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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.

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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.

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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
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• 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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Chapter Four: Theory, Methodologies, Methods, and Evidence

Research Methods

You are viewing the first edition of this textbook. a second edition is available – please visit the latest edition for updated information..

This page discusses the following topics:

Research Goals

Research method types.

Before discussing research   methods , we need to distinguish them from  methodologies  and  research skills . Methodologies, linked to literary theories, are tools and lines of investigation: sets of practices and propositions about texts and the world. Researchers using Marxist literary criticism will adopt methodologies that look to material forces like labor, ownership, and technology to understand literature and its relationship to the world. They will also seek to understand authors not as inspired geniuses but as people whose lives and work are shaped by social forces.

Example: Critical Race Theory Methodologies

Critical Race Theory may use a variety of methodologies, including

• Interest convergence: investigating whether marginalized groups only achieve progress when dominant groups benefit as well
• Intersectional theory: investigating how multiple factors of advantage and disadvantage around race, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. operate together in complex ways
• Radical critique of the law: investigating how the law has historically been used to marginalize particular groups, such as black people, while recognizing that legal efforts are important to achieve emancipation and civil rights
• Social constructivism: investigating how race is socially constructed (rather than biologically grounded)
• Standpoint epistemology: investigating how knowledge relates to social position
• Structural determinism: investigating how structures of thought and of organizations determine social outcomes

To identify appropriate methodologies, you will need to research your chosen theory and gather what methodologies are associated with it. For the most part, we can’t assume that there are “one size fits all” methodologies.

Research skills are about how you handle materials such as library search engines, citation management programs, special collections materials, and so on.

Research methods  are about where and how you get answers to your research questions. Are you conducting interviews? Visiting archives? Doing close readings? Reviewing scholarship? You will need to choose which methods are most appropriate to use in your research and you need to gain some knowledge about how to use these methods. In other words, you need to do some research into research methods!

Your choice of research method depends on the kind of questions you are asking. For example, if you want to understand how an author progressed through several drafts to arrive at a final manuscript, you may need to do archival research. If you want to understand why a particular literary work became a bestseller, you may need to do audience research. If you want to know why a contemporary author wrote a particular work, you may need to do interviews. Usually literary research involves a combination of methods such as  archival research ,  discourse analysis , and  qualitative research  methods.

Literary research methods tend to differ from research methods in the hard sciences (such as physics and chemistry). Science research must present results that are reproducible, while literary research rarely does (though it must still present evidence for its claims). Literary research often deals with questions of meaning, social conventions, representations of lived experience, and aesthetic effects; these are questions that reward dialogue and different perspectives rather than one great experiment that settles the issue. In literary research, we might get many valuable answers even though they are quite different from one another. Also in literary research, we usually have some room to speculate about answers, but our claims have to be plausible (believable) and our argument comprehensive (meaning we don’t overlook evidence that would alter our argument significantly if it were known).

A literary researcher might select the following:

Theory: Critical Race Theory

Methodology: Social Constructivism

Method: Scholarly

Skills: Search engines, citation management

Wendy Belcher, in  Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks , identifies two main approaches to understanding literary works: looking at a text by itself (associated with New Criticism ) and looking at texts as they connect to society (associated with Cultural Studies ). The goal of New Criticism is to bring the reader further into the text. The goal of Cultural Studies is to bring the reader into the network of discourses that surround and pass through the text. Other approaches, such as Ecocriticism, relate literary texts to the Sciences (as well as to the Humanities).

The New Critics, starting in the 1940s,  focused on meaning within the text itself, using a method they called “ close reading .” The text itself becomes e vidence for a particular reading. Using this approach, you should summarize the literary work briefly and q uote particularly meaningful passages, being sure to introduce quotes and then interpret them (never let them stand alone). Make connections within the work; a sk  “why” and “how” the various parts of the text relate to each other.

Cultural Studies critics see all texts  as connected to society; the critic  therefore has to connect a text to at least one political or social issue. How and why does  the text reproduce particular knowledge systems (known as discourses) and how do these knowledge systems relate to issues of power within the society? Who speaks and when? Answering these questions helps your reader understand the text in context. Cultural contexts can include the treatment of gender (Feminist, Queer), class (Marxist), nationality, race, religion, or any other area of human society.

