an example of literature review introduction

How to write a literature review introduction (+ examples)

The introduction to a literature review serves as your reader’s guide through your academic work and thought process. Explore the significance of literature review introductions in review papers, academic papers, essays, theses, and dissertations. We delve into the purpose and necessity of these introductions, explore the essential components of literature review introductions, and provide step-by-step guidance on how to craft your own, along with examples.

Why you need an introduction for a literature review

In academic writing , the introduction for a literature review is an indispensable component. Effective academic writing requires proper paragraph structuring to guide your reader through your argumentation. This includes providing an introduction to your literature review.

It is imperative to remember that you should never start sharing your findings abruptly. Even if there isn’t a dedicated introduction section .

When you need an introduction for a literature review

There are three main scenarios in which you need an introduction for a literature review:

What to include in a literature review introduction

It is crucial to customize the content and depth of your literature review introduction according to the specific format of your academic work.

Academic literature review paper

The introduction of an academic literature review paper, which does not rely on empirical data, often necessitates a more extensive introduction than the brief literature review introductions typically found in empirical papers. It should encompass:

Regular literature review section in an academic article or essay

In a standard 8000-word journal article, the literature review section typically spans between 750 and 1250 words. The first few sentences or the first paragraph within this section often serve as an introduction. It should encompass:

Introduction to a literature review chapter in thesis or dissertation

Some students choose to incorporate a brief introductory section at the beginning of each chapter, including the literature review chapter. Alternatively, others opt to seamlessly integrate the introduction into the initial sentences of the literature review itself. Both approaches are acceptable, provided that you incorporate the following elements:

Examples of literature review introductions

Example 1: an effective introduction for an academic literature review paper.

To begin, let’s delve into the introduction of an academic literature review paper. We will examine the paper “How does culture influence innovation? A systematic literature review”, which was published in 2018 in the journal Management Decision.

Example 2: An effective introduction to a literature review section in an academic paper

The second example represents a typical academic paper, encompassing not only a literature review section but also empirical data, a case study, and other elements. We will closely examine the introduction to the literature review section in the paper “The environmentalism of the subalterns: a case study of environmental activism in Eastern Kurdistan/Rojhelat”, which was published in 2021 in the journal Local Environment.

Thus, the author successfully introduces the literature review, from which point onward it dives into the main concept (‘subalternity’) of the research, and reviews the literature on socio-economic justice and environmental degradation.

Examples 3-5: Effective introductions to literature review chapters

Numerous universities offer online repositories where you can access theses and dissertations from previous years, serving as valuable sources of reference. Many of these repositories, however, may require you to log in through your university account. Nevertheless, a few open-access repositories are accessible to anyone, such as the one by the University of Manchester . It’s important to note though that copyright restrictions apply to these resources, just as they would with published papers.

Master’s thesis literature review introduction

Phd thesis literature review chapter introduction, phd thesis literature review introduction.

The last example is the doctoral thesis Metacognitive strategies and beliefs: Child correlates and early experiences Chan, K. Y. M. (Author). 31 Dec 2020 . The author clearly conducted a systematic literature review, commencing the review section with a discussion of the methodology and approach employed in locating and analyzing the selected records.

Steps to write your own literature review introduction

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What is a Literature Review? How to Write It (with Examples)

A literature review is a critical analysis and synthesis of existing research on a particular topic. It provides an overview of the current state of knowledge, identifies gaps, and highlights key findings in the literature. 1 The purpose of a literature review is to situate your own research within the context of existing scholarship, demonstrating your understanding of the topic and showing how your work contributes to the ongoing conversation in the field. Learning how to write a literature review is a critical tool for successful research. Your ability to summarize and synthesize prior research pertaining to a certain topic demonstrates your grasp on the topic of study, and assists in the learning process. 

Table of Contents

What is the purpose of literature review , a. habitat loss and species extinction: , b. range shifts and phenological changes: , c. ocean acidification and coral reefs: , d. adaptive strategies and conservation efforts: .

• Choose a Topic and Define the Research Question: 
• Decide on the Scope of Your Review: 
• Select Databases for Searches: 
• Conduct Searches and Keep Track: 
• Review the Literature: 
• Organize and Write Your Literature Review: 
• How to write a literature review faster with Paperpal? 

Frequently asked questions 

What is a literature review .

A well-conducted literature review demonstrates the researcher’s familiarity with the existing literature, establishes the context for their own research, and contributes to scholarly conversations on the topic. One of the purposes of a literature review is also to help researchers avoid duplicating previous work and ensure that their research is informed by and builds upon the existing body of knowledge.

A literature review serves several important purposes within academic and research contexts. Here are some key objectives and functions of a literature review: 2  

1. Contextualizing the Research Problem: The literature review provides a background and context for the research problem under investigation. It helps to situate the study within the existing body of knowledge. 

2. Identifying Gaps in Knowledge: By identifying gaps, contradictions, or areas requiring further research, the researcher can shape the research question and justify the significance of the study. This is crucial for ensuring that the new research contributes something novel to the field.

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3. Understanding Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks: Literature reviews help researchers gain an understanding of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used in previous studies. This aids in the development of a theoretical framework for the current research. 

4. Providing Methodological Insights: Another purpose of literature reviews is that it allows researchers to learn about the methodologies employed in previous studies. This can help in choosing appropriate research methods for the current study and avoiding pitfalls that others may have encountered. 

5. Establishing Credibility: A well-conducted literature review demonstrates the researcher’s familiarity with existing scholarship, establishing their credibility and expertise in the field. It also helps in building a solid foundation for the new research. 

6. Informing Hypotheses or Research Questions: The literature review guides the formulation of hypotheses or research questions by highlighting relevant findings and areas of uncertainty in existing literature. 

Literature review example 

Let’s delve deeper with a literature review example: Let’s say your literature review is about the impact of climate change on biodiversity. You might format your literature review into sections such as the effects of climate change on habitat loss and species extinction, phenological changes, and marine biodiversity. Each section would then summarize and analyze relevant studies in those areas, highlighting key findings and identifying gaps in the research. The review would conclude by emphasizing the need for further research on specific aspects of the relationship between climate change and biodiversity. The following literature review template provides a glimpse into the recommended literature review structure and content, demonstrating how research findings are organized around specific themes within a broader topic. 

Literature Review on Climate Change Impacts on Biodiversity:  

Climate change is a global phenomenon with far-reaching consequences, including significant impacts on biodiversity. This literature review synthesizes key findings from various studies: 

Climate change-induced alterations in temperature and precipitation patterns contribute to habitat loss, affecting numerous species (Thomas et al., 2004). The review discusses how these changes increase the risk of extinction, particularly for species with specific habitat requirements. 

Observations of range shifts and changes in the timing of biological events (phenology) are documented in response to changing climatic conditions (Parmesan & Yohe, 2003). These shifts affect ecosystems and may lead to mismatches between species and their resources. 

The review explores the impact of climate change on marine biodiversity, emphasizing ocean acidification’s threat to coral reefs (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2007). Changes in pH levels negatively affect coral calcification, disrupting the delicate balance of marine ecosystems. 

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the literature review discusses various adaptive strategies adopted by species and conservation efforts aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change on biodiversity (Hannah et al., 2007). It emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary approaches for effective conservation planning. 

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How to write a good literature review 

Writing a literature review involves summarizing and synthesizing existing research on a particular topic. A good literature review format should include the following elements. 

Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your literature review, providing context and introducing the main focus of your review. 

• Opening Statement: Begin with a general statement about the broader topic and its significance in the field. 
• Scope and Purpose: Clearly define the scope of your literature review. Explain the specific research question or objective you aim to address. 
• Organizational Framework: Briefly outline the structure of your literature review, indicating how you will categorize and discuss the existing research. 
• Significance of the Study: Highlight why your literature review is important and how it contributes to the understanding of the chosen topic. 
• Thesis Statement: Conclude the introduction with a concise thesis statement that outlines the main argument or perspective you will develop in the body of the literature review. 

Body: The body of the literature review is where you provide a comprehensive analysis of existing literature, grouping studies based on themes, methodologies, or other relevant criteria. 

• Organize by Theme or Concept: Group studies that share common themes, concepts, or methodologies. Discuss each theme or concept in detail, summarizing key findings and identifying gaps or areas of disagreement. 
• Critical Analysis: Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each study. Discuss the methodologies used, the quality of evidence, and the overall contribution of each work to the understanding of the topic. 
• Synthesis of Findings: Synthesize the information from different studies to highlight trends, patterns, or areas of consensus in the literature. 
• Identification of Gaps: Discuss any gaps or limitations in the existing research and explain how your review contributes to filling these gaps. 
• Transition between Sections: Provide smooth transitions between different themes or concepts to maintain the flow of your literature review. 

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Conclusion: The conclusion of your literature review should summarize the main findings, highlight the contributions of the review, and suggest avenues for future research. 

• Summary of Key Findings: Recap the main findings from the literature and restate how they contribute to your research question or objective. 
• Contributions to the Field: Discuss the overall contribution of your literature review to the existing knowledge in the field. 
• Implications and Applications: Explore the practical implications of the findings and suggest how they might impact future research or practice. 
• Recommendations for Future Research: Identify areas that require further investigation and propose potential directions for future research in the field. 
• Final Thoughts: Conclude with a final reflection on the importance of your literature review and its relevance to the broader academic community. 

Conducting a literature review 

Conducting a literature review is an essential step in research that involves reviewing and analyzing existing literature on a specific topic. It’s important to know how to do a literature review effectively, so here are the steps to follow: 1  

Choose a Topic and Define the Research Question:  

• Select a topic that is relevant to your field of study. 
• Clearly define your research question or objective. Determine what specific aspect of the topic do you want to explore? 

Decide on the Scope of Your Review:  

• Determine the timeframe for your literature review. Are you focusing on recent developments, or do you want a historical overview? 
• Consider the geographical scope. Is your review global, or are you focusing on a specific region? 
• Define the inclusion and exclusion criteria. What types of sources will you include? Are there specific types of studies or publications you will exclude? 

Select Databases for Searches:  

• Identify relevant databases for your field. Examples include PubMed, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. 
• Consider searching in library catalogs, institutional repositories, and specialized databases related to your topic. 

Conduct Searches and Keep Track:  

• Develop a systematic search strategy using keywords, Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), and other search techniques. 
• Record and document your search strategy for transparency and replicability. 
• Keep track of the articles, including publication details, abstracts, and links. Use citation management tools like EndNote, Zotero, or Mendeley to organize your references. 

Review the Literature:  

• Evaluate the relevance and quality of each source. Consider the methodology, sample size, and results of studies. 
• Organize the literature by themes or key concepts. Identify patterns, trends, and gaps in the existing research. 
• Summarize key findings and arguments from each source. Compare and contrast different perspectives. 
• Identify areas where there is a consensus in the literature and where there are conflicting opinions. 
• Provide critical analysis and synthesis of the literature. What are the strengths and weaknesses of existing research? 

Organize and Write Your Literature Review:  

• Literature review outline should be based on themes, chronological order, or methodological approaches. 
• Write a clear and coherent narrative that synthesizes the information gathered. 
• Use proper citations for each source and ensure consistency in your citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.). 
• Conclude your literature review by summarizing key findings, identifying gaps, and suggesting areas for future research. 

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How to write a literature review faster with Paperpal?  

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A literature review is a critical and comprehensive analysis of existing literature (published and unpublished works) on a specific topic or research question and provides a synthesis of the current state of knowledge in a particular field. A well-conducted literature review is crucial for researchers to build upon existing knowledge, avoid duplication of efforts, and contribute to the advancement of their field. It also helps researchers situate their work within a broader context and facilitates the development of a sound theoretical and conceptual framework for their studies.

Literature review is a crucial component of research writing, providing a solid background for a research paper’s investigation. The aim is to keep professionals up to date by providing an understanding of ongoing developments within a specific field, including research methods, and experimental techniques used in that field, and present that knowledge in the form of a written report. Also, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasizes the credibility of the scholar in his or her field.  

Before writing a literature review, it’s essential to undertake several preparatory steps to ensure that your review is well-researched, organized, and focused. This includes choosing a topic of general interest to you and doing exploratory research on that topic, writing an annotated bibliography, and noting major points, especially those that relate to the position you have taken on the topic. 

Literature reviews and academic research papers are essential components of scholarly work but serve different purposes within the academic realm. 3 A literature review aims to provide a foundation for understanding the current state of research on a particular topic, identify gaps or controversies, and lay the groundwork for future research. Therefore, it draws heavily from existing academic sources, including books, journal articles, and other scholarly publications. In contrast, an academic research paper aims to present new knowledge, contribute to the academic discourse, and advance the understanding of a specific research question. Therefore, it involves a mix of existing literature (in the introduction and literature review sections) and original data or findings obtained through research methods. 

Literature reviews are essential components of academic and research papers, and various strategies can be employed to conduct them effectively. If you want to know how to write a literature review for a research paper, here are four common approaches that are often used by researchers.  Chronological Review: This strategy involves organizing the literature based on the chronological order of publication. It helps to trace the development of a topic over time, showing how ideas, theories, and research have evolved.  Thematic Review: Thematic reviews focus on identifying and analyzing themes or topics that cut across different studies. Instead of organizing the literature chronologically, it is grouped by key themes or concepts, allowing for a comprehensive exploration of various aspects of the topic.  Methodological Review: This strategy involves organizing the literature based on the research methods employed in different studies. It helps to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of various methodologies and allows the reader to evaluate the reliability and validity of the research findings.  Theoretical Review: A theoretical review examines the literature based on the theoretical frameworks used in different studies. This approach helps to identify the key theories that have been applied to the topic and assess their contributions to the understanding of the subject.  It’s important to note that these strategies are not mutually exclusive, and a literature review may combine elements of more than one approach. The choice of strategy depends on the research question, the nature of the literature available, and the goals of the review. Additionally, other strategies, such as integrative reviews or systematic reviews, may be employed depending on the specific requirements of the research.

