How to Conduct a Literature Review

A literature review provides a basis for consolidating research findings within a specific area into a cohesive document that gives a clear indication of current progress, limitations and future directions of the research stream. It allows practitioners and researchers alike to keep abreast of the latest research findings (e.g., on evidence-based therapeutic interventions). The aim of this paper is to provide a practical overview of how to conduct and write up a literature review. Further to discussing the practicalities of how to carry out a literature search, the structure and methodology of a review article are considered. Finally, the subjects of formatting and publication are examined. 1. Who is your Target Audience? Having a clear idea for whom the paper is intended will help shape the style and content of the article. Hence, you need to decide who your target audience is. Is the review intended to influence senior managers who are involved in policy formation or implementation? Does it seek to influence senior operational managers as to how they may develop services or manage particular service provision challenges? Is the literature review aimed at influencing practitioners to work in a different way? Or its purpose could possibly be to champion service user perspectives. 2. What Publication do you Intend to Submit to? Determination of your target audience will influence what publication you are likely to submit to. Given the choice of psychology related publications (see Table 1) it can be difficult to know where to begin in terms of submitting a literature review paper. If targeting members of a profession, that profession's newsletter or journal may be appropriate even for high quality literature reviews that would most probably be accepted for higher status publications. Interestingly, if targeting senior health care managers, the ranking of a publication most likely will be considered secondary to being able to forward them a PDF copy of your published paper on a particular topic that is of interest to them. Hence, it may of benefit to choose a publication that most likely will accept your literature review submission in a timely manner.