceived the review and led the preparation of the review plan, design, data collection, analysis and drafting of the manuscript. All authors participated in planning the review protocol. VS, CDRS, ND conducted the data retrieval, data extraction and analysis. All participated in result synthesis and manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Sulosaari, V., Dodlek, N., Brandl, A. et al. Interprofessional education in cancer care – a scoping review. BMC Med Educ 24 , 767 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05669-8

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Evolution and paradigm shift in forest health research: a review on of global trends and knowledge gaps.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. scientific database search, 2.2. descriptive analysis of the status of forest health research, 2.3. temporal evolution in forest health issues, 2.4. clustering of conceptual subdomains and temporal trends, 3.1. descriptive analysis of scientific production in forest health research, 3.1.1. general findings, 3.1.2. publication impact by country, 3.1.3. research approaches and issues, 3.2. temporal keyword analysis, 3.3. clustering and trends in forest health descriptors, 4. discussion, 4.1. scientific production on forest health, 4.2. evolution of the most relevant keywords on forest health research, 4.2.1. integrating keywords: uncovering patterns, 4.2.2. origins and context of paradigm shifts.

• The rise of global environmental problems linked to atmospheric pollution. At the beginning of the time series, we found monocausal approaches to forest health disturbances, where the most important drivers were “pests and diseases” as well as “air pollution”. This earliest cluster contains concepts, which are attributable to well-defined scientific disciplines: “nutrients”, “forest soils”, “fertilisation”, “ozone”, “seedlings”, “calcium”, etc. This pattern indicates the low level of discipline integration that the target concept experienced prior to 1990. Furthermore, it shows clear links with the first modern environmental movements worldwide that took place between the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on nature conservation and environmental protection. Predecessor events include the book “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson (1962) [ 52 ], which denounced the harmful effects on the environment of the massive use of chemicals such as pesticides. The first “Earth Day” (1970), the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm (1972), and the “Energy Crisis of 1973” awakened awareness of the dependence on oil and the search for alternative sources. A central forest health topic in this cluster is “forest decline”, with strong links to acid deposition, air pollutants, and ozone. In fact, “forest decline” was a term commonly used to depict the research concern about forest deterioration due to air pollution, mostly in Northern Europe and North America [ 53 ]. This forest problem gained international relevance in the 1980s with “The Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution” (1979), “The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer” (1985), and the signing of “The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer” (1987). This environmental problem kept research strongly active until the end of the 20th century. It is from the 1990s onwards that the evidence on the effects of pollution began to be related to human health and ecosystems, and although the global burden of pollutants has been increasing in the first two decades of the 21st century, efforts are being made to continue reducing them [ 51 ].
• Global environmental conservation. The second cluster is dominated by the decline and physiology of the forest, appearing in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Thus, the methodologies mainly used are related to ecophysiology and forest inventories. This period shows concepts with a higher level of integration among disciplines and knowledge bodies: “growth”, “competition”, “forest health”, “ecosystems”, “carbon sequestration”, etc. It also reflects the rise of current environmental problems such as carbon emissions and deforestation. This may be mainly due to the events that took place during the 1990s, where concerns with a more holistic and multidisciplinary view of nature conservation and the environment began to broaden. At this time, among others, the most famous world summits took place: “The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development”, or better known as “The Rio de Janeiro Summit” (1992), laid the first foundations for the signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the signing of the treaty “The Convention on Biological Diversity”, being the first global agreement to promote aspects of international cooperation in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The famous “Kyoto Protocol” (1997) on the reduction of greenhouse gases that cause climate change is also approved in this period. Almost simultaneously, the FAO publishes a report that highlights the deforestation of large tracts of tropical forests in Latin America, Africa, and Asia [ 54 ]. At the same time, the achievements of the international policy on air pollutants reduced to some extent the pressure of air pollution on forest ecosystems [ 55 ], and consequently in the forest health research field. In summary, this temporal cluster represents the initial foundations of a more holistic and larger-scale view of the planet’s global problems, evidenced among the key words in scientific publications of the time, leading to the use of more multidisciplinary, integrative, and comprehensive concepts.
