57 Best Literature Review Topic Ideas
Mike Russel
Making a choice on a good literature review topic might be a great challenge for many of us. What should it be like? Interesting for you and your audience, profound, covering a gap in the previous research on a specific theme. This is just an approximate list of primary criteria. The perfect topic should be neither too broad nor too narrow. There always must be some meaningful data on the theme, covering a range of basic scientific issues. Yet, a good literature review topic should contain a gap, which you can investigate, or the space for a wider interpretation. But if you pick a topic having plenty of research done on it, does it really make sense to get further investigations?
The first sign of a good topic is your personal interest in a field. As a rule, the final result of each literature review comes down to the complex research paper. This is an assignment you are submitting to your professor and other students, or even to the commission. So, that is something you should live through during a semester. And you have to feel comfortable while doing research on it.
The most obvious way to select a theme is to look through print publishing. Or you can pick the first idea on the professional web-sites that sounds good enough. Although it could turn to be the waste of time because there is no guarantee it is relevant for your field. And when you find it out it might be too late. There are always a lot of literature review topic examples. But to come up with a final decision on it, you need to do some preliminary research on the corresponding, authoritative sources. A bit of brainstorming can also be helpful.
But still, sometimes you might turn to be short for good literature review topic ideas. How to choose a proper one and make truly good research out of it? Let’s look into the following options.
What is a literature review?
According to the direct definition of the term, the literature review is an overview of appropriate sources on a particular theme. It points out core fundamentals, specific features, and controversial aspects of the topic. The lit review consists of three main parts – introduction, body, and conclusion. In order to provide a comprehensive paper of this type, you need to summarize the most relevant academic works. Then you should come up with some conclusions, highlighting the gaps, where additional study should be conducted.
Another significant element of the lit review is an evaluation of the contribution made by authoritative experts to the area of study. Also, you need to provide your audience with a critical analysis of the existing theories and methodologies. The literature review may include journal articles, scientific publications, books, investigations, and so on. It is acceptable to present some rethinking of the subject, reshuffling of the basic arguments. New interpretations and major debates can also help to convey the state of knowledge.
The reason for writing a research review is the improvement of some crucial skills as:
– Critical thinking;
– Writing and proper reading;
– Analyzing;
– Summarizing;
– The ability to investigate the topic, and so on.
What is important while presenting a lit review?
– To define a methodology and theoretical framework of your research;
– To demonstrate the way your research contributes to a debate on a theme, and how it helps to cover an existing gap;
– To show your awareness of the context;
– To state your position in relation to the previous research.
How to choose a topic for a literature review
Choosing a literature review topic can be a challenging task. Even if you have an idea that seems to be good, you still need to check it for strength. What could be helpful?
– Brainstorming;
– Writing down some ideas you came up with;
– Choosing the most interesting one;
– Searching for some data, publications, and cases on your topic (Are they relevant and sufficient for your work?);
– Refining a selected theme.
Anyway, if you still cannot catch up on a hot topic for a lit review, there are plenty of sources where you can find a proper, up-to-date theme, or inspiration. For example, there are academic journals in your field, annual reviews of publications on a subject, dissertations’ abstracts, and so on. Also, you can apply to specific lists of conference opportunities such as “Call for Papers” or “Call for Proposals”.
The sign of a good literature review topic is a contradictory issue you succeeded to find out in the area you investigate. If you have this it will be quite easy to provide your audience with the arguments why an additional survey is necessary.
Supposing you have an excellent theme to explore, but it is too narrow. What should it mean? There are no sufficient information and a comprehensive pool of publications you can rely on. So you will have to collect this data by yourself, and it takes much time. In the end, there will be a risk to miss the deadline. Thus, before coming up with a final decision on a topic, you should make sure sufficient research has already been done.
Libraries, databases, encyclopedias, and free guides can also provide you with some ideas for a lit review topic. For example, Gale Virtual Reference Library has a great many resources in various fields.
Topics examples for different fields
There are many possible examples of lit review topics you can find out on the net. But how to figure out if they are good or not? What makes a good literature review topic? First of all, it is analytical – you should be able to get to the point and analyze the data on it. Secondly, it contains a gap in existing literature, giving you a chance for further interpretations. Thirdly, there has to be a controversial issue, provoking a debate in the academic community.
Now let’s look into some precise examples for different fields.
1. Counseling psychology practices for LGBTQ-teenagers
2. The effects of child abuse within the family
3. Disadvantages of home education and its effects on socialization
4. Methods of counseling psychology for children with the post-traumatic syndrome
5. Memory dysfunctions and their impacts on perception
6. Attention-deficit syndrome and its impact on academic performance of undergraduate students
7. The impacts of cyberbullying on teenagers
8. Preconditions for Compulsive sexual behavior
9. Treatment methods for patients with postnatal depression
10. Social representation practices of people with dissociative disorders
11. The psychological perspective of self-representation in the digital world
12. Methods to indicate school children behavioral disorders
1. World Intellectual Property Organization: evaluation of the effectiveness
2. The evolution of International Criminal Law Court practices and tools
3. The US Copyright Office and its practices from the digital perspective
4. The analysis of the European Court of Human Rights impact on local governments’ law enforcement
5. The problems of legal enforcement in Eastern Europe
6. Environmental law and its downfalls in Asian countries
7. “The rule of law” and “the rule of reason”: comparative analysis and perspective
