Literature reviews

Research students need to do a full literature review in their dissertations, and many journal articles also require short literature reviews. Institutions have different policies about the range of sources that may be used in a literature review. The WU requirements are as follows:

  1. The search must be comprehensive and exhaustive.
    1. Students must use newer primary sources to make sure they consider any recent developments. In particular, this includes research journal articles.
    2. The search is not complete until all relevant documents have been reviewed. Students may discontinue searching when they have clearly established the present state of knowledge on the topic and there is no value in searching further, even if they have not yet found all research on the topic.
    3. There is no specific minimum number of items that students must review. It depends on how much has been written, when it was written, and the size and complexity of the topic.
  2. Students may include any of the following if they contribute to a current understanding of the topic:
    1. Primary sources that are more than five years old. Some “standard works” are quite old but are still influential and relevant, such as seminal and watershed works.
    2. PhD dissertations and Masters theses
    3. Literature reviews
    4. Monographs and anthologies
    5. Secondary sources.
  3. Students might meet the requirements using only internet sources. Students are not required to use off-line or paper sources, as long as they clearly establish the present state of knowledge on the topic.
  4. Students may not use Wikipedia articles, but they might use the footnote links to locate external sources.
  5. Students may not normally use tertiary sources.