Doing a narrative review
Unless your lecturer or supervisor has specified otherwise, it’s safe to assume that you’re being asked to complete a narrative literature review. These are the most common type used in assignments and research projects.
It’s worth noting that narrative reviews using systematic methods are becoming more popular. These follow a structured approach to searching and selecting literature, similar to a systematic review. If you're planning to take this more formal route, the Systematic Review Guide will be more relevant, particularly in terms of the support the Library can offer around systematic searching.
A narrative literature review typically forms part of a broader research project. They provide a descriptive summary of existing research on a specific topic. It offers a broad overview by highlighting key themes, theories and trends, typically organised thematically or chronologically. A well-written narrative review identifies gaps in the existing literature and explains why the research that follows is necessary, highlighting how it contributes to the ongoing scholarly conversation in that area. This type of review focuses on qualitative assessment rather than quantitative analysis.
Unlike systematic reviews, narrative literature reviews do not necessarily adhere to a standardised search methodology and can vary in length, comprehensiveness, and timeframe. They generally allow flexibility in the choice of resources and search engines; you are more likely to be able to use tools like Library Search, federated databases (which search across multiple platforms, such as EBSCOhost and ProQuest), and grey literature (e.g. policy documents, reports, and other non-commercial publications).
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Further Reading on narrative literature reviews
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Student Learning
Information provided by the University of Waikato's Student learning team, covering: The Main features of a literature review | Getting started with your literature review | What is a literature review | Stand-alone literature reviews -
Sage Research Methods "Narrative Literature Review"Tip: Select the button for "Content available to me" so you don't get all the results we don't have access to.
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Writing a literature review (Article) Winchester, C. L., & Salji, M. (2016). Writing a literature review. Journal of Clinical Urology, 9(5), 308–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/2051415816650133
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The Structure and Conduct of a Narrative Literature Review (Book Chapter) Pautasso, M., D’Antoni, A. V., Arynchyna, A., Shoja, M., Loukas, M., Tubbs, R. S., Buerger, S. M., & Karl, M. (2019). The Structure and Conduct of a Narrative Literature Review. In A Guide to the Scientific Career (pp. 299–310). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118907283.ch31
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Narrative Literature ReviewsProvides an outline as to how to structure your literature review along with some further reading.
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Traditional or Narrative Literature ReviewsA LibGuide from Charles Sturt University, which describes four common types of narrative reviews.
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Writing Literature ReviewsTrent University Guide to writing literature reviews.
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Telling a Research Story: Writing a Literature Review
by
Telling a Research Story: Writing a Literature Review is concerned with the writing of a literature review and is not designed to address any of the preliminary processes leading up to the actual writing of the literature review. This volume represents a revision and expansion of the material on writing literature reviews that appeared in English in Today's Research World. This volume progresses from general to specific issues in the writing of literature reviews. It opens with some orientations that raise awareness of the issues that surround the telling of a research story. Issues of structure and matters of language, style, and rhetoric are then discussed. Sections on metadiscourse, citation, and paraphrasing and summarizing are included.
ISBN: 9780472033362Publication Date: 2009