8. The comparative case study of Insurance Laws in European countries
9. The Free Movement of Goods and its limitations in the Member States
10. The approaches to harmonize the conflict of laws between the EU and the Member States
11. The misuse of the Law of rape in rightful victims’ protection: the examination of cases and practices
Economics
1. Globalization impact on advertising
2. Niche-business and its benefits for local authorities
3. The minimum wage dynamics in developing countries
4. The welfare reform effects on local businesses
5. Economic resources and social needs: the analysis of the fair distribution
6. The redistribution of wealth during a recession and economic crisis
7. The benefits for the government economy from healthcare reforms
8. The socio-economic effects of the large charity
9. The obstacles to overcome poverty in industrial countries
10. The role of proper infrastructure in the elimination of the world food crisis
11. The privatization effects on markets and businesses
12. The regulation of government spending: does it really contribute to economic growth?
Political Science
1. Comparative analysis of European countries foreign policies
2. The role of public opinion in authoritarian states
3. Legislative pressure of the European Union on the Eastern Member States
4. Modern forms of Communism ideology
5. The reasons for political absenteeism in authoritarian states
6. Amnesty International practices for refugees’ rights protection
7. Human Rights in Islamic governments: change prospects
8. The most effective practices for global poverty eradication
9. Non-profit Organizations and their role in human rights improvement in Post-Soviet Space
10. The analysis of cybersecurity policies in European countries
11. Government policies during the transition
12. The importance of political ethics in election campaigns
1. Managerial techniques and evaluation of their effectiveness
2. State regulation of small businesses and its impact on the quality of life in the region
3. Pros and cons of franchising
4. Advantages of outsourcing services for large companies
5. The role of corporate culture in the improvement of business efficiency
6. The influence of charity on the development of brand loyalty
7. The effectiveness of marketing campaigns in IT-startups: evaluation and analysis
8. The development of business culture from an economic perspective
9. The recession impact on small businesses: strategies of survival
10. Digital tools in maximizing marketing campaigns effectiveness
Selecting a literature review topic might turn out to be a long process. To write a really good review you need to read and analyze many sources, which can be a bit boring. But the final result you are going to present should be complex and sophisticated. Your review gives you an opportunity to demonstrate the contribution you can make on the subject or the innovative approach which occurred to you. And that is why choosing a topic makes so much sense.
Having great work done takes a long time, and it also can seem frustrating in many ways. The easier way out is to apply to a professional custom writing service, which can provide assistance from experts in your area of study, such as Cheap Paper Writing .
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Article Review Topics & Ideas to Follow
Writing a well-developed article review is a great way to practice your analytical, reading, writing, and scientific skills. Nowadays, there is a significant number of captivating article review topics and ideas that allow presenting a strong central point and discussing some related ideas. Before you start, read thoroughly all the instructions provided by the professor and pay attention to the topics that are defined by the requirements. In addition, it is necessary to use provided guidelines that usually include a list of relevant literature, paper examples, and several interesting topics to research.
Pro tip A literature review is not a mere retelling of what you have found in a certain article. It is a deep analysis of sources to identify the problem and its solution in an academic paper. That is why topics for article review must be urgent and interesting for the target audience. Next, while reading the article, keep your focus on the main subject discussed by the author, as the majority of scholarly articles tend to evaluate a range of related theories, issues, and concerns, in this way, attracting the attention of the reader to many other similar subjects. Besides, the authors of such articles usually assume that the readers operate with background knowledge on the point, and, as a result, use sophisticated structures and discuss complicated issues. Therefore, it is highly recommended for the researcher to pay special attention to abstracts, summaries, and conclusions as they help to understand all the discussed information and write a well-developed and comprehensive article review. If you have some difficulties with completing the article review assignment, or you cannot think of proper topics and ideas, the following list of ideas and topics will help you to solve these issues and pick the most interesting one to research. If even after that you feel like you can’t choose the topic that works for you, approach a skillful article review writer for a quick help.
Topics for Review Paper to Impress the Reader
Get 20 ideas that article reviews can help to research.
Try a quicker way
- The Best Teaching Approaches for Remote Learning Covid-19 forced people to stay at home and get educated online. What methods won, and what learning approaches failed? Today, many educational websites discuss topics that are worth reviewing.
- Covid-19 and Ebola: Viruses That Terrorize the World It is hard to spot at least one scientific magazine that does not discuss coronavirus and Ebola. You can review them, trying to find discoveries, innovations, and new treatment methods.
- The Best Tools to Master Foreign Languages Many articles are devoted to apps and online tutorials that help users master languages. What are the top chosen tools today?
- Lack of Clean Drinking Water The Earth is running out of natural resources, including clean drinking water. Scientific journals discuss this problem and integrate it with global warming. What are the solutions? When will freshwater vanish if humans do nothing to prevent the global catastrophe?
- Cultural, Racial, and Religious Diversity Articles about tolerance of other religions, cultures, sexual orientations, and races reflect the attitude of people to diversity. Has modern society accepted it?
- Effective Academic Writing Another significant aspect in the life of every student is academic writing. Review articles to find out how academic writing requirements and trends have changed.
- How to Upbring a Child in the Era of Technology Today, children respect TikTok influencers more than their parents. What do psychologists recommend parents do in their research? How to raise children in the XXI century?
- Drug and Alcohol Addiction Addiction has always been a top problem in countries worldwide. The most dangerous one is drug abuse which occurs when a health advisor does not control treatment and a patient becomes dependent. What has been said about solutions today?
- Unfair Music Competitions Eurovision and radio charts usually reflect either successful money investments or political interests. What information can be found in articles?
- Artificial Vitamins and Dietary Supplementaries Some doctors say that artificial vitamins and supplements are useless while others believe in their positive effects. Support ideas with article citations.
- Legalized Marijuana and Its Derivatives One can buy hemp and marijuana edibles and drinks online RX. Are they safe?
- Pros and Cons of Gun Possession How is the problem of free gun trade described in articles? What are the viewpoints of the government, the police, and the people who want to buy it?
- Autism in the World of Human-Human Professions Find scientific proof or rebuttal that an autistic person can work with other people and in stressful situations decently.
- Robots and Artificial Intelligence Replace Human Workforce Articles in Science and Technology magazines contain examples of when people were replaced with robots and bots. Will human force become cheap and useless soon?
- Mobile Translators Reduce the Necessity to Learn Languages Some time ago it was trendy and prestigious to become language experts. Today, one can find dozens of applications to translate the required phrase via voice records. What do educational websites say about that?
- Alternative Medicine vs. Traditional Treatment Pharmacology has numerous products that help and are available in drugstores. Herbs, bee products, and supplements are harder to get but promise to be effective. What do medical researchers say in their research?