The literature review format can vary depending on the specific publication guidelines. However, there are some common elements and structures that are often followed. Here is a general guideline for the format of a literature review:  Introduction:   Provide an overview of the topic.  Define the scope and purpose of the literature review.  State the research question or objective.  Body:   Organize the literature by themes, concepts, or chronology.  Critically analyze and evaluate each source.  Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the studies.  Highlight any methodological limitations or biases.  Identify patterns, connections, or contradictions in the existing research.  Conclusion:   Summarize the key points discussed in the literature review.  Highlight the research gap.  Address the research question or objective stated in the introduction.  Highlight the contributions of the review and suggest directions for future research.

Both annotated bibliographies and literature reviews involve the examination of scholarly sources. While annotated bibliographies focus on individual sources with brief annotations, literature reviews provide a more in-depth, integrated, and comprehensive analysis of existing literature on a specific topic. The key differences are as follows: 

References 

• Denney, A. S., & Tewksbury, R. (2013). How to write a literature review.  Journal of criminal justice education ,  24 (2), 218-234. 
• Pan, M. L. (2016).  Preparing literature reviews: Qualitative and quantitative approaches . Taylor & Francis. 
• Cantero, C. (2019). How to write a literature review.  San José State University Writing Center . 

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• 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.

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.

Scribbr slides are free to use, customize, and distribute for educational purposes.

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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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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.

• 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
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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.

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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 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.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

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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Introduction

Literature reviews take time. here is some general information to know before you start.  .

•  VIDEO -- This video is a great overview of the entire process.  (2020; North Carolina State University Libraries) --The transcript is included --This is for everyone; ignore the mention of "graduate students" --9.5 minutes, and every second is important  
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Writing: Literature Review Basics

• What is Synthesis?
• Organizing Your Research
• Paraphrasing, Summary, or Direct Quotation?
• Introductions
• Conclusions
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The Most Important Thing

The best time to write an introduction is AFTER you write the body of your paper.

Well, how do you know what to introduce until after you've figured out what you want to say?

The best time to write an introduction is as one of the last things you do.

Basic Introduction Template

For any other sort of scholarly writing, the following basic structure works well for an introduction:

• What has been said or done on this topic?  
• What is the problem with what has been said or done?
• What will you offer to solve the problem?  (The answer to this is your thesis statement.)
• How does your solution address necessary change?

Writing an Introduction

The job of an introduction is to preview what you are going to say so the audience knows what is coming.  A good introduction starts out generally and works towards a specific statement of what you intend to discuss in your writing. 

The introduction explains the focus and establishes the importance of the subject. It discusses what kind of work has been done on the topic and identifies any controversies within the field or any recent research which has raised questions about earlier assumptions. It may provide background or history, and it indicates why the topic is important, interesting, problematic, or relevant in some way.  It concludes with a purpose or thesis statement. In a stand-alone literature review, this statement will sum up and evaluate the state of the art in this field of research; in a review that is an introduction or preparatory to a larger work, such as the Culminating Project, it will suggest how the review findings will lead to the research the writer proposes to undertake.

In a literature review, an introduction may contain the following:

• A concise definition of a topic under consideration (this may be a descriptive or argumentative thesis, or proposal), as well as the scope of the related literature being investigated. (Example: If the topic under consideration is ‘women’s wartime diaries’, the scope of the review may be limited to published or unpublished works, works in English, works from a particular location, time period, or conflict, etc.)  
• The introduction should also note what topics are being included and what are intentional exclusions. (Example: “This review will not explore the diaries of adolescent girls.”)
• A final sentence should signal the list of key topics that will be used to discuss the selected sources.

Many theories have been proposed to explain what motivates human behavior. Although the literature covers a wide variety of such theories, this review will focus on five major themes which emerge repeatedly throughout the literature reviewed. These themes are incorporation of the self-concept into traditional theories of motivation, the influence of rewards on motivation, the increasing importance of internal forces of motivation, autonomy and self-control as sources of motivation, and narcissism as an essential component of motivation. Although the literature presents these themes in a variety of contexts, this paper will primarily focus on their application to self-motivation.

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How To Structure Your Literature Review

3 options to help structure your chapter.

By: Amy Rommelspacher (PhD) | Reviewer: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | November 2020 (Updated May 2023)

Writing the literature review chapter can seem pretty daunting when you’re piecing together your dissertation or thesis. As  we’ve discussed before , a good literature review needs to achieve a few very important objectives – it should:

• Demonstrate your knowledge of the research topic
• Identify the gaps in the literature and show how your research links to these
• Provide the foundation for your conceptual framework (if you have one)
• Inform your own  methodology and research design

To achieve this, your literature review needs a well-thought-out structure . Get the structure of your literature review chapter wrong and you’ll struggle to achieve these objectives. Don’t worry though – in this post, we’ll look at how to structure your literature review for maximum impact (and marks!).

But wait – is this the right time?

Deciding on the structure of your literature review should come towards the end of the literature review process – after you have collected and digested the literature, but before you start writing the chapter. 

In other words, you need to first develop a rich understanding of the literature before you even attempt to map out a structure. There’s no use trying to develop a structure before you’ve fully wrapped your head around the existing research.

Equally importantly, you need to have a structure in place before you start writing , or your literature review will most likely end up a rambling, disjointed mess. 

Importantly, don’t feel that once you’ve defined a structure you can’t iterate on it. It’s perfectly natural to adjust as you engage in the writing process. As we’ve discussed before , writing is a way of developing your thinking, so it’s quite common for your thinking to change – and therefore, for your chapter structure to change – as you write. 

Need a helping hand?

Like any other chapter in your thesis or dissertation, your literature review needs to have a clear, logical structure. At a minimum, it should have three essential components – an  introduction , a  body   and a  conclusion . 

Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

1: The Introduction Section

Just like any good introduction, the introduction section of your literature review should introduce the purpose and layout (organisation) of the chapter. In other words, your introduction needs to give the reader a taste of what’s to come, and how you’re going to lay that out. Essentially, you should provide the reader with a high-level roadmap of your chapter to give them a taste of the journey that lies ahead.

Here’s an example of the layout visualised in a literature review introduction:

Your introduction should also outline your topic (including any tricky terminology or jargon) and provide an explanation of the scope of your literature review – in other words, what you  will   and  won’t   be covering (the delimitations ). This helps ringfence your review and achieve a clear focus . The clearer and narrower your focus, the deeper you can dive into the topic (which is typically where the magic lies). 

Depending on the nature of your project, you could also present your stance or point of view at this stage. In other words, after grappling with the literature you’ll have an opinion about what the trends and concerns are in the field as well as what’s lacking. The introduction section can then present these ideas so that it is clear to examiners that you’re aware of how your research connects with existing knowledge .

2: The Body Section

The body of your literature review is the centre of your work. This is where you’ll present, analyse, evaluate and synthesise the existing research. In other words, this is where you’re going to earn (or lose) the most marks. Therefore, it’s important to carefully think about how you will organise your discussion to present it in a clear way. 

The body of your literature review should do just as the description of this chapter suggests. It should “review” the literature – in other words, identify, analyse, and synthesise it. So, when thinking about structuring your literature review, you need to think about which structural approach will provide the best “review” for your specific type of research and objectives (we’ll get to this shortly).

There are (broadly speaking)  three options  for organising your literature review.

Option 1: Chronological (according to date)

Organising the literature chronologically is one of the simplest ways to structure your literature review. You start with what was published first and work your way through the literature until you reach the work published most recently. Pretty straightforward.

The benefit of this option is that it makes it easy to discuss the developments and debates in the field as they emerged over time. Organising your literature chronologically also allows you to highlight how specific articles or pieces of work might have changed the course of the field – in other words, which research has had the most impact . Therefore, this approach is very useful when your research is aimed at understanding how the topic has unfolded over time and is often used by scholars in the field of history. That said, this approach can be utilised by anyone that wants to explore change over time .

For example , if a student of politics is investigating how the understanding of democracy has evolved over time, they could use the chronological approach to provide a narrative that demonstrates how this understanding has changed through the ages.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you structure your literature review chronologically.

• What is the earliest literature published relating to this topic?
• How has the field changed over time? Why?
• What are the most recent discoveries/theories?

In some ways, chronology plays a part whichever way you decide to structure your literature review, because you will always, to a certain extent, be analysing how the literature has developed. However, with the chronological approach, the emphasis is very firmly on how the discussion has evolved over time , as opposed to how all the literature links together (which we’ll discuss next ).

Option 2: Thematic (grouped by theme)

The thematic approach to structuring a literature review means organising your literature by theme or category – for example, by independent variables (i.e. factors that have an impact on a specific outcome).

As you’ve been collecting and synthesising literature , you’ll likely have started seeing some themes or patterns emerging. You can then use these themes or patterns as a structure for your body discussion. The thematic approach is the most common approach and is useful for structuring literature reviews in most fields.

For example, if you were researching which factors contributed towards people trusting an organisation, you might find themes such as consumers’ perceptions of an organisation’s competence, benevolence and integrity. Structuring your literature review thematically would mean structuring your literature review’s body section to discuss each of these themes, one section at a time.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when structuring your literature review by themes:

• Are there any patterns that have come to light in the literature?
• What are the central themes and categories used by the researchers?
• Do I have enough evidence of these themes?

PS – you can see an example of a thematically structured literature review in our literature review sample walkthrough video here.

Option 3: Methodological

The methodological option is a way of structuring your literature review by the research methodologies used . In other words, organising your discussion based on the angle from which each piece of research was approached – for example, qualitative , quantitative or mixed  methodologies.

Structuring your literature review by methodology can be useful if you are drawing research from a variety of disciplines and are critiquing different methodologies. The point of this approach is to question  how  existing research has been conducted, as opposed to  what  the conclusions and/or findings the research were.

For example, a sociologist might centre their research around critiquing specific fieldwork practices. Their literature review will then be a summary of the fieldwork methodologies used by different studies.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself when structuring your literature review according to methodology:

• Which methodologies have been utilised in this field?
• Which methodology is the most popular (and why)?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the various methodologies?
• How can the existing methodologies inform my own methodology?

3: The Conclusion Section

Once you’ve completed the body section of your literature review using one of the structural approaches we discussed above, you’ll need to “wrap up” your literature review and pull all the pieces together to set the direction for the rest of your dissertation or thesis.

The conclusion is where you’ll present the key findings of your literature review. In this section, you should emphasise the research that is especially important to your research questions and highlight the gaps that exist in the literature. Based on this, you need to make it clear what you will add to the literature – in other words, justify your own research by showing how it will help fill one or more of the gaps you just identified.

Last but not least, if it’s your intention to develop a conceptual framework for your dissertation or thesis, the conclusion section is a good place to present this.

Example: Thematically Structured Review

In the video below, we unpack a literature review chapter so that you can see an example of a thematically structure review in practice.

Let’s Recap

In this article, we’ve  discussed how to structure your literature review for maximum impact. Here’s a quick recap of what  you need to keep in mind when deciding on your literature review structure:

• Just like other chapters, your literature review needs a clear introduction , body and conclusion .
• The introduction section should provide an overview of what you will discuss in your literature review.
• The body section of your literature review can be organised by chronology , theme or methodology . The right structural approach depends on what you’re trying to achieve with your research.
• The conclusion section should draw together the key findings of your literature review and link them to your research questions.

If you’re ready to get started, be sure to download our free literature review template to fast-track your chapter outline.

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 .

29 Comments

Great work. This is exactly what I was looking for and helps a lot together with your previous post on literature review. One last thing is missing: a link to a great literature chapter of an journal article (maybe with comments of the different sections in this review chapter). Do you know any great literature review chapters?

I agree with you Marin… A great piece

I agree with Marin. This would be quite helpful if you annotate a nicely structured literature from previously published research articles.

Awesome article for my research.

I thank you immensely for this wonderful guide

It is indeed thought and supportive work for the futurist researcher and students

Very educative and good time to get guide. Thank you

Great work, very insightful. Thank you.

Thanks for this wonderful presentation. My question is that do I put all the variables into a single conceptual framework or each hypothesis will have it own conceptual framework?

Thank you very much, very helpful

This is very educative and precise . Thank you very much for dropping this kind of write up .

Pheeww, so damn helpful, thank you for this informative piece.

I’m doing a research project topic ; stool analysis for parasitic worm (enteric) worm, how do I structure it, thanks.

comprehensive explanation. Help us by pasting the URL of some good “literature review” for better understanding.

great piece. thanks for the awesome explanation. it is really worth sharing. I have a little question, if anyone can help me out, which of the options in the body of literature can be best fit if you are writing an architectural thesis that deals with design?

I am doing a research on nanofluids how can l structure it?

Beautifully clear.nThank you!

Lucid! Thankyou!

Brilliant work, well understood, many thanks

I like how this was so clear with simple language 😊😊 thank you so much 😊 for these information 😊

Insightful. I was struggling to come up with a sensible literature review but this has been really helpful. Thank you!

You have given thought-provoking information about the review of the literature.

Thank you. It has made my own research better and to impart your work to students I teach

I learnt a lot from this teaching. It’s a great piece.

I am doing research on EFL teacher motivation for his/her job. How Can I structure it? Is there any detailed template, additional to this?

You are so cool! I do not think I’ve read through something like this before. So nice to find somebody with some genuine thoughts on this issue. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This site is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a little originality!

