what is literature review genre

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Writing a Literature Review

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A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis ). The lit review is an important genre in many disciplines, not just literature (i.e., the study of works of literature such as novels and plays). When we say “literature review” or refer to “the literature,” we are talking about the research ( scholarship ) in a given field. You will often see the terms “the research,” “the scholarship,” and “the literature” used mostly interchangeably.

Where, when, and why would I write a lit review?

There are a number of different situations where you might write a literature review, each with slightly different expectations; different disciplines, too, have field-specific expectations for what a literature review is and does. For instance, in the humanities, authors might include more overt argumentation and interpretation of source material in their literature reviews, whereas in the sciences, authors are more likely to report study designs and results in their literature reviews; these differences reflect these disciplines’ purposes and conventions in scholarship. You should always look at examples from your own discipline and talk to professors or mentors in your field to be sure you understand your discipline’s conventions, for literature reviews as well as for any other genre.

A literature review can be a part of a research paper or scholarly article, usually falling after the introduction and before the research methods sections. In these cases, the lit review just needs to cover scholarship that is important to the issue you are writing about; sometimes it will also cover key sources that informed your research methodology.

Lit reviews can also be standalone pieces, either as assignments in a class or as publications. In a class, a lit review may be assigned to help students familiarize themselves with a topic and with scholarship in their field, get an idea of the other researchers working on the topic they’re interested in, find gaps in existing research in order to propose new projects, and/or develop a theoretical framework and methodology for later research. As a publication, a lit review usually is meant to help make other scholars’ lives easier by collecting and summarizing, synthesizing, and analyzing existing research on a topic. This can be especially helpful for students or scholars getting into a new research area, or for directing an entire community of scholars toward questions that have not yet been answered.

What are the parts of a lit review?

Most lit reviews use a basic introduction-body-conclusion structure; if your lit review is part of a larger paper, the introduction and conclusion pieces may be just a few sentences while you focus most of your attention on the body. If your lit review is a standalone piece, the introduction and conclusion take up more space and give you a place to discuss your goals, research methods, and conclusions separately from where you discuss the literature itself.

Introduction:

• An introductory paragraph that explains what your working topic and thesis is
• A forecast of key topics or texts that will appear in the review
• Potentially, a description of how you found sources and how you analyzed them for inclusion and discussion in the review (more often found in published, standalone literature reviews than in lit review sections in an article or research paper)
• Summarize and synthesize: Give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: Don’t just paraphrase other researchers – add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically Evaluate: Mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: Use transition words and topic sentence to draw connections, comparisons, and contrasts.

Conclusion:

• Summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance
• Connect it back to your primary research question

How should I organize my lit review?

Lit reviews can take many different organizational patterns depending on what you are trying to accomplish with the review. Here are some examples:

• Chronological : The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time, which helps familiarize the audience with the topic (for instance if you are introducing something that is not commonly known in your field). If you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order. Try to analyze the patterns, turning points, and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred (as mentioned previously, this may not be appropriate in your discipline — check with a teacher or mentor if you’re unsure).
• Thematic : If you have found some recurring central themes that you will continue working with throughout your piece, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic. For example, if you are reviewing literature about women and religion, key themes can include the role of women in churches and the religious attitude towards women.
• Qualitative versus quantitative research
• Empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the research by sociological, historical, or cultural sources
• Theoretical : In many humanities articles, the literature review is the foundation for the theoretical framework. You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts. You can argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach or combine various theorical concepts to create a framework for your research.

What are some strategies or tips I can use while writing my lit review?

Any lit review is only as good as the research it discusses; make sure your sources are well-chosen and your research is thorough. Don’t be afraid to do more research if you discover a new thread as you’re writing. More info on the research process is available in our "Conducting Research" resources .

As you’re doing your research, create an annotated bibliography ( see our page on the this type of document ). Much of the information used in an annotated bibliography can be used also in a literature review, so you’ll be not only partially drafting your lit review as you research, but also developing your sense of the larger conversation going on among scholars, professionals, and any other stakeholders in your topic.

Usually you will need to synthesize research rather than just summarizing it. This means drawing connections between sources to create a picture of the scholarly conversation on a topic over time. Many student writers struggle to synthesize because they feel they don’t have anything to add to the scholars they are citing; here are some strategies to help you:

• It often helps to remember that the point of these kinds of syntheses is to show your readers how you understand your research, to help them read the rest of your paper.
• Writing teachers often say synthesis is like hosting a dinner party: imagine all your sources are together in a room, discussing your topic. What are they saying to each other?
• Look at the in-text citations in each paragraph. Are you citing just one source for each paragraph? This usually indicates summary only. When you have multiple sources cited in a paragraph, you are more likely to be synthesizing them (not always, but often
• Read more about synthesis here.

The most interesting literature reviews are often written as arguments (again, as mentioned at the beginning of the page, this is discipline-specific and doesn’t work for all situations). Often, the literature review is where you can establish your research as filling a particular gap or as relevant in a particular way. You have some chance to do this in your introduction in an article, but the literature review section gives a more extended opportunity to establish the conversation in the way you would like your readers to see it. You can choose the intellectual lineage you would like to be part of and whose definitions matter most to your thinking (mostly humanities-specific, but this goes for sciences as well). In addressing these points, you argue for your place in the conversation, which tends to make the lit review more compelling than a simple reporting of other sources.

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27 Literature Reviews

Literature reviews, what this handout is about.

This handout will explain what literature reviews are and offer insights into the form and construction of literature reviews in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

Introduction

OK. You’ve got to write a literature review. You dust off a novel and a book of poetry, settle down in your chair, and get ready to issue a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” as you leaf through the pages. “Literature review” done. Right?

Wrong! The “literature” of a literature review refers to any collection of materials on a topic, not necessarily the great literary texts of the world. “Literature” could be anything from a set of government pamphlets on British colonial methods in Africa to scholarly articles on the treatment of a torn ACL. And a review does not necessarily mean that your reader wants you to give your personal opinion on whether or not you liked these sources.

What is a literature review, then?

A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period.

A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.

But how is a literature review different from an academic research paper?

The main focus of an academic research paper is to develop a new argument, and a research paper is likely to contain a literature review as one of its parts. In a research paper, you use the literature as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute. The focus of a literature review, however, is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others without adding new contributions.

Why do we write literature reviews?

Literature reviews provide you with a handy guide to a particular topic. If you have limited time to conduct research, literature reviews can give you an overview or act as a stepping stone. For professionals, they are useful reports that keep them up to date with what is current in the field. For scholars, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasizes the credibility of the writer in his or her field. Literature reviews also provide a solid background for a research paper’s investigation. Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers.

Who writes these things, anyway?

Literature reviews are written occasionally in the humanities, but mostly in the sciences and social sciences; in experiment and lab reports, they constitute a section of the paper. Sometimes a literature review is written as a paper in itself.

Let’s get to it! What should I do before writing the literature review?

If your assignment is not very specific, seek clarification from your instructor:

• Roughly how many sources should you include?
• What types of sources (books, journal articles, websites)?
• Should you summarize, synthesize, or critique your sources by discussing a common theme or issue?
• Should you evaluate your sources?
• Should you provide subheadings and other background information, such as definitions and/or a history?

Find models

Look for other literature reviews in your area of interest or in the discipline and read them to get a sense of the types of themes you might want to look for in your own research or ways to organize your final review. You can simply put the word “review” in your search engine along with your other topic terms to find articles of this type on the Internet or in an electronic database. The bibliography or reference section of sources you’ve already read are also excellent entry points into your own research.

Narrow your topic

There are hundreds or even thousands of articles and books on most areas of study. The narrower your topic, the easier it will be to limit the number of sources you need to read in order to get a good survey of the material. Your instructor will probably not expect you to read everything that’s out there on the topic, but you’ll make your job easier if you first limit your scope.

Keep in mind that UNC Libraries have research guides and to databases relevant to many fields of study. You can reach out to the subject librarian for a consultation:  https://library.unc.edu/support/consultations/ .

And don’t forget to tap into your professor’s (or other professors’) knowledge in the field. Ask your professor questions such as: “If you had to read only one book from the 90’s on topic X, what would it be?” Questions such as this help you to find and determine quickly the most seminal pieces in the field.

Consider whether your sources are current

Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. In the sciences, for instance, treatments for medical problems are constantly changing according to the latest studies. Information even two years old could be obsolete. However, if you are writing a review in the humanities, history, or social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may be what is needed, because what is important is how perspectives have changed through the years or within a certain time period. Try sorting through some other current bibliographies or literature reviews in the field to get a sense of what your discipline expects. You can also use this method to consider what is currently of interest to scholars in this field and what is not.

Strategies for writing the literature review

Find a focus.

A literature review, like a term paper, is usually organized around ideas, not the sources themselves as an annotated bibliography would be organized. This means that you will not just simply list your sources and go into detail about each one of them, one at a time. No. As you read widely but selectively in your topic area, consider instead what themes or issues connect your sources together. Do they present one or different solutions? Is there an aspect of the field that is missing? How well do they present the material and do they portray it according to an appropriate theory? Do they reveal a trend in the field? A raging debate? Pick one of these themes to focus the organization of your review.

Convey it to your reader

A literature review may not have a traditional thesis statement (one that makes an argument), but you do need to tell readers what to expect. Try writing a simple statement that lets the reader know what is your main organizing principle. Here are a couple of examples:

The current trend in treatment for congestive heart failure combines surgery and medicine. More and more cultural studies scholars are accepting popular media as a subject worthy of academic consideration.

Consider organization

You’ve got a focus, and you’ve stated it clearly and directly. Now what is the most effective way of presenting the information? What are the most important topics, subtopics, etc., that your review needs to include? And in what order should you present them? Develop an organization for your review at both a global and local level:

First, cover the basic categories

Just like most academic papers, literature reviews also must contain at least three basic elements: an introduction or background information section; the body of the review containing the discussion of sources; and, finally, a conclusion and/or recommendations section to end the paper.  The following provides a brief description of the content of each:

• Introduction:  Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature review, such as the central theme or organizational pattern.
• Body:  Contains your discussion of sources and is organized either chronologically, thematically, or methodologically (see below for more information on each).
• Conclusions/Recommendations:  Discuss what you have drawn from reviewing literature so far. Where might the discussion proceed?

Organizing the body

Once you have the basic categories in place, then you must consider how you will present the sources themselves within the body of your paper. Create an organizational method to focus this section even further.

To help you come up with an overall organizational framework for your review, consider the following scenario:

You’ve decided to focus your literature review on materials dealing with sperm whales. This is because you’ve just finished reading Moby Dick, and you wonder if that whale’s portrayal is really real. You start with some articles about the physiology of sperm whales in biology journals written in the 1980’s. But these articles refer to some British biological studies performed on whales in the early 18th century. So you check those out. Then you look up a book written in 1968 with information on how sperm whales have been portrayed in other forms of art, such as in Alaskan poetry, in French painting, or on whale bone, as the whale hunters in the late 19th century used to do. This makes you wonder about American whaling methods during the time portrayed in Moby Dick, so you find some academic articles published in the last five years on how accurately Herman Melville portrayed the whaling scene in his novel.

Now consider some typical ways of organizing the sources into a review:

• Chronological:  If your review follows the chronological method, you could write about the materials above according to when they were published. For instance, first you would talk about the British biological studies of the 18th century, then about Moby Dick, published in 1851, then the book on sperm whales in other art (1968), and finally the biology articles (1980s) and the recent articles on American whaling of the 19th century. But there is relatively no continuity among subjects here. And notice that even though the sources on sperm whales in other art and on American whaling are written recently, they are about other subjects/objects that were created much earlier. Thus, the review loses its chronological focus.
• By publication:  Order your sources by publication chronology, then, only if the order demonstrates a more important trend. For instance, you could order a review of literature on biological studies of sperm whales if the progression revealed a change in dissection practices of the researchers who wrote and/or conducted the studies.
• By trend:  A better way to organize the above sources chronologically is to examine the sources under another trend, such as the history of whaling. Then your review would have subsections according to eras within this period. For instance, the review might examine whaling from pre-1600-1699, 1700-1799, and 1800-1899. Under this method, you would combine the recent studies on American whaling in the 19th century with Moby Dick itself in the 1800-1899 category, even though the authors wrote a century apart.
• Thematic:  Thematic reviews of literature are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the progression of time. However, progression of time may still be an important factor in a thematic review. For instance, the sperm whale review could focus on the development of the harpoon for whale hunting. While the study focuses on one topic, harpoon technology, it will still be organized chronologically. The only difference here between a “chronological” and a “thematic” approach is what is emphasized the most: the development of the harpoon or the harpoon technology.But more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order. For instance, a thematic review of material on sperm whales might examine how they are portrayed as “evil” in cultural documents. The subsections might include how they are personified, how their proportions are exaggerated, and their behaviors misunderstood. A review organized in this manner would shift between time periods within each section according to the point made.
• Methodological:  A methodological approach differs from the two above in that the focusing factor usually does not have to do with the content of the material. Instead, it focuses on the “methods” of the researcher or writer. For the sperm whale project, one methodological approach would be to look at cultural differences between the portrayal of whales in American, British, and French art work. Or the review might focus on the economic impact of whaling on a community. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed. Once you’ve decided on the organizational method for the body of the review, the sections you need to include in the paper should be easy to figure out. They should arise out of your organizational strategy. In other words, a chronological review would have subsections for each vital time period. A thematic review would have subtopics based upon factors that relate to the theme or issue.

Sometimes, though, you might need to add additional sections that are necessary for your study, but do not fit in the organizational strategy of the body. What other sections you include in the body is up to you. Put in only what is necessary.  Here are a few other sections you might want to consider:

• Current Situation:  Information necessary to understand the topic or focus of the literature review.
• History:  The chronological progression of the field, the literature, or an idea that is necessary to understand the literature review, if the body of the literature review is not already a chronology.
• Methods and/or Standards:  The criteria you used to select the sources in your literature review or the way in which you present your information. For instance, you might explain that your review includes only peer-reviewed articles and journals.

Questions for Further Research: What questions about the field has the review sparked? How will you further your research as a result of the review?