- How to Secure Oneself from Lyme Disease Ticks are spreading rapidly, and the reasons are explained in scientific articles. How to protect yourself from borreliosis, encephalitis, and other co-infections?
- Gender Behavior: Should There Be Any Norms What do psychologists say about the norms of gender upbringing? Should boys cry? Is a child-free life normal for women?
- Violence and Naturalism on Screen and in Music Most movies, songs, and video games contain cruelty. How to protect a child?
- Crime and Punishment in the XXI Century and Before Today, we have numerous cameras everywhere, but we still have unsolved crimes and wrongly convicted people. What is the problem? Was the justice system better before?
If you need to get a good sample and guide, here they are.
- How to Write a Literature Review
- How to Write an Article Review in Leadership Studies
What article to choose? These websites have lists of the most downloaded articles in 2022.
- Annual Reviews
Conclusion The best article review topics are impossible to find without proper knowledge of the discipline. It is also necessary to have a list of reputable magazines, newspapers, and journals. Only such periodicals post verified information that students can use to evidence research ideas in their academic papers.
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105 Literature Review Topics + How-to Guide [2023]
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A literature review is a variant of curtsy in scientific circles. It presents your acknowledgment that you are not the first to tackle the issue. Your predecessors have made progress in answering your research question, and you plan to start from the point they finished.
This article features examples of literature review topics on multiple knowledge areas. Additionally, you will find exhaustive disambiguation of all the types of a literature review, as well as its purposes, definition, outline, and formatting.
- 🔝 Top 15 Topics
- ✍️ Writing Tips
- Political Science
- Criminal Justice
🔗 References
🔝 top 15 literature review topics.
- What does the science say about extraterrestrial life?
- Redesigning organisms in synthetic biology: Where are we at now?
- Equality of human rights at the international level.
- Why do genes happen to be active or inactive?
- Legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
- Can an adult person change their native language?
- The most efficient study programs.
- The ethics of using surveillance cameras.
- The effect of reading fiction on your brain.
- British imperialism in India.
- What is kindness: A philosophical approach.
- Modern technologies can sift out fake news.
- Multiculturalism: A romantic myth or today’s reality?
- The demographics of liberal worldview in the US.
- Chronic fatigue: Literature review and hypotheses.
✍️ Literature Review Writing Tips
Speaking of a literature review , the definition is too broad to be used as writing guidance. It is an overview of credible materials on a particular research question. A literature review usually becomes chapter 1 in dissertations and theses , allowing to explore the current knowledge on the topic. It evaluates academic and professional articles, journal publications, books, and web-based resources.
A literature review is an indispensable part of a research paper. It serves many purposes, some of which are not evident.
What Is the Purpose of a Literature Review?
- To draw the background context;
- To compare your results with previous research;
- To justify your research methods;
- To frame research gaps and show the scientific novelty of your project;
- To explain the social value of your work;
- To demonstrate your knowledge of the referenced literature;
- To train your analytical thinking.
Types of Literature Review
Below you’ll find the 6 types of literature reviews.
Systematic Review
A systematic literature review is a most comprehensive and data-oriented type. It defines the timeframe of the selected literature and is subdivided into two categories:
- Meta-analysis ( deductive research through standardized statistical procedures)
- Meta-synthesis (inductive study by non-statistical qualitative methods)
Narrative Review
It is also called a traditional or critical literature review. The purpose is to summarize the available material, critique it, and identify the gaps and inconsistencies. This type works well for almost any research question, provided it is sufficiently focused and limited in time or subject matter.
Scoping Review
As the name implies, it estimates the scope of available literature on a literature review topic. Unlike a systematic literature review, which aims to find the most specific research question, this type looks for the most general one. It answers the question of what else can be researched in the field.
Theoretical Review
A theoretical literature review explores the pool of theories that have so far accumulated on a concept. It lists the existing ideas, their relationships, and gaps. The purpose is to develop hypotheses to be tested in the experimental section.
Argumentative Review
This type provides the most selective literature review to prove or refute an argument already established in the research literature. However, this is also the most biased review among all types.
Integrative Review
This literature review integrates, synthesizes, and critiques the available secondary data to develop new research frameworks and perspectives.
Systematic Review vs. Literature Review vs. Annotated Bibliography
Literature Review Outline
How long should a literature review be? It depends on the assignment requirements and your outline.
A literature review is often used as a part of a more general research paper. In such a case, you can limit yourself to the standard introduction –main body – conclusion formula.
In all the other situations, use the following literature review outline.
- Introduction Trace the scope and highlight the importance of your review. Why did you choose the given topic or research question? How does it contribute to the previous study?
- Methodology We have listed the types of literature review above. Depending on your purposes, select one and explain why your choice is the best. You can also specify which logic you used while choosing the sources for your review.
- Discussion It is the central part of the text which compares, contrasts, and explains the relationships between various ideas you found in the bibliography items.
- Conclusion Are you satisfied with the result of your work? How will it help further research? Which gaps have you spotted, and which hypothesis could you generate?
- List of references As in any research paper, this is an indispensable part of your literature review. Be sure to follow the format requirements as provided below.
Literature Review Format
All citation styles require you to indicate the author’s name, book title, publication year, number of pages, and volume or issue number. This data is available in any printed edition, as publishers use it to identify their products.
It may sound simple until you discover that each citation style has a multi-page list of nuanced details specific to this format and inapplicable to any other.
Browse the guides for each of the most popular types below.
APA style is a format for scholarly documents. It is particularly popular in the fields of social and behavioral sciences. APA is well-known for its simplicity in source references. Thus, a vast majority of American universities and colleges prefer this format.
MLA style manual is an abridged version of the MLA Handbook published by the Modern Language Association. It was created for students to assist in their research aspirations. Its 8 th edition is addressed to secondary-school and undergraduate university and college teachers and students. The style is popular in humanities (modern languages, literature, cultural studies, and related disciplines).