Other approaches, such as psychoanalytic literary criticism , look at literary texts to better understand human psychology. A psychoanalytic reading can focus on a character, the author, the reader, or on society in general. Ecocriticism  look at human understandings of nature in literary texts.

We select our research methods based on the kinds of things we want to know. For example, we may be studying the relationship between literature and society, between author and text, or the status of a work in the literary canon. We may want to know about a work’s form, genre, or thematics. We may want to know about the audience’s reading and reception, or about methods for teaching literature in schools.

Below are a few research methods and their descriptions. You may need to consult with your instructor about which ones are most appropriate for your project. The first list covers methods most students use in their work. The second list covers methods more commonly used by advanced researchers. Even if you will not be using methods from this second list in your research project, you may read about these research methods in the scholarship you find.

Most commonly used undergraduate research methods:

• Scholarship Methods:  Studies the body of scholarship written about a particular author, literary work, historical period, literary movement, genre, theme, theory, or method.
• Textual Analysis Methods:  Used for close readings of literary texts, these methods also rely on literary theory and background information to support the reading.
• Biographical Methods:  Used to study the life of the author to better understand their work and times, these methods involve reading biographies and autobiographies about the author, and may also include research into private papers, correspondence, and interviews.
• Discourse Analysis Methods:  Studies language patterns to reveal ideology and social relations of power. This research involves the study of institutions, social groups, and social movements to understand how people in various settings use language to represent the world to themselves and others. Literary works may present complex mixtures of discourses which the characters (and readers) have to navigate.
• Creative Writing Methods:  A literary re-working of another literary text, creative writing research is used to better understand a literary work by investigating its language, formal structures, composition methods, themes, and so on. For instance, a creative research project may retell a story from a minor character’s perspective to reveal an alternative reading of events. To qualify as research, a creative research project is usually combined with a piece of theoretical writing that explains and justifies the work.

Methods used more often by advanced researchers:

• Archival Methods: Usually involves trips to special collections where original papers are kept. In these archives are many unpublished materials such as diaries, letters, photographs, ledgers, and so on. These materials can offer us invaluable insight into the life of an author, the development of a literary work, or the society in which the author lived. There are at least three major archives of James Baldwin’s papers: The Smithsonian , Yale , and The New York Public Library . Descriptions of such materials are often available online, but the materials themselves are typically stored in boxes at the archive.
• Computational Methods:  Used for statistical analysis of texts such as studies of the popularity and meaning of particular words in literature over time.
• Ethnographic Methods:  Studies groups of people and their interactions with literary works, for instance in educational institutions, in reading groups (such as book clubs), and in fan networks. This approach may involve interviews and visits to places (including online communities) where people interact with literary works. Note: before you begin such work, you must have  Institutional Review Board (IRB)  approval “to protect the rights and welfare of human participants involved in research.”
• Visual Methods:  Studies the visual qualities of literary works. Some literary works, such as illuminated manuscripts, children’s literature, and graphic novels, present a complex interplay of text and image. Even works without illustrations can be studied for their use of typography, layout, and other visual features.

Regardless of the method(s) you choose, you will need to learn how to apply them to your work and how to carry them out successfully. For example, you should know that many archives do not allow you to bring pens (you can use pencils) and you may not be allowed to bring bags into the archives. You will need to keep a record of which documents you consult and their location (box number, etc.) in the archives. If you are unsure how to use a particular method, please consult a book about it. [1] Also, ask for the advice of trained researchers such as your instructor or a research librarian.

• What research method(s) will you be using for your paper? Why did you make this method selection over other methods? If you haven’t made a selection yet, which methods are you considering?
• What specific methodological approaches are you most interested in exploring in relation to the chosen literary work?
• What is your plan for researching your method(s) and its major approaches?
• What was the most important lesson you learned from this page? What point was confusing or difficult to understand?

Write your answers in a webcourse discussion page.

• Introduction to Research Methods: A Practical Guide for Anyone Undertaking a Research Project  by Catherine, Dr. Dawson
• Practical Research Methods: A User-Friendly Guide to Mastering Research Techniques and Projects  by Catherine Dawson
• Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches  by John W. Creswell  Cheryl N. Poth
• Qualitative Research Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice  by Michael Quinn Patton
• Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches  by John W. Creswell  J. David Creswell
• Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners  by Ranjit Kumar
• Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques  by C.R. Kothari

Strategies for Conducting Literary Research Copyright © 2021 by Barry Mauer & John Venecek is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Dissertations & projects: Literature-based projects

• Research questions
• The process of reviewing
• Project management
• Literature-based projects

On these pages:

“As a general rule, the introduction is usually around 5 to 10 per cent of the word limit; each chapter around 15 to 25 per cent; and the conclusion around 5 per cent.” Bryan Greetham, How to Write Your Undergraduate Dissertation

This page gives guidance on the structure of a literature-based project.   That is, a project where the data is found in existing literature rather than found through primary research. They may also include information from primary sources such as original documents or other sources.