Begin composing

Once you’ve settled on a general pattern of organization, you’re ready to write each section. There are a few guidelines you should follow during the writing stage as well. Here is a sample paragraph from a literature review about sexism and language to illuminate the following discussion:

However, other studies have shown that even gender-neutral antecedents are more likely to produce masculine images than feminine ones (Gastil, 1990). Hamilton (1988) asked students to complete sentences that required them to fill in pronouns that agreed with gender-neutral antecedents such as “writer,” “pedestrian,” and “persons.” The students were asked to describe any image they had when writing the sentence. Hamilton found that people imagined 3.3 men to each woman in the masculine “generic” condition and 1.5 men per woman in the unbiased condition. Thus, while ambient sexism accounted for some of the masculine bias, sexist language amplified the effect. (Source: Erika Falk and Jordan Mills, “Why Sexist Language Affects Persuasion: The Role of Homophily, Intended Audience, and Offense,” Women and Language19:2).

Use evidence

In the example above, the writers refer to several other sources when making their point. A literature review in this sense is just like any other academic research paper. Your interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence to show that what you are saying is valid.

Be selective

Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review. The type of information you choose to mention should relate directly to the review’s focus, whether it is thematic, methodological, or chronological.

Use quotes sparingly

Falk and Mills do not use any direct quotes. That is because the survey nature of the literature review does not allow for in-depth discussion or detailed quotes from the text. Some short quotes here and there are okay, though, if you want to emphasize a point, or if what the author said just cannot be rewritten in your own words. Notice that Falk and Mills do quote certain terms that were coined by the author, not common knowledge, or taken directly from the study. But if you find yourself wanting to put in more quotes, check with your instructor.

Summarize and synthesize

Remember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each paragraph as well as throughout the review. The authors here recapitulate important features of Hamilton’s study, but then synthesize it by rephrasing the study’s significance and relating it to their own work.

Keep your own voice

While the literature review presents others’ ideas, your voice (the writer’s) should remain front and center. Notice that Falk and Mills weave references to other sources into their own text, but they still maintain their own voice by starting and ending the paragraph with their own ideas and their own words. The sources support what Falk and Mills are saying.

Use caution when paraphrasing

When paraphrasing a source that is not your own, be sure to represent the author’s information or opinions accurately and in your own words. In the preceding example, Falk and Mills either directly refer in the text to the author of their source, such as Hamilton, or they provide ample notation in the text when the ideas they are mentioning are not their own, for example, Gastil’s. For more information, please see our  handout on plagiarism .

Revise, revise, revise

Draft in hand? Now you’re ready to revise. Spending a lot of time revising is a wise idea, because your main objective is to present the material, not the argument. So check over your review again to make sure it follows the assignment and/or your outline. Then, just as you would for most other academic forms of writing, rewrite or rework the language of your review so that you’ve presented your information in the most concise manner possible. Be sure to use terminology familiar to your audience; get rid of unnecessary jargon or slang. Finally, double check that you’ve documented your sources and formatted the review appropriately for your discipline. For tips on the revising and editing process, see our  handout on revising drafts .

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the  UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010.  The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Jones, Robert, Patrick Bizzaro, and Cynthia Selfe. 1997.  The Harcourt Brace Guide to Writing in the Disciplines . New York: Harcourt Brace.

Lamb, Sandra E. 1998.  How to Write It: A Complete Guide to Everything You’ll Ever Write . Berkeley: Ten Speed Press.

Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. 2003.  The Allyn & Bacon Handbook , 5th ed. New York: Longman.

Troyka, Lynn Quittman, and Doug Hesse. 2016.  Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers , 11th ed. London: Pearson.

LICESNSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS

• Literature Reviews. By: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Located at: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/literature-reviews/ Licenses: CC-BY-NC-ND

Writing in Genres Copyright © 2023 by Stephanie Frame is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

• Search for relevant literature
• Evaluate sources
• Identify themes, debates, and gaps
• Outline the structure
• Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

• Quick Run-through
• Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

• Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
• Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
• Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
• Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
• Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

• Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
• Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
• Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
• Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

• Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
• Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
• Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

• Your university’s library catalogue
• Google Scholar
• Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
• Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
• EconLit (economics)
• Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

• What question or problem is the author addressing?
• What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
• What are the key theories, models, and methods?
• Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
• What are the results and conclusions of the study?
• How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

• Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
• Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
• Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
• Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
• Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

• Most research has focused on young women.
• There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
• But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

• Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
• Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

• Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Sampling methods
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• Cluster sampling
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• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
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• Effect size
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Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
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• Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

• To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
• To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
• To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
• To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
• To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

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How to Write a Literature Review

What is a literature review.

• What Is the Literature
• Writing the Review

A literature review is much more than an annotated bibliography or a list of separate reviews of articles and books. It is a critical, analytical summary and synthesis of the current knowledge of a topic. Thus it should compare and relate different theories, findings, etc, rather than just summarize them individually. In addition, it should have a particular focus or theme to organize the review. It does not have to be an exhaustive account of everything published on the topic, but it should discuss all the significant academic literature and other relevant sources important for that focus.

This is meant to be a general guide to writing a literature review: ways to structure one, what to include, how it supplements other research. For more specific help on writing a review, and especially for help on finding the literature to review, sign up for a Personal Research Session .

The specific organization of a literature review depends on the type and purpose of the review, as well as on the specific field or topic being reviewed. But in general, it is a relatively brief but thorough exploration of past and current work on a topic. Rather than a chronological listing of previous work, though, literature reviews are usually organized thematically, such as different theoretical approaches, methodologies, or specific issues or concepts involved in the topic. A thematic organization makes it much easier to examine contrasting perspectives, theoretical approaches, methodologies, findings, etc, and to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of, and point out any gaps in, previous research. And this is the heart of what a literature review is about. A literature review may offer new interpretations, theoretical approaches, or other ideas; if it is part of a research proposal or report it should demonstrate the relationship of the proposed or reported research to others' work; but whatever else it does, it must provide a critical overview of the current state of research efforts. 

Literature reviews are common and very important in the sciences and social sciences. They are less common and have a less important role in the humanities, but they do have a place, especially stand-alone reviews.

Types of Literature Reviews

There are different types of literature reviews, and different purposes for writing a review, but the most common are:

• Stand-alone literature review articles . These provide an overview and analysis of the current state of research on a topic or question. The goal is to evaluate and compare previous research on a topic to provide an analysis of what is currently known, and also to reveal controversies, weaknesses, and gaps in current work, thus pointing to directions for future research. You can find examples published in any number of academic journals, but there is a series of Annual Reviews of *Subject* which are specifically devoted to literature review articles. Writing a stand-alone review is often an effective way to get a good handle on a topic and to develop ideas for your own research program. For example, contrasting theoretical approaches or conflicting interpretations of findings can be the basis of your research project: can you find evidence supporting one interpretation against another, or can you propose an alternative interpretation that overcomes their limitations?
• Part of a research proposal . This could be a proposal for a PhD dissertation, a senior thesis, or a class project. It could also be a submission for a grant. The literature review, by pointing out the current issues and questions concerning a topic, is a crucial part of demonstrating how your proposed research will contribute to the field, and thus of convincing your thesis committee to allow you to pursue the topic of your interest or a funding agency to pay for your research efforts.
• Part of a research report . When you finish your research and write your thesis or paper to present your findings, it should include a literature review to provide the context to which your work is a contribution. Your report, in addition to detailing the methods, results, etc. of your research, should show how your work relates to others' work.

A literature review for a research report is often a revision of the review for a research proposal, which can be a revision of a stand-alone review. Each revision should be a fairly extensive revision. With the increased knowledge of and experience in the topic as you proceed, your understanding of the topic will increase. Thus, you will be in a better position to analyze and critique the literature. In addition, your focus will change as you proceed in your research. Some areas of the literature you initially reviewed will be marginal or irrelevant for your eventual research, and you will need to explore other areas more thoroughly. 

Examples of Literature Reviews

See the series of Annual Reviews of *Subject* which are specifically devoted to literature review articles to find many examples of stand-alone literature reviews in the biomedical, physical, and social sciences. 

Research report articles vary in how they are organized, but a common general structure is to have sections such as:

• Abstract - Brief summary of the contents of the article
• Introduction - A explanation of the purpose of the study, a statement of the research question(s) the study intends to address
• Literature review - A critical assessment of the work done so far on this topic, to show how the current study relates to what has already been done
• Methods - How the study was carried out (e.g. instruments or equipment, procedures, methods to gather and analyze data)
• Results - What was found in the course of the study
• Discussion - What do the results mean
• Conclusion - State the conclusions and implications of the results, and discuss how it relates to the work reviewed in the literature review; also, point to directions for further work in the area

Here are some articles that illustrate variations on this theme. There is no need to read the entire articles (unless the contents interest you); just quickly browse through to see the sections, and see how each section is introduced and what is contained in them.

The Determinants of Undergraduate Grade Point Average: The Relative Importance of Family Background, High School Resources, and Peer Group Effects , in The Journal of Human Resources , v. 34 no. 2 (Spring 1999), p. 268-293.

This article has a standard breakdown of sections:

• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Some discussion sections

First Encounters of the Bureaucratic Kind: Early Freshman Experiences with a Campus Bureaucracy , in The Journal of Higher Education , v. 67 no. 6 (Nov-Dec 1996), p. 660-691.

This one does not have a section specifically labeled as a "literature review" or "review of the literature," but the first few sections cite a long list of other sources discussing previous research in the area before the authors present their own study they are reporting.

• Next: What Is the Literature >>
• Last Updated: Jan 11, 2024 9:48 AM
• URL: https://libguides.wesleyan.edu/litreview

• University of Texas Libraries

Literature Reviews

• What is a literature review?
• Steps in the Literature Review Process
• Define your research question
• Determine inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Choose databases and search
• Review Results
• Synthesize Results
• Analyze Results
• Librarian Support
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

What is a Literature Review?

A literature or narrative review is a comprehensive review and analysis of the published literature on a specific topic or research question. The literature that is reviewed contains: books, articles, academic articles, conference proceedings, association papers, and dissertations. It contains the most pertinent studies and points to important past and current research and practices. It provides background and context, and shows how your research will contribute to the field. 

A literature review should: 

• Provide a comprehensive and updated review of the literature;
• Explain why this review has taken place;
• Articulate a position or hypothesis;
• Acknowledge and account for conflicting and corroborating points of view

From  S age Research Methods

Purpose of a Literature Review

A literature review can be written as an introduction to a study to:

• Demonstrate how a study fills a gap in research
• Compare a study with other research that's been done

Or it can be a separate work (a research article on its own) which:

• Organizes or describes a topic
• Describes variables within a particular issue/problem

Limitations of a Literature Review

Some of the limitations of a literature review are:

• It's a snapshot in time. Unlike other reviews, this one has beginning, a middle and an end. There may be future developments that could make your work less relevant.
• It may be too focused. Some niche studies may miss the bigger picture.
• It can be difficult to be comprehensive. There is no way to make sure all the literature on a topic was considered.
• It is easy to be biased if you stick to top tier journals. There may be other places where people are publishing exemplary research. Look to open access publications and conferences to reflect a more inclusive collection. Also, make sure to include opposing views (and not just supporting evidence).

Source: Grant, Maria J., and Andrew Booth. “A Typology of Reviews: An Analysis of 14 Review Types and Associated Methodologies.” Health Information & Libraries Journal, vol. 26, no. 2, June 2009, pp. 91–108. Wiley Online Library, doi:10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x.

Meryl Brodsky : Communication and Information Studies

Hannah Chapman Tripp : Biology, Neuroscience

Carolyn Cunningham : Human Development & Family Sciences, Psychology, Sociology

Larayne Dallas : Engineering

Janelle Hedstrom : Special Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Ed Leadership & Policy ​

Susan Macicak : Linguistics

Imelda Vetter : Dell Medical School

For help in other subject areas, please see the guide to library specialists by subject .

Periodically, UT Libraries runs a workshop covering the basics and library support for literature reviews. While we try to offer these once per academic year, we find providing the recording to be helpful to community members who have missed the session. Following is the most recent recording of the workshop, Conducting a Literature Review. To view the recording, a UT login is required.

• October 26, 2022 recording
• Last Updated: Jul 30, 2024 9:33 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.utexas.edu/literaturereviews

• UConn Library
• Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide
• Introduction

Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide — Introduction

• Getting Started
• How to Pick a Topic
• Strategies to Find Sources
• Evaluating Sources & Lit. Reviews
• Tips for Writing Literature Reviews
• Writing Literature Review: Useful Sites
• Citation Resources
• Other Academic Writings

What are Literature Reviews?

So, what is a literature review? "A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries." Taylor, D.  The literature review: A few tips on conducting it . University of Toronto Health Sciences Writing Centre.

Goals of Literature Reviews

What are the goals of creating a Literature Review?  A literature could be written to accomplish different aims:

• To develop a theory or evaluate an existing theory
• To summarize the historical or existing state of a research topic
• Identify a problem in a field of research 

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1997). Writing narrative literature reviews .  Review of General Psychology , 1 (3), 311-320.

What kinds of sources require a Literature Review?

• A research paper assigned in a course
• A thesis or dissertation
• A grant proposal
• An article intended for publication in a journal

All these instances require you to collect what has been written about your research topic so that you can demonstrate how your own research sheds new light on the topic.

Types of Literature Reviews

What kinds of literature reviews are written?

Narrative review: The purpose of this type of review is to describe the current state of the research on a specific topic/research and to offer a critical analysis of the literature reviewed. Studies are grouped by research/theoretical categories, and themes and trends, strengths and weakness, and gaps are identified. The review ends with a conclusion section which summarizes the findings regarding the state of the research of the specific study, the gaps identify and if applicable, explains how the author's research will address gaps identify in the review and expand the knowledge on the topic reviewed.

• Example : Predictors and Outcomes of U.S. Quality Maternity Leave: A Review and Conceptual Framework:  10.1177/08948453211037398  

Systematic review : "The authors of a systematic review use a specific procedure to search the research literature, select the studies to include in their review, and critically evaluate the studies they find." (p. 139). Nelson, L. K. (2013). Research in Communication Sciences and Disorders . Plural Publishing.