Chicago style (also called CMS or CMOS) is a style guide for American English. The University of Chicago Press first published it in 1906. Since then, it has had 17 editions and has become one of the most popular citation styles in the US. The guide instructs on editorial practice, grammar, document preparation, formatting, and even the use of the singular “they.”
💡 Literature Review Topics
Literature review topics in education.
- How can we make classrooms more inclusive ?
- Flipped classroom approach.
- Waldorf schools and their concept.
- How do ADHD symptoms affect a student’s learning abilities?
- Educational leadership.
- Methods of tracking the performance of schoolchildren.
- How can token economy diminish off-task behavior in students with autism?
- Resegregation in US schools.
- Is bilingual education realizable in contemporary schools?
- Growing violence incidents in educational institutions.
Political Science Literature Review Topics
- Gender cosmopolitanism in Sweden .
- Security policy is based on political ideology .
- The emotional effect of populism .
- The theory and classification of political speeches.
- Global measures in COVID-19 response.
- The international politics of the Arab world.
- How do we select our leaders ?
- Officials in politics: Emotional labor .
- Relational peace between countries.
- The invisible force holding countries together.
Criminal Justice Literature Review Topics
- The problematic issues of prosecution and legal enforcement in Eastern Europe.
- Track the evolution of international criminal justice practices.
- Crime prevention methods.
- The evolution of criminology as a social science.
- The cycle of domestic violence : Theory and statistics.
- The patterns in child abuse perpetrators.
- Randomized experimental designs in criminology .
- Current measures to stop human trafficking in the US.
- How should we punish environmental crimes?
- Terrorism : Approaches to its definitions.
Sociology Literature Review Topics
- Does coded language help us fight racial inequality ?
- Workplace bullying.
- International conflicts in terms of social representation theory.
- Gender and sexual activity.
- Is our society liberal or conservative ?
- Single African American parents.
- Racial salary gap in the US.
- Substance abuse and health care costs for employers.
- Does federal aid succeed at fighting urban poverty?
- How does hate speech spur desensitization?
Nursing Literature Review Topics
- Practice in the field of healthcare.
- Evidence-based nursing practice.
- Traumatic brain injury.
- Alzheimer’s disease.
- Pressure ulcers study.
- Post-operative readmission rates.
- Nursing ratios and nosocomial infections.
- Patient fall prevention study.
- Emergency room wait time.
- Electronic health records.
Psychology Literature Review Topics
- Parents’ experiences of caring for a child with ASD
- The long-term consequences of child abuse
- The neurology of depression .
- Explore the psychological effects of loud noise.
- Why is it so hard to accept what contradicts our beliefs?
- The psychological mechanisms of compulsive eating.
- Why are some people more prone to discrimination and prejudice?
- Self-protection against grief .
- Non-verbal communication rates in different cultures.
- Love : Chemistry or feeling?
Biology Literature Review Topics
- Camouflage in plants.
- Color differences in male and female bird species.
- Acceptability of genetic engineering.
- Natural reforestation: Too long to wait.
- Why are domestic plants weaker than wild ones?
- Hepcidin: importance, production, regulation.
- How can we edit DNA sequences ?
- Which anti- COVID vaccines are the most effective and why?
- Cancer : An umbrella term for many diseases.
- Species that are important to our ecology.
Easy Literature Review Topics
- Sustainable agriculture : Our future reality.
- Vegetarianism.
- The scientific background behind music therapy .
- Stono revolt.
- The latest findings in stopping brain aging.
- Articles on cyber security of young children.
- Data-driven personalization : Prospects and achievements.
- Importance of the literature review in research.
- Critical literature review of digital signature.
- Reviewing quantitative academic literature and data.
❓ Literature Review Topics FAQ
❓ what is discussed in literature review.
A literature review discusses the texts that are the most relevant to your research question. It summarizes, compares, evaluates, and critiques the available literature to find the points of intersection and blind spots. As a result, you will develop a specific topic for further research or pose a hypothesis.
❓ What are the 3 parts of literature review?
The three parts of this academic genre are the same as those of any other research paper. The introduction explores the background and importance of the topic. The main body analyzes the selected texts. It may also contain a methodology section that explains why you chose such or another literary review type. The conclusion outlines the perspectives of your research.
❓ What are the four stages of literature review?
- Formulating the problem (which topic is under study and what are its constituent parts?);
- Searching the literature (making up the preliminary bibliography list to be described in the literature review);
- Evaluating the data (which sources are the most significant in our understanding of the topic?);
- Analyzing and interpreting the essential findings.
- Literature Reviews – UNC Writing Center
- Learn how to write a review of literature
- Writing a Literature Review // Purdue Writing Lab
- Types of Literature Reviews – Systematic Reviews
- How to Conduct a Literature Review
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The necklace: summary, themes, and a short story analysis, dulce et decorum est 101: summary, analysis, & questions and answers, literature review: outline, strategies, and examples [2023].
Literature Reviews
- Defining Literature Reviews
- Choosing a Topic
- Developing Search Strategies
- Finding Sources
- Evaluating Sources
- Staying Organized
- Tracking Citations
- Writing the Literature Review
Introduction
This guide is designed to support graduate students at LSU with conducting a literature review.
Have you been tasked with writing a literature review? Whether you have a paper for a class, an article you want to publish, or a review for a thesis or dissertation, this guide will help you through the process. Follow the tabs on the navigation menu to take you through each step of your literature review.
Through this guide, you will learn:
- What a literature review is
- How to choose a researchable topic
- How to find example reviews to gain background knowledge or use as models for your own review
- How to craft and refine an effective search strategy
- What resources to use to find different kinds of literature
- How to access materials outside LSU Libraries
- How to evaluate the information you find within the context of your literature review
- Strategies for staying organized and taking notes
- Tips for managing your sources
- How to track citations and stay up-to-date on new publications
- How to organize your writing
- How to get further help with your literature review
If you have any questions, visit the Get Help tab.
