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Environmental science

Use this guide to find and access information on environmental science

Useful resources on literature or systematic reviews

What is a literature review?

A literature review is a critical assessment of the literature pertaining to a particular topic or subject.  It is a 'systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating and synthesising the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners'  Fink, (2005).

What's its purpose?

  • justify your research
  • provide context for your research
  • identify new ways, to interpret and highlight gaps in previous research
  • ensure that the research has not been done before
  • signpost a way forward for further research
  • show where the research fits into the existing literature
  • highlight flaws in previous research