• Example : The effect of leave policies on increasing fertility: a systematic review:  10.1057/s41599-022-01270-w

Meta-analysis : "Meta-analysis is a method of reviewing research findings in a quantitative fashion by transforming the data from individual studies into what is called an effect size and then pooling and analyzing this information. The basic goal in meta-analysis is to explain why different outcomes have occurred in different studies." (p. 197). Roberts, M. C., & Ilardi, S. S. (2003). Handbook of Research Methods in Clinical Psychology . Blackwell Publishing.

• Example : Employment Instability and Fertility in Europe: A Meta-Analysis:  10.1215/00703370-9164737

Meta-synthesis : "Qualitative meta-synthesis is a type of qualitative study that uses as data the findings from other qualitative studies linked by the same or related topic." (p.312). Zimmer, L. (2006). Qualitative meta-synthesis: A question of dialoguing with texts .  Journal of Advanced Nursing , 53 (3), 311-318.

• Example : Women’s perspectives on career successes and barriers: A qualitative meta-synthesis:  10.1177/05390184221113735

Literature Reviews in the Health Sciences

• UConn Health subject guide on systematic reviews Explanation of the different review types used in health sciences literature as well as tools to help you find the right review type
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Introduction to Literature Reviews

Introduction.

• Step One: Define
• Step Two: Research
• Step Three: Write
• Suggested Readings

A literature review is a written work that :

• Compiles significant research published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers;
• —Surveys scholarly articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings, and other sources;
• —Examines contrasting perspectives, theoretical approaches, methodologies, findings, results, conclusions.
• —Reviews critically, analyzes, and synthesizes existing research on a topic; and,
• Performs a thorough “re” view, “overview”, or “look again” of past and current works on a subject, issue, or theory.

From these analyses, the writer then offers an overview of the current status of a particular area of knowledge from both a practical and theoretical perspective.

Literature reviews are important because they are usually a  required  step in a thesis proposal (Master's or PhD). The proposal will not be well-supported without a literature review. Also, literature reviews are important because they help you learn important authors and ideas in your field. This is useful for your coursework and your writing. Knowing key authors also helps you become acquainted with other researchers in your field.

Look at this diagram and imagine that your research is the "something new." This shows how your research should relate to major works and other sources.

Olivia Whitfield | Graduate Reference Assistant | 2012-2015

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• Last Updated: Jul 9, 2024 9:53 AM
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Libraries | Research Guides

Literature reviews, what is a literature review, learning more about how to do a literature review.

• Planning the Review
• The Research Question
• Choosing Where to Search
• Organizing the Review
• Writing the Review

A literature review is a review and synthesis of existing research on a topic or research question. A literature review is meant to analyze the scholarly literature, make connections across writings and identify strengths, weaknesses, trends, and missing conversations. A literature review should address different aspects of a topic as it relates to your research question. A literature review goes beyond a description or summary of the literature you have read. 

• Sage Research Methods Core This link opens in a new window SAGE Research Methods supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through every step of the research process. SAGE Research Methods is the ultimate methods library with more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online from any scholarly publisher. – Publisher

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Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide: Literature Reviews?

• Literature Reviews?
• Strategies to Finding Sources
• Keeping up with Research!
• Evaluating Sources & Literature Reviews
• Organizing for Writing
• Writing Literature Review
• Other Academic Writings

What is a Literature Review?

So, what is a literature review .

"A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available or a set of summaries." - Quote from Taylor, D. (n.d)."The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting it".

• Citation: "The Literature Review: A Few Tips on Conducting it"

What kinds of literature reviews are written?

Each field has a particular way to do reviews for academic research literature. In the social sciences and humanities the most common are:

• Narrative Reviews: The purpose of this type of review is to describe the current state of the research on a specific research topic and to offer a critical analysis of the literature reviewed. Studies are grouped by research/theoretical categories, and themes and trends, strengths and weaknesses, and gaps are identified. The review ends with a conclusion section that summarizes the findings regarding the state of the research of the specific study, the gaps identify and if applicable, explains how the author's research will address gaps identify in the review and expand the knowledge on the topic reviewed.
• Book review essays/ Historiographical review essays : A type of literature review typical in History and related fields, e.g., Latin American studies. For example, the Latin American Research Review explains that the purpose of this type of review is to “(1) to familiarize readers with the subject, approach, arguments, and conclusions found in a group of books whose common focus is a historical period; a country or region within Latin America; or a practice, development, or issue of interest to specialists and others; (2) to locate these books within current scholarship, critical methodologies, and approaches; and (3) to probe the relation of these new books to previous work on the subject, especially canonical texts. Unlike individual book reviews, the cluster reviews found in LARR seek to address the state of the field or discipline and not solely the works at issue.” - LARR

What are the Goals of Creating a Literature Review?

• To develop a theory or evaluate an existing theory
• To summarize the historical or existing state of a research topic
• Identify a problem in a field of research 
• Baumeister, R.F. & Leary, M.R. (1997). "Writing narrative literature reviews," Review of General Psychology , 1(3), 311-320.

When do you need to write a Literature Review?

• When writing a prospectus or a thesis/dissertation
• When writing a research paper
• When writing a grant proposal

In all these cases you need to dedicate a chapter in these works to showcase what has been written about your research topic and to point out how your own research will shed new light into a body of scholarship.

Where I can find examples of Literature Reviews?

Note:  In the humanities, even if they don't use the term "literature review", they may have a dedicated  chapter that reviewed the "critical bibliography" or they incorporated that review in the introduction or first chapter of the dissertation, book, or article.

• UCSB electronic theses and dissertations In partnership with the Graduate Division, the UC Santa Barbara Library is making available theses and dissertations produced by UCSB students. Currently included in ADRL are theses and dissertations that were originally filed electronically, starting in 2011. In future phases of ADRL, all theses and dissertations created by UCSB students may be digitized and made available.

Where to Find Standalone Literature Reviews

Literature reviews are also written as standalone articles as a way to survey a particular research topic in-depth. This type of literature review looks at a topic from a historical perspective to see how the understanding of the topic has changed over time. 

• Find e-Journals for Standalone Literature Reviews The best way to get familiar with and to learn how to write literature reviews is by reading them. You can use our Journal Search option to find journals that specialize in publishing literature reviews from major disciplines like anthropology, sociology, etc. Usually these titles are called, "Annual Review of [discipline name] OR [Discipline name] Review. This option works best if you know the title of the publication you are looking for. Below are some examples of these journals! more... less... Journal Search can be found by hovering over the link for Research on the library website.

Social Sciences

• Annual Review of Anthropology
• Annual Review of Political Science
• Annual Review of Sociology
• Ethnic Studies Review

Hard science and health sciences:

• Annual Review of Biomedical Data Science
• Annual Review of Materials Science
• Systematic Review From journal site: "The journal Systematic Reviews encompasses all aspects of the design, conduct, and reporting of systematic reviews" in the health sciences.
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Literature Review - what is a Literature Review, why it is important and how it is done

What are literature reviews, goals of literature reviews, types of literature reviews, about this guide/licence.

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 What is a literature review? "A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries. " - Quote from Taylor, D. (n.d) "The literature review: A few tips on conducting it"

Source NC State University Libraries. This video is published under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY-NC-SA US license.

What are the goals of creating a Literature Review?

• To develop a theory or evaluate an existing theory
• To summarize the historical or existing state of a research topic
• Identify a problem in a field of research 

- Baumeister, R.F. & Leary, M.R. (1997). "Writing narrative literature reviews," Review of General Psychology , 1(3), 311-320.

When do you need to write a Literature Review?

• When writing a prospectus or a thesis/dissertation
• When writing a research paper
• When writing a grant proposal

In all these cases you need to dedicate a chapter in these works to showcase what have been written about your research topic and to point out how your own research will shed a new light into these body of scholarship.

Literature reviews are also written as standalone articles as a way to survey a particular research topic in-depth. This type of literature reviews look at a topic from a historical perspective to see how the understanding of the topic have change through time.

What kinds of literature reviews are written?

• Narrative Review: The purpose of this type of review is to describe the current state of the research on a specific topic/research and to offer a critical analysis of the literature reviewed. Studies are grouped by research/theoretical categories, and themes and trends, strengths and weakness, and gaps are identified. The review ends with a conclusion section which summarizes the findings regarding the state of the research of the specific study, the gaps identify and if applicable, explains how the author's research will address gaps identify in the review and expand the knowledge on the topic reviewed.
• Book review essays/ Historiographical review essays : This is a type of review that focus on a small set of research books on a particular topic " to locate these books within current scholarship, critical methodologies, and approaches" in the field. - LARR
• Systematic review : "The authors of a systematic review use a specific procedure to search the research literature, select the studies to include in their review, and critically evaluate the studies they find." (p. 139). Nelson, L.K. (2013). Research in Communication Sciences and Disorders . San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing.
• Meta-analysis : "Meta-analysis is a method of reviewing research findings in a quantitative fashion by transforming the data from individual studies into what is called an effect size and then pooling and analyzing this information. The basic goal in meta-analysis is to explain why different outcomes have occurred in different studies." (p. 197). Roberts, M.C. & Ilardi, S.S. (2003). Handbook of Research Methods in Clinical Psychology . Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
• Meta-synthesis : "Qualitative meta-synthesis is a type of qualitative study that uses as data the findings from other qualitative studies linked by the same or related topic." (p.312). Zimmer, L. (2006). "Qualitative meta-synthesis: A question of dialoguing with texts," Journal of Advanced Nursing , 53(3), 311-318.

Guide adapted from "Literature Review" , a guide developed by Marisol Ramos used under CC BY 4.0 /modified from original.

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• URL: https://lit.libguides.com/Literature-Review

The Library, Technological University of the Shannon: Midwest

What is a Literature Review? How to Write It (with Examples)

A literature review is a critical analysis and synthesis of existing research on a particular topic. It provides an overview of the current state of knowledge, identifies gaps, and highlights key findings in the literature. 1 The purpose of a literature review is to situate your own research within the context of existing scholarship, demonstrating your understanding of the topic and showing how your work contributes to the ongoing conversation in the field. Learning how to write a literature review is a critical tool for successful research. Your ability to summarize and synthesize prior research pertaining to a certain topic demonstrates your grasp on the topic of study, and assists in the learning process. 

Table of Contents

• What is the purpose of literature review? 
• a. Habitat Loss and Species Extinction: 
• b. Range Shifts and Phenological Changes: 
• c. Ocean Acidification and Coral Reefs: 
• d. Adaptive Strategies and Conservation Efforts: 

How to write a good literature review 

• Choose a Topic and Define the Research Question: 
• Decide on the Scope of Your Review: 
• Select Databases for Searches: 
• Conduct Searches and Keep Track: 
• Review the Literature: 
• Organize and Write Your Literature Review: 
• How to write a literature review faster with Paperpal? 
• Frequently asked questions 

What is a literature review?

A well-conducted literature review demonstrates the researcher’s familiarity with the existing literature, establishes the context for their own research, and contributes to scholarly conversations on the topic. One of the purposes of a literature review is also to help researchers avoid duplicating previous work and ensure that their research is informed by and builds upon the existing body of knowledge.

What is the purpose of literature review?

A literature review serves several important purposes within academic and research contexts. Here are some key objectives and functions of a literature review: 2  

1. Contextualizing the Research Problem: The literature review provides a background and context for the research problem under investigation. It helps to situate the study within the existing body of knowledge. 

2. Identifying Gaps in Knowledge: By identifying gaps, contradictions, or areas requiring further research, the researcher can shape the research question and justify the significance of the study. This is crucial for ensuring that the new research contributes something novel to the field. 

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3. Understanding Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks: Literature reviews help researchers gain an understanding of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used in previous studies. This aids in the development of a theoretical framework for the current research. 

4. Providing Methodological Insights: Another purpose of literature reviews is that it allows researchers to learn about the methodologies employed in previous studies. This can help in choosing appropriate research methods for the current study and avoiding pitfalls that others may have encountered. 

5. Establishing Credibility: A well-conducted literature review demonstrates the researcher’s familiarity with existing scholarship, establishing their credibility and expertise in the field. It also helps in building a solid foundation for the new research. 

6. Informing Hypotheses or Research Questions: The literature review guides the formulation of hypotheses or research questions by highlighting relevant findings and areas of uncertainty in existing literature. 

Literature review example

Let’s delve deeper with a literature review example: Let’s say your literature review is about the impact of climate change on biodiversity. You might format your literature review into sections such as the effects of climate change on habitat loss and species extinction, phenological changes, and marine biodiversity. Each section would then summarize and analyze relevant studies in those areas, highlighting key findings and identifying gaps in the research. The review would conclude by emphasizing the need for further research on specific aspects of the relationship between climate change and biodiversity. The following literature review template provides a glimpse into the recommended literature review structure and content, demonstrating how research findings are organized around specific themes within a broader topic. 

Literature Review on Climate Change Impacts on Biodiversity:

Climate change is a global phenomenon with far-reaching consequences, including significant impacts on biodiversity. This literature review synthesizes key findings from various studies: 

a. Habitat Loss and Species Extinction:

Climate change-induced alterations in temperature and precipitation patterns contribute to habitat loss, affecting numerous species (Thomas et al., 2004). The review discusses how these changes increase the risk of extinction, particularly for species with specific habitat requirements. 

b. Range Shifts and Phenological Changes:

Observations of range shifts and changes in the timing of biological events (phenology) are documented in response to changing climatic conditions (Parmesan & Yohe, 2003). These shifts affect ecosystems and may lead to mismatches between species and their resources. 

c. Ocean Acidification and Coral Reefs:

The review explores the impact of climate change on marine biodiversity, emphasizing ocean acidification’s threat to coral reefs (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2007). Changes in pH levels negatively affect coral calcification, disrupting the delicate balance of marine ecosystems. 

d. Adaptive Strategies and Conservation Efforts:

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the literature review discusses various adaptive strategies adopted by species and conservation efforts aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change on biodiversity (Hannah et al., 2007). It emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary approaches for effective conservation planning. 

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Writing a literature review involves summarizing and synthesizing existing research on a particular topic. A good literature review format should include the following elements. 

Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your literature review, providing context and introducing the main focus of your review. 

• Opening Statement: Begin with a general statement about the broader topic and its significance in the field. 
• Scope and Purpose: Clearly define the scope of your literature review. Explain the specific research question or objective you aim to address. 
• Organizational Framework: Briefly outline the structure of your literature review, indicating how you will categorize and discuss the existing research. 
• Significance of the Study: Highlight why your literature review is important and how it contributes to the understanding of the chosen topic. 
• Thesis Statement: Conclude the introduction with a concise thesis statement that outlines the main argument or perspective you will develop in the body of the literature review. 

Body: The body of the literature review is where you provide a comprehensive analysis of existing literature, grouping studies based on themes, methodologies, or other relevant criteria. 

• Organize by Theme or Concept: Group studies that share common themes, concepts, or methodologies. Discuss each theme or concept in detail, summarizing key findings and identifying gaps or areas of disagreement. 
• Critical Analysis: Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each study. Discuss the methodologies used, the quality of evidence, and the overall contribution of each work to the understanding of the topic. 
• Synthesis of Findings: Synthesize the information from different studies to highlight trends, patterns, or areas of consensus in the literature. 
• Identification of Gaps: Discuss any gaps or limitations in the existing research and explain how your review contributes to filling these gaps. 
• Transition between Sections: Provide smooth transitions between different themes or concepts to maintain the flow of your literature review. 

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Conclusion: The conclusion of your literature review should summarize the main findings, highlight the contributions of the review, and suggest avenues for future research. 

• Summary of Key Findings: Recap the main findings from the literature and restate how they contribute to your research question or objective. 
• Contributions to the Field: Discuss the overall contribution of your literature review to the existing knowledge in the field. 
• Implications and Applications: Explore the practical implications of the findings and suggest how they might impact future research or practice. 
• Recommendations for Future Research: Identify areas that require further investigation and propose potential directions for future research in the field. 
• Final Thoughts: Conclude with a final reflection on the importance of your literature review and its relevance to the broader academic community. 

Conducting a literature review

Conducting a literature review is an essential step in research that involves reviewing and analyzing existing literature on a specific topic. It’s important to know how to do a literature review effectively, so here are the steps to follow: 1  

Choose a Topic and Define the Research Question:

• Select a topic that is relevant to your field of study. 
• Clearly define your research question or objective. Determine what specific aspect of the topic do you want to explore? 

Decide on the Scope of Your Review:

• Determine the timeframe for your literature review. Are you focusing on recent developments, or do you want a historical overview? 
• Consider the geographical scope. Is your review global, or are you focusing on a specific region? 
• Define the inclusion and exclusion criteria. What types of sources will you include? Are there specific types of studies or publications you will exclude? 

Select Databases for Searches:

• Identify relevant databases for your field. Examples include PubMed, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. 
• Consider searching in library catalogs, institutional repositories, and specialized databases related to your topic. 

Conduct Searches and Keep Track:

• Develop a systematic search strategy using keywords, Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), and other search techniques. 
• Record and document your search strategy for transparency and replicability. 
• Keep track of the articles, including publication details, abstracts, and links. Use citation management tools like EndNote, Zotero, or Mendeley to organize your references. 

Review the Literature:

• Evaluate the relevance and quality of each source. Consider the methodology, sample size, and results of studies. 
• Organize the literature by themes or key concepts. Identify patterns, trends, and gaps in the existing research. 
• Summarize key findings and arguments from each source. Compare and contrast different perspectives. 
• Identify areas where there is a consensus in the literature and where there are conflicting opinions. 
• Provide critical analysis and synthesis of the literature. What are the strengths and weaknesses of existing research? 

Organize and Write Your Literature Review:

• Literature review outline should be based on themes, chronological order, or methodological approaches. 
• Write a clear and coherent narrative that synthesizes the information gathered. 
• Use proper citations for each source and ensure consistency in your citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.). 
• Conclude your literature review by summarizing key findings, identifying gaps, and suggesting areas for future research. 

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How to write a literature review faster with Paperpal?

Paperpal, an AI writing assistant, integrates powerful academic search capabilities within its writing platform. With the Research feature, you get 100% factual insights, with citations backed by 250M+ verified research articles, directly within your writing interface with the option to save relevant references in your Citation Library. By eliminating the need to switch tabs to find answers to all your research questions, Paperpal saves time and helps you stay focused on your writing.   

Here’s how to use the Research feature:  

• Ask a question: Get started with a new document on paperpal.com. Click on the “Research” feature and type your question in plain English. Paperpal will scour over 250 million research articles, including conference papers and preprints, to provide you with accurate insights and citations. 
• Review and Save: Paperpal summarizes the information, while citing sources and listing relevant reads. You can quickly scan the results to identify relevant references and save these directly to your built-in citations library for later access. 
• Cite with Confidence: Paperpal makes it easy to incorporate relevant citations and references into your writing, ensuring your arguments are well-supported by credible sources. This translates to a polished, well-researched literature review. 

The literature review sample and detailed advice on writing and conducting a review will help you produce a well-structured report. But remember that a good literature review is an ongoing process, and it may be necessary to revisit and update it as your research progresses. By combining effortless research with an easy citation process, Paperpal Research streamlines the literature review process and empowers you to write faster and with more confidence. Try Paperpal Research now and see for yourself.  

Frequently asked questions

A literature review is a critical and comprehensive analysis of existing literature (published and unpublished works) on a specific topic or research question and provides a synthesis of the current state of knowledge in a particular field. A well-conducted literature review is crucial for researchers to build upon existing knowledge, avoid duplication of efforts, and contribute to the advancement of their field. It also helps researchers situate their work within a broader context and facilitates the development of a sound theoretical and conceptual framework for their studies.

Literature review is a crucial component of research writing, providing a solid background for a research paper’s investigation. The aim is to keep professionals up to date by providing an understanding of ongoing developments within a specific field, including research methods, and experimental techniques used in that field, and present that knowledge in the form of a written report. Also, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasizes the credibility of the scholar in his or her field.  

Before writing a literature review, it’s essential to undertake several preparatory steps to ensure that your review is well-researched, organized, and focused. This includes choosing a topic of general interest to you and doing exploratory research on that topic, writing an annotated bibliography, and noting major points, especially those that relate to the position you have taken on the topic. 

Literature reviews and academic research papers are essential components of scholarly work but serve different purposes within the academic realm. 3 A literature review aims to provide a foundation for understanding the current state of research on a particular topic, identify gaps or controversies, and lay the groundwork for future research. Therefore, it draws heavily from existing academic sources, including books, journal articles, and other scholarly publications. In contrast, an academic research paper aims to present new knowledge, contribute to the academic discourse, and advance the understanding of a specific research question. Therefore, it involves a mix of existing literature (in the introduction and literature review sections) and original data or findings obtained through research methods. 

Literature reviews are essential components of academic and research papers, and various strategies can be employed to conduct them effectively. If you want to know how to write a literature review for a research paper, here are four common approaches that are often used by researchers.  Chronological Review: This strategy involves organizing the literature based on the chronological order of publication. It helps to trace the development of a topic over time, showing how ideas, theories, and research have evolved.  Thematic Review: Thematic reviews focus on identifying and analyzing themes or topics that cut across different studies. Instead of organizing the literature chronologically, it is grouped by key themes or concepts, allowing for a comprehensive exploration of various aspects of the topic.  Methodological Review: This strategy involves organizing the literature based on the research methods employed in different studies. It helps to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of various methodologies and allows the reader to evaluate the reliability and validity of the research findings.  Theoretical Review: A theoretical review examines the literature based on the theoretical frameworks used in different studies. This approach helps to identify the key theories that have been applied to the topic and assess their contributions to the understanding of the subject.  It’s important to note that these strategies are not mutually exclusive, and a literature review may combine elements of more than one approach. The choice of strategy depends on the research question, the nature of the literature available, and the goals of the review. Additionally, other strategies, such as integrative reviews or systematic reviews, may be employed depending on the specific requirements of the research.

The literature review format can vary depending on the specific publication guidelines. However, there are some common elements and structures that are often followed. Here is a general guideline for the format of a literature review:  Introduction:   Provide an overview of the topic.  Define the scope and purpose of the literature review.  State the research question or objective.  Body:   Organize the literature by themes, concepts, or chronology.  Critically analyze and evaluate each source.  Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the studies.  Highlight any methodological limitations or biases.  Identify patterns, connections, or contradictions in the existing research.  Conclusion:   Summarize the key points discussed in the literature review.  Highlight the research gap.  Address the research question or objective stated in the introduction.  Highlight the contributions of the review and suggest directions for future research.

Both annotated bibliographies and literature reviews involve the examination of scholarly sources. While annotated bibliographies focus on individual sources with brief annotations, literature reviews provide a more in-depth, integrated, and comprehensive analysis of existing literature on a specific topic. The key differences are as follows: 

References 

• Denney, A. S., & Tewksbury, R. (2013). How to write a literature review.  Journal of criminal justice education ,  24 (2), 218-234. 
• Pan, M. L. (2016).  Preparing literature reviews: Qualitative and quantitative approaches . Taylor & Francis. 
• Cantero, C. (2019). How to write a literature review.  San José State University Writing Center . 

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University Libraries

Literature review.

• What is a Literature Review?
• What is Its Purpose?
• 1. Select a Topic
• 2. Set the Topic in Context
• 3. Types of Information Sources
• 4. Use Information Sources
• 5. Get the Information
• 6. Organize / Manage the Information
• 7. Position the Literature Review
• 8. Write the Literature Review

A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a topic. The literature review surveys scholarly articles, books, and other sources relevant to a particular area of research.  The review should enumerate, describe, summarize, objectively evaluate and clarify this previous research.  It should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the author) determine the nature of your research.  The literature review acknowledges the work of previous researchers, and in so doing, assures the reader that your work has been well conceived.  It is assumed that by mentioning a previous work in the field of study, that the author has read, evaluated, and assimiliated that work into the work at hand.

A literature review creates a "landscape" for the reader, giving her or him a full understanding of the developments in the field.  This landscape informs the reader that the author has indeed assimilated all (or the vast majority of) previous, significant works in the field into her or his research. 

 "In writing the literature review, the purpose is to convey to the reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. The literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (eg. your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.( http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/literature-review )

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• Last Updated: Oct 2, 2023 12:34 PM

TAFT COLLEGE

Literature Review: What is a Literature Review?

What is a literature review.

• Organize & Compose
• Evaluating Information
• Citing, Paraphrasing, and Formatting

• Writing a Literature Review: Six Steps to Get You from Start to Finish If you are new to the process of synthesizing information from what can seem like a massive amount of "literature," these suggestions from a UC Merced Sociology professor can help you tackle the project.

When conducting a literature review a researcher must have three quite distinct skills. He or she must be

• adept at searching online databases and print indexes.
• able to evaluate critically what has been read.
• able to incorporate the selected readings into a coherent, integrated, meaningful account.

Portions of this LibGuide have been borrowed from LibGuides at the following colleges and universities:

• Boston College
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Austin Peay State University
• Santa Rosa Junior College

A literature review surveys published information (books, scholarly articles, and other documents) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory.  The "literature" of a literature review refers to any collection of materials on a topic.

Sometimes a literature review is a brief summary of those sources, but more commonly it is a summary and a synthesis. A synthesis can be a reorganization of the information to provide a new interpretation, make comparisons between old and new information, or track the intellectual progression of an idea or concept. A literature review can also provide an evaluation of the sources in order to advise readers on their relevance or importance.

Here are a few types of Literature Reviews often used in undergraduate research:

• Narrative Review:  Describes what related research has already been conducted and how that research informs the thesis of the paper
• Critical Review:  Provides a more detailed examination of the literature that compares and evaluates a number of perspectives.
• Conceptual Review:  Groups literature according to concepts, or categories, or themes in order to provide a snapshot of where things are with a particular field of research.

What is the Purpose of a Literature Review?

Generally speaking, a literature provides an overview of the significant literature published on a topic. For researchers of all levels and disciplines, a literature review can:

• Set up the starting point for research by summarizing, comparing, and evaluating existing sources in the area of interest.
• Help understand the direction of the further research and areas worth focusing on.
• Provide access to the most important information on a certain topic by picking out sources that are valid, meaningful, and relevant, summarizing them and turning them into a single concise report.
• Help researchers not to duplicate work that has been done before.
• Provide a detailed analysis of methods used in other researches.
• Identify gaps and contradictions in existing sources and highlight the most important findings.
• Identify current research in the field.

Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers.

Some Tips on Recording the Information Found, on Taking Notes etc.:

• It is sometimes sufficient to browse the text quickly. The introduction or conclusion often give a gist of the thesis and main points. Still, often a researcher must read much or all of a work, especially if it is of an authoritative or technical nature.
• Begin with most recent studies and work backwards. A recent article’s list of references or bibliography might provide you with valuable works to consult.
• If the report/article has an abstract, read it first.
• Don’t trust your memory. Record all research. You'll never remember who said what if you neglect to take adequate notes!
• Write down the complete citation for each work. Don't forget the page nos. for later use in the notes and bibliography. For Internet citations, note the URL.
• Avoid "grandfather" citations. Return to original source.
• Write all direct quotations precisely, word-for-word. Use quotation marks. Failure to put a direct text in quotes (or to credit the author) sets the stage for plagiarism.
• Avoid copying too many direct quotations. Most of the review should be primarily in your own words with appropriate documentation of others’ ideas.
• Do not stress just a single source or two. It is usually important in a literature review to provide evidence you consulted and used a wide range of resources.
• For a contentious topic, present the opposing positions. Be objective. Do not overemphasize one side.
• Sample Literature Reviews from the University of West Florida
• Example: Writing a Short Literature Review from CUNY This is an excellent example of an APA literature review from how a student gathered information from the literature to composing and formatting the entire paper.
• Sample Literature Reviews from University of LaVerne This guide provides sample published literature reviews from a wide variety of disciplines.
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• Last Updated: Jan 29, 2024 9:12 AM
• URL: https://lib.taftcollege.edu/c.php?g=963864

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Literature Reviews

What is a literature review.