- Next: Defining Literature Reviews >>
- Last Updated: Feb 1, 2023 8:10 AM
- URL: https://guides.lib.lsu.edu/litreviews
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- Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide
- How to Pick a Topic
Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide — How to Pick a Topic
- Getting Started
- Introduction
- Strategies to Find Sources
- Evaluating Sources & Lit. Reviews
- Tips for Writing Literature Reviews
- Writing Literature Review: Useful Sites
- Citation Resources
- Other Academic Writings
Picking a Topic and Keywords to Research your Topic
Whether you are writing a literature review as a standalone work or as part of a paper, choosing a topic is an important part of the process. If you haven't select a topic yet for your literature view or you feel that your topic is too broad, this page is for you!
The key to successfully choosing a topic is to find one that is not too broad (impossible to adequately cover) but also not too narrow (not enough has been written about it). Use the tools below to help you brainstorm a topic and keywords that then you can use to search our many databases. Feel free to explore these different options or contact a Subject Specialist if you need more help!
Concept Mapping
- [REMOVE] Mind Mapping (also known as Concept Mapping) A helpful handout to show step by step how to create a concept map to map out a topic.
Picking a topic and search terms
Below are some useful links and handouts that help you develop your topic. Check the handouts in this page. They are useful to help you develop keywords/search terms or to learn the best way to search databases to find articles and books for your research.
- UVA Thinking Tool: Choosing a Topic and Search Terms Provides a template for focusing a research assignment through the brainstorming of ideas, keywords, and other terminology related to a topic.
- UW How to Improve Database Search Results Suggested strategies for retrieving relevant search results
- UCLA: Narrowing a Topic Useful tips on how to narrow a topic when you are getting too many results in your search. From the librarians at UCLA.
- UCLA: Broadering a Topic Useful tips on how to broaden your topic when you are getting few results in your search. From the librarians at UCLA.
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- Next: Strategies to Find Sources >>
- Last Updated: Sep 21, 2022 2:16 PM
- URL: https://guides.lib.uconn.edu/literaturereview
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Worthy Literature Review Topics for Presenting a Cogent Work
What Topics for Literature Review to Consider to Outshine
Studying at college or university, planning to build up a final research paper, preparing for classes, creating a graduate project, or working on a capstone project always involves dealing with plentiful literature and analyzing reports on many topics. A literature review is an academic writing that unites a student’s knowledge of a defined topic, and it’s up to them to pick winning literature review topics to prove their expertise in the chosen field, as well as show the ability to analyze and compare several sources.
As usual, a literature review presents a consistent overview of the used material, the main points of the research, the author’s critical assessment of the topic, covers the existing theories, fills the informational gaps, and expresses a personal point of view. It can be a standalone piece of academic writing based on the literature on a specific topic or be an integral part or separate section of a paper or research project.
Speaking about the intentions in a political science literature review or another, a source report on the topic is designed. It’s important to remember a student should present a well-reasoned scientific review on the topic or a debate but not enlist all literature they use, so it looks like a library collection. When dealing with a dissertation or a term paper, creating a decent review that will summarize the whole literature is one of the most important tasks after selecting a fitting topic.
So, it’s up to a student to submit a well-reasonable, cogent literature review to evidence their knowledge of the chosen topic. There are several purposes why you should prepare a review of the used literature:
- Provide a critical analysis of a topic and define a frame of questions that should be resolved.
- Showing your familiarity with the topic and understanding of the state of research in the field.
- Determining the gaps compared to the prior investigations you can cover in your research.
- Know the previous literature regarding the chosen topic, summarize theories, making outcomes to present your groundwork and exploration.
When writing your literature review, it’s necessary to concentrate on your literature review and pick proper sources to cover the topic fully by focusing on the gaps that weren’t presented before by other writers. To gain the needed results of a literature review, a student should highlight scientific controversies and try to solve them by offering their solutions and viewpoints on the topic.
Worthy Literature Review Topics Psychology: Cover Issues Rationally
For a vast majority of students choosing good literature review topics for psychology research can be even more difficult than writing it. Indeed, making the first step in the research process is always daunting and can waste time greatly without gaining particular results from the literature review on a specific topic. Therefore, when thinking about a topic for your literature review in the psychology field you’d like to investigate, you should consider the previous works to avoid repetition and demonstrate your interest in the field.
Since there are diverse branches of psychology, you need to think about what field is more interesting to you than others and then consider literature review topic ideas. Are you interested in a literature review on topics related to health psychology, developmental, or occupational psychology? Can’t determine what topic you want to investigate in your literature review? Then our service offers you a list of topics for a literature review to choose from. Nevertheless, for your literature review, consider those topics that appeal to you most, and you have a good background in:
- The effect of praise and reward on a person’s motivation and achievements.
- Addiction to social media: that’s why children become aggressive and rude.
- Frequent anxiety attacks as the first sign of a psychological disorder.
- Gender role in modern society: is there any discrimination?
- How to manage stress and relax in a stressful environment?
- Sports influence human behavior and psychological state.
So, finally, you choose the literature review topics psychology offers and can move further with your investigation. Now it’s important to arrange a research paper wisely to cover the maximum possible questions by following the correct structure. Like other academic works, a good literature review on psychology should have an introduction, main part, and conclusion.
A literature review should be well-structured, logical, and cover the topic wholly. Its parts should be interconnected by preserving a single and unique idea and outlining a strong thesis statement showing your final attitude to education literature review topics or others.
List of Literature Review Topics Examples That Are Worth Attention
No matter what area you deal with in your literature review: education, economics, medicine, sciences, philology, architecture, or engineering, you should define a topic for your research to create a decent review that will include all aspects that matter and cover these issues.
Numerous topics make sense to people. There are endless questions regarding each of them. So, it’s vital to define what aspects haven’t been explored yet, and you can use this opportunity to fill the gap and conduct a well-grounded investigation. Let’s have a look at some of the current literature review topics examples you can find worthy:
- Bulimia and anorexia: are these eating disorders a consequence of psychological issues?
- The relationship between economic prosperity and unemployment rate.
