 By the end of this video, you'll be able to explain the purpose of doing a Literature Review and identify common features of a Literature Review. In general terms, a Literature Review is a comprehensive survey of scholarship about a topic. It identifies key works and analyzes key ideas in the research. More specifically, a Narrative Review, also known as a Traditional Review, is the type of literature review that is part of a larger work, like a research paper or research proposal. It tells the story of what's been happening in the scholarship to date. The purpose of doing a Narrative Review is to build your understanding of existing research and recognize gaps, meaning areas where work still needs to be done. Then you can look at a body of literature and come up with a unique question or topic that contributes to our current knowledge. Let's look at an example from a research paper in the British Journal of Social Work to note some key features of a Narrative Review. A Narrative Review should have a clear introduction. Here we see an introduction that establishes the review's overall findings. A Narrative Review should synthesize ideas across the literature rather than summarize sources. The authors of this paper have highlighted four key themes in the research by bringing together findings from different scholars' work. A Narrative Review should point out the gap it addresses and explain how it builds on existing literature. This review opens with a statement about what's missing in the existing research. It also talks about how it adds a new approach to what's been done. Finally, a Narrative Review should have a concluding statement or paragraph that segues into the paper's next section. In this example, the final sentence lets readers know that a methodology section is up next. Keep in mind that doing a literature review for an assignment means meeting specific requirements. For example, requirements for page length might mean your review needs to be anywhere from a few paragraphs to several pages. Also, there is no correct number of sources to have in a review. While some assignments will ask for a certain number, many won't specify. That's because the number all depends on your topic and on the type of paper you're working on. In a good Narrative Review, researchers find and read more than they cite. It can help to pay attention to the number of sources you see in research papers, but the number can really vary. It's all about selecting which sources to include based on the body of literature you're reviewing and making sure you don't miss any key works. If you have any questions, ask us at library.wlu.ca-help-ask-us. Let us know whether or not this video was helpful. Go to library.wlu.ca-video-feedback to give us feedback and help us improve.