I’m asked to do conceptual, theoretical and empirical literature, and i just don’t know how to structure it

Asking questions are actually fastidious thing if you are not understanding anything fully, but this article presents good understanding yet.

thank you SOOO much it is really helpful ..

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Literature Review Guide: Examples of Literature Reviews

• What is a Literature Review?
• How to start?
• Picking your research question and searching
• Search strategies and Databases
• How to organise the review
• Examples of Literature Reviews
• Library summary

All good quality journal articles will include a small Literature Review after the Introduction paragraph.  It may not be called a Literature Review but gives you an idea of how one is created in miniature.

Sample Literature Reviews as part of a articles or Theses

• Hackett, G and Melia, D . The hotel as the holiday/stay destination:trends and innovations. Presented at TRIC Conference, Belfast, Ireland- June 2012 and EuroCHRIE Conference

Links to sample Literature Reviews from other libraries

• Sample literature reviews from University of West Florida

Irish Theses

• Phillips, Martin (2015) European airline performance: a data envelopment analysis with extrapolations based on model outputs. Master of Business Studies thesis, Dublin City University.
• The customers’ perception of servicescape’s influence on their behaviours, in the food retail industry : Dublin Business School 2015
• Coughlan, Ray (2015) What was the role of leadership in the transformation of a failing Irish Insurance business. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.
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Literature reviews

What this guide covers, what is a literature review, literature review resources, types of literature reviews, what is the difference between a literature review and a systematic review, related information and guides, further help.

• Conduct your search
• Store and organise the literature
• Evaluate and critique the literature
• Different subject areas
• Find literature reviews

Reusing content from this guide

Attribute our work under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The literature review process involves a number of steps.

This guide focuses on:

• evaluating.

A literature review is a survey and critical analysis of what has been written on a particular topic, theory, question or method.

"In writing the literature review, the purpose is to explore what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, what approaches and viewpoints have been adopted, and what are their strengths and weaknesses."

Source: "Focus and frame". (2008). In Eriksson, P. & Kovalainen, A. Introducing Qualitative Methods: Qualitative methods in business research (pp. 44) . London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9780857028044.

Get an overview on doing a literature review:

• Sage research methods online - Literature review methods map Information on the literature review methodology with links to further resources - the Project Planner, books, articles, videos and more.
• Ten simple rules for writing a literature review Gives 10 tips on how to approach and carry out a literature review. By Pautasso M (2013) Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Literature Review. PLoS Comput Biol9(7): e1003149.
• The literature review. In: Doing your undergraduate program This chapter looks at the purpose of literature reviews, how it is done, setting the boundaries of your search and more.

• More books on literature reviews A selection of literature review books available via UQ Library Search.

The type of literature review you do will depend on a variety of factors:

• Your discipline
• The purpose - undergraduate assessment, PHD thesis, journal article?
• Your lecturer or supervisor's requirements.

Always follow the guidelines outlined by your lecturer or supervisor or consult the instructions for authors (for journal articles), when conducting your literature review.

• is an overview of the significant literature on a topic
• typically includes a critical analysis of each work included
• demonstrates the reviewers knowledge of the topic.
• is a list of citations of research sources (books, journal articles, websites etc) on a topic
• includes a brief summary and analysis or evaluation of each citation = the annotation.
• a critical assessment of all research studies on a particular research question
• has specific criteria for collecting and evaluating the literature
• includes a synthesis of the findings of the included studies.
• This method developed by Griffith University's School of Environment bridges the gap between traditional narrative review methods and meta-analyses to enable students to produce results that are reliable, quantifiable and reproducible.

The requirements of narrative literature reviews are usually quite different than systematic reviews . However, you may be required to adopt some of the characteristics of a systematic approach when doing your literature review. Check the guidelines or criteria that have been set by your supervisor so you know what is expected of you.

Characteristics of reviews

• Meeting the review family: Exploring review types and associated information retrieval requirements This article defines different review types and discusses appropriate search methods for each type.
• Writing literature reviews - Student Support Student Support provides information on how to write effective literature reviews.
• Writing skills Learn strategies for good writing from the Graduate School.
• Systematic reviews An overview of systematic reviews and resources to support producing one.
• Subject guides See recommended resources in different subject areas.
• Grey literature Find literature that is not available in traditional channels of publishing and distribution.
• How to find guides Techniques and resources to find specific information formats.

Contact the Librarian team .

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Literature Review: Conducting & Writing

• Sample Literature Reviews
• Steps for Conducting a Lit Review
• Finding "The Literature"
• Organizing/Writing
• APA Style This link opens in a new window
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Sample Lit Reviews from Communication Arts

Have an exemplary literature review.

Note: These are sample literature reviews from a class that were given to us by an instructor when APA 6th edition was still in effect. These were excellent papers from her class, but it does not mean they are perfect or contain no errors. Thanks to the students who let us post!

• Literature Review Sample 1
• Literature Review Sample 2
• Literature Review Sample 3

Have you written a stellar literature review you care to share for teaching purposes?

Are you an instructor who has received an exemplary literature review and have permission from the student to post?

Please contact Britt McGowan at [email protected] for inclusion in this guide. All disciplines welcome and encouraged.

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• Literature review example analysis
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• How to write a literature review

This example shows how a literature review from a PhD thesis can be analysed for its structure, purpose and content.

Three sections of the thesis are analysed to show the:

• relationship between the introduction and the literature review
• structure and purpose of dedicated literature review chapters
• inclusion of literature review in other chapters of the thesis.

Access the thesis

Co-witnesses and the effects of discussion on eyewitness memory by Helen M Paterson

Overview of thesis (introduction)

This introductory section is less than two pages long.

The first paragraph:

• states the overall objective of the thesis
• defines the introduced term
• provides broad motivation for interest in the area
• introduces the sections of the thesis that will address the overall objective.

The other paragraphs describe the content and purpose of each section of the thesis.

Literature review

The literature review is made of up of two chapters.

Chapter 1: Literature review of relevant research

The overall goals of this chapter are to firstly establish the significance of the general field of study, and then identify a place where a new contribution could be made.

The bulk of the chapter critically evaluates the methodologies used in this field to identify the appropriate approach for investigating the research questions.

Chapter 2: Theoretical explanations of memory conformity

Chapter 5, Study 3: Co-Witness Contamination

This chapter has the following structure:

• Introduction
• Discussion.

The introduction introduces the particular study to be reported on, and includes a three-and-a-half page literature review.

The literature review in this chapter:

• links back to the relevant general findings of the earlier literature review chapters
• briefly reviews the broad motivation for this study
• identifies that two previously used methodologies in this field will be compared to resolve questions about the findings of previous studies which had only used a single methodology
• uses previous literature to generate specific hypotheses to test
• reviews additional literature to provide a justification for a second objective to be investigated in the study reported on in this chapter.

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How to write a literature review

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Structure of a literature review

Determine your purpose.

Work out what you need to address in the literature review. What are you being asked to do in your literature review? What are you searching the literature to discover? Check your assignment question and your criteria sheet to know what to focus on.

Do an extensive search of the literature

Find out what has been written on the topic.

What kind of literature?

Select appropriate source material: Use a variety of academic or scholarly sources that are relevant, current and authoritative. An extensive review of relevant material will include — books, journal articles, reports, government documents, conference proceedings and web resources. The Library would be the best place to search for your sources.

How many resources?

The number of sources that you will be required to review will depend on what the literature review is for and how advanced you are in your studies. It could be from five sources at first year undergraduate level to more than fifty for a thesis. Your lecturer will advise you on these details.

Note the bibliographical details of your sources

Keep a note of the publication title, date, authors’ names, page numbers and publishers. These details will save you time later.

Read the literature

• Critically read each source, look for the arguments presented rather than for facts.
• Take notes as you read and start to organise your review around themes and ideas.
• Consider using a table, matrix or concept map to identify how the different sources relate to each other.

Analyse the literature you have found

In order for your writing to reflect strong critical analysis, you need to evaluate the sources. For each source you are reviewing ask yourself these questions:

• What are the key terms and concepts?
• How relevant is this article to my specific topic?
• What are the major relationships, trends and patterns?
• How has the author structured the arguments?
• How authoritative and credible is this source?
• What are the differences and similarities between the sources?
• Are there any gaps in the literature that require further study?

Write the review

• Start by writing your thesis statement. This is an important introductory sentence that will tell your reader what the topic is and the overall perspective or argument you will be presenting.
• Like essays, a literature review must have an introduction, a body and a conclusion.

Introduction

Your introduction should give an outline of:

• why you are writing a review, and why the topic is important
• the scope of the review — what aspects of the topic will be discussed
• the criteria used for your literature selection (e.g. type of sources used, date range)
• the organisational pattern of the review.

Body paragraphs

Each body paragraph should deal with a different theme that is relevant to your topic. You will need to synthesise several of your reviewed readings into each paragraph, so that there is a clear connection between the various sources. You will need to critically analyse each source for how they contribute to the themes you are researching.

The body could include paragraphs on:

• historical background
• methodologies
• previous studies on the topic
• mainstream versus alternative viewpoints
• principal questions being asked
• general conclusions that are being drawn.

Your conclusion should give a summary of:

• the main agreements and disagreements in the literature
• any gaps or areas for further research
• your overall perspective on the topic.
• outlined the purpose and scope?
• identified appropriate and credible (academic/scholarly) literature?
• recorded the bibliographical details of the sources?
• analysed and critiqued your readings?
• identified gaps in the literature and research?
• explored methodologies / theories / hypotheses / models?
• discussed the varying viewpoints?
• written an introduction, body and conclusion?
• checked punctuation and spelling?

Further information

• HiQ: Managing weekly readings
• HiQ: Notetaking
• HiQ: Structuring your assignment
• RMIT University: Literature review - Overview

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Structuring a literature review

In general, literature reviews are structured in a similar way to a standard essay, with an introduction, a body and a conclusion. These are key structural elements. Additionally, a stand-alone extended literature review has an abstract. Throughout, headings and subheadings are used to divide up the literature review into meaningful sections.

There is no single “correct” structure for how to structure the content of your literature review – every review is shaped by the nature of the field being reviewed and the specific argument the review is supporting. Here are some common literature review organising patterns:

• historical development (chronological)
• definitions
• pros and cons
• methodological issues
• key works of a single author
• key works in a particular field of study

For example, a literature review on the definitions of key terms or concepts in a particular field of study might analyse a variety of definitions and conclude by defending a selected definition.

Some of the organising patterns listed above may be used in combination.

Structure a lit review accordion

The abstract.

If you are writing a stand-alone extended literature review, you are required to provide an abstract. The purpose of an abstract is to provide potential readers with an overview of the review content, so that they can determine if it is relevant to their research. The abstract should include brief background information, including any knowledge gaps or discrepancies that the review aims to address, as well as a statement regarding the purpose and scope of the review. A complete abstract also includes a brief statement of the main findings and how they relate to the broader context. The example abstract below includes these elements.

Example abstract

The introduction

Not all introductions follow exactly the same order. However, there are some key points to include in the introduction to provide your reader with the context and purpose of your review. The general guidelines for the structure of a literature review introduction are:

• Start with a broad introduction to the topic. Include relevant background information and definitions or explanations of the main terms and concepts.
• Provide information that is relevant for your specific topic, and explain the importance of your topic (e.g. why it’s worth reading your literature review).
• Tell the reader what the scope of your review is (e.g. what key points you will include in the body of your review).
• Tell your reader what the aim or purpose of your review is. This is often included at the end of the introduction.

Example introduction

The body of the review contains your review of the literature relevant to your research question or aim. You should structure the body of your literature review in a logical and coherent way. Consider what your sub-topics or sections will be in order to answer your research question thoroughly and coherently. Then consider the most logical order to discuss your sections. Creating sub-headings for the sections of your review will assist you in creating a logical structure and keep you focused on sub-topics relevant to your research aim.

In the body of your literature review, it is important to analyse the literature rather than to merely describe the findings of a number of different literature sources. Some description of the key findings is important to give the reader context. However, your review should also include an analysis of the key themes, gaps in understanding, and points of disagreement between the different literature sources.

There are numerous ways to organise your body paragraphs, depending on your topic. You may want to organise some of your paragraphs:

• in chronological order, e.g. historical findings, more recent findings, current research
• group your literature sources into paragraphs based on similar arguments or findings
• categorise your sources into similar sub-topics and compare different findings within a single paragraph.

Remember to include accurate and relevant citations and references throughout this section.

The assignment excerpt below is an example of how to group similar findings together.

Body paragraph example 1

Another method of organising your body paragraphs is to group papers together that have found different or contradictory results related to the same topic. This helps you to demonstrate your understanding of the literature and highlights the inconsistencies between findings. The assignment body paragraph below is an example of how this can be done.

Body paragraph example 2

The conclusion

Conclude by demonstrating how you have answered your research question and/or how you have achieved your research aim. This tells the audience you have achieved what you intended. Then highlight the key points you discussed. Now you can refer to implications of this knowledge in a broader sense, as well as recommendations for future studies/research (if applicable). The conclusion starts specific and finishes broad.

There are several conventions to note when you are writing your conclusion:

• Don’t include new information in your conclusion. Instead, highlight the key points raised in the earlier sections of your literature review.
• Don’t include in-text citations in your conclusion. This relates to the point above in regards to not including new information.

The example below demonstrates the structural elements of a conclusion.

Example conclusion

Check your understanding View

WTO / Education / 39 Best Literature Review Examples (Guide with Samples)

39 Best Literature Review Examples (Guide with Samples)

A literature review is a compilation of current knowledge on a particular topic derived from the critical evaluation of different scholarly sources such as books, articles, and publications, which is then presented in an organized manner to relate to a specific research problem being investigated.