- Applying 3D technology in modern civil engineering & construction.
- Blood donation process: what you should know before the donation.
- Data mining technology in boosting business processes.
- The benefits of installing solar panels.
All in all, it’s a challenging task to select good topics for literature review, so it’ll depict the critical issues of your research and highlight the most prominent works in the chosen field. When selecting a proper topic, take into account it shouldn’t be too broad or narrow. There should be aspects that haven’t been discussed before in literature reviews.
A perfect review of the literature should interpret the existing research and explicate your own idea, so together, they create a unique cogent text. Another highly important aspect of a literature review is using authoritative sources that can back up your statements. This is an integral part of a high-quality research review because you show what contributions were made before and apply them to your critical analysis.
Literature Review Topic Examples to Build Your Work Easily
A standard review of sources consists of the same parts as an ordinary essay or a term paper: first, you introduce the chosen topic by enlisting points you’ll discuss in your work. Second, you prepare a critical assessment of the key issues, mention ways to resolve and provide your alternative to fix them, and finally, you summarize your statements with a persuasive thesis statement.
It’s necessary to say there’s no defined formula on how to build a literature review correctly. The structure of the literature review on your topic depends on the scientific area a student investigates. It also relates to the scientific aims and arguments a writer displays to support or disprove.
It’s recommended to include the following patterns to organize the literature review:
- Chronological development of the examined topic.
- Concepts that were used primarily to cover the gaps.
- Key definitions that were mentioned in the research.
- Outline the debates around the raised issue.
- Provide statements for and against the major problem.
- Key authors and works that focus on the topic selected.
- Mention the methodology used to conduct research.
Remember, the most important thing about a literature review on any topic is to present your stance based on the works of reputable researchers and scientists. So, concentrate your attention on the literature that fits your viewpoints and thereby strengthen your review on the topic you’ve chosen.
Consider Good Literature Review Topics to Stand Out From the Rest
If a student hesitates about what theme to choose for their term paper, nowadays, there are lots of literature review topic examples that are worth attention. To determine what topic is more relevant to the studying field and a student’s major, they should do a detailed preliminary literature review of sources and define whether it’s enough to conduct an elaborate and robust work.
Struggling with finding literature review essay topics? Our literature review writing services will gladly help you brainstorm the most appropriate ones to get high grades and prove your competence in the specialization field. To pick a good theme and succeed in writing a literature review, it’s also important to possess specific skills that facilitate the whole writing process. Hence, it’ll be easier for students with a particular skill set to compose a reasonable and measurable review of the used literature on the topic:
- Ability to think critically.
- Analyze the information deeply.
- Outline main tasks, goals, and proofs.
- Be detail-oriented and pick up the most vital info.
- Define key points of the research to render the core sense.
Additionally, to find good topics for a literature review, it’s possible to visit some online libraries, guides, and databases with diverse scientific works and publications that will back up your exploratory studies.
To show up against others, it’s better to pay attention to the topics that relate to the advanced technologies that can be applied in numerous areas, i.e., topics for literature review in education, medicine, business, engineering, science, etc. The IT sector is rapidly spreading throughout the entire area and facilitates better and stronger competition rates. Thus, your literature review will have success at least by choosing a highly competitive topic.
Top Literature Review Nursing Topics: Meet Demands Without a Hitch
Being one of the most expanded studying areas, a research paper on nursing requires sufficient time to build up a well-structured & thought-out paper and a consistent report of literature sources accordingly. To impress tutors and scientific supervisors, we offer you to select one of the following literature review topic examples that can relate to the next issues:
- Cyberbullying and the tendency to commit suicide among teens.
- Teamwork as a motivator for achieving greater results at work.
- Parental separation: its harsh effect on a child’s mental health.
- Meditation as a useful way to fight depression and stress.
- Depression and its influence on working efficiency.
- How to handle pressure and stay cool-headed?
- Abusive relationships between teenagers.
- Autistic children and their socialization.
It’s a well-known fact that preparing a literature review on psychology means sleepless nights for the majority of students. Choosing fitting literature review nursing topics takes lots of time and effort to arrange a paper correctly without losing the key idea. Although, selecting and writing a review of the used literature on the topic isn’t as complicated as you may think.
The biggest problem with nursing literature review topics selection is to tune in the process and analyze tens of publications and articles on the related topic. Sure, it’s impossible to read all the literature on the topic you’ve picked. You’d rather prepare a list of the most fitting topics and make notes about the major points mentioned there. By reviewing the main concepts and methods and outlining topics and outcomes, you’ll be able to formulate your final results and then compare them with the prior literature.
To conclude, selecting appropriate topics for literature review of the paper, a student should have a solid background in the chosen subfield to know where and what to search to compile a persuasive and facts-based review. The truth is that choosing a good topic is half of success, and the last thing you need to do is to write it considering the requirements for the literature review.
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120 Fresh and Thought-Provoking Topics for Literature Reviews in Different Disciplines
A literature review is an account of the scholarly works published on a topic. It is different from an annotated bibliography – and far more interesting at that. Instead of being just a list of summaries, a literature review synthesizes the information from all available sources in an overall relationship to your guiding concept. This may be the problem you are discussing, a statement you are arguing, a theory you are verifying, etc.
The goals of a literature review may vary:
- giving a historical overview of the research in the field
- summarizing the existing state of the topic
- finding a problem or a gap in the research field
- developing a new theory, etc.
That is why good literature review topics are often formulated as research questions. This type of paper is not an easy writing. You will need to parse immense volumes of information, synthesize and summarize coherently. You also need to devote plenty of time to reading.
This post contains a list of literature review topics suggested for various subjects. However, when choosing the most fitting one to dig into, ask yourself, what are the passions that you can apply to this research? This assignment will take a while, so you will need more than just a good study discipline to soldier on. A bit of enthusiasm and intrinsic motivation will get you much farther.
Literature Review Topics Examples on English and World Literature
Some of the suggestions in this post are linked to literature review examples in our free database. By clicking on a title, you get to a corresponding sample page, where you can read the entire text. If the topic you like isn't linked, but you would like to read an example, you can order it. We will arrange the most qualified paper writer to prepare it for you exclusively.
