Literature reviews

Conducting a literature or systematic review is an important step in shaping your research project. The type of review will depend on your purpose, scope, and timeframe.

Literature review

A literature review is a structured summary and analysis of existing research on a topic. It helps identify trends, gaps, and key debates, providing the foundation for new research. Literature reviews vary in scope and methodology, from narrative or traditional reviews to more structured approaches such as scoping, rapid, or systematic reviews.

Systematic searching

Systematic searching is a structured and methodical approach to finding research on a specific topic. It involves a planned search strategy across multiple relevant databases and documenting the process to ensure you identify as much relevant literature as possible. Searching systematically is important for reproducibility and transparency, and it is used in a range of review types and other forms of evidence synthesis.

Choosing the appropriate review type

Choosing the right type of review depends on your research purpose, timeframe, and available resources.

  • Traditional or narrative review - Broad overview of a topic using a narrative approach to synthesise findings.
  • Rapid review - Uses systematic methods to quickly assess evidence and determine best practice.
  • Scoping review - Maps the extent of existing literature using systematic methods to identify key concepts, theories, evidence types or research gaps.
  • Systematic review – Exhaustive, systematic search and appraisal of evidence to aid high-level decision-making, often includes a meta-analysis.
  • Umbrella review - A "review of reviews" that compiles results from multiple systematic reviews.

Next steps

Use this decision tree to decide which review you are undertaking. Then jump into our Library guides for further guidance.

DECISION TREE DESIGN TO REPLACE

Which review to do? The following flowchart might help you decide what sort of review is appropriate for your needs and situation. Do you have 2 or Yes more reviewers? No Do you have over 6 months Do you want to gather all the evidence on a particular Yes to complete? No Yes research topic? No Do you have a focused Scoping Traditional Yes research No Review (Narrative) Literature question? Review Do you want to Rapid Review compare & integrate other Yes reviews on your No topic? Umbrella Systematic Will you be using Yes Incorporate a Review Review statistical methods to meta-analysis into your analyse results? systematic review No . Right Review This tool is designed to provide guidance and supporting material to reviewers on methods for the conduct and reporting of knowledge synthesis.

Guides and tools

Literature reviews

The researching for your literature review guide will help you understand how to manage and write a literature review. It also explains the different types of reviews.

Systematic reviews

This guide helps you through the process of managing and writing your systematic or systematic-like reviews.

Grey literature

Scholarly works and research that have not been commercially published. Grey literature is generally not subject to peer review but it can still be a good source of up to date information.

Evidence-based practice

A high-quality systematic review is the most reliable source of evidence to guide practice. This guide explains what Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is, as well as how to find, select and use the research in EBP.

Tools for review

Researchers can use tools such as Covidence, JBI SUMARI, and emerging AI platforms to efficiently manage, screen, and analyse literature for high-quality, transparent reviews.

EndNote

EndNote enables you to collect, organise and cite sources efficiently.

Library support

Our Library team can help you plan your search strategy, select databases, and use tools for screening and managing references. Whether you are exploring a topic or conducting a more rigorous, systematic-style search, we can guide you in selecting the most appropriate approach and tools for your needs. See the Systematic Searching Service Charter

Access support