It highlights the methods, relevant theories, and gaps in existing research on a particular subject. It can be both a summary and synthesis of information on a specific topic. A summary reiterates key information from scholarly sources, while synthesis is a new interpretation or combination of new and old material. 

As a synthesis, it can outline the intellectual progression of knowledge in a particular field or topic, which might involve stating key debates throughout the advancement period.  

Literature Review Examples

Purpose of Literature Review

Literature reviews have different purposes in scholarly articles, research papers , and books, depending on the discipline at hand. First and foremost, reviews are generally meant to showcase the extensive research carried out by an author on a particular topic and their findings, which will form the foundation of the research. It then summarizes the information to show the author’s familiarity with the topic in question.

The review also demonstrates the relationship between the topic being investigated and other topics that were under consideration. Finally, it outlines the gaps in the previous works of other scholars, which create areas of research.

Literature reviews provide a new interpretation of previous scholarly publications and aim to resolve conflicting studies done in the past. In addition, identifying existing gaps in a particular research area illustrates the starting point of the research.

Literature Review vs. Academic Research Paper

A research paper presents new ideas, arguments, and approaches toward a particular topic. The conclusions of a research paper will be based on the analysis and interpretation of raw data collected by the author and an original study. On the other hand, a literature review is based on the findings of other publications. Thus, the review highlights the author’s understanding of a topic based on the previously conducted research. It is part of a research paper.

Where, When, and Why

The need for a literature review in a publication will vary from one situation to the other and the field/discipline of research. These two factors determine what is expected from the lit review. For example, a scientific review will be more analytical on the methods and results of previous research. In contrast, a philosophical review will be more argumentative, highlighting the discrepancies and correspondences between scholars.

It can either be part of a publication or a stand-alone document. As part of a research publication, it is often placed after the introduction to the topic outlining knowledge about a particular topic and critical sources that formed the foundation of the research. As an individual document, it is prepared by students as part of course study to aid the students in familiarizing themselves with different topics in their field of study.

Lit reviews also guide students to help them synthesize theoretical methodologies and frameworks to adopt in academic research . As a publication, literature reviews are used to document existing information about a topic for readers (other scholars) to go through for whatever reasons they may have. Published studies are essentially helpful to new scholars getting into any field of research.

Types of Literature Review

Before looking into how to write a literature review, it is vital to understand the different types. The type will usually depend on the objective approach of the author.

Common types are:  

Argumentative review

An argumentative review is adopted when the research paper or publication is meant to take a contrarian viewpoint on a particular subject. The review analyses an existing argument, philosophical problem, assumption, or conclusion outlined in different studies with an objective to either support or oppose the argument. 

Integrative review

An integrative review integrates secondary data to develop new perspectives and frameworks on a topic. This is more prevalent in research that does not involve primary data. In addition, integrative reviews are more familiar with social sciences.       

Historical review

Historical reviews are used when scholars or authors place a particular idea, concept, theory, or research in a historical context. It examines the idea, theory, or issue from the first time it was discussed and outlines its evolution throughout a given period.  

Methodological review

Methodological reviews look at how a specific theory, concept, results, or findings were developed. Therefore, methodological reviews will analyze the different methods used by different scholars to arrive at conclusions or knowledge about the topic being investigated.

Some of the methods scholars use in different disciplines to obtain information are interviewing, sampling, practical experiments/data collection, research approaches, critical thinking, social experiments, etc.

Methodological reviews are hence used to discuss tested methods of research and ethics that a researcher should be aware of before undertaking their investigations.  

Systematic review

A systematic review is a more detailed and comprehensive review compared to other types of lit reviews. It highlights any existing research evidence associated with a clearly defined research problem or question. The evidence is collected, analyzed, and reported in a summarized but detailed manner. Systematic reviews are popularly presented as a cause-and-effect structure.

Theoretical review

A theoretical review delves into the different theories regarding a particular issue, challenge, concept, or theory. It identifies their inadequacy in explaining the issue or concept at hand. The review then identifies the relationships between the identified theories, and the degree of research done and poses novel hypotheses to be investigated.

Organization of a Literature Review

How an author organizes a literature review will depend on what they aim to achieve. As a consequence, there are multiple ways of organizing it which are discussed below:

Chronological 

A chronological format outlines knowledge on a particular topic based on when the scholarly source of information was published. Starting with the earliest followed up to the most recent chronological order. This format should be used if there is a clear chronological order in the development of the information; therefore, it will not be applicable in some cases. Instead, key turning points, patterns, and events that impacted the direction of the knowledge should be outlined.  

By publication

It can be organized in the scholarly publications reviewed by the author, scholar, or student. The by-publication format should only improve the review and facilitate what the author aims to accomplish. 

Scholars or students can adopt a dominant trend in research, such as history, developmental stages, steps involved in a process, etc.

Methodological

A methodological format is based on the methods used by the researcher. Thus, the order of contents in the lit review will depend on the method they will use to carry out their research, knowledge obtained from the first method appears first, and the rest of the information follows in the same order according to the methods used by the author.  

Literature reviews organized in a thematic format revolve around the subject being investigated in no order. It is, therefore, ordinarily up to the researcher or author to determine how they intend to outline the information. A thematic format will crossover from one period and publication to another, but can sometimes incorporate a chronological order.

Theoretical

Literature reviews organized in a theoretical format have their contents organized in an abstract framework established by the author to discuss different concepts, theories, and concepts and how they relate to the research at hand.

Additional sections

Depending on the objective, other sections do not fit under conventional lit review formats that one may need to add. Below are some of the sections that authors or students can include in the lit review:

• Current situation: The review can have information about the current state of things regarding the topic at hand to facilitate further understanding.
• History: Researchers can summarize the subject under investigation, literature, or concept if the review is not already in chronological format.
• Selection methods: Lit reviews are known to outline the methods or criteria used in selecting the way to present information and scholarly sources referenced in the review.
• Standards: it can also include the standards used in choosing the format to present information in the review and the scholarly literature used in the research.
• Further questions for research: The review can include questions emanating from the review and how the researcher will further explore their research to address the queries raised.

Literature Review Samples

Considerations Before Writing a Literature Review

Preparation is essential when it comes to writing. The objective should be to come up with a review that satisfactorily explores the topic being discussed. The following considerations are steps towards that if incorporated into the writing process:

Authors should seek clarification from mentors or supervisors before commencing the writing process. First, determine what is expected from the lit review. The type and number of sources to be used, the assignment (summarize, synthesize, or critique), and the type of information provided should be clear.

Find models

You should review literature from other authors in the same discipline and evaluate how those authors presented their lit reviews. Previous lit reviews can be used as guides that point authors in the right direction when writing their lit reviews.

Narrow your topic

It is always advantageous to narrow down the research topic to a specific area of research; that way, the number of sources can also be reduced. Even though conducting research will usually involve extensive research on all available materials about a particular topic, having a well-defined topic simplifies the task at hand.

Current sources

Determine if the research project or discipline ought to be based on the most recent findings or information. It is common for knowledge to become obsolete, especially in disciplines where discoveries and new inventions are made fast. If the lit review should be based on current knowledge, limit the sources to the most recent literature. Some disciplines will typically have a limit on how old the sources should be.  

How to Write a Literature Review (Expert Guide)

Once all pre-writing considerations have been taken into account, it is time to write the document. At this point, you should already be aware of what you wish to accomplish with the literature review, and the steps to writing an exemplary lit review are mentioned below:

Problem formulation

First and foremost, clearly define the topic (research area) to be investigated. For students, this will sometimes be given as an assignment. However, the research could be an academic project, which means that the author has to come up with the problem and define it themselves.

Search for relevant studies

Once the problem is clearly expressed, you should search for studies related to the topic, concept, theory, or idea and questions surrounding the topic. Most stand-alone lit reviews will generally attempt to answer a more concentrated question. On the internet, literature can be searched using keywords related to the research area. In addition to keywords, include vital variables such as synonyms and associated terms. The inclusion of Boolean operators and, or not, is also used to narrow down results to more specific publications.

Familiar sources for publications are:

• Google Scholar
• Library catalogue
• Econ lit (economics)
• Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
• Inspec (physics, engineering, and computer science )
• Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)

Before selecting relevant studies, go through their abstract and determine if they fit the scope needed in the investigation. Use a list to note down any chosen works. Select landmark sources in the discipline.

Evaluation of sources/data

The next step is the evaluation stage . Evaluation involves a lot of reading. Evaluation can be done in two stages; overall skimming and thorough reading. During the second stage of this step, be critical, ask questions, and take many notes.

Some of the questions authors or researchers should ask themselves are:

• What is the author’s objective? What problem, concept, or theory are they putting across?
• What are the main concepts?
• What are the methodologies used by the author to arrive at the results and conclusions?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the results and conclusions?

Use credible sources. Most cited sources are preferred as they indicate their influence in the field. Also, keep track of the citations to be later incorporated.

Identify themes, debates, and gaps

While reading the sources, identify key patterns, themes, debates/arguments, and gaps in each literature. These elements help tie the literature to the topic under investigation. Look for consistent patterns, themes, questions, challenges, methods, and inconsistencies in the same. Consistencies present critical information for consideration, while inconsistencies present opportunities for research areas.

Outline the structure

Formatting is part and parcel of a well-written work. Selecting the structure should start by creating an outline with all the information that will go into the lit review, then consider the different types of structures and select the most suitable. Next, take the basic structure of the introduction, body, and conclusion into consideration and start work from there. 

Analysis and interpretation 

Lastly, perform an in-depth analysis and interpretation of the information obtained from the scholarly research and put it into writing. The summarized, synthesized, and critically evaluated information is then written down in well-structured paragraphs that follow the chosen structure. Transition words are used to draw comparisons, connections, and contrasts.

Format 

Ordinarily, a literature review will have three key components: introduction, body, and conclusion. These components should appear in the document in the following order:

Introduction

An introduction should inform the reader which topic is being studied. It gives the reader an overall idea of the purpose and focus of the document. The introduction lets the reader know beforehand the key things that will be highlighted in the document. Therefore, the introduction should be brief and precise.

The next item is the body, where the primary purpose of the lit review is fulfilled. The body should take critical information from all the sources used and comprehensively present them. This is where the author reports the extensive analysis and interpretation results that they gathered from all the sources they reviewed. The body should be categorized into themes, ideas, and concepts within the main topic.

Lastly, a summary of what the lit review entails should be provided as a conclusion. The critical points obtained from examining the sources should be written down and linked to the primary subject of the review. Key points are those that have the most outstanding contribution to the research.

Studies used should be screened based on provenance (author’s credentials or credibility), methodology, objectivity, persuasiveness, and value related to the topic at hand.

Guidelines for Writing a Literature Review

To improve the delivery of information, there are certain elements that authors can incorporate. They are:

Use evidence

The lit review’s findings, interpretations, and general contents should be based on actual evidence or credible literature. Using citations is evidence of authentic information.

Be selective

There will always be a lot of information available from the reviewed sources. Authors should therefore be selective and discuss the key points that focus on the topic. Not all information must be included in the review.  

Word-for-word quotes are acceptable . This is even more so if a critical point or author-specific terminology or knowledge cannot be paraphrased. Quotes should, however, be used sparingly.

Summarize and synthesize

The information obtained from the sources should be summarized, and the author should use it to synthesize new arguments, concepts, or ideas related to their research.

Keep your voice

The literature review should reflect the author’s voice as it is a review of other people’s works. This can be done by starting and ending the paragraphs with an original voice, ideas, and wordings.

Use caution while paraphrasing

Any paraphrased information should be conveyed accurately and in the author’s words. A citation must always be done, even when paraphrasing has been done.

Proofread before submitting or publishing. Go through the document a few times and make the necessary changes. The review should be within the applicable guidelines. Check for language and any other errors and edit accordingly.

Do’s and Don’ts for a Literature Review 

Every researcher wants to introduce their readers to a particular topic in an informative and engaging manner. Below are tips that can be used to this effect.

The following things should be opted by the researcher when writing a lit review:

• Find a focus: Authors should take a direction, idea, concept, or argument and stick to it. The information conveyed should then be made to align with the chosen point of focus. Thus, the review is not simply a list of analyzed sources, but a detailed summary of how different sources have a focal point (intertwined).
• Well-chosen sources: The quality of the information will, to a great extent, be determined by the quality of sources used. Therefore, take time to select suitable sources and more value will be added to the review.
• Create an annotated bibliography: Creating an annotated bibliography is recommended as one reads their sources. The bibliography keeps track of sources and takes notes. This information can be used when writing the final lit review.
• Synthesize research: Information obtained from the relevant studies should be combined to come up with new or original ideas. You should present a new domain based on previous sources’ knowledge, not just restating the information.
• Argumentative approach: Well-written literature reviews will often argue to support an author’s stance on a particular topic. The author can choose to address how the author’s work is filling a particular gap or support one of the scholar’s arguments and perception towards a particular topic. However, this argumentative approach will not work in all situations; it is usually discipline-specific. 
• Convey it to the reader: It should let the reader know the document’s main idea, concept, or argument. This can be done by including a simple statement that compels the reader to think precisely and know what to expect.
• Break out your disciplinary box: The research will often be multi-disciplinary. Literature reviews should then collect interdisciplinary information from multiple sources as they add novel dynamics to the topic under investigation. It should be noted that this does not imply that the researcher should substitute the literature from the topic’s discipline with that from other disciplines. This is usually an improvement strategy that adds substance to the review.
• Look for repeated patterns: Be attentive to pick out repeated ideas, findings, and concepts from different scholars as they will often illustrate agreed research dead-end or a scholarly conclusion.
• Don’t just review for content: When reviewing the literature, examine the content and other writing and presentation techniques. Look out for unique ways information has been presented, methods used, consistent citations, and non-textual elements such as graphs, and figures used to present information. In addition, the researcher identifies theories used to predict, explain, or understand phenomena within the discipline.
• Search Web of Science and Google Scholar: Conduct citation tracking about the leading scholars already identified in the search process. Scholars cited by multiple scholars outside the principal discipline will generally indicate that there are no new publications on the topic.