How to structure a literature-based project

The structure of a literature-based dissertation is usually thematic, but make sure to check with your supervisor to make sure you are abiding by your department’s project specifications. A typical literature-based dissertation will be broken up into the following sections:

Abstract or summary

Acknowledgments, contents page, introduction.

• Literature Review

Themed Chapters

• Bibliography

Use this basic structure as your document plan . Remember that you do not need to write it in the order it will finally be written in. 

For more advice on managing the order of your project, see our section on Project Management.   

If you use the template provided on our Formatting page, you will see that it already has a title page included. You just need to fill in the appropriate boxes by typing or choosing from the drop-down-lists. The information you need to provide is: 

• Type of assignment (thesis, dissertation or independent project)
• Partial or full fulfilment information
• Subject area
• Your name (and previous qualifications if applicable)
• Month and year of submission

This may not always be required - check with your tutor.

• It is  independent  of the rest of the report - it is a mini-report, which needs to make sense completely on its own.
• References should  not  be included.
• Nothing should appear in the abstract that is not in the rest of the report.
• Usually between 200-300 words.
• Write as a  single  paragraph.

It is recommended that you write your abstract  after  your report.

If you choose not to use the template, then you will need to go through the document after it is written and create list showing which heading is on which page of your document.

Purpose: To thank those who were directly involved in your work .

• Do not confuse the acknowledgements section with a dedication - this is not where you thank your friends and relatives unless they have helped you with your manuscript.
• Acknowledgments are about courtesy, where you thank those who were directly involved in your work, or were involved in supporting your work (technicians, tutors, other students, financial support etc).
• This section tends to be  very brief , a few lines at the most. Identify those who provided you with the most support, and thank them appropriately.
• At the very least, make sure you acknowledge your supervisor!!

Purpose: To state the research problem, provide justification for your research questions and explain your methodology and main findings.

• Explain what the problem you will be addressing is, what your research questions are, and why they will help address the issue.
• Explain your basic methodology
• Define the scope of the dissertation, explaining any limitations.
• Layout the structure of the dissertation, taking the reader through each section and providing any key definitions.
• Very briefly describe what your main findings are - but leave the detail for the sections below.

It is good practice to come back to the introduction after you have finished writing up the rest of the document to ensure it sets the appropriately scene for subsequent sections.

Background Literature Review

This may be part of your introduction - check what your supervisor advises.

Purpose: Positions your project within the wider literature. Justifies your research questions

As you are undertaking a literature-based project, it can seem odd to include a separate literature review - and indeed some supervisors may suggest it is not necessary. However, most will have a section, either as a separate chapter, or as part of the introduction, that:

• Provides a background to your study
• Shows where your study fits within the existing literature
• Justifies your research questions and methods (your search strategy etc).  

For more advice on writing a literature review see the Literature Review pages on this guide.

Purpose: To present the themes you have identified in your research and explain how they contribute to answering your research questions

You will typically have 3-5 themed chapters. Each one should contain:

• An introduction to the theme - what things it means and what it incorporates.
• How the theme was addressed within the literature - this should be analytical not just descriptive.
• A conclusion which shows how the theme relates to the research question(s).

Ensuring your themed chapters flow

Choosing the order of your theme chapters is an important part of the structure to your project. For example, if you study History and your project covers a topic that develops over a large time period, it may be best to order each chapter chronologically. Other subjects may have a natural narrative running through the themes. Think about how your reader will be able to follow along with your overall argument.

Although each chapter must be dedicated to a particular theme, it must link back to previous chapters and flow into the following chapter. You need to ensure they do not seem like they are unrelated to each other. There will be overlaps, mention these.

Some literature-based projects will focus on primary sources. If yours does, make sure primary sources are at the core of your paragraphs and chapters, and use secondary sources to expand and explore the theme further. 

