Reference Sources
- Annual Reviews This link opens in a new windowSearch for literature reviews that capture current understandings of topics, including what is well-supported and what is controversial. These articles also set the topic in historical context, highlight the direction of future research, and outline the general significance of the research to society. Subjects are wide-ranging from the science to law to social sciences to politics. (Annual Reviews)
- Oxford Bibliographies This link opens in a new windowFind the best available scholarship in different subject areas by searching these annotated bibliographies developed by Oxford University Press.
- Oxford Handbooks This link opens in a new windowSearch the Oxford Handbooks, which offer overviews of original research in a particular subject area. Essays from leading figures in each discipline give critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates, as well as a foundation for future research. (Oxford)
Literature Review Resources
Books:
- UR Library CatalogLocate introductory and research level resources on your topic
- WorldCat.orgA comprehensive catalog of books and other resources in libraries worldwide. Includes information about where items are located.
Scholarly literature databases:
- Political Science Complete This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles on topics related to political science, political theory, political behavior, public policy, law, international relations, comparative politics, and non-governmental organizations. (EBSCO)
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles, reports, and grey literature on topics related to the world's public affairs, public and social policies, international relations, and world politics. "PAIS" stands for "Public Affairs Information Service," and the content dates from the early 1900s-present. (ProQuest)
- GeoBase (on Engineering Village) This link opens in a new windowSearch for peer-reviewed articles in geography, geology and ecology. (Elsevier)
- Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles on all aspects of world history (excluding the US and Canada) from 1450 to the present. (EBSCO)
- Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles on topics related to the humanities. (EBSCO)
- EconLit with Full Text This link opens in a new windowSearch for journal articles in all fields of economics, including the American Economic Association journals, working papers, and many non-English full-text journals in economics and finance. (EBSCO)
Dissertations:
- Dissertations and Theses Global (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSearch for doctoral dissertations and masters theses from institutions around the world. (ProQuest)
Citation tracking:
- Social Sciences Citation Index This link opens in a new windowSearch an index of journal articles in the social sciences. This database is part of the Web of Science platform and can also be used to track, evaluate, and compare journals and articles. Tools included are the number of citations, the journal's impact factor, and other metrics. (Clarivate)
What is a Literature Review?
Literature reviews enable a researcher to learn about (and explain) the research already done on a topic or issue. It allows for one to learn what other researchers are doing in a particular field of study, which is used as evidence of a supporting argument in new research.
Literature reviews are also an excellent source for determining how other researchers have designed their projects, definitions of terms or problems, and hypotheses that have already been tested.
A wide variety of resources can be included in a literature review, such as: books, journal articles, news articles, working papers, conference proceedings, websites and reports. These resources provide overviews of a topic, history of approaches to a problem, descriptions of research methods, and the bibliographies used to create them.
Social Sciences Librarian
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Richmond, VA 23238