The following don’ts should be avoided:

• Do not select studies that are not directly related to the topic being investigated.
• Avoid rushing when identifying and selecting sources to use to research the problem.
• Avoid the use of secondary analytical sources. Instead, opt to use sources with primary research studies or data. Secondary analytical sources will often cite primary analytical sources; research should refer to them instead.
• Do not accept other scholarly findings, theories, or interpretations without critically examining and critiquing them.
• Researchers should not outline the search procedures used to identify scholarly sources for reviewing purposes.
• Avoid including isolated statistical findings without illustrating how they were arrived at using chi-squared or meta-analytic methods.
• Do not review studies that only validate the assumptions, stances, and concepts of your thesis; consider contradicting works with alternative and conflicting stances.

Frequently Asked Questions

It is written by researchers, authors, and students who must study literature to gather knowledge on a particular topic they are interested in.

It should be placed right after the introduction of the dissertation. It places the research in a scholarly context by summarizing existing knowledge on the particular topic.

Researchers and authors are not limited in terms of how many sources they can review. Students will usually have a given number of sources to review as an assignment. However, the number of sources referenced in a lit review will vary from one topic or discipline to the other. Some topics have a vast catalog of available sources, while others have minimal sources, especially emerging issues. It is, however, advised that each key point discussed should have at least 2-3 references/sources. For example, a 10-page lit review will have an average of 30 references.

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When writing a dissertation, there are two key sections that students often confuse: the abstract and the introduction. Both serve different purposes yet are essential components of the dissertation. This blog post aims to clarify the difference between the two, providing guidance on what an abstract is, the structure of a dissertation introduction, and tips on writing both effectively. Whether you’re looking at abstract examples in a dissertation or trying to formulate the perfect introduction, understanding these sections is crucial to delivering a well-rounded academic piece.

What is an Abstract?

An abstract is a concise summary of the entire dissertation. It provides an overview of the research, including the research question, methodology, key findings, and conclusions. An abstract is typically around 150-300 words, depending on your institution’s guidelines, and appears at the beginning of your dissertation before the introduction. Think of an abstract as a snapshot of your research, allowing readers to understand the scope and significance of your work without having to read the entire dissertation. In fact, most readers will first read the abstract to decide whether the rest of the dissertation is relevant to them.

The Purpose of an Abstract in a Dissertation

The purpose of the abstract is to summarise the key elements of your dissertation in a way that allows readers to quickly grasp its essence. In many cases, the abstract will be used in research databases and repositories, where scholars will search for relevant papers. Thus, your abstract needs to be clear, concise, and informative. an abstract serves several functions:

Provides a snapshot : The abstract gives a brief overview of your research, from your thesis statement to your findings and conclusions. Guides the reader : It helps readers decide whether to read the entire dissertation. If the abstract is well-written and concise , it will draw in your audience. Highlights relevance : A good abstract will highlight the significance of your research within your field of study.

Abstract Examples for a Dissertation

The structure of an abstract can vary depending on the type of dissertation, but typically, it includes the following components:

• Introduction :Briefly introduce the topic or problem that your research addresses.
• Research question or hypothesis : State the main question or hypothesis guiding your research.
• Methodology : Summarise the methods used to conduct your research.
• Key findings: : Highlight the main results or outcomes of your study.
• Conclusion Summarise the implications of your findings and their relevance to the field.

For instance, an abstract for a dissertation on climate change might look like this:

"This dissertation investigates the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. By analysing historical climate data and conducting interviews with local farmers, the study identifies a significant decline in crop yields over the past decade, particularly in maize and wheat production. The findings suggest that climate variability, coupled with inadequate irrigation systems, is the primary factor influencing the decline. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on climate resilience and offers policy recommendations for sustainable farming practices in the region."

Dissertation Introduction: Setting the Stage

The introduction of a dissertation serves a different purpose from the abstract. While the abstract provides a summary of the entire work, the introduction is more detailed and serves as a roadmap for the reader. It is where you set the stage for your research, offering context and a more in-depth explanation of your topic and objectives.

The Purpose of the Dissertation Introduction

The dissertation introduction is meant to engage the reader and provide a clear overview of your research. It typically includes:

Background information : This section offers context and background details about your research topic. It explains why your research is important and how it fits within the broader field of study. Research question or hypothesis : Clearly state your research question or hypothesis and explain its significance. Aims and objectives : Outline the goals of your research and what you aim to achieve through your study. Research approach : Provide a brief overview of your methodology and how you plan to address your research question. Significance of the research : Discuss the importance of your study and how it contributes to the field.

Writing a Dissertation Introduction: Key Elements

When writing a dissertation introduction, it’s important to be clear and focused. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Start with a hook : Grab the reader’s attention with a compelling statement or an interesting fact related to your topic. Provide context : Offer background information that helps readers understand the significance of your research. Explain the problem or gap in the existing literature that your dissertation addresses. State your research question : Clearly articulate your research question or hypothesis and explain why it’s important to investigate. Define your objectives : List the main objectives of your research and what you aim to achieve. Outline your approach : Briefly describe your research methods and how they will help you answer your research question. Highlight the significance : Discuss the potential implications of your research and its contribution to the field.

The Difference Between an Abstract and an Introduction

To summarise, the key difference between an abstract and an introduction lies in their purpose and scope. The abstract is a brief summary of the entire dissertation, meant to give readers a quick overview of your research. In contrast, the introduction provides a more detailed explanation of the research topic, its context, and the objectives of your study.

Another key distinction is that while the abstract appears before the main body of the dissertation, the introduction is the first chapter of the dissertation itself. The abstract summarises everything, including the results and conclusions, while the introduction focuses on setting up the research and providing a rationale for why it’s important. In short, the abstract is about giving readers a snapshot, while the introduction is about engaging them in the research process.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Here are some common mistakes to avoid when writing both the abstract and the introduction:

• Overloading the abstract with details: The abstract should be concise. Avoid including too much background information or too many specifics about your research.
• Being vague in the introduction: While the introduction should not be overly detailed, it should provide enough context to engage the reader and make them interested in your research.
• Repeating the same information: The introduction and abstract should complement each other, not repeat the same content. Ensure each section has its unique purpose and contributes to the dissertation as a whole.

Both the abstract and the introduction are vital components of your dissertation, each serving a unique purpose. Understanding the difference between abstract and introduction is crucial for crafting a dissertation that flows well and engages the reader.

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• Review Article
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• Published: 10 September 2024

When urban poverty becomes a tourist attraction: a systematic review of slum tourism research

• Tianhan Gui   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6069-3046 1 &
• Wei Zhong 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  1178 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Over the last two decades, the phenomenon of “slum tourism” and its academic exploration have seen considerable growth. This study presents a systematic literature review of 122 peer-reviewed journal articles, employing a combined approach of bibliometric and content analysis. Our review highlights prominent authors and journals in this domain, revealing that the most cited journals usually focus on tourism studies or geography/urban studies. This reflects a confluence of travel motivations and urban complexities within slum tourism. Through keyword co-occurrence analysis, we identified three primary research areas: the touristic transformation of urban informal settlements, the depiction and valorization of urban poverty, and the socio-economic impacts of slum tourism. This study not only maps the current landscape of research in this area but also identifies existing gaps. It suggests that the economic, social, and cultural effects of slum tourism are areas that require more in-depth investigation in future research endeavors.

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Introduction.

“Slums” are defined by UN-Habitat ( 2006 ) as underdeveloped urban areas lacking in a durable housing, adequate living space, safe water access, sanitation, and tenure security. Emerging from urban growth disparities, these informal settlements have proliferated since the latter half of the 20th century, especially in the Global South’s cities. Despite progress in urban planning and poverty reduction, UN-Habitat ( 2020 ) reports that over a billion people, with 80% in developing regions, still live in such conditions.

Slums undeniably “represent one of the most enduring faces of poverty, inequality, exclusion and deprivation” (UN-Habitat, 2020 , p. 25), necessitating policy intervention. However, the term “slum” is controversial among scholars as it often carries negative connotations, conflating poor housing conditions with the identities of residents (Gilbert, 2007 ). Beyond poverty and disease, it suggests crime and immorality, contributing to a narrative of fear and fascination (Davis, 2006 ; Mayne, 2017 ).

Recent decades have seen a surge in “slum tours” in the Global South, attracting tourists from the affluent North. Driven by complex motives that “consist of a mix of adventurous inquiry and humanitarian ambitions” (Dürr, 2012b , p. 707), tourists from the affluent North desire to glimpse “the other side of the world” (Steinbrink, 2012 , p. 232). This trend has turned guided tours in informal settlements into a booming business in cities like Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, and Nairobi, drawing approximately one million tourists annually (Frenzel, 2016 ).

Modern slum tourism has deep historical roots, originating as “slumming” in Victorian England and early 20th-century America. Rapid urbanization in cities like London and New York created neglected areas, which, to middle and upper-class observers, represented a mysterious and chaotic “other world” (Steinbrink, 2012 ). This perception of danger and uncivilization paradoxically attracted bourgeois curiosity (Frenzel et al. 2015 ).

By the late 1970s, with the surge in international tourism, this localized “slumming” transformed into a global phenomenon. Affluent residents from the Global North began exploring underprivileged urban pockets in the Global South, making these areas tourism hotspots (Freire-Medeiros, 2009 ; Iqani, 2016 ). This trend marked the beginning of modern slum tourism, a practice that took a significant turn in the 1990s in South Africa. Initially focusing on anti-apartheid landmarks in townships like Soweto, Johannesburg (Steinbrink, 2012 ), these tours diversified to other cities, including Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai, and Manila (Frenzel et al. 2015 ). The once sporadic visits to informal settlements have now metamorphosed into well-orchestrated tours, often recommended by travel guidebooks. Today’s travelers can dine at local eateries, visit schools, interact with residents, or even step inside their homes (Frenzel, 2017 ; Frenzel and Blakeman, 2015 ). The industry has professionalized, with cities in the Global South attracting tourists mainly from the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and Scandinavia (Frenzel, 2012 ; Frenzel and Blakeman, 2015 ; Steinbrink, 2012 ).

The burgeoning interest in slum tourism has sparked significant scholarly discourse, particularly in the new millennium. Research in this realm predominantly orbits around the ethical implications of such tourism, its role in mitigating poverty, and the duties of governing bodies in these scenarios. Slum tourism research encompasses various disciplines, including urban studies, tourism and hospitality, and human geography, with a significant proliferation of publications in recent years.

The surge in research has also led to several evaluative studies scrutinizing the breadth and depth of the subject. Frenzel’s ( 2013 ) thematic review, for instance, probed the nexus between slum tourism and poverty alleviation. Given that most slum tours proclaim poverty alleviation as their core intent, Frenzel’s inquiry into the intersection of this mission with tourism was insightful. He also championed the need for a rigorous exploration of the multifaceted valorization of poverty within tourism dynamics. A more expansive review by Frenzel et al. ( 2015 ) delved into various research focuses like the evolution of slum tourism, tourist experiences, operational aspects, economic implications, and so on. Their assessment underscored existing research voids, emphasizing the necessity for more nuanced, comparative studies. Tzanelli ( 2018 ) examined the socio-cultural and political drivers behind tourists’ inclinations towards informal settlements, critically analyzing the epistemological frameworks employed by scholars.

While these reviews have significantly sketched the contours of the discipline, many leaned heavily on conventional literature review techniques—predicated on selected, and at times, circumscribed resources (Petticrew and Roberts, 2008 ). Such manual methodologies, albeit insightful, are prone to biases “during the identification, selection, and synthesis of included studies” (Haddaway et al. 2015 , p. 1956). A systematic literature review, which adheres to rigorous protocols and curtails subjective inclinations, would be more enriching. Such a methodological shift not only offers a panoramic view of pivotal research arguments and deliberations but also illuminates evolving trends and perspectives. The surge in slum tourism literature recently underscores its dynamic nature, necessitating a renewed scrutiny of nascent discussions eluding preceding reviews.

Addressing this research exigency, our current endeavor undertakes a comprehensive examination of a gamut of articles illuminating diverse research angles on slum tourism. Employing both bibliometric and qualitative content analysis techniques, our study dissects 122 journal articles published over the past twenty years. We endeavor to spotlight seminal authors and journals, delineate prevailing themes in slum tourism studies, and carve out prospective trajectories for forthcoming research endeavors.

Methodology

Search process and sample selection.

A systematic review requires researchers to thoroughly examine all existing studies in a certain research area. This ensures a replicable, scientific, and transparent approach with minimal bias (Denyer and Tranfield, 2009 ). We adopt the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis” (PRISMA) guideline (Moher et al. 2009 ) to identify eligible articles. The screening process is presented in Fig. 1 . We consulted an advanced keyword search on Google Scholar to retrieve literature on slum tourism. We chose Google Scholar because it provides broader access to a diverse range of scholarly articles, including those from various regions and disciplines that may not be indexed in databases like Web of Science or Scopus. Furthermore, since this study aims to review research articles on slum tourism, which is pertinent in the Global South, many journals or articles published or authored in the Global South are not indexed in Web of Science or Scopus but can be found on Google Scholar. This accessibility is vital for ensuring the inclusion of relevant studies that reflect the diverse contexts of slum tourism.

The systematic workflow and results.