• Getting Started
• Searching the Literature
• How to Read Scholarly Studies
• Managing Your Results
• Assembling Your Review

Jump to Section

• Selecting a Topic & Scope
• Identify Keywords to Use in Searching
• Finding Articles
• Reading, Note-taking, and Organization
• Citation Management

Writing Assistance for Literature Reviews

Introduction.

This guide was designed to explain how to create a literature review step by step. If you have any questions about the content of this guide or would simply like one-on-one help please use the button below to make an appointment with one of the library's research librarians.

Research Help

Set up a consultation with a librarian for help refining your topic and finding sources for your paper.

• Make an Appointment

A literature review is a very specific type of academic project. It is not an annotated bibliography. It isn't a research paper. It isn't a comprehensive list of everything ever published on a certain topic. 

Literature reviews are not created to produce new insights. They are written to explore and explain the literature on the topic or issue. 

One of the most important functions of a literature review is to lay the groundwork, provide background and context, for a larger research project such as a Masters thesis or PhD dissertation. Literature reviews often come at the start of scholarly journal articles. In the social sciences and natural sciences, a literature review comprises a section of a scholarly journal article.

Professors in research methods courses often assign standalone literature reviews so that students develop skills in searching, analyzing and organizing scholarly literature in a particular field. 

1. Selecting a Topic & Scope

The first step in any literature review is to identify a topic or subject area you wish to explore, and then setting some parameters to find the scope of your review.

You also need to make sure you select a subject area that has already been researched . It will not be possible to locate sufficient existing literature on a brand new discovery or current event that is being written about in the news right now. It needs to be a well-established research area with existing studies you can review, organize and analyze. Some professors require you to find a topic that has 'not been researched before'. In that case, they don't mean an entire broad topic that hasn't been researched; instead, you'll want to find a sliver of a broad topic that hasn't been researched before. This is where narrowing your topic and finding parameters becomes very important. You may need to do some background reading on several different topics to find one that works, if your professor is having you do a standalone literature review as part of a research methods course.

Ways of Narrowing a Broad topic

For example:

Broad topic: ADHD treatments

Narrowed question: How can neurofeedback be used in threating elementary school-aged children?

Publication Dates

The scope of your review will be a part of refining your topic area or research question. In some disciplines, medicine and health science for example, the publication date of your sources may be extremely important. So, to avoid including outdated clinical recommendations, you may want to limit your review to only the most recent research out there. For other topics, say history or literature, publication date may not be as important - and scholarly research from 20, 30, even 50 years ago may still be relevant and useful today. So it's good idea to consider setting some date ranges for your search, it that is important to your topic.

Whatever your topic area turns out to be, framing the boundaries of your research question ahead of time will make searching and selecting appropriate articles that much easier. 

2. Identify Keywords to Use in Searching

Once you have defined a suitable topic or research question for your review, you will need to create a list of keywords that you will use to search for appropriate studies to include in your review. You will be doing searches through several different databases, Google scholar, or publisher platforms and the terminology used in each may vary. It is especially important to have a good variety of search terms that you can combine in different ways. This will ensure you gather the most relevant sources that cover your topic thoroughly. 

Remember to continue to gather and change your keywords as you read more about your topic!

To start, list synonyms and phrases that have to do with the main words of a research topic:

Example: Is neurofeedback useful in the treatment of ADHD in children?

Now, let's consider the word "useful" in this example topic. What is meant by "useful"? The word itself will not be helpful while searching. Instead, think about what might be useful  in terms of treatment of a child with ADHD. Think about benefits and outcomes and brainstorm a list of words:

3. Finding Articles

Using research guides to find subject specific databases.

For more focused searching of the literature of just one discipline, head over to the Research Guides section of our website. We have  Subject Guides   for all disciplines represented at UTC. Find the subject guide that has most to do with your topic, for example, if you are writing about politics, you'd choose Political Science and Public Service guide. Writing about K-12 schools? Choose Education. Each Subject Guide was created by UTC Librarians and has links to a variety of resources that you have access to.

The databases listed are smaller, specialized search engines that mainly retrieve scholarly articles. You will usually find smaller sets of results for each search you do, but those results will be from a subset of very focused resources.

Subject specific databases are searchable by keywords just like Quick Search. An example is shown in the screenshot below of the APA PsycINFO database using the keywords "neurofeedback therapy" AND "ADHD in children":

APA PsycInfo Database Search:

Using the Quick Search

Quick Search is the main search box located in the center of the Library home page. It covers all formats within our collection (physical and electronic, books, films, articles and more).and all subject areas. It is an excellent tool for locating and accessing scholarly content using keyword searches. Below is an example of how to enter your keywords for an effective search, for our sample topic we typed the words "neurofeedback ADHD children behavior problems":

Quick Search has filters  to narrow to just peer reviewed if you'd like, or you can narrow to a specific format like articles, books, or ebooks. You can also narrow by date. Look for the filters on the left sidebar after you run a search. 

As you browse results. you will notice links below each article that allow you to read the full text on the publisher website. If you decide you would like to use the article in your lit review, download the entire PDF to your device for later use. 

Using Google Scholar

Click the  Databases button (just below the Quick Search box on library's homepage) and look for Google Scholar under Multisubject Databases. Using Google Scholar through the UTC Library links our library subscriptions to your Google Scholar search results- which allows you to see articles with no paywalls if we have access! 

4. Reading, Note-taking, and Organization

1. review the how to read a scholarly article guide.

• Learn about common sections in science and social science articles
• Strategies and tips for reading start by reading the entire Abstract, and feel free to jump down to Discussion to decide if an article should be included in your paper

2. Save yourself time with good note-taking

As you read each study, take notes about the most important findings, key concepts, debates or areas of controversy and common themes you see. These notes will inform how you approach organizing and writing your literature review.

To keep organized, UTC Librarians recommend using a literature review matrix, or spreadsheet, to keep track of the articles you find as you go.  Add columns for the citation (including the URL of the article), and once you read it, track the authors' research question, methods, findings and themes. Importantly, keep track of notes and quotes as you go, and the page numbers you got them from. You will see themes or facts emerge as you read more and more articles. 

Here's an example Literature Review Matrix for you to view. Download a sample matrix as an Excel file and edit with your own sources.

3. Some ideas on how to compile an outline for your review:

After reading and taking notes on the sources you are including in your literature review, you will probably be able to identify common themes or threads that appear throughout. These recurring threads or themes can be very useful in creating a narrative framework for your review to make it easier for your readers to understand what literature exists, what has been learned, and why it is significant. Using our example of Neurofeedback Therapy for Children with ADHD, we might decide to organize our results something like this:

Other questions you might ask yourself as you decide how to outline your literature review: 

• What are the major claims being made about the topic? (There may be several)
• What significant data exists to support / explain the claims?
• Are there connections between the claims / concepts / evidence?
• Are there controversies in the literature? 
• Are there knowledge gaps that have yet to be explored? 

5. Citation Management

For smaller literature review projects, simply keeping a list of your references in Word or Google Docs is probably fine. But for longer projects, or those that are going to form the basis for a thesis or dissertation, many students choose to use citation management software to keep track of, organize, and format their references. The UTC Library supports two main citation management options: Zotero and EndNote. 

Zotero is an open source tool provided by Google. It works well with Chrome and Google Docs and has a really nice, easy to use Chrome extension that allows you to seamlessly add references and full text PDFs to your reference "library" as you do your research. The Library has a guide page that walks you through the basics of downloading, configuring and using Zotero. Visit the link below to get started. 

Zotero Guide Page

EndNote is a very powerful software package with lots of advanced features. It is produced by a commercial publisher and the Library pays a subscription fee to offer it to our students and faculty. It comes in two versions: desktop and cloud-based. (The two versions work together to provide seamless access and redundancy no matter where you are). EndNote can be very labor intensive to configure and use at the beginning, but it offers hundreds of citation styles (most major journals, academic associations and scholarly publishers) and works very well for longer, more complex projects with many references and citations. It integrates really well with Microsoft Word but does not work as well with Google Docs. The Library has basic information on its website about how to download and set up EndNote, but in order to learn it effectively, a workshop or librarian consultation is usually required. Our EndNote information is found a the link below:

EndNote Help Page

The UTC Library is home to a full-service Writing and Communication Center with tutors available to assist you with writing projects at any stage - from outline, to draft, to final manuscript. The WCC has it's own section of the UTC Library website. Check out the link below to learn more about the services they offer and how to go about scheduling an appointment.

UTC Writing and Communication Center

• Next: Getting Started >>
• Last Updated: Jul 1, 2024 10:50 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.utc.edu/literature-reviews

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• / How should I approach writing a literature review at the graduate level?

What is the purpose of a Literature Review? For a graduate student the purpose of academic writing changes from what it was as an undergraduate. Where undergraduates often write to demonstrate a mastery of existing knowledge, graduate students are considered scholars and move toward creating new knowledge. Writing in graduate school, then, focuses on communicating that new knowledge to others in their field. In order to communicate this knowledge to other scholars, however, it also necessary to explain how that knowledge engages ongoing scholarly conversations in the field.

A literature review is a common genre for many types of writing you’ll have to do as a graduate student and scholar. Not only do dissertations contain literature reviews, but most articles and grant proposals have some form of literature review included in them. The reason the literature review is so prevalent in scholarly writing is that it functions as an argument about how your project fits in the ongoing scholarly conversation in your field and justifies your project.

A successful literature review does more than list the research that has preceded your work. A literature review is not simply a summary of research. Your literature review must not only demonstrate that you understand important conversations and debates surrounding your project and your position in regard to the conversations, but it must also create an argument as to why your work is relevant to your field of study. In order to create such an argument you must evaluate the relevant research, describing its strengths and weaknesses in relation to your project. You must then explain how your project will build on the work of other researchers, and fill the scholarly gaps left by other researchers. What is typically included in a Literature Review and how do I start?

To show how your project joins an existing scholarly conversation you need to provide readers with the necessary background to understand your research project and persuade them that your intervention in the scholarly conversation is necessary. The first step is to evaluate and analyze the scholarship that is key to understanding your work. The scholarship you evaluate may include previous research on similar topics, theoretical concepts and perspectives, or methodological approaches. Evaluating existing research means more than just summarizing the scholar’s main point. You will also want to assess the strengths and limits of the writer’s project and approach. Questions to consider as you read include: What problems or issues is the writer exploring? What position does the writer take? How is the writer intervening in an ongoing conversation? Where does the writer leave the issue?

Once you have evaluated the research of others, you need to consider how to integrate ideas from other scholars with your ideas and research project. You will also need to show your readers which research is relevant to understanding your project and explain how you position your work in relationship to what has come before your project. In order to do this, it may be helpful to think about the nature of your research project. Not all research has the same purpose. For example, your research project may focus on extending existing research by applying it in a new context. Or you may be questioning the findings of existing research, or you may be pulling together two or more previously unconnected threads of research. Or your project may be bringing a new theoretical lens or interpretation to existing questions. The focus of your research project will determine the kind of material you need to include in your literature review. What are some approaches for organizing a Literature Review? In the first part of a literature review you typically establish several things. You should define or identify your project and briefly point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic – conflicts, gaps in research, foundational research or theory, etc. You should also establish your position – or argument - for the project and the organization of the review.

In the body of the literature review, consider organizing the research and theory according a particular approach. For example, you could discuss the research chronologically. Or you could organize the research thematically, around key ideas or terms or theoretical approaches. Your literature review may include definitions of key terms and the sources from which they are drawn, descriptions of relevant debates in the field, or a description of the most current thinking on your topic.

You will also want to provide clear transitions and strong organizing sentences at the start of sections or paragraphs. You may find it helpful to divide the body of the review up into individual sections with individual subheadings. As you summarize and evaluate studies or articles keep in mind that each article should not necessarily get the same amount of attention. Some scholarship will be more central to your project and will therefore have to be discussed at more length. There also may be some scholarship that you choose not to include, so you might need to explain those decisions. At every turn, you want to keep in mind how you are making the case for how your research will advance the ongoing scholarly conversation. What can the Writing Center do to help? It can sometimes be difficult, after reading pages and pages of research in your field, to step back from the work and decide how best to approach your literature review. Even before you begin to write you may find a consultation in the Writing Center will help you plan out your literature review. Consultants at the Writing Center are experienced in working with scholars to help them reflect on and organize their work in a literature review so it creates the argument for your project. Make an appointment to work with us on your focus and organization even before you begin to write. We are also able to help you by reading and responding to your drafts or to help with issues of documentation. We can help you understand the genre conventions of the literature review, work through revisions, and help you learn how to edit your own work.  We recommend that you come in early to give yourself enough time to work through any problems that may come up as you write.

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Systematic Reviews

• Types of Literature Reviews

What Makes a Systematic Review Different from Other Types of Reviews?

• Planning Your Systematic Review
• Database Searching
• Creating the Search
• Search Filters and Hedges
• Grey Literature
• Managing and Appraising Results
• Further Resources

Reproduced from Grant, M. J. and Booth, A. (2009), A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26: 91–108. doi:10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x

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• Last Updated: Jul 23, 2024 3:40 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.ucla.edu/systematicreviews

Literature Review: Types of literature reviews

• Traditional or narrative literature reviews
• Scoping Reviews
• Systematic literature reviews
• Annotated bibliography
• Keeping up to date with literature
• Finding a thesis
• Evaluating sources and critical appraisal of literature
• Managing and analysing your literature
• Further reading and resources

Types of literature reviews

The type of literature review you write will depend on your discipline and whether you are a researcher writing your PhD, publishing a study in a journal or completing an assessment task in your undergraduate study.

A literature review for a subject in an undergraduate degree will not be as comprehensive as the literature review required for a PhD thesis.

An undergraduate literature review may be in the form of an annotated bibliography or a narrative review of a small selection of literature, for example ten relevant articles. If you are asked to write a literature review, and you are an undergraduate student, be guided by your subject coordinator or lecturer.

The common types of literature reviews will be explained in the pages of this section.

