How to Write a Literature Review in 2025

Literature Review Definition
As this is a less common academic writing type, students often ask: “What is a literature review?” According to the definition, a literature review is a body of work that explores various publications within a specific subject area and sometimes within a set timeframe.

This type of writing requires you to read and analyze various sources that relate to the main subject and present each unique comprehension of the publications. Lastly, a literature review should combine a summary with a synthesis of the documents used. A summary is a brief overview of the important information in the publication; a synthesis is a re-organization of the information that gives the writing a new and unique meaning.

Typically, a literature review is a part of a larger paper, such as a thesis or dissertation. However, you may also be given it as a stand-alone assignment.

The Purpose
The main purpose of a literature review is to summarize and synthesize the ideas created by previous authors without implementing personal opinions or other additional information.

However, a literature review objective is not just to list summaries of sources; rather, it is to notice a central trend or principle in all of the publications. Just like a research paper has a thesis that guides it on rails, a literature review has the main organizing principle (MOP). The goal of this type of academic writing is to identify the MOP and show how it exists in all of your supporting documents.

Why is a literature review important? The value of such work is explained by the following goals it pursues:

Highlights the significance of the main topic within a specific subject area.
Demonstrates and explains the background of research for a particular subject matter.
Helps to find out the key themes, principles, concepts, and researchers that exist within a topic.
Helps to reveal relationships between existing ideas/studies on a topic.
Reveals the main points of controversy and gaps within a topic.
Suggests questions to drive primary research based on previous studies.
Here are some example topics for writing literature reviews:

Exploring racism in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
Isolationism in “The Catcher in the Rye,” “Frankenstein,” and “1984”
Understanding Moral Dilemmas in “Crime and Punishment,” “The Scarlet Letter,” and “The Lifeboat”
Corruption of Power in “Macbeth,” “All the King’s Men,” and “Animal Farm”
Emotional and Physical survival in “Lord of the Flies,” “Hatchet,” and “Congo.”
How Long Is a Literature Review?
When facing the need to write a literature review, students tend to wonder, “how long should a literature review be?” In some cases, the length of your paper’s body may be determined by your instructor. Be sure to read the guidelines carefully to learn what is expected from you.

Keeping your literature review around 15-30% of your entire paper is recommended if you haven’t been provided with specific guidelines. To give you a rough idea, that is about 2-3 pages for a 15-page paper. In case you are writing a literature review as a stand-alone assignment, its length should be specified in the instructions provided.