Ready? Let's start with topics for literature review papers on English and World Literature.
- Phoenix as a symbol for endurance in a worn path
- The novel Intuition by Allegra Goodman
- Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark through Girard's Lens
- Ender's Game by an Orson Scott Card
- Depiction of freedom and happiness in Brave New World
- Feminism and Post-Colonialism in Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games
- Rationality, logic, and mathematics in the novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
- Victims of their time as a character type in the World literature
- The last days of Judas Iscariot : a play by Stephen Adly Guirgis
- The use of symbolism in Kafka's prose
- Naturalism in American literature
- Grotesque and Sublime in the prose of Edgar Allan Poe
Lit Review Topic Ideas on Science and Technology
Next are some literature review topic ideas on science and technology.
- Electronic library and effects of its implementation
- Benjamin Franklin: scientist and inventor
- Virtual Reality, science fiction, and society today
- Science, Technology, and Society as a field of knowledge
- Frederick Winslow Taylor and the principles of scientific management
- What is the future of work
- Concepts of science and technology
- The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis and influence of technological advancement on man and nature
- Types of machine learning
- Internet of Things and biometrics: implications, benefits, threats
- Emotional intelligence and natural language processing
- SmartCity projects that have already been implemented and their lessons
As the field is vast, we can barely scratch the surface with these suggestions. To help you with brainstorming, here are a few tips on how to choose good topics for a literature review yourself:
- Make sure the topic ties nicely with class requirements as well as your interests
- Do some preliminary research to see if there is enough literature on your topic
- Scale up if the information is scarce or down if there are too many sources to handle
- Use sources recommended for reading in the class materials
- Supplement the list with only trustworthy scholarly sources
Follow these guidelines, and you are on a path to some great ideas!
Psychology Literature Review Topics
When brainstorming topics on psychology, don't forget about the subdisciplines: biopsychology, social, educational, organizational, etc. If the suggestions below won't be enough, try looking for inspiration in Biology, Sociology, Education, or Business. The most exciting topics are often at the intersection of different areas of knowledge!
- Tricyclic antidepressants vs. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) in treatment of depression
- Stress, its causes, effects, and coping strategies
- The family system and psychology
- Tibetan compassion practices: working with terror, trauma, and transcendence
- Behaviorism psychology
- Culture and psychopathology
- Correlation between diet and cognitive functions in primary school students
- The evolutionary role of phobias and intrusive thoughts
- Popular psychology and its implications
- PTSD in mass disasters survivors: immediate relief and long-term assistance
- Cults and vulnerable populations
- False memories and gaslighting
Nursing Literature Review Topics
Nursing lit review topics are probably the most diverse in scale, as you can see from the examples below. They can describe a larger issue or a concrete solution applied to a narrowly defined problem. Following this principle, you can modify our lit review topics suggestions zooming out or in on the subject material.
- Legalization of medical marijuana and its effects on the youth
- Health effects of fiber: research findings
- Achieving higher levels of education and training for nurses
- Organic foods and cardiovascular disease
- The importance of Central Venous Line (CVL) and Central Venous Access Devices (CVAD)
- What effects do different types of music have on humans and their mental health?
- The use of laboratory-grown organs for transplantation
- The role of xylitol in alleviating dry mouth
- The detection of tar and nicotine content of cigarette smoke extract using HPLC
- Rheumatoid arthritis: etiology, diagnosis, vulnerable populations
- Mobility aids for the elderly and quality of life
- The role of play in the recuperation of hospitalized children
Education Literature Review Topics
To get more ideas from these literature review topic examples, try isolating an issue and put it in another educational context. For instance, student motivation in primary school vs. middle school or sleep deprivation in high school vs. college. This should give you plenty of material for brainstorming.
- Simulation education for crisis prevention program
- A critical consideration of the new pedagogy in its relation to modern science
- Lack of students interest in studying science
- Discovery-based learning and student-centered learning with a focus on mathematics at a high school level
- The adverse effects of sleep deprivation on academic performance: a college student's struggle
- Gender bias in special education programs
- Higher education for senior citizens: challenges and best practices
- Significant challenges of the teaching profession in the US
- Factors contributing to international student mobility
- Student motivation in private vs. state colleges
- Benefits and challenges of homeschooling for students and families
- Correlation between workload, stress levels, and self-esteem in middle-school students
Sociology Literature Review Topics
The best advice on finding current sociology topics is to look at the challenges your community faces. Become the first one to notice and address these issues!
- Are video games affecting our current and future students ?
- Ways to prevent social media bullying
- Spanking of children in the USA
- The relation of poverty and exposure to crime in adolescent men
- Transgender discrimination
- The link between science and Utopia in Utopia and the New Atlantis
- Effectiveness of group therapy in social work
- Peer pressure, depression, and causes of suicide in the adolescents
- Religious separatism social issues connected with it
- Causes and effects of domestic abuse
- Physical appearance and social status
- Race, nationality, ethnicity, and identity
Political Science Literature Review Topics
Political science is one of the more formal disciplines on this list. Being heavy with abstract concepts, it doesn't lend itself easily to casual brainstorming. Well, at least start with these:
- Electoral College, its functions, and role in public life
- Why American and the British IPE are so different
- Contingency planning
- Effects of political gerrymandering
- American political parties
- The present urban regimes in Canada
- International policies and domestic regulations: precedence and clashes
- Tolerance as a political virtue
- Grassroots activism and its impact on state and federal law
- National security and constitutional freedoms
- Historical analysis of anarchism
- The effect of social media on civic engagement
Criminal Justice Literature Review Topics
Criminal justice is a complex field. It's ripe with variance and challenges – which is good for topic ideas at least. And you have state, federal, and international levels to add more variables.