• Narrative or traditional literature reviews
• Critically Appraised Topic (CAT)
• Scoping reviews
• Annotated bibliographies

These are not the only types of reviews of literature that can be conducted. Often the term "review" and "literature" can be confusing and used in the wrong context. Grant and Booth (2009) attempt to clear up this confusion by discussing 14 review types and the associated methodology, and advantages and disadvantages associated with each review.

Grant, M. J. and Booth, A. (2009), A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies . Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26 , 91–108. doi:10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x

What's the difference between reviews?

Researchers, academics, and librarians all use various terms to describe different types of literature reviews, and there is often inconsistency in the ways the types are discussed. Here are a couple of simple explanations.

• The image below describes common review types in terms of speed, detail, risk of bias, and comprehensiveness:

"Schematic of the main differences between the types of literature review" by Brennan, M. L., Arlt, S. P., Belshaw, Z., Buckley, L., Corah, L., Doit, H., Fajt, V. R., Grindlay, D., Moberly, H. K., Morrow, L. D., Stavisky, J., & White, C. (2020). Critically Appraised Topics (CATs) in veterinary medicine: Applying evidence in clinical practice. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7 , 314. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00314 is licensed under CC BY 3.0

• The table below lists four of the most common types of review , as adapted from a widely used typology of fourteen types of reviews (Grant & Booth, 2009).  

Grant, M.J. & Booth, A. (2009).  A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26 (2), 91-108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x

See also the Library's  Literature Review guide.

Critical Appraised Topic (CAT)

For information on conducting a Critically Appraised Topic or CAT

Callander, J., Anstey, A. V., Ingram, J. R., Limpens, J., Flohr, C., & Spuls, P. I. (2017).  How to write a Critically Appraised Topic: evidence to underpin routine clinical practice.  British Journal of Dermatology (1951), 177(4), 1007-1013. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.15873 

Books on Literature Reviews

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• Last Updated: Aug 11, 2024 4:07 PM
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Common Paper Types

• Literature Review
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Understanding Literature Reviews 

I.  Getting Started with a Workshop Video  (Highly recommended!)

• Searching for Literature Reviews: Before You Write, You Have to Find   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9la5ytz9MmM

          A lecture by the Writing Center, TAMU.

II.  What is a Literature Review?

• Generally, the purpose of a review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles. <http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html>  
•  A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.  < http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/specific-writing-assignments/literature-reviews >  
•  A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic...Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature_review>

III.  What Major Steps Literature Reviews Require?

• 1. Develop a review protocol. Protocols define the scope of studies that will be reviewed, the process through which studies will be identified, and the outcomes that will be examined. Protocols also specify the time period during which relevant studies will have been conducted, the outcomes to be examined in the review, and keyword strategies for the literature search. 2. Identify relevant studies, often through a systematic search of the literature. 3. Screen studies for relevance and the adequacy of study design, implementation, and reporting. 4. Retrieve and summarize information on the intervention studied, the study characteristics, and the study findings. 5. Combine findings within studies and across studies when relevant. < http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/reference_resources/wwc_procedures_v2_1_standards_handbook.pdf>  
• The basic stages in a typical research project are: i) identify your topic of interest, ii) perform a literature review, iii) generate related questions, iv) state your unsolved problem or hypothesis, v) find or develop a solution, and vi) document your results.  
• The four stages required: Problem formulation—which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues? Literature search—finding materials relevant to the subject being explored Data evaluation—determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic Analysis and interpretation—discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature < http://library.ucsc.edu/help/howto/write-a-literature-review#components >

IV.    What Basic Elements Comprise a Literature Review?   

• An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review
• Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)
• Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others
• Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research    

          < http://library.ucsc.edu/help/howto/write-a-literature-review#components > V.    Which Citation Tool Are You Going to Use to Manage the Search Results?

•   Choose your citation tool before conducing your literature reviews. If you decide to use  RefWorks , the information can be found at  http://tamu.libguides.com/refworks .          

VII. Other Useful Guides

• Literature Reviews (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
• The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It
• How to Write a Literature Review  (UCSC)
• Learn how to write a review of literature  (WISC)
• Reviewing the Literature
• Next: Scoping Review >>
• Last Updated: Aug 5, 2024 7:43 AM
• URL: https://tamu.libguides.com/c.php?g=1415100

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Long-Term Consequences of Cushing Syndrome: A Systematic Literature Review

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Soraya Puglisi, Anna Maria Elena Perini, Cristina Botto, Francesco Oliva, Massimo Terzolo, Long-Term Consequences of Cushing Syndrome: A Systematic Literature Review, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism , Volume 109, Issue 3, March 2024, Pages e901–e919, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgad453

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It is held that the condition of endogenous chronic hypersecretion of cortisol (Cushing syndrome, CS), causes several comorbidities, including cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, musculoskeletal alterations, as well as cognitive and mood impairment. Therefore, CS has an adverse impact on the quality of life and life expectancy of affected patients. What remains unclear is whether disease remission may induce a normalization of the associated comorbid conditions. In order to retrieve updated information on this issue, we conducted a systematic search using the Pubmed and Embase databases to identify scientific papers published from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2022. The initial search identified 1907 potentially eligible records. Papers were screened for eligibility and a total of 79 were included and classified by the main topic (cardiometabolic risk, thromboembolic disease, bone impairment, muscle damage, mood disturbances and quality of life, cognitive impairment, and mortality).

Although the limited patient numbers in many studies preclude definitive conclusions, most recent evidence supports the persistence of increased morbidity and mortality even after long-term remission. It is conceivable that the degree of normalization of the associated comorbid conditions depends on individual factors and characteristics of the conditions. These findings highlight the need for early recognition and effective management of patients with CS, which should include active treatment of the related comorbid conditions. In addition, it is important to maintain a surveillance strategy in all patients with CS, even many years after disease remission, and to actively pursue specific treatment of comorbid conditions beyond cortisol normalization.

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Book Review: What’s it like to be a rental stranger? Kat Tang’s debut novel imagines an answer

This cover image released by Scribner shows “Five-Star Stranger” by Kat Tang. (Scribner via AP)

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As our lives become more automated, increasingly niche jobs materialize to fill in the gaps. Ours is a society in which people hire celebrities to make birthday videos, or pay “job leaving agents” in hopes of a more frictionless quitting experience. What would it be like to be that stranger for hire, to inhabit whatever role someone paid you by the hour to be?

Kat Tang’s debut novel, “Five-Star Stranger,” follows one man over a months-long spiral as he realizes he’s getting attached to his clients — a violation of his first rule for himself as a rental stranger — forcing him to confront his past and examine why he got into the business in the first place.

Tang never reveals the Stranger’s real name — one of the many ways he becomes a blank slate onto which others can project what they want. He’s a self-described attractive man, whose Japanese American heritage means he can code-switch easily between white and Asian depending on his clients’ needs. His apartment is full of wigs and outfits for different personalities and occasions, and he can use makeup to age himself up or down.

If this isn’t giving you identity crisis vibes yet, he also takes accents, mannerisms and stories from clients that he can later whip out for another gig. His evening client just wants to hear stories for an hour — so he regurgitates the stories his afternoon client told him nonstop, even adopting the original teller’s voice.

The juxtaposition shows how an insidious isolation has crept into our hyperconnected psyche, and how loneliness might have been solved genuinely and for free had they just met the right kind of person — or anyone at all.

But why risk rejection when you can hire someone instead? The Stranger notes that, “like everything else in this intensely connected yet deeply lonely life, there was an app for that.”

The narration often dips into philosophical before yanking back to the safety of light-hearted and funny; a whiplash between deep interrogations of society and the Stranger’s humorous deflection to avoid getting too lost in it.

Tang makes it easy to become engrossed in the characters. Even the brief encounters are made interesting by the psychoanalytical lens the Stranger sees them through. It’s a smart book, and it has to be to tackle such a topic in a thoughtful and thought-provoking way without digging itself into an existential hole.

“Five-Star Stranger” starts bright, hopeful and funny. By the end it’s a tangled gloomy mess that’s strangely still hopeful, the protagonist emptied out but not empty.

With its cool premise, great descriptions and amazing attention to emotion and relationships, “Five-Star Stranger” is a strong debut, and Tang an author to keep an eye on.

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

The New York Times Best Sellers - August 11, 2024

Authoritatively ranked lists of books sold in the united states, sorted by format and genre..

This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only.

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• Case Report
• Open access
• Published: 10 August 2024

Chrysosporium articulatum mimicking Trichophyton spp. infection in a cat: a case presentation and literature review

• Magdalena Kizerwetter-Świda 1 ,
• Iwona Bąk 1 ,
• Małgorzata Justyna Biegańska 1 ,
• Kourou Dembele 2 &
• Dorota Chrobak-Chmiel 1  

BMC Veterinary Research volume  20 , Article number:  359 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

Dermatophytosis is a common skin infection of cats and many other animals. A reliable diagnosis is crucial because of the zoonotic potential of dermatophytes. The routine mycological diagnostic procedures for dermatophytosis are widely known, but in the case of some isolates, identification based on phenotypic characteristics may be incorrect. Infections caused by Chrysosporium spp. are usually described in reptiles, but in other animals they are uncommon.

Case presentation

This study presents a description of a cat with dermatological lesions, that was mistakenly diagnosed with Trichophyton spp. dermatophytosis. Clinical material for mycological examination was collected from alopecic areas on the back of the neck, the ventral abdomen, and the hindlimbs. The initial identification based on phenotypic properties indicated Trichophyton spp. The result of the MALDI-ToF MS allowed the exclusion of the Trichophyton genus. Ultimately, the correct identification as Chrysosporium articulatum was obtained based on the sequencing of ribosomal genes.

Conclusions

Interpretation of the results of the mycological examination of samples collected from animals’ skin or hair shafts is always challenging. Thus, careful consideration of the primary cause of the clinical lesions observed on the skin is mandatory, and the culture results are worth supporting by molecular methods.

Peer Review reports

Dermatophytosis is a common fungal infection in veterinary and human medicine. Dermatophytes are filamentous fungi that may cause superficial infections of keratinized tissues such as skin (stratum corneum of the epidermis), hairs and claws in different animal species, including dogs and cats. The vast majority of dermatophytoses in pets are caused by Micropsorum spp. and Trichophyton spp. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. The pathogenicity of these fungi is related to their ability to degrade keratin found in superficial tissues, typically viable tissues are rather not invaded. However, sporadic invasive infections have been reported in immunocompromised or elderly human patients [ 5 ]. Dermatophytes belong to a group of keratinophilic and keratinolytic fungi. In addition, many keratinophilic environmental fungal species can use pre-digested keratinaceous debris or by-products of keratin degradation. These are: Chrysosporium spp., Psuedogymnoascus spp., Geomyces spp., Pectinotrichum spp., Renispora spp. and others. In general, these non-dermatophytes keratinolytic fungi are saprophytes, engaged in the decomposition of keratinized residues in the soil. However, Chrysposporium spp. strains with kertinolytic properties have been described, with positive results in hair perforation test [ 6 , 7 ].

Chrysosporium genus is classified in the family Onygenaceae , Onygenales order, Eurotiomycetes class and Ascomycota phylum. This genus includes about 100 species [ 8 ], commonly found in the environment, soil, and water sediments, but also on the skin and hairs of animals and humans. The taxonomical classification is often based on the fungal morphology. However, when sexual states and macroconidia are not present, the microconidia-producing fungi are clustered in polyphyletic genera, such as the genus Chrysosporium . Recent research results based on genetic properties have allowed the updating of the Chryspsporium spp. taxonomy [ 9 ]. Moreover, Kendemir et al. (2022) have shown 100% ITS sequence identity in C. articulatum UAMH 4320 with Aphanoascus reticulisporus [ 10 ]. Colonies formed by Chrysosporium are white or pale with septate hyphae producing pyriform or obovate to ellipsoidal microconidia [ 6 ]. The appearance of these powdery colonies as well as micromorphology resembles some dermatophytes, e.g. Trichophyton mentagrophytes [ 11 ]. Fungi classified in the genus Chrysosporium are regarded as non-pathogenic. However, there has been an increasing number of infections caused by these fungi in recent years. Most of the documented cases involve immunocompromised humans [ 12 , 13 ]. Infections of this etiology also occur in animals, mainly in reptiles, most often as cases of dermatitis, but also as life-treating infections [ 14 , 15 ]. Chrysosporium tropicum was described as a causative agent for dermatomycosis in chickens [ 16 ]. Additionally, Chrysosporium spp. is often isolated from feathers [ 17 ].

The clinical manifestations of dermatophytosis in cats are variable and related to the dermatophyte species involved [ 18 ]. Typically, single or several alopecic areas with scaling, crusting and erythema are observed. However, other clinical presentations are also possible, like a matted coat, seborrhea, miliary dermatitis, the presence of pustules, papules, macules, nodules, hyperpigmentation, kerions, and onychomycosis. Infected animals may show symptoms of pruritus. The variable clinical appearance of dermatophytosis can be explained by differences in the composition and structure of keratin, the specificity of enzymes produced by particular fungi, and the defence mechanisms of host organisms [ 18 , 19 ]. Moreover, any other dermatoses may cause similar clinical manifestations. Thus, differential diagnosis including, among others food allergy, hormonal disorders, atopic dermatitis, autoimmune dermatoses, bacterial dermatitis, or infestation with skin parasites should always be performed. Hence, the diagnostic procedures must be accurate and carried out step-by-step. Apart from mycological examination, the results of additional tests such as parasitic, bacteriological, histopathology of biopsy material and allergy tests should also be performed [ 19 ]. Of note, the reliable diagnosis of dermatophytosis in dogs and cats is also essential because of the zoonotic potential of most of the species isolated from pets [ 20 ]. Moreover, cats may be asymptomatic carriers of M. canis or they may have a subclinical infection, which further complicates the diagnosis [ 3 ].

In this study we present a case of a cat with dermatological lesions, initially diagnosed with Trichophyton spp. infection. Ultimately, the cultured fungi were identified by sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry method (MALDI-ToF MS) as C. articulatum , which is usually regarded as a non-pathogenic fungus. Moreover, we present a review of diagnostic procedures used in dermatophyte identification and the literature data on infections caused by Chrysosporium spp.