Purpose: To present the conclusion that you have reached as a result of both the literature review and the analysis in your thematic chapters

A conclusion summarises all the points you have previously made and it  should not  include any evidence or topics you have not included in your introduction or main body. There should be no surprises.

It should be about 5-10% of your word limit so make sure you leave enough words to do it justice. There will be marks in the marking scheme specifically allocated to the strength of your conclusion which cannot be made up elsewhere.

Some conclusions will also include recommendations for practice or ideas for further research. Check with your supervisor to see if they are expecting either or both of these.

• Questionnaires
• Transcriptions
• Correspondence

If you have information that you would like to include but are finding it disrupts the main body of text as its too cumbersome, or would distract from the main arguments of your dissertation, the information can be included in the appendix section. Each appendix should be focused on one item. 

Appendices  should not include any information that is key to your topic or overall argument. 

Reference list

It is good practice to develop a reference list whilst  writing the project, rather than leaving it until the end. This prevents a lot of searching around trying to remember where you accessed a particular source. If using primary sources, it also allows you to monitor the balance between primary and secondary sources included in the project. There is software available to help manage your references and the university officially supports RefWorks and EndNote. 

For more advice on reference management, see our Skills Guide: Referencing Software

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• 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

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Encyclopedia of Evidence in Pharmaceutical Public Health and Health Services Research in Pharmacy pp 1–15 Cite as

Methodological Approaches to Literature Review

• Dennis Thomas 2 ,
• Elida Zairina 3 &
• Johnson George 4  
• Living reference work entry
• First Online: 09 May 2023

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The literature review can serve various functions in the contexts of education and research. It aids in identifying knowledge gaps, informing research methodology, and developing a theoretical framework during the planning stages of a research study or project, as well as reporting of review findings in the context of the existing literature. This chapter discusses the methodological approaches to conducting a literature review and offers an overview of different types of reviews. There are various types of reviews, including narrative reviews, scoping reviews, and systematic reviews with reporting strategies such as meta-analysis and meta-synthesis. Review authors should consider the scope of the literature review when selecting a type and method. Being focused is essential for a successful review; however, this must be balanced against the relevance of the review to a broad audience.

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Elida Zairina

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Thomas, D., Zairina, E., George, J. (2023). Methodological Approaches to Literature Review. In: Encyclopedia of Evidence in Pharmaceutical Public Health and Health Services Research in Pharmacy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50247-8_57-1

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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. 

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Best Practice for Literature Searching

• Literature Search Best Practice

What is literature searching?

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Literature searching is the task of finding relevant information on a topic from the available research literature. Literature searches range from short fact-finding missions to comprehensive and lengthy funded systematic reviews. Or, you may want to establish through a literature review that no one has already done the research you are conducting. If so, a comprehensive search is essential to be sure that this is true.

Whatever the scale, the aim of literature searches is to gain knowledge and aid decision-making.  They are embedded in the scientific discovery process. Literature searching is a vital component of what is called "evidence-based practice", where decisions are based on the best available evidence.

What is "literature"?

Research literature writes up research that has been done in order to share it with others around the world. Far more people can read a research article than could ever visit a particular lab, so the article is the vehicle for disseminating the research.  A research article describes in detail the research that's been done, and what the researchers think can be concluded from it.   

It is important, in literature searching, that you search for  research literature .  Scientific information is published in different formats for different purposes: in  textbooks  to teach students; in  opinion  pieces, sometimes called  editorials  or  commentaries , to persuade peers; in  review articles  to survey the state of knowledge.  An abundance of other literature is available online, but not actually published (by an academic publisher)--this includes things like  conference proceedings ,  working papers, reports  and  preprints .  This type of material is called grey (or gray) literature . 

Most of the time what you are looking for for your literature review is research literature (and not opinion pieces, grey literature, or textbook material) that has been published in  scholarly peer reviewed journals .

As expertise builds, using a greater diversity of literature becomes more appropriate.  For instance, advanced students might use conference proceedings in a literature review to map the direction of new and forthcoming research. The most advanced literature reviews, systematic reviews, need to try to track down unpublished studies to be comprehensive, and a great challenge can be locating not only relevant grey literature, but studies that have been conducted but not published anywhere.  If in doubt, always check with a teacher or supervisor about what type of literature you should be including in your search.   

Why undertake literature searches?