- Juvenile justice and the Missouri model
- Car-related crime in the USA
- An analysis of the impact of sexual harassment/sexual assault in the military
- The process of the arbitration without the involvement of national courts
- Serial killers and profiling
- Policing and criminal justice systems
- Psychological effects of cyberbullying on adolescents
- Sexual human trafficking from the Central America region
- Human sex-trafficking: the Canadian perspective
- Gender and racial bias in criminal investigations
- Possible ethical and legal dilemmas of using sniffer dogs
- Sting operations vs. entrapment: ethics and regulations
Chemistry and Biology Literature Review Topics
Biology is fascinating. It has something for everyone: from biochemistry and genetics to ecosystems and nature preservation. Here are some suggestions to guide your choice:
- Brain size correlation
- Haruko Obokata, ethics of stem cells research, and scientific misconduct
- Genomic and molecular genetics major and its perspectives for students
- DNA use in mass disasters
- DNA detection from dried blood spots
- Captive breeding of marine mammals: pros and cons
- The Dynamics of ER and mitochondria
- Biomarkers in gastric cancer treatment
- The chemistry behind gene splicing
- Carcinogens and hyper-processed foods
- Primates and monkeys as potential sources of novel zoonotic infections
- Natural gases, ecosystems, and the global warming
Business and Marketing Literature Review Topics
Finally, here are some business and marketing topics as well. These disciplines might be relatively new, but they are among the most dynamic and information-rich – which means great fun to explore.
- Effectiveness of neuromarketing in comparison to traditional marketing methods
- Green supply chain management
- Effectiveness of e-marketing to non-profit making organizations
- The value of information
- Shareholder engagement/activism and corporate performance
- The relationship between ethics, stress, and productivity in the workplace
- The role of integrity in business
- Client confidentiality and its role in a prosperous business
- Businesses, their impact on the community, and social responsibility
- Startup fundraising stages
- Innovative marketing in the age of instant feedback: risks and possibilities
- Strategies for staff motivation
Jana Rooheart
Jana Rooheart came to WowEssays.com with a mission to put together and then slice and dice our vast practical experience in crafting all kinds of academic papers. Jana is an aspired blogger with rich expertise in psychology, digital learning tools, and creative writing. In this blog, she willingly shares tricks of pencraft and mind-altering ideas about academic writing any student will find utterly beneficial.
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The List of Literature Review Topic Ideas that Will Be Surely Accepted by Your Instructor
- defining a topic,
- conducting a thorough research on a question,
- searching for relevant resources,
- analyzing and evaluating sources,
- coming up with a solid thesis statement,
- writing an actual literature review.
So, what’s the purpose of this assignment? In general, it may be summed up in the following points:
- to find relevant literature to understand a subject;
- to describe each work and its contribution to an area under consideration;
- to highlight all gaps that exist now in literature;
- to provide your personal research within an existing literature context;
- to reveal some new ways of understanding a previous research;
- to tackle issues among prior studies that are apparently contradictory;
- to provide your readers with the core reasons why an additional research should be performed.
Concerning the literature review topic ideas, they usually come from dozens of sources – some may be generated by a profound interest in a certain area, while the others may pop up in the process of debating issues directly with your mates, academics, or exploring the literature on own. Mind that initial ideas may go through different stages of the development – some may be too vague, the others solid and clear, and a lot of them may require certain refining.
To narrow down the area of your literature review, specify the exact field that you should do a research within:
Is it Psychology?
The literature reviews of Psychology are usually composed by students at colleges. The subject is quite broad. It means you’ll be challenged to come up with a topic that is narrow enough. Since Psychology deals with many life issues, you’re welcome to address one of the following topics:
- How Cyberbullying Influences Human Life? (an excellently completed literature review sample offered by the University of West Florida is at your disposal to use it as a detailed writing guidance for your own);
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: How does It Affect Health? ( S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine provides a systematic literature review exploring the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder);
- Recovery Factors in Eating Disorders (From the same source you can find a critique of the literature on etiology of eating disorders );
- Best Practices for Treating Transgender Individuals;
- Does College Leadership Affect Later Career Success;
- Antisocial Personality Disorder & Media Stereotypes.
The most effective literature reviews of Law are based on works by authoritative researchers. There are certain issues in this area that you can easily present to prove you have expert knowledge on the topic.
- The Role of Religion in Law in a Country;
- The Media’s Influence Upon the Process of Law Creation;
- Free Advertising versus Campaigning Regulation;
- The Environmental Security in a Country;
- Islamic Laws versus Conventional Western Laws.
Is it Economics?
If you’re stuck with your Economics literature review topics, make sure to choose one of the items pointed out below:
- The Impact of Privatization in a Certain Area on Economic Markets;
- Economics of the Pharmaceutical Market;
- The Trickle-Down Effect: True or Myth?;
- Economic versus Environmental Concerns: Can They Be Actually Reconciled?
- Student Debt : How Does It Influence the Economics?
Often picking a topic on which to write a college paper is one of the hardest decisions for students, according to the research by Muriel Niederle, a professor of the department of Economics at Stanford University. If you’re in a desperate need of a competently composed literature review, you can always turn to a professional custom writing company available online for expert assistance you’re searching for.
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105 Literature Review Topics + How-to Guide [2023] · Education · Political Science · Criminal Justice · Sociology · Nursing · Psychology · Biology.
Choosing a good literature review topic might be a real challenge. Where to get inspiration for lit review topic ideas? What are the main
A good literature review begins with a good research question. What makes a good research question? Something answerable by more than a yes or
The key to successfully choosing a topic is to find one that is not too broad (impossible to adequately cover) but also not too narrow (not
Worthy Literature Review Topics Psychology: Cover Issues Rationally · The effect of praise and reward on a person's motivation and achievements. · Addiction to
Lit Review Topic Ideas on Science and Technology · Electronic library and effects of its implementation · Benjamin Franklin: scientist and
Sep 6, 2018 - Explore Literature Review Writing Serv's board "Literature Review Topics", followed by 313 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about
The Impact of Privatization in a Certain Area on Economic Markets; · Economics of the Pharmaceutical Market; · The Trickle-Down Effect: True or