What is a literature review and how do I write one?

[Amanda]

I have to write a literature review for my history paper and I don't understand what it's supposed to be. My professor said "it's not just a summary of sources" but didn't explain what it IS.

After research and office hours, here's what I learned:

A literature review is NOT:

• A list of summaries ("Smith says X, Jones says Y")
• Just describing what others wrote
• All sources jumbled together

A literature review IS:

• A conversation between scholars
• Organized by theme or debate, not by source
• Shows how different sources relate to each other
• Identifies gaps or disagreements
• Sets up your own argument

How to organize it:

By theme:
Instead of "Smith 2010, Jones 2012, Brown 2015" I group sources by what they say. "Some scholars argue X (Smith, 2010; Jones, 2012). Others argue Y (Brown, 2015; Lee, 2018)."

By debate:
"Historians disagree about the causes of X. Smith blames economic factors, while Jones emphasizes political decisions." Shows the conversation.

By chronology:
"Early scholarship focused on A. In the 1990s, researchers shifted to B. Recently, scholars have started examining C." Shows how thinking evolved.

What to include:

• Main arguments in the field
• Key debates or disagreements
• Methodological approaches
• Gaps or unanswered questions
• How your research fits in

My new process:

1. Read all my sources
2. Take notes on what each says
3. Look for patterns — who agrees? Who disagrees?
4. Organize notes by theme
5. Write about each theme, citing multiple sources
6. End by identifying what's missing (my contribution)

My first draft was terrible (just summaries). My second was better. Progress!