The literature refers to the published books and articles that contain contributions to an ongoing conversation among scholars. A conversation might be large (on the nature of liberty); it might be tightly focused (on the figure of the highwayman in Locke’s Second Treatise).
A literature review is an analysis of the ongoing conversation on a topic, question, or issue. A strong literature review organizes existing contributions to a conversation into categories or “threads.” For each category or thread, a literature review might highlight particularly interesting books or articles, then briefly cite or mention other instances. It is possible to have a category populated by just one book or article. A literature review typically serves to identify an opportunity or opportunities for new research on a topic.
A literature review is NOT a summary of everything said on a topic; nor is it a chronological account of publications on a topic.
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A literature review answers questions such as:
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