A 7-year-old an outdoor, neutralized male European shorthair cat weighing 6 kg showing dermatological lesions was admitted to the Small Animal Clinic at the Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences. Clinical findings included: intense pruritus and alopecia on the back of the neck, on the ventral abdomen, and the hindlimbs (Fig.  1 ). At the visit, flea dermatitis was excluded. Wood’s lamp examination was performed, and no fluorescence was observed. The cat was diagnosed with dermatitis miliaris. To reduce intense itching, the cat was treated with dexafort (0,9 mg i.m.). Plucked hairs and scraped scales were collected for mycological examination.

Pruritic self-inflicted alopecic areas on the back of the neck (left) and the hindlimb (right)

Direct microscopic examination of collected hairs and scales was performed with KOH, but wet-mounts failed to detect any spores or other fungal elements in both examined samples. Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA), Sabouraud dextrose agar supplemented with 0.05% cycloheximide and 0.005% chloramphenicol, and dermatophyte test medium (DTM) were used for fungal culture. All plates were incubated aerobically, at 25 °C for four weeks. The colonies appeared on SDA and DTM medium after five days of incubation. Colonies were flat, white in colour, with a powdery surface (Fig.  2 ). DTM medium turned red, as is observed when dermatophytes grow. Colony morphology resembled colonies of Trichophyton spp. (Fig.  3 ). The isolate was examined for microscopic morphology using lactophenol cotton blue staining. Conidia were smooth and thin-walled, pyriform, one-celled, and sessile, usually on side branches or at the ends of long narrow stalks (Fig.  4 ). Additionally, a hair perforation test was performed following standard mycological procedures, and no keratinolysis was noted. The isolate was identified based on the colony morphology on SDA, DTM medium and micromorphology as Trichophyton spp. Thus, topical and systematic antifungal therapy was prescribed.

The fungal isolate was further identified using MALDI Biotyper (Bruker Daltonics, Billerica, MA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instruction at the Jagiellonian Centre of Innovation (Kraków, Poland). The identification of our isolate with the MALDI-ToF MS method revealed Chrysosporium keratinophilum with a score value of 2.11. The identification score ranging 2.00–3.00 was considered as a high-confidence identification to the species level.

Ultimately, molecular biology methods were used for identification. Genomic DNA was extracted from five-day-old colonies using the method described by Brillowska-Dabrowska et al. [ 21 ]. Briefly, a fragment of a colony was mixed with 100 µl of extraction buffer (60 mM sodium bicarbonate, 250 mM potassium chloride and 50 mM Tris, pH 9.5, Sigma Aldrich) and incubated at 95 °C for 10 min. Then, 100 µl of 2% bovine serum albumin was added and after vigorous vortexing for 5 s, the obtained solution was used for PCR. Amplification of the internal transcribed sequence (ITS) region of ribosomal RNA was used with conserved primers ITS4 and ITS5 described by White et at. [ 22 ], with the following thermal-cycling conditions: initial denaturation for 3 min at 94 °C, followed by 35 cycles of 30 s at 94 °C, 30 s at 50 °C, 45 s of at 72 °C, and final elongation for 6 min. The obtained product was verified by agarose gel electrophoresis and subjected to sequencing with the same primers. Finally, the sequence was analyzed with BLAST software using the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. GenBank BLAST analysis of the obtained sequence of the internal transcribed sequence region of ribosomal RNA indicated 99.27% identity to a sequence of Chrysosporium articulatum deposited in the NCBI database.

Finally, the isolate obtained from a cat was recognized as C. articulatum , which was considered an environmental isolate contaminating the fur. Based on the verified identification dermatophytosis was ultimately excluded, allowing to avoid unnecessary implementation of antifungal therapy to the patient. The final diagnosis was a food allergy, with the recommendation of an elimination diet. After four weeks, a follow-up visit took place, during which the veterinarian confirmed that the cat’s condition improved, in alopecic areas, fur started to regrow and the itching had stopped. During the follow-up visit, hair samples were collected for mycological culture, which gave a negative result.

Colony morphology on SDA medium supplemented with chloramphenicol and cycloheximide (front and back of the plate) - flat, white colonies, with a powdery surface on the front and pale brown on the reverse

Colony morphology on DTM medium - colour change from yellow to red (five days of incubation on the left and four weeks of incubation on the right)

Morphology of septate hyphae and microconidia – light microscope examination under 400x magnification with lactophenol cotton blue staining

Veterinary mycological diagnostics encounter certain difficulties in identifying unusual, less frequently isolated species. The positive fungal culture results in invasive infections or disseminated cutaneous infections and does not pose any problems in interpretation because the clinical samples are collected from tissues and should not contain any fungal elements, including saprophytes. The cultivation of fungi commonly considered environmental saprophytes from superficial skin lesions is more challenging in interpretation. It may be difficult to assess whether these fungi caused the infection (in some immunocompromised patients) or whether they were cultivated accidentally. Moreover, in some cases, the differentiation of dermatophytes and other non-dermatophytic fungi may be more demanding than it seems. Incorrect identification of pathogenic fungi as saprophytes may result in the omitting of necessary antifungal therapy despite the medical indications. Alternatively, therapy may be introduced for patients that do not require such treatment, because only environmental saprophytic fungi were cultured from samples collected superficially. The treatment of dermatophytosis in dogs and cats may be topical or quite often requires systemic administration of antifungals [ 23 ]. Topical therapy is used to minimize disease transmission and environmental contamination, while systemic antifungal therapy eradicates the infection within the hair follicle [ 24 ]. Treatment of dermatophytosis may be associated with side effects, such as liver toxicity or vasculitis, and it may lead to an increase in fungal resistance. Unnecessary antifungal treatment, which is usually long-term, causes an imbalance in natural microbiota.

Fungi classified in the genus Chrysosporium are regarded as non-pathogenic, non-dermatophyte keratinolytic fungi. Recently, the number of cases of human infections caused by Chrysosporium spp. described in the literature is increasing, especially in immunocompromised human patients. Chrysosporium zonatum and Chrysosporium tropicanum are most commonly reported [ 25 ]. The clinical presentation includes respiratory allergic reactions, pulmonary invasive infections and skin infections. There is only one documented case of Chrysosporium articulatum invasive pulmonary infection in human, 16-year-old man diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia [ 12 ].

In veterinary medicine infections caused by Chrysosporium spp. are rarely described, and mostly are reported in reptiles. In recent years, Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV) has become the leading fungal agent of dermatitis in reptiles. The lesions initially involve the skin, and the presence of hyperkeratosis, necrosis, vesicles, crusts, and ulceration may be observed. Progress to fatal systemic disease often occurs [ 14 , 15 ].

We have gathered here five literature reports concerning Chrysosporium spp. infections in dogs and cats. Of note, publications describing the isolation of these fungi from before 1990 have been omitted due to the unreliable identification methods used at that time. The first is a review study concerning 157 cases of disseminated canine mould infections demonstrated that the majority (59,3%) was caused by Aspergillus spp. Chrysosporium spp. was identified as the etiological agent only in two cases, which corresponds to only 1,3% of incidence [ 26 ]. One of the publications included in the review mentioned above was a case report concerning disseminated infection in German shepherd dog in Australia. Fungal hyphae were observed in needle aspirates of the iliac lymph nodes and spleen. The fungal culture from these materials was positive and was diagnosed as Chrysosporium spp. [ 27 ]. An earlier publication also from Australia described disseminated opportunistic fungal infections among 10 dogs, of which, in one case, Chrysosporium spp. was found to be the etiological agent [ 28 ]. In another review study describing fungal keratitis in 11 dogs, the presence of Chrysosporium spp. was confirmed in one patient [ 29 ]. Moreover, the literature provides one description of superficial skin lesions in two Persian cats and their owner caused by Chrysosporium spp. These two cats lived in the same household. Moreover, Chrysosporium spp. was also isolated from its owner, who was undergoing chemotherapy for mammary cancer. Fungal culture from hairs and skin scrapings revealed the presence of Chrysosporium spp. in both cats. Unfortunately, the authors did not verify the identification with molecular biology methods, however, effective antifungal treatment proved, that the isolated fungi were the etiological agent involved in the observed clinical changes [ 30 ]. Additionally, in 2011 Pin et al. described well-documented onychomycosis caused by C. keratinophilum in seven captive Bennett’s wallabies [ 31 ].

Diverse fungal species may occur on the skin and hairs of cats, which may be either pathogens or contaminating saprophytes. Thus, veterinary mycological diagnostics encounter dilemmas, such as contamination of superficial clinical samples by saprophytic fungi, which is most probable when the samples of hair, skin scrapings or claws are collected. Chrysosporium spp. is one of many saprophytic fungi that can contaminate the animal’s haircoat or skin and thus contribute to the contamination of clinical samples. Chrysosporium spp. has been most commonly isolated (25%) from healthy dogs and cats in Mexico [ 32 ]. This creates a challenge for veterinary laboratory diagnostics because Chrysosporium spp. shows similar characteristics to dermatophytes [ 7 ]. These fungi may have macromorphology and micromorphology similar to some Trichophyton spp., thus may be easily misidentified. Additionally, Chrysposporium spp. can grow on the DTM agar, causing pH change and redness of the medium while showing morphological characteristics corresponding to dermatophytes [ 30 ]. Furthermore, a positive hair perforation test was observed for Chrysosporium species. isolated from the environment, confirming their keratinolytic properties. Mitola et al. have described positive results of a hair perforation test for Chryspsporium georgii , Chrysosporium keratinophilum , and Chrysosporium lucknowense isolates obtained from environmental samples [ 7 ]. Likewise, Gurung et al. observed keratinolytic activity in soil isolates identified as Chrysosprium indicum and Chrysosporium fluviale [ 6 ].

A common opinion is that dermatophytes may be easily discriminated with DTM agar plate. However, literature data indicate that other fungi can also produce a positive reaction in this medium. These include Chrysosporium spp., as confirmed by Dokuzeylul et al. [ 30 ] and Jang et al. [ 33 ]. Jang et al. (2007) found that 63% of moulds isolated from dogs produced colour changes to red on DTM medium, including Chrysosporium , as well as some isolates of Aspergillus , Penicillium and others. Thus, as mentioned before, the color change of DTM agar is not sufficient to confirm the presence of dermatophytes.

The identification of our isolate with MALDI-ToF MS showed Chrysosporium keratinophilum with a high score value of 2.11. However, the sequencing of ribosomal genes indicated Chrysosporium articulatum . While performing MALDI-ToF MS analyses, the manufacturer’s Brucker database included protein spectra from only two species of this genus ( C. keratinophilum and Chrysosporium shanxiense ). Therefore, we were unable to obtain correct species identification with this method. Nevertheless, the high score value of C. keratinophilum allows us to exclude Trichophyton spp. Similar difficulties in the identification of filamentous fungi were described by Normand et al. [ 34 ] and Wilkendorf et al. [ 35 ]. The explanation for this situation is that proteomic profiles of unusual, saprophytic, filamentous fungi are currently not included in available databases, also indicating the need to expand and update these databases.

Our report describes a case of a cat with dermatological lesions initially misdiagnosed as dermatophytosis caused by Trichophyton spp. The initial identification of DTM-positive isolate as Trichophyton spp. was confirmed by colony morphology on Sabouraud agar as well as its micromorphology. Nevertheless, correct identification to the species level was obtained after sequencing of ribosomal genes. The identification using the MALDI-ToF MS technique was not possible because the available database does not include this species. Although this method allowed for the recognition of the genus Chrysosporium . Results presented in this study indicate that interpretation of the results of the mycological examination in all cases of culturing saprophytic fungi, growing from superficial samples is always challenging. Thus, careful consideration of the primary causative agent of the clinical lesions observed on the skin is mandatory. Moreover, DTM medium should be used only as a screening method, and the identification of DTM-positive isolates as dermatophytes must be confirmed by other tests.

Data availability

The dataset generated and analyzed during the current study is available in the NCBI GenBank repository, under the accession number: PP758650.

Abbreviations

Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry

Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA); DTM - Dermatophyte test medium

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Beata Kowalkowska for her excellent technical assistance.

Studies were partially financed by the Science Development Foundation – Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

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Magdalena Kizerwetter-Świda, Iwona Bąk, Małgorzata Justyna Biegańska & Dorota Chrobak-Chmiel

Department of Small Animal Diseases and Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159c, Warsaw, 02-776, Poland

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DCC obtained all clinical samples, prepared all photographs, and provided contact with the cat’s owner and a veterinarian. DCC and MKŚ performed phenotypic identification, DNA isolation, PCR and sequencing analysis. MJB and IB were involved in mycological consultation. IB provided valuable comments regarding PCR and sequencing. KD conducted the clinical examination and differential diagnosis. All authors have read, critically discussed the results, and approved the manuscript.

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Kizerwetter-Świda, M., Bąk, I., Biegańska, M.J. et al. Chrysosporium articulatum mimicking Trichophyton spp. infection in a cat: a case presentation and literature review. BMC Vet Res 20 , 359 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-024-04185-7

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Arginine vasopressin deficiency onset after COVID-19 vaccination with positive anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies: a case report and literature review

• Hiroki Takizawa 1 ,
• Hiromasa Goto 1 ,
• Toyoyoshi Uchida 1 ,
• Shuhei Aoyama 1 ,
• Haruki Fujisawa 2 ,
• Naoko Iwata 3 ,
• Atsushi Suzuki 2 ,
• Yoshihisa Sugimura 2 &
• Hirotaka Watada 1  

BMC Endocrine Disorders volume  24 , Article number:  143 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Arginine vasopressin deficiency (AVP-D) can occur due to various conditions, so clarifying its cause is important for deciding treatment strategy. Although several cases of AVP-D following coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) infection or COVID-19 vaccination have been reported, the diagnosis of the underlying disease has not been reported in most cases.