By undertaking regular literature searches in your area of expertise, or undertaking complex literature reviews, you are:

• Able to provide context for and justify your research
• Exploring new research methods
• Highlighting gaps in existing research
• Checking if research has been done before
• Showing how your research fits with existing evidence
• Identifying flaws and bias in existing research
• Learning about terminology and different concepts related to your field
• Able to track larger trends
• Understanding what the majority of researchers have found on certain questions.
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What Is Literature Research?

Literature research refers to the scholarly, critical study of literature, generally for analysis purposes. It is often done as part of a degree program, such as a degree in English, but some people simply choose to study literature on their own as part of a hobby. Basic literature research may also take place in high school, but most students don't really begin diving into true literary analysis until college. For professors of literature, this type of research will generally continue throughout their careers, as they publish scholarly papers on their topics of choice. Many universities require this of their professors.

The methods for literature research are generally fairly similar across the board. An individual wanting to study a certain aspect of a piece of literature, such as a certain theme, piece of imagery, type of characterization, etc., will generally form a question about this idea. It is necessary that the question be debatable in order to produce a truly interesting, worthwhile paper. Then, the individual will begin examining the research that already exists in this topic from other scholarly researchers.

In most cases, the researcher will make sure to study and respond to all sides of a debatable issue when writing his or her own literature research. Of course, it is entirely possible that no one else has written about one specific idea for one specific piece of literature before; in this case, the researcher will need to find related examples for similar ideas or other similar pieces of literature. It is also common practice for literature researchers to compare a few different works to each other; this can be different works by the same author or by different authors.

The process of literary review, critique, and analysis can be lengthy and challenging. It is necessary in literature research for the researcher to add his or her own ideas in addition to the primary and secondary sources she collects for the research. If the research will eventually be published in a scholarly journal, it will be necessary for the piece to go through a lengthy peer review process as well. In this process, the researcher's colleagues will review the piece and offer critical feedback on it to ensure that the piece is the best it can be. Students completing this type of research that will not be published will not need to go through the peer review process, though some instructors will encourage peer reviews in the classroom to get students in practice of critiquing others' work.

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• By: Chris Hart The classics are a common focus of literary research.
• By: Chris Tefme Literature research refers to the scholarly, critical study of literature, generally for analysis purposes.
• By: Syda Productions Literature research may be conducted online.
• By: daniaphoto College students often review literature research when writing an essay.
• By: nyul Some instructors strongly encourage peer reviews to get students in practice of critiquing the work of others.
• By: Kenneth Sponsler Literature research may focus on comparing different texts.

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Why Search for Evidence-Based Literature

This guide will take you through the process of 1) creating a well-defined research question from a clincal scenario & 2) searching in article databases, such as PubMed, to find evidence-based literature.

Evidence Pyramid

The evidence pyramid shows you how reliable different types of research are.  The lower levels contain information that is based on less evidence, such as expert opinion or very early experiments.  Higher up the pyramid, the amount of literature decreases, but it is based on more evidence & thus is more reliable. 

Types of Studies

Primary Literature (Unfiltered Literature)

Case series / Case reports:  reports on the treatment of one or more individual patients. There are no control groups to compare outcomes.  This type of research has little statistical validity.

Case control studies:  patients who already have a specific condition are compared with people who do not have the condition, looking back in time to identify factors that might be associated with the illness.  Case control studies often rely on medical records & patient recall for data collection, so their reliability is limited.

Cohort studies:   compare a group of patients who are already under a specific treatment with a similar group not affected by the treatment. Both groups are are followed over time. Cohort studies are observational, so their reliability is limited.

Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs):  carefully planned experiments that look at the effects of a treatment on real patients in real time. To reduce the potential for bias, randomization & blinding are used in the selection of patients & treatments.  Patients are assigned to treatment & control groups randomly; patients & clinicians (& sometimes laboratories) do not know who is in which group & thus who is receiving treatment or not.  This allows the groups to be directly compared. RCTs can provide sound evidence of cause & effect & are considered the gold standard for experimental research.

Secondary Literature (Filtered Literature)

Systematic Reviews:   answer a specific question, using the results of an extensive literature search that identifies studies with sound & similar methodologies. The studies are reviewed, assessed for quality, & the results are summarized according to the standards of the question that is being reviewed.

Meta-analyses: thoroughly examine a number of valid studies on a topic & mathematically combine the results using statistical methodology to report the results of the analysis as if it were one large study. 