For our subject search, we used the keywords “slum tourism.” We consciously omitted country-specific terms like barrios, township, and favela to prevent a regional bias (Baffoe and Kintrea, 2023 ). Google Scholar Advanced Search provides the choice to locate keywords either “in the title of the article” or “anywhere in the article.” We chose the latter, ensuring the inclusion of articles that might employ regional terms synonymous with “slum” in their titles. This approach also considered the potential cross-referencing of slum tourism literature in these articles. Conducted in August 2023 without time constraints, our search yielded 2690 materials.

To uphold the literature’s quality, only peer-reviewed scientific articles were chosen, excluding “grey literatures” such as reports, theses, conference proceedings, and other similar outputs. Books and book chapters were not incorporated into our review because our focus extended to trends in slum tourism research. The accelerated pace of academic publishing in journals, as compared to the longer timelines associated with books, means they often house the most current findings and trends. Utilizing a bibliometric analysis approach, we found the standardized structure of journal articles particularly beneficial, allowing for a more straightforward process in extracting, comparing, and synthesizing data. Books and their chapters, given their varied formats, might not always provide this level of consistency. Recognizing that a systematic review cannot encompass all languages, we confined our study to English-written articles.

After the initial screening, 148 articles closely related to slum tourism were identified. Our perspective on slum tourism aligns with Frenzel’s ( 2018 , p. 51) definition, describing it as “tourism where poverty and associated signifiers become central themes and (part of the) attraction of the visited destination.” Upon a thorough review of the full texts, it became apparent that some articles, while mentioning “slum tourism,” did not primarily focus on it. For instance, the work of Jones and Sanyal ( 2015 ) discusses the portrayal of Dharavi—India and Asia’s largest informal settlement—in slum tours, arts, and documentaries. Although their article addresses how Dharavi is represented in slum tours, its primary focus is on the depiction of informal settlements and urban poverty across various media, not slum tourism per se. Consequently, this article was excluded from our dataset. We also eliminated editorials, short commentaries, research notes, and prior literature reviews. This filtering narrowed our selection to 107 peer-reviewed articles. An exhaustive examination of their references added another 15 articles, giving a total of 122 articles. Figure 1 visualizes the selection process.

Data analysis

This study utilized both bibliometric and qualitative content analyses. Bibliometric analysis is crucial for identifying both established and emerging research themes as well as influential authors, key studies, and prominent journals (Hajek et al. 2022 ). We employed VOSviewer, a leading bibliometric analysis software, to undertake co-citation and keyword co-occurrence analyses, examining slum tourism research. Co-citation analysis pinpoints influential authors, studies, and journals, leveraging citations as pivotal indicators of scientific impact (De Bellis, 2009 ). Meanwhile, keyword co-occurrence analysis highlights prominent keywords and their relationships, signposting research field hotspots (Wang and Yang, 2019 ).

Augmenting the bibliometric approach, our qualitative content analysis delved deeper into the primary themes of slum tourism research. The keyword co-occurrence analysis supplied a broad view of research themes and trending topics. Emerging nodes and clusters helped pinpoint dominant research themes. By meticulously analyzing each article’s content, we executed a critical review of every theme. We also broached prospective research trajectories in the article’s conclusion.

Overview of slum tourism research

Figure 2 illustrates the evolving research landscape of slum tourism. The journey began in 2004 with two seminal papers by Kaplan ( 2004 ) and Rogerson ( 2004 ). Both delved into Johannesburg’s township tourism, emphasizing tourism’s potential in poverty mitigation and the region’s economic upliftment. Post-2004, the domain attracted escalating scholarly interest, evidenced by a notable publication upswing from 2012 onward.

Publishing trends of slum tourism research.

Two pivotal discursive events in Bristol (2010) and Potsdam (2014) further catalyzed the field’s evolution. Gathering global experts on slum tourism, these events spurred foundational texts that have since informed the discipline. The post-Bristol momentum produced a special Tourism Geographies issue in 2012, curated by Frenzel and Koens. Successive publications, like the “Slum Tourism” special issue of Die Erde 144 (2) in 2013, and the themed “Slum Tourism” issue of Tourism Review International in 2015, further cemented the field’s prominence. Undoubtedly, these seminal conferences and publications have been instrumental in surging scholarly endeavors in slum tourism research.

We conducted a co-citation analysis to pinpoint the leading authors and journals in the realm of slum tourism research. A co-citation refers to the simultaneous citation of two documents (Small, 1973 ). Such analysis aids scholars in organizing scientific literature and grasping the evolution of specific research domains (Surwase et al. 2011 ).

Figure 3 illustrates the outcomes of our author co-citation analysis. We established a threshold of 40 citations to identify the most influential authors within our dataset of 4229 authors. Only 11 authors met this threshold, allowing for a focused examination of the core contributors in the field. Their significant scholarly impact is reflected by their extensive citations, with node size in the visualization representing co-citation strength. Rogerson, Frenzel, and Steinbrink emerged as the most frequently cited authors, with the highest link strengths of 3978, 3173, and 2734, respectively. Rogerson’s work delved into the economic ramifications of tourism in South African townships, highlighting the part slum tourism plays in poverty reduction and sustainable community economic growth (Booyens and Rogerson, 2019 a, 2019b ; Rogerson, 2014 ). He also discussed urban tourism’s influence on small and medium-sized enterprises (Rogerson, 2004 , 2008 ). In contrast, Frenzel and Steinbrink examined the commercialization of urban informal settlements and the portrayal and appreciation of poverty (Frenzel, 2017 ; Frenzel and Blakeman, 2015 ; Steinbrink, 2012 , 2013 ).

Author co-citation network.

Other notable authors in this field include Freire-Medeiros, who discussed the transformation of Brazilian favelas into tourist attractions (Freire-Medeiros et al. 2013 ; Freire-Medeiros, 2007 , 2009 , 2011 ), Koens, who probed the growth of small and medium-sized businesses in South African townships (Koens and Thomas, 2015 , 2016 ) and local perceptions of slum tourism in India (Slikker and Koens, 2015 ), and Booyens, who primarily focused on responsible tourism in South African townships (Booyens, 2010 ; Booyens and Rogerson, 2019b , 2018). Rolfes also made a significant contribution by studying the ethical aspects of slum tourism (Burgold and Rolfes, 2013 ; Rolfes, 2010 ).

Intriguingly, although not a slum tourism specialist, Urry stands among the eleven most-cited authors. He is renowned for introducing “the tourist gaze” concept (Urry, 1990 ), suggesting that tourist experiences and choices are more influenced by the tourism industry, societal norms, and cultural factors than by personal autonomy. This theory offers a crucial framework for understanding how poverty is portrayed in slum tourism and the dynamics between tourists and local residents.

Figure 4 presents the map of journal co-citations, illuminating the academic areas focused on the topic of “slum tourism.” A journal co-citation analysis, conducted with a threshold of 40 citations, identified 11 key journals from a pool of 3013 in our dataset, underscoring their central roles in the discourse of the field. Notably, the Annals of Tourism Research occupies a central position on the map with the highest link strength of 2608, highlighting its prominence as the most-cited journal in slum tourism research. These journals are categorized into two primary clusters: tourism studies and geography/urban studies. This categorization reflects the dual scholarly interest in slum tourism, which intertwines travel motivations with the complexities of urban environments. On one hand, tourism researchers probe the allure of these regions, the ensuing cultural interactions, and the ethical debates surrounding poverty as an attraction. Conversely, geography and urban studies scholars explore the spatial structures of informal settlements, underlying socio-economic drivers, and the reciprocal impact between tourism and urban evolution. Collectively, these disciplines provide a nuanced view of slum tourism’s multifaceted nature. Notably, Development Southern Africa does not align strictly with these categories, but as a multidisciplinary journal emphasizing policy and practice in Southern Africa—a hub for modern slum tourism—it garners frequent citations.

Journal co-citation network.

After meticulously reviewing the 122 publications, we pinpointed the locations that are focal points for slum tourism research. As presented in Table 1 , South Africa, India, and Brazil emerge as the most extensively researched countries in this domain. They are closely followed by Kenya, Mexico, Colombia, Egypt, and Indonesia.

Township tourism in South Africa, deeply rooted in the country’s complex history, is a significant topic in slum tourism research. This form of tourism, which emerged in post-apartheid South Africa (Steinbrink, 2012 ), focuses on areas historically designated as “black only” zones, where disparities still exist (Iqani, 2016 ). Originating in Soweto, Johannesburg, it has since spread to other major cities. The 2010 FIFA World Cup, hosted by South Africa, notably boosted its popularity (Marschall, 2013 ). Today, Cape Town is a key destination for township tourism, with townships like Langa and Khayelitsha attracting tourists due to their historical significance (Rolfes, 2010 ).

Similar to South Africa, favela tourism in Brazil has political roots. These favelas, initially informal settlements for the formerly enslaved (Iqani, 2016 ), gained international attention after the 1992 Earth Summit, when delegates visited Rio de Janeiro’s favelas (Frenzel, 2012 ). Their prominence increased further during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics (Steinbrink, 2013 ). Despite their cultural richness, favelas face challenges like crime and drug trafficking (Freire-Medeiros, 2009 ). Rio’s favelas, especially Rocinha and Santa Marta, attract numerous tourists each year (Frenzel and Blakeman, 2015 ).

In India, the scenario of slum tourism is notably different, with Mumbai’s Dharavi, one of the world’s largest informal settlement, being a key focus of India-specific studies. Other informal settlements in cities like Kolkata and Delhi have also attracted scholarly attention (Holst, 2015 ; Sen, 2008 ). These informal settlements are characterized by their micro-industries and recycling efforts, showcasing the resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of the residents (Gupta, 2016 ). Although a relatively new trend compared to its counterparts, India’s slum tourism industry has burgeoned, spawning numerous tour operators (Frenzel and Blakeman, 2015 ).

Over time, slum tourism has gained traction, spreading to nations across the Global South, including Kenya, Colombia, Mexico, Egypt, and the Philippines. In our study, while most articles were location-specific, ten adopted a holistic approach, discussing the overarching theme of slum tourism.

Prominent areas of slum tourism research

We conducted a keyword co-occurrence analysis on our slum tourism research dataset to identify and visualize the most significant themes by examining the frequency and relationships of keywords. This method facilitated the identification of central research clusters and thematic hotspots within the topic. Figure 5 illustrates the network of keywords that frequently co-occur in slum tourism studies. To refine our data, we consolidated similar keywords, for example, pairing “township” with “townships” and “developing countries” with “developing world.” For this analysis, we set a threshold to include keywords that appeared at least three times, leading to the selection of 44 out of 322 keywords, thereby emphasizing their significance within the field. In the network, each node represents a keyword; larger nodes indicate higher frequencies of occurrence. Our analysis revealed six distinct clusters, each differentiated by a unique color.

Network visualization of the keywords co-occurrence.

The red cluster focuses on “slum tourism,” examining the development of tourism in informal settlements and its wide-ranging socio-economic impacts. This cluster covers aspects such as “branding” and the role of “tour guides,” and emphasizes key socio-economic factors including “residents’ perceptions” and “poverty alleviation.” Simultaneously, the green cluster, highlighting terms such as “township tourism” and “economic development,” shifts focus to the growth of local, often small-to-medium-sized, tourism businesses, particularly spotlighting township tourism in South Africa. Meanwhile, the light blue cluster examines the impact of slum tourism on local communities, with a special focus on “community-based tourism” and favela tourism in Brazil. The yellow cluster delves into the portrayal of poverty as a key draw in slum tourism, questioning its classification as “poverty tourism” and exploring the shift towards more ethical, “pro-poor,” and responsible tourism practices. Concurrently, the purple cluster critically examines the portrayal and perception of poverty in slum tourism, focusing on tourist perspectives influenced by the “tourist gaze” and social media. Lastly, the dark blue cluster analyzes how globalization and rising consumer culture have spurred the growth of slum tourism, integrating themes like “globalization,” “space,” and “consumption,” and underscoring poverty’s central role in this phenomenon.

In our thematic analysis of publications, we integrated clusters with similar themes. The red, green, yellow, and light blue clusters, which focus on the socio-economic impacts of slum tourism on local communities, were merged. The red and dark blue clusters, addressing the transformation of urban informal settlements into tourist destinations and their driving factors, were also combined into a single theme. Furthermore, the purple and yellow clusters, centered on the portrayal and perception of poverty in slum tourism, were grouped together. Our review systematically examines these unified themes, as illustrated in Table 2 .

Touristic transformation of urban informal settlements

The transformation of urban informal settlements into tourist destinations has been extensively discussed in earlier literature on slum tourism. This transformation hinges significantly on cultural and historical heritage. As previously mentioned, Brazil’s favelas and South Africa’s townships attracted visitors with political and cultural interests (Frenzel, 2012 ; Steinbrink, 2012 ). Gradually, with the globalization that stimulated global mobility and the rise of consumer culture, these locales became spaces of interaction, juxtaposing mobility and immobility on a global scale (Dürr, 2012a ). As many informal settlements in the Global South were represented in global media, they gained increasing touristic attention. For instance, after the success of the film “The City of God” in 2003, the number of foreign visitors to favelas in Rio grew significantly (Freire-Medeiros, 2011 ). As Freire-Medeiros ( 2009 , p. 582) mentioned in another article that tours in these informal settlements “are equally indebted to the phenomenon of circulation and consumption, at a global level, of the favela as a trademark.”