Case presentation

A 75-year-old woman who presented with polydipsia and polyuria 9 weeks after contracting COVID-19 and 5 weeks after receiving the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, leading to the final diagnosis of AVP-D 8 months after the first appearance of symptoms. Interestingly, pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) still revealed stalk enlargement frequently observed in patients with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination-induced AVP-D. Although this finding could not rule out any malignancies, we additionally measured anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies, a known marker for lymphocytic infundibulo-neurohypophysitis (LINH), and found that the results were positive, strongly suggesting LINH as the cause of this disease. Thus, we avoided pituitary biopsy. At the follow-up MRI conducted 12 months after the initial consultation, enlargement of the pituitary stalk was still observed.

We experienced a case with LINH probably induced by SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. In SARS-CoV-2 vaccination-related LINH, unlike typical LINH, there is a possibility of persistent pituitary stalk enlargement on MRI images for an extended period, posing challenges in differential diagnosis from other conditions. Pituitary stalk enlargement and positive anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies may help in the diagnosis of AVP-D induced by SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

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Arginine vasopressin deficiency (AVP-D), formerly known as central diabetes insipidus, is known to occur due to various causes such as malignant tumors, surgery, and inflammatory conditions. The correct diagnosis of the underlying disease in each case is important for deciding the treatment strategy [ 1 ]. Lymphocytic infundibulo-neurohypophysitis (LINH) is one of autoimmune disease and induces AVP-D. In recent years, anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies, which are autoantibodies targeting rabphilin-3A, a specific GTP-Rab3A binding protein present in the secretory granules of the posterior pituitary, have been identified as highly sensitive markers for LINH [ 2 ].

The onset of various endocrine disorders such as type 1 diabetes mellitus, subacute thyroiditis, Graves’ disease, and anterior pituitary inflammation that are considered to be related to autoimmunity have been reported following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection [ 3 ]. Additionally, the onset of such diseases has been documented following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination [ 4 ]. While some cases of developing pituitary inflammation and the consequent AVP-D following COVID-19 infection [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] or SARS-CoV-2 vaccination [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ] were reported, the cases with proved detailed involvement of autoimmunity as the cause of these diseases were rare.

Here we report a case of a 75-year-old woman who developed AVP-D with positive anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies. The onset occurred 9 weeks after contracting COVID-19 infection and 5 weeks after receiving SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

A 75-year-old woman with no apparent medical history or family history contracted COVID-19 infection on December 10, 2022, which resolved without the need for hospitalization, and initially, no sequelae were noted. Additionally, she had received four SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations: the first dose on July 10, 2021 (tozinameran; Pfizer-BioNTech, Lot No. FC9880), the second dose on July 31, 2021 (tozinameran; Pfizer-BioNTech, Lot No. EY0583), the third dose on March 10, 2022 (elasomeran; Takeda/Moderna, Lot No. 000048 A), and the fourth dose on August 17, 2022 (tozinameran; Pfizer-BioNTech, Lot No. FR1790). On January 5, 2023, she received her fifth dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (tozinameran/famtozinameran; Pfizer-BioNTech, Lot No. GJ7139). Around February 10, she began experiencing polydipsia and polyuria. Although her primary care physician found no abnormalities on physical examination, she was referred to a post-COVID-19 sequelae outpatient clinic due to suspected psychogenic diseases, where she underwent further examination as an inpatient. During hospitalization, her water intake was approximately 3–4 L per day, and urine output was around 3 L per day, raising suspicion of AVP-D, which led to her admission to our hospital on October 2, 2023. Upon admission, she had a height of 146 cm and a weight of 56.3 kg, with no signs of dryness in the oral cavity. Her 24-hour urine output was 3900 mL/day, resulting in a urine volume per body weight of 69.2 mL/kg, indicating polyuria. Blood tests at admission revealed a serum sodium level of 146 mEq/L, an AVP concentration of 0.6 ng/mL indicating its decreased secretion, and a urine osmolarity of 224 mOsm/L (Table  1 ). Baseline hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis values upon admission showed ACTH 15.7 pg/mL (reference range 7.2–63.3 pg/mL), cortisol 5.9 µg/dL (reference range 5.1–23.6 µg/dL). Both the three-part loading test (Table  2 ) and GH releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2) loading test (Table  3 ) showed that the anterior pituitary hormone reserve was maintained.

In the hypertonic saline infusion test, the responsiveness of plasma AVP decreased compared to the increase in serum Na levels. Additionally, after 120 min of the hypertonic saline infusion test, 5 units of exogenous vasopressin were administered, resulting in an increase in urinary osmolarity (from 322 to 491 mOsm/kg) and a decrease in urine output (from 5.4 to 3.5 mL/kg/hr) compared to pre-administration levels (Table  4 ). Subsequent administration of desmopressin (DDAVP) resulted in an increase in urine osmolarity, leading to the diagnosis of AVP-D. Serum levels of human chorionic gonadotropin β-subunit (β-hCG), α-fetoprotein (AFP), angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE), and immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) were within normal ranges, and proteinase-3-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (PR3-ANCA) was negative (Table  1 ). MRI conducted for further investigation revealed loss of posterior lobe high signal intensity on T1-weighted images (Fig.  1 A, B). Contrast-enhanced MRI demonstrated a thickened pituitary stalk measuring 3.5 mm with strong enhancement (Fig.  1 C, D).

Pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at first visit. ( A ) Sagittal view of plain MRI. ( B ) Coronal view of plain MRI. No high signal was observed in the posterior pituitary lobe. ( C ) Sagittal view of contrast-enhanced MRI. ( D ) Coronal view of contrast-enhanced MRI. Enlargement of the pituitary stalk (yellow arrowhead) and enhancement are evident. No pituitary tumor was observed

Based on these findings, lymphocytic infundibulo-neurohypophysitis (LINH) was initially suspected. However, since the thickening of the pituitary stalk persisted even 8 months after symptom onset and it was atypical, we considered to perform a pituitary biopsy for histological confirmation. However, due to the patient’s advanced age and her desire to minimize surgical invasiveness, we opted to measure anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies, which are considered specific to LINH and the presence of serum anti-rabphilin-3A antibody was detected by western blotting (Fig.  2 ). It supported the diagnosis of LINH.

Measurement of anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies by Western blotting. Detection of anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies by Western blotting. Recombinant full-length human rabphilin-3A expressed in HEK293FT cells (RPH3A) or negative control (-) were probed with serum from the present case (patient) or from a patient who was diagnosed with LINH by biopsy previously (positive control patient). Recombinant full-length human rabphilin-3A expressed in HEK293FT cells was also probed with an anti-V5 antibody as a positive control (Anti-V5 antibody) in the first lane from the left. Arrowheads indicate the presence of anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies. Dashed arrowheads indicate the absence of anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies. A protein band of 76 kDa that appeared in RPH3A but not in that of negative control was considered to be positive for anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies. RPH3A, rabphilin-3A, TFs, transfections of full-length human rabphilin-3A gene

For the treatment of AVP-D, oral DDAVP 60 µg/day was initiated, resulting in a decrease in urine output, and the patient continues to attend outpatient visits. We considered pharmacological doses of steroid treatment for hypophysitis, but we did not implement steroid therapy due to the absence of clinical symptoms such as headache or visual field disturbances, the limited expected efficacy in treating AVP-D, and concerns regarding the side effects of steroid administration in elderly patients. MRI imaging 12 months after the initial consultation did not detect new lesions persisted with stalk enlargement suggesting a stable course of LINH not likely any malignancies (Fig.  3 A, B).

Pituitary MRI at the 12-month follow-up. ( A )Sagittal view of contrast-enhanced MRI. ( B ) Coronal view of contrast-enhanced MRI. Compared with that at 8 months, the enlargement of the pituitary stalk (blue arrowhead) did not significantly change

Materials and methods

Western blotting was conducted on serum obtained from the patient for detection of anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies, as reported previously [ 2 ]. A vector containing the full-length human rabphilin-3A gene was transfected into HEK293FT cells to produce recombinant human rabphilin-3A protein. Expression of recombinant human rabphilin-3A protein was confirmed using an anti-V5 antibody. As a negative control, the same vector without the rabphilin-3A gene was transfected into HEK293FT cells. A protein band presenting a size of 76 kDa, which corresponds to the molecular weight of rabphilin-3A, appeared in the lysate of cells transfected with the rabphilin-3A protein but not in that of control cells, which was considered to be positive for anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies, as reported previously.

Discussion and conclusions

The insights gained from this case indicate that measuring anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies is helpful to diagnosed LINH in cases with AVP-D occurring after COVID-19 infection and/or SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Furthermore, in our case, pituitary stalk thickening can persist for over 8 months.

Hypophysitis has various etiologies, including lymphocytic, granulomatous, xanthomatous, necrotizing, IgG4-related systemic disease, and chemotherapy agents, apart from pregnancy-related causes. Therefore, the gold standard for the final diagnosis of hypophysitis including LINH is pituitary biopsy, however high patient invasiveness is a major clinical concern [ 19 ].

Sheen et al. recommend biannual follow-up pituitary MRI scans for a duration of two years in cases demonstrating pituitary stalk thickening to monitor the progression of the disease [ 20 ].

In our case, pituitary stalk thickening persisted even at 8 months after symptom onset, prompting the consideration of a pituitary biopsy for a definitive diagnosis of LINH, also to rule out malignant conditions such as Langerhans cell histiocytosis.　However, the evaluation of anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies targeting antigens specific to the posterior pituitary which are highly sensitive markers for LINH [ 21 ] was helpful for avoiding invasive pituitary biopsies.

Previous case reports suggest that both COVID-19 infection and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could potentially trigger the onset of AVP-D.

There are seven reports of pituitary dysfunction accompanied by AVP-D following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. The majority of these cases were female, four cases presented only with AVP-D, and the time from vaccination to disease onset varied from 3 days to 8 weeks post-vaccination. [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Interestingly, pituitary stalk enlargement was frequently detected on MRI scans in 85% (6/7) (Table  5 ).

On the other hand, there are also seven reports of pituitary dysfunction accompanied by AVP-D after COVID-19 infection. Among the seven cases, only one case exhibited symptoms of pituitary anterior lobe dysfunction other than AVP-D. the time from infection to disease onset varied from 2 to 8 weeks. Unlike SARS-CoV-2 vaccination-related AVP-D, thickening of the pituitary stalk was only observed in 17% (1/6), (Table  6 ) [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. In reports of long-term follow-up of idiopathic cases of AVP-D, 79.1% (34 of 43 patients) were detected to have pituitary stalk enlargement on MRI at the time of onset, and 93.0% (40 of 43 patients) up to 6 months thereafter [ 22 ]. Considering the frequency of pituitary stalk enlargement in both idiopathic AVP-D and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination-related AVP-D, it is presumed that SARS-CoV-2 vaccination-related AVP-D shares a similar pathophysiology with idiopathic AVP-D.

One potential contributor to pituitary inflammation following vaccination is the adjuvant-induced autoimmune (ASIA) syndrome, which is believed to overreact immune responses using adjuvants [ 23 ].

However, AVP-D due to vaccines other than the SARS-CoV-2 has been limited only with the older smallpox vaccine [ 24 , 25 ], with no recent reports from other vaccines, suggesting a possible specific effect of adjuvants in the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Secondly, antigen cross-reactivity between SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibodies and tissue proteins such as thyroid peroxidase protein has been known [ 26 ]. Although it is unknown for pituitary and hypothalamic cells, these cells may possess cross-reactivity to induce autoimmunity.

On the other hand, the following mechanism is considered for the development of AVP-D during COVID-19 infection: SARS-CoV-2 utilizes its spike protein to invade host cells via the Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor [ 27 ]. The hypothalamus expresses ACE2 receptors and is thought to be a target for SARS-CoV-2, which may lead to AVP-D [ 28 ].

COVID-19 infection-related AVP-D may differ from idiopathic AVP-D in terms of its pathophysiology and imaging characteristics, such as those seen in LINH. There has been only one case of anti-rabphilin-3A antibody-positive AVP-D without pituitary stalk enlargement, which was considered to have resolved due to its chronic nature [ 29 ]. It is possible that this case did not initially present with pituitary enlargement. The measurement of anti-rabphilin-3A antibody has been predominantly conducted in cases with imaging characteristics. However, accumulation of cases for antibody measurements are needed for further investigation of the underlying causes, including COVID-19 infection-related AVP-D and cases without other imaging characteristics, to facilitate the advancement of etiological assessment.

In conclusion, it was presumed that the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was the triggering factor in our case. Pituitary stalk enlargement and positive anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies may help in the diagnosis of AVP-D induced by SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. As testing for anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies becomes more widespread and data accumulates, it is anticipated that it will contribute to clarify the detail causes of such conditions.

We reported this adverse event related to the vaccine to Pfizer Japan.

Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Abbreviations

Adrenocorticotropic hormone

Arginine vasopressin

Coronavirus disease 2019

Desmopressin

Growth hormone-releasing peptide-2

• Lymphocytic infundibulo-neurohypophysitis

Magnetic resonance imaging

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the patient and their family, who consented to the use of data and images for this case report.

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Department of Metabolism & Endocrinology, Juntendo University Graduate School, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan

Hiroki Takizawa, Hiromasa Goto, Toyoyoshi Uchida, Shuhei Aoyama & Hirotaka Watada

Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, 470-1192, Aichi, Japan

Haruki Fujisawa, Atsushi Suzuki & Yoshihisa Sugimura

Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Daido Hospital, Nagoya, 451-85111, Japan

Naoko Iwata

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Contributions

All the authors contributed to authorship. H.T., H.G. and H.W. were involved in writing and drafting the case report. H.T., H.G., S.A. and T.U. were involved in the diagnosis and management of this patient. N.I., H.F., A.S. and Y.S. contributed to the measurement of anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies. All authors reviewed and approved the final draft.

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Correspondence to Hiromasa Goto .

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Ethics approval was not necessary for the reported investigations, as they were performed in a routine clinical setting and therapeutic intention. Written informed consent was obtained from the patient before undergoing all clinical procedures.

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Written informed consent was obtained from the parents of the study participants. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor of this journal.

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Takizawa, H., Goto, H., Uchida, T. et al. Arginine vasopressin deficiency onset after COVID-19 vaccination with positive anti-rabphilin-3A antibodies: a case report and literature review. BMC Endocr Disord 24 , 143 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-024-01664-8

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-024-01664-8

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