Demystifying the Literature Review: Overview

• Summarize the literature in a given field
• Evaluate the quality of evidence and strength of existing claims
• Show how published works relate to one another
• Place your work in the context of other research in a field

It is recommended that students follow the six step workflow laid out in Machi and McEvoy. For more information on the steps check out the book at Olin Library.
Machi, Lawrence A, and Brenda T McEvoy. The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success. 2Nd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press, 2012.

Webinar Recording of “Demystifying the Literature Review: A Hands-on Workshop for Taking a Structured Approach”,

Friday, April 24, 2020 by Cornell University Librarians Christine Fournier, Sarah Kennedy, and Sarah J. Wright.

Intended as a hands-on workshop to start or accelerate the literature review for your thesis or dissertation, the 1.5 hour workshop covers the steps of conducting a literature review, a checklist for drafting your topic and search terms, citation management software for organizing your results, and database searching.