In the touristic transformation of informal settlements, policy plays a pivotal role. For instance, local governments in South Africa actively encouraged township tourism by creating museums, developing historical and political heritage sites, and promoting township upgrading programs (Booyens, 2010 ; Booyens and Rogerson, 2019b ; Marschall, 2013 ). In Brazil, favela tourism served as a means to enhance its image in the context of preparations for mega-events in Rio, a strategy dubbed “Festifavelasation” (Steinbrink, 2013 ). South Africa pursued a similar path after securing the 2010 FIFA World Cup (Marschall, 2013 ). In Colombia, a policy known as “social urbanism” led Medellin, previously known for its drug barons and criminal activities, to undergo social and economic transformation, attracting both interest and tourists (Hernandez‐Garcia, 2013 ).

In analyzing our dataset’s articles, it is evident that slum tours primarily occur in well-known informal settlements of the Global South, such as Mumbai’s Dharavi, Rio de Janeiro’s Rocinha, and Johannesburg’s Soweto. These locations are preferred due to the factors previously mentioned. However, this growing industry often overlooks numerous lesser-known and more impoverished communities (Koens, 2012 ). Issues such as insufficient infrastructure, the absence of tourist attractions, and poor security hinder the growth of tourism in informal urban settlements. This situation is clearly seen in areas like Harare, Zimbabwe (Mukoroverwa and Chiutsi, 2018 ), and certain townships in Durban, South Africa (Chili, 2015 ).

A significant barrier is also the lack of awareness of pro-poor tourism in these lesser-known areas. Munyanyiwa et al.’s ( 2014 ) research in Harare’s townships revealed that many residents were unaware of township tourism, compounded by insufficient infrastructure and community involvement to support it. Moreover, residents were unsure of how to benefit from such initiatives, with historical tourism activities largely unknown to them. Similarly, Attaalla’s ( 2016 ) study in Egypt highlighted the minimal awareness of pro-poor tourism, the absence of a comprehensive government policy to develop this tourism type, and the scarcity of specialized Egyptian tour operators and travel agencies in the pro-poor tourism market. For successful tourism in these areas, it’s vital to enhance infrastructure, safety, and offer innovative tourism experiences (Mukoroverwa and Chiutsi, 2018 ). Additionally, improved information dissemination and increased stakeholder engagement are essential (Munyanyiwa et al. 2014 ).

The transition of informal settlements into tourist destinations brings several challenges. Notably, the commercialization of these marginalized areas can aestheticize deprivation and social inequality, turning them into themed spaces that reinforce stereotypes and maintain informal settlements as attractions shaped by tourist expectations (e.g. Altamirano, 2022b ; Dürr, 2012a ). Building on this point, Dürr et al. ( 2020 ) highlighted that marketing urban poverty and violence as a city brand could exacerbate existing inequalities. Research also shows that in many touristic informal settlements, local residents often do not fully engage with or benefit from tourism (Koens and Thomas, 2015 ; Marschall, 2013 ). Furthermore, public policies aimed at transforming these settlements sometimes lack consistency, creating insecurity among locals (Altamirano, 2022b ). Addressing these issues requires enhanced policies and increased community involvement in tourism, posing significant challenges for local governments.

Valorization and representation of urban poverty

In 2010, the term “poverty tourism” was recognized in slum tourism research, casting a spotlight on the intricate connection between poverty and this type of tourism (Rolfes, 2010 ). This tourism variant is not without controversy, interrogating the confluence of poverty, power, and ethical dilemmas (see Chhabra and Chowdhury, 2012 ; Korstanje, 2016 ; Outterson et al. 2011 ). This dynamic between the commodification of impoverished settlements and their portrayal within the tourism spectrum has ignited fervent academic debate.

Frenzel ( 2014 ) critically observed that within the paradigm of slum tourism, poverty transcends its role as a mere backdrop, ascending to the primary spectacle. Consequently, this leads to the commodification of urban impoverishment, turning it into a tourism commodity with tangible monetary value (Rolfes, 2010 ). Scholars have extensively dissected this juxtaposition. While some examine the framing, representation, and marketing dimensions (Dürr et al. 2020 ; Meschkank, 2011 ; Rolfes, 2010 ), others argued that poverty becomes romanticized, perceived more as a cultural artifact rather than an urgent societal issue (Crossley, 2012 ; Huysamen et al. 2020 ; Nisbett, 2017 ).

In this tapestry, both tourists and tour operators play pivotal roles in framing the narrative. Operators, tapping into the tourists’ quest for the “authenticity” embedded in the narratives of global urbanization, exert significant influence in shaping perceptions (Meschkank, 2012 ; Rolfes, 2010 ). Studies have observed that in an attempt to counteract the inherently negative perceptions surrounding informal settlements (Dyson, 2012 ), operators often position these spaces as beacons of hope, underlining the tenacity, optimism, and aspirations of the residents (Crossley, 2012 ; Dürr et al. 2020 ; Huysamen et al. 2020 ; Meschkank, 2011 ). Moreover, to navigate the moral complexities that tourists might grapple with, operators design their offerings as ethical enterprises, promising both enlightenment for the tourists and tangible economic upliftment for the communities (Muldoon and Mair, 2016 ; Nisbett, 2017 ).

However, such strategies face intellectual scrutiny for their potential to obfuscate the palpable suffering that underpins these urban landscapes. Several studies affirm that poverty dominates the observational narratives across tours in global cities from Mumbai to Rio de Janeiro (Crossley, 2012 ; Dürr et al. 2020 ; Meschkank, 2012 ). As Clini and Valančiūnas ( 2023 ) observed, such sanitized representations, while better than negative stereotypes, could unintentionally normalize the systemic inequalities associated with poverty. This approach not only risks reducing the perceived need for urgent poverty alleviation efforts but also may leave existing societal inequalities unchallenged. This has prompted critiques that label the phenomenon as commercial “voyeurism, and exploitation for commercial ends” (Burgold and Rolfes, 2013 , p. 162).

For tourists, their motivation often orbits around the pursuit of “authenticity” when they consider visiting informal settlements (see Clini and Valančiūnas, 2023 ; Crossley, 2012 ; Gupta, 2016 ; Meschkank, 2011 ; Steinbrink, 2012 ). Marketed as unvarnished encounters with reality, informal settlements are often depicted as bastions of culture, diversity, and authenticity (Frenzel et al. 2015 ). This category of slum tourism is, thus, situated within the broader realm of “reality tourism,” promising participatory experiences in socio-economically challenged urban landscapes (Wise et al. 2019 ). However, this approach, despite aligning with general tourism patterns, is not devoid of problems. The very essence of this touristic venture, which is to experience urban impoverishment, inherently establishes an imbalanced dynamic between tourists and inhabitants, leading to its characterization as a form of voyeurism. (Dürr et al. 2020 ; Meschkank, 2011 ).

In the last decade, slum tourism has diversified with new tours offered by locals and NGOs, aiming to challenge stereotypes and present a more complex picture of informal settlements. Frenzel ( 2014 ) noted that guides can empower communities by focusing on often-ignored aspects of these areas. While motivations vary, with some guides driven by profit and others by community welfare and resisting gentrification effects, the role of guides is crucial. Angelini’s ( 2020 ) examination of favela tours accentuated the nuanced challenges faced by these guides, as they attempt to strike a balance between authentic representation and the commodification of their environments. Further, Dürr et al. ( 2021 ) in their ethnographic study in Mexico City’s Tepito, showed how guides can positively portray deprived areas without depoliticizing them, contextualizing local achievements within city politics and using historical narratives to emphasize the area’s significance.

In the digital era, social media significantly influences the slum tourism narrative (Sarrica et al. 2021 ). The Internet is vital for operators to market and sell tours and provide information to potential travelers (Privitera, 2015 ). Many studies have analyzed slum tourism portrayals in online reviews and media, exploring how these areas and experiences are represented (Huysamen et al. 2020 ; Nisbett, 2017 ; Sarrica et al. 2021 ; Shang et al. 2022 ; Wise et al. 2019 ). For instance, Nisbett ( 2017 ) highlighted concerns about reviews that often gloss over poverty’s complexities, focusing instead on the tours’ economic aspects. Similarly, Huysamen et al. ( 2020 ) observed that tourist narratives tend to paint these areas as “slums of hope,” ignoring the disparity between wealthy tourists and impoverished locals. Ekdale and Tuwei ( 2016 ) studied texts from Kibera visitors, noting that while tourists claim to gain authentic understanding of global inequality, their privileged perspective remains unexamined. These “ironic encounters” often reinforce global inequalities, serving more as self-validation for tourists than a true engagement with local challenges.

On the flip side, social media’s role in depicting informal settlements is not always reductive. Some academics posit that these platforms can provide a counter-narrative to skewed representations by offering avenues to disseminate a diverse array of authentic stories and perspectives (Sarrica et al. 2021 ). Crucially, social media can amplify local residents’ voices, allowing them to share concerns about slum tourism, including privacy, potential exploitation, and daily life disruptions (Crapolicchio et al. 2022 ). The digital era thus presents both opportunities and challenges for slum tourism, underscoring the need for ethical and respectful interactions that honor and authentically represent these communities’ narratives.

Social and economic impact of slum tourism to local communities

The economic and social impacts of tourism in these informal settlements are prominent themes in slum tourism research. Across various countries, including Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia, tourism has spurred urban development and improved living conditions in informal settlements (Anyumba, 2017 ; Booyens and Rogerson, 2019a ; Mekawy, 2012 ; Sulistyaningsih et al. 2022 ; Torres, 2012 ). Developments like aerial cable cars in Brazil’s favelas and minibus-taxis in South African townships have evolved local transportation systems (Freire-Medeiros and Name, 2017 ; Rietjens et al. 2006 ). These advancements facilitate social transformation, such as increased security investments in Brazilian favelas (Freire-Medeiros et al. 2013 ) and “social urbanism” in Colombian barrios, integrating marginalized communities and improving education and security (Hernandez‐Garcia, 2013 ). A comparative study of the touristification of Gamcheon Culture Village (Busan, South Korea) and Comuna 13 (Medellin, Colombia) highlighted that effective governance can create community networks and stakeholder partnerships, fostering entrepreneurial opportunities (Escalona and Oh, 2022 ).

Tourism holds potential as a means to reduce poverty by creating employment opportunities in impoverished urban areas (Aseye and Opoku, 2015 ; Cardoso et al. 2022 ; Paul, 2016 ). Slum tourism, in particular, fosters entrepreneurship, allowing residents to start their own tour companies or bed and breakfasts. However, challenges for local entrepreneurs include limited market access, stiff competition, low marketing budgets, poor business locations, and lack of support from established firms, often leading to the marginalization of smaller operators in a market dominated by larger companies (see Chili, 2018 ; Hikido, 2018 ; Mokoena and Liambo, 2023 ; Mtshali et al. 2017 ; Nemasetoni and Rogerson, 2005 ). Further, small business owners frequently lack essential education and marketing skills (see Leonard and Dladla, 2020 ; Letuka and Lebambo, 2022 ; Rogerson, 2004 ). Mokoena and Liambo ( 2023 ) observed that only a minority of entrepreneurs adopt competitive strategies in their businesses.

Scholars have also observed that the profits from slum tourism are insufficient for significant poverty alleviation (Freire-Medeiros, 2009 , 2012 ). Koen and Thomas’ study of South Africa townships ( 2015 ) highlighted the challenge to the idea that small business owners reinvest their profits locally for economic development. Successful entrepreneurs often leave their townships due to a lack of local ties, leading to economic benefits being concentrated among a small, predominantly male, privileged group, while marginalized groups’ businesses yield lower gains. Moreover, most slum tour companies depend heavily on foreign support, resulting in substantial economic leakage (Frenzel and Blakeman, 2015 ; Meschkank, 2012 ; Rolfes, 2010 ).

The social implications of slum tourism form a major focus in recent academic studies, particularly regarding how local residents perceive this tourism form. Surveys and interviews with inhabitants of informal settlements have uncovered a range of reactions, including positive, negative, skeptical, and indifferent attitudes toward slum tourism (Amo et al. 2019 ; Auala et al. 2019 ; Freire-Medeiros, 2012 ; Marschall, 2013 ; Slikker and Koens, 2015 ).

In Rio, Mumbai, and Nairobi, some studies reveal that residents feel embarrassed by slum tourism, as certain operators emphasize negative community aspects to cater to tourists seeking “real” poverty experiences, leading to privacy issues (Freire-Medeiros, 2012 ; Kieti and Magio, 2013 ; Slikker and Koens, 2015 ). Conversely, slum tourism is also viewed positively in many areas. Slikker and Koens’ ( 2015 ) study in Mumbai and Amo et al. ( 2019 ) research in Medellin found residents believe it counters negative stereotypes and raises community visibility. In Nairobi and Cape Town, locals welcome it as a source of income and jobs (Chege and Mwisukha, 2013 ; Potgieter et al. 2019 ). Additionally, Muldoon et al.’s South African studies suggest slum tourism empowers residents by bringing international attention to townships, giving them more control over their narratives and a sense of importance (Muldoon, 2020 ; Muldoon and Mair, 2022 ).

Indeed, the social impact of tourism is dualistic. As Altamirano ( 2022a ) pointed out, while tourism can establish new material and symbolic frameworks, providing residents with chances for counter-hegemonic actions, it does not uniformly support the cultural empowerment of impoverished communities. Instead, it can result in neoliberal development and increased surveillance. This underscores the necessity for thoughtful policymaking in slum tourism, advocating for policies that prioritize the well-being and cultural richness of communities over mere profit generation, particularly in environments marked by urban disparities and complex power dynamics.