• Multi-causality and tree mortality. The research that begins with the 21st century shows multi-causal thinking about the problems that occur due to the deterioration of forests and the environment. This group shows a wide range of concepts, where the words that stand out the most are “patterns”, “dynamics”, and “disturbances”. Now the forest problems are based on multi-causality, a more complex vision that can be studied not only at the tree level but at different scales and in a multidisciplinary way. The characterisation of ecosystem dynamics is based on classification, offering scales, intensities, or patterns that measure diversity, fragmentation, deforestation, succession, competition, susceptibility, and regeneration, among other processes [ 56 , 57 , 58 ]. Furthermore, other concepts such as “management” and “restoration” also emerge as a key concept suggesting a more applied vision in the forest health research agenda [ 59 ]. At the end of this period, the research agenda converges on the topic of “tree mortality” with numerous links to a wide range of concepts. Other highly integrative concepts also appear (e.g., restoration and resilience) reinforcing the paradigm of multi-causality in forest health research [ 60 , 61 ]. “Wildfires”, their consequences, and some methods used to monitor them, are presented here to explain the environmental issues addressed in that time. It is no longer enough to quantify the causes of disturbances in the system, but rather the effects of the disturbances themselves, in search of solutions and to assess both the damage and the improvement in the global balance.
• Climate-change-driven research . The most recent cluster mainly contains concepts related to “climate change” (e.g., “vulnerability”, “adaptation”, “change impacts”, etc.). Interestingly, this cluster seems to reduce the degree of knowledge integration as scientists are focusing mostly on understanding the consequences of climate change on forests, although this challenge is much more complex than those described previously. This is evidence of the greater environmental awareness, both social and political, in the mitigation of climate change. One example is the approval of the “The Paris Agreement” (2016), which establishes a global framework on climate change focused on concrete aspects such as curbing global warming and achieving carbon neutrality before the end of the century, where the use of the best available science and technology are directly included to improve the conditions of the planet. In fact, “climate change” can be considered a so called wicked problem [ 62 ]: multifaceted problems with fuzzy definitions and elusive and complex solutions. This explains why the current distribution of words within the drivers becomes more equative. It is also the boom in technological development that drives part of these efforts in generating instruments, methods, and measurement and evaluation techniques that are increasingly more accurate, reliable, and accessible. The emergence of portable electronic equipment or geospatial technologies like remote sensing were a breakthrough to continuously and efficiently obtain data across different spatio-temporal scales. This idea is supported by the presence within this cluster of methods of assessment (e.g., carbon isotope and dendroecology) and a great number of forest condition variables (e.g., evapotranspiration, water use efficiency, stomatal conductivity, hydraulic failure, etc.) that are currently measured with sophisticated ecophysiological sensors (e.g., “gas exchange” related to Eddy covariance towers or photosynthesis sensors).

4.3. Trends, Topics, Concepts, and Methodologies on Forest Health Research

4.4. the way forward: future vision for the forest health concept, 5. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Acosta-Muñoz, C.; Navarro-Cerrillo, R.M.; Bonet-García, F.J.; Ruiz-Gómez, F.J.; González-Moreno, P. Evolution and Paradigm Shift in Forest Health Research: A Review on of Global Trends and Knowledge Gaps. Forests 2024 , 15 , 1279. https://doi.org/10.3390/f15081279

Acosta-Muñoz C, Navarro-Cerrillo RM, Bonet-García FJ, Ruiz-Gómez FJ, González-Moreno P. Evolution and Paradigm Shift in Forest Health Research: A Review on of Global Trends and Knowledge Gaps. Forests . 2024; 15(8):1279. https://doi.org/10.3390/f15081279

Acosta-Muñoz, Cristina, Rafael M. Navarro-Cerrillo, Francisco J. Bonet-García, Francisco J. Ruiz-Gómez, and Pablo González-Moreno. 2024. "Evolution and Paradigm Shift in Forest Health Research: A Review on of Global Trends and Knowledge Gaps" Forests 15, no. 8: 1279. https://doi.org/10.3390/f15081279

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