Booyens and Rogerson ( 2019 b) suggested that slum tourism ought to function as a type of “creative tourism,” fostering solidarity and mutual understanding between tourists and local residents, stimulating economic growth in communities, and increasing awareness of the North-South disparity in the postcolonial context. The transition to pro-poor tourism heavily relies on effective policy implementation. Therefore, numerous scholars have advocated for policy instruments to enhance safety and infrastructure, and to facilitate effective coordination among various stakeholders, alongside strengthening institutional frameworks (e.g. Aseye and Opoku, 2015 ; Booyens, 2010 ; Chege and Mwisukha, 2013 ; Rusata et al. 2023 ).

Furthermore, the success of slum tourism largely depends on local community engagement (Duarte and Peters, 2012 ). Yet, in many cases, such as in India (Slikker and Koens, 2015 ), Kenya (Kieti and Magio, 2013 ), Brazil (Freire-Medeiros, 2012 ), and elsewhere, local residents’ participation is limited. Various factors contribute to this, including inadequate business knowledge and skills, and social and financial barriers (Dzikiti and Leonard, 2016 ; Hammad, 2021 ; Leonard and Dladla, 2020 ). Addressing this, researchers emphasize the need for tourism-specific training and resources for local entrepreneurs, particularly focusing on youth (Dzikiti and Leonard, 2016 ; Mbane and Ezeuduji, 2022 ; Nkemngu, 2014 ). To leverage slum tourism for community development, equipping locals with the skills and tools for effective tourism participation is crucial, though it remains a challenging goal.

Conclusion and future research agenda

Over the past two decades, “slum tourism” and its academic study have expanded significantly. Our systematic review of 122 peer-reviewed journal articles sheds light on key authors and journals in this field. The most cited journals typically specialize in tourism studies or geography/urban studies, underscoring the blend of travel motivations and urban complexities in slum tourism. Our findings show that South Africa, India, and Brazil are the most researched countries, with others like Kenya, Mexico, Colombia, Egypt, and Indonesia also being significant. The keyword co-occurrence analysis identified three primary research areas: the touristic transformation of urban informal settlements, the portrayal and valorization of urban poverty, and the socio-economic impacts of slum tourism. This study not only outlines the scope of current research but also points out gaps, suggesting that the economic, social, and cultural effects of slum tourism warrant further exploration in future studies.

The economic aspects of slum tourism, widely debated in academic circles, pose unanswered questions about the actual financial benefits for local residents and communities. Frenzel and Koens ( 2012 ) noted a lack of quantitative evaluations, leaving the impact of slum tours on poverty reduction and urban development uncertain. Existing research, primarily qualitative involving interviews, ethnography, media content analysis, and stakeholder surveys, fails to adequately measure the economic impact on informal settlements. Although studies like those by Chege and Mwisukha ( 2013 ) and Potgieter et al. ( 2019 ) indicated resident perceptions of slum tourism as a source of income and employment, these lack concrete statistical backing. The financial dynamics of slum tourism, including the economic leakage stemming from reliance on external and foreign support (Frenzel and Blakeman, 2015 ; Meschkank, 2012 ; Rolfes, 2010 ), warrant more in-depth investigation. Future research should focus on tracing profit distribution in slum tourism and assessing its real effects on the communities, considering the prominent role of local guides and their relationships with tour operators.

The intangible impacts of slum tourism, including social, political, and cultural aspects, are a fertile area for future research. Shifting focus to local residents’ views, recent studies have shown slum tourism’s broad influence beyond just economic factors, notably in changing perceptions of poverty. However, as Koens ( 2012 ) pointed out, evaluating these impacts is complex due to the deep social and historical contexts within these communities. Advocates for authentic local engagement, like Slikker and Koens ( 2015 ) and Freire-Medeiros ( 2012 ), emphasized the importance of giving local residents a voice. Muldoon’s research ( 2020 ; Muldoon and Mair, 2022 ) in South Africa demonstrates how township tourism allows locals to redefine their identities and interactions with tourists. On the other hand, Freire-Medeiros ( 2012 ) noted in Brazil’s Rocinha the possibility of residents altering narratives for tourist appeal. This highlights the need to integrate the genuine experiences of locals into slum tourism research to fully grasp its diverse impacts.

The potential for slum tourism to either reinforce or challenge existing power dynamics and stereotypes represents a dynamic area of ongoing debate, ripe for further theoretical exploration. Slum tourism is emblematic of neoliberal capitalist practices, where the lived experiences of marginalized communities are commodified and consumed predominantly by Western tourists. This pattern aligns with David Harvey’s concept of “accumulation by dispossession,” where the exploitation and aestheticization of poverty serve to reinforce global economic disparities (Harvey, 2003 ). By transforming informal settlements into tourist attractions, slum tourism becomes a mechanism of cultural commodification, packaging poverty-stricken environments for sale and perpetuating a global hierarchy that privileges affluent tourists while marginalizing local residents.

The representation of informal settlements within this tourism framework often involves selective storytelling, echoing Edward Said’s notion of “Orientalism.” This process portrays the “Other” in ways that reinforce Western superiority and exoticize non-Western realities, contributing to the perpetuation of stereotypes and obscuring the systemic causes of poverty (Said, 2003 ). Such portrayals often sanitize the harsh realities of poverty, presenting informal settlements as exotic and intriguing destinations, thus skewing the understanding of global inequalities and framing poverty more as a cultural artifact than an urgent social issue.

Conversely, slum tourism holds potential to challenge and subvert these entrenched power dynamics and stereotypes. When approached through the lens of ethical representation, it becomes a platform that amplifies marginalized voices and promotes more equitable narratives. This approach is deeply rooted in theories of participatory development and empowerment, which argue that local communities should be active agents in shaping their own narratives, rather than passive subjects (Dürr et al. 2021 ; Frenzel, 2014 ). Employing local guides and focusing on authentic narratives that highlight both the challenges and resilience of informal settlement residents can provide a counter-narrative to dominant discourses, promoting a more nuanced and respectful understanding of these communities.

The role of social media in slum tourism highlights the significance of digital globalization in shaping narratives. Social media platforms provide avenues for local residents to share their perspectives, thereby democratizing the discourse and challenging stereotypical representations (Sarrica et al. 2021 ). This aligns with the ethics of representation, advocating for portrayals that respect the dignity and agency of marginalized communities (Crapolicchio et al. 2022 ). By enabling a more participatory and inclusive approach, social media can help mitigate the voyeuristic tendencies of slum tourism and foster a more ethical engagement with these communities.

Another prominent takeaway from this systematic literature review is the observation that the practice, perception, and success of slum tourism vary significantly across different cultural and geographical contexts. In Brazil, for instance, the favelas of Rio de Janeiro have been transformed into tourist destinations, influenced not only by their portrayal in internationally acclaimed films but also by the mega-events hosted in the city. This phenomenon has led to a form of tourism that often celebrates the cultural vibrancy of these areas, despite underlying issues of poverty and inequality. Conversely, in India, Mumbai’s Dharavi is marketed as a hub of entrepreneurship and industry, attracting tourists more interested in the economic dynamics of informal settlement life than in cultural spectacle alone. These differences illustrate how local contexts shape the thematic emphasis of slum tours.

However, the ability to develop slum or pro-poor tourism is not uniformly distributed. Many areas lack the necessary infrastructure, adequate security, or appealing tourist attractions, which impedes their ability to attract and sustain tourism. For instance, some townships in Durban, South Africa, and informal settlements in Harare, Zimbabwe, contend with issues such as poor security and insufficient infrastructure, making them less appealing to tourists and challenging to market as destinations (Chili, 2015 ; Mukoroverwa and Chiutsi, 2018 ). This disparity highlights the uneven impacts of global tourism trends on local communities and points to the necessity for ethical and sustainable tourism practices in urban settings marked by significant socio-economic divides.

To enhance our understanding of slum tourism dynamics and to devise more effective interventions, it is crucial to undertake further comparative studies. These studies should delve into why certain areas are successful in developing tourism that benefits local communities while others falter, considering both global influences and local conditions. Such research is imperative for uncovering the potential of tourism as a tool for social and economic improvement in marginalized urban areas and contributes significantly to the broader discourse on globalization, urban inequality, and sustainable development.

In this vein, a pivotal area for future research is transforming “slum tourism” into a form of responsible tourism that transcends the poverty-centric narrative often associated with terms like “slum,” “township,” and “favela” (Burgold and Rolfes, 2013 ; Rolfes, 2010 ; Steinbrink et al. 2012 ). While it is valuable to highlight the cultural and historical aspects of these communities, such portrayals frequently overlook the entrenched structural inequality and violence that pervade these areas. Furthermore, tourism often concentrates only on well-known locations, ignoring the most impoverished and lesser-known settlements, thus raising questions about the applicability of sustainable development strategies in these marginalized areas (Frenzel, 2013 ). It is essential that future research explores how slum tourism can truly benefit residents and address broader socio-economic challenges, ensuring it evolves into a form of responsible tourism.

This shift towards responsible slum tourism necessitates a comprehensive emphasis on ethical considerations, community involvement, and sustainable economic benefits for local residents. Ethical considerations must encompass respect for the dignity and agency of the communities involved, eschewing exploitative practices that commodify poverty for tourist consumption. Community involvement is imperative, as it enables residents to influence how their neighborhoods are portrayed and ensure their central participation in both managing and benefiting from tourism initiatives. This might include training local guides, engaging residents in creating tour content, and allocating a substantial share of tourism revenues back into the community.

Furthermore, ensuring sustainable economic benefits for residents is fundamental to responsible slum tourism. This involves fostering tourism that generates reliable income opportunities for locals, such as through establishing small businesses or cooperative ventures tailored to the tourism industry. Potential enterprises could include local eateries, souvenir shops, and accommodation services, all managed and operated by community members. Investment in infrastructure improvements that support tourism activities and simultaneously enhance resident quality of life is also crucial. Additionally, it is essential to implement mechanisms to track the flow of financial benefits to ensure that the revenue generated by tourism is indeed benefiting the local communities as intended.

The data collection for this study, completed in August 2023, revealed a notable gap: the lack of research on the impact of the COVID pandemic on slum tourism, despite the pandemic lasting three years. The pandemic has disproportionately affected informal settlement dwellers, as evidenced by Seddiky et al. ( 2023 ). For instance, Bangkok’s informal settlement residents have suffered significant economic hardships (Pongutta et al. 2021 ), and containment measures have led to widespread business closures, impacting low-income, daily wage earners in impoverished communities (Solymári et al. 2022 ). This absence of academic focus on COVID’s specific impact on slum tourism marks a limitation in current literature. The pandemic’s disruption of travel presents an opportunity to reassess and develop more sustainable tourism practices that could benefit residents in impoverished areas.

Additionally, this study’s focus on slum tourism in the Global South overlooks the re-emerging field of slum or poverty tourism in the Global North. For instance, Burgold ( 2014 ) explored guided walking tours in Berlin-Neukölln, an area known for poverty and social issues, contrasting them with traditional tourism and highlighting their role in changing perceptions and aiding local residents’ societal integration. Similarly, “homeless experience” tours in cities like Toronto, London, Amsterdam, and Seattle offer insights into the lives of homeless individuals (Haven Toronto, 2018 ; Kassam, 2013 ). These tours, as controversial in the Global North as in the South, raise ethical concerns about commodifying poverty. Proponents see them as empathy-building, while critics view them as exploitative. The dynamics of poverty tours vary between developed and less developed countries, presenting a potential area for future comparative research.

“Slum tourism,” a relatively new research field, reflects the complexities of rapid urbanization and the North-South power dynamics in a globalized era. The current study offers a comprehensive, longitudinal perspective on slum tourism research, charting future directions for scholarly inquiry. It also provides valuable insights for practitioners to reassess the role of tourism in poverty alleviation within urban informal settlements in the Global South. For public policy, this research is instrumental in shaping strategies for urban development, poverty alleviation, and sustainable tourism, advocating for the integration of informal settlements into wider economic frameworks. Academically, it enriches the existing body of knowledge, spurring interdisciplinary research and delving into lesser-explored aspects of slum tourism. Additionally, by shedding light on the effects of tourism in these communities, the study promotes more informed, respectful, and responsible tourist behavior, encouraging travelers to adopt a more empathetic and culturally sensitive approach.

Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available in an uploaded CSV file.

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Gui, T., Zhong, W. When urban poverty becomes a tourist attraction: a systematic review of slum tourism research. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1178 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03696-w

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A novel kidins220 pathogenic variant associated with the syndromic spastic paraplegia sino: an expansion of the brain malformation spectrum and a literature review.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. subjects, 2.2. brain imaging, 2.3. genetic analysis, 2.4 literature review, 3.1. clinical report, 3.2. genetic findings, 3.3. spectrum of brain malformation in prenatal cases and postnatal patients affected by sino, 4. discussion, 5. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Bonati, M.T.; Baldoli, C.; Taurino, J.; Marchetti, D.; Larizza, L.; Finelli, P.; Iascone, M. A Novel KIDINS220 Pathogenic Variant Associated with the Syndromic Spastic Paraplegia SINO: An Expansion of the Brain Malformation Spectrum and a Literature Review. Genes 2024 , 15 , 1190. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15091190

Bonati MT, Baldoli C, Taurino J, Marchetti D, Larizza L, Finelli P, Iascone M. A Novel KIDINS220 Pathogenic Variant Associated with the Syndromic Spastic Paraplegia SINO: An Expansion of the Brain Malformation Spectrum and a Literature Review. Genes . 2024; 15(9):1190. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15091190

Bonati, Maria Teresa, Cristina Baldoli, Jacopo Taurino, Daniela Marchetti, Lidia Larizza, Palma Finelli, and Maria Iascone. 2024. "A Novel KIDINS220 Pathogenic Variant Associated with the Syndromic Spastic Paraplegia SINO: An Expansion of the Brain Malformation Spectrum and a Literature Review" Genes 15, no. 9: 1190. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15091190

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