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A literature review surveys prior research published in books, scholarly articles, and any other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem being investigated. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have used in researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits within existing scholarship about the topic.

Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . Fourth edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2014.

Importance of a Good Literature Review

A literature review may consist of simply a summary of key sources, but in the social sciences, a literature review usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis, often within specific conceptual categories . 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 in a way that informs how you are planning to investigate a research problem. The analytical features of a literature review might:

• Give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations,
• Trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates,
• Depending on the situation, evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant research, or
• Usually in the conclusion of a literature review, identify where gaps exist in how a problem has been researched to date.

Given this, the purpose of a literature review is to:

• Place each work in the context of its contribution to understanding the research problem being studied.
• Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration.
• Identify new ways to interpret prior research.
• Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies.
• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.
• Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research.
• Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important].

Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005; Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998; Jesson, Jill. Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques . Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2011; Knopf, Jeffrey W. "Doing a Literature Review." PS: Political Science and Politics 39 (January 2006): 127-132; Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students . 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2012.

Types of Literature Reviews

It is important to think of knowledge in a given field as consisting of three layers. First, there are the primary studies that researchers conduct and publish. Second are the reviews of those studies that summarize and offer new interpretations built from and often extending beyond the primary studies. Third, there are the perceptions, conclusions, opinion, and interpretations that are shared informally among scholars that become part of the body of epistemological traditions within the field.

In composing a literature review, it is important to note that it is often this third layer of knowledge that is cited as "true" even though it often has only a loose relationship to the primary studies and secondary literature reviews. Given this, while literature reviews are designed to provide an overview and synthesis of pertinent sources you have explored, there are a number of approaches you could adopt depending upon the type of analysis underpinning your study.

Argumentative Review This form examines literature selectively in order to support or refute an argument, deeply embedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the literature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarian viewpoint. Given the value-laden nature of some social science research [e.g., educational reform; immigration control], argumentative approaches to analyzing the literature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However, note that they can also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of the sort found in systematic reviews [see below].

Integrative Review Considered a form of research that reviews, critiques, and synthesizes representative literature on a topic in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on the topic are generated. The body of literature includes all studies that address related or identical hypotheses or research problems. A well-done integrative review meets the same standards as primary research in regard to clarity, rigor, and replication. This is the most common form of review in the social sciences.

Historical Review Few things rest in isolation from historical precedent. Historical literature reviews focus on examining research throughout a period of time, often starting with the first time an issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged in the literature, then tracing its evolution within the scholarship of a discipline. The purpose is to place research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likely directions for future research.

Methodological Review A review does not always focus on what someone said [findings], but how they came about saying what they say [method of analysis]. Reviewing methods of analysis provides a framework of understanding at different levels [i.e. those of theory, substantive fields, research approaches, and data collection and analysis techniques], how researchers draw upon a wide variety of knowledge ranging from the conceptual level to practical documents for use in fieldwork in the areas of ontological and epistemological consideration, quantitative and qualitative integration, sampling, interviewing, data collection, and data analysis. This approach helps highlight ethical issues which you should be aware of and consider as you go through your own study.

Systematic Review This form consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent to a clearly formulated research question, which uses pre-specified and standardized methods to identify and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect, report, and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review. The goal is to deliberately document, critically evaluate, and summarize scientifically all of the research about a clearly defined research problem . Typically it focuses on a very specific empirical question, often posed in a cause-and-effect form, such as "To what extent does A contribute to B?" This type of literature review is primarily applied to examining prior research studies in clinical medicine and allied health fields, but it is increasingly being used in the social sciences.

Theoretical Review The purpose of this form is to examine the corpus of theory that has accumulated in regard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. The theoretical literature review helps to establish what theories already exist, the relationships between them, to what degree the existing theories have been investigated, and to develop new hypotheses to be tested. Often this form is used to help establish a lack of appropriate theories or reveal that current theories are inadequate for explaining new or emerging research problems. The unit of analysis can focus on a theoretical concept or a whole theory or framework.

NOTE : Most often the literature review will incorporate some combination of types. For example, a review that examines literature supporting or refuting an argument, assumption, or philosophical problem related to the research problem will also need to include writing supported by sources that establish the history of these arguments in the literature.

Baumeister, Roy F. and Mark R. Leary. "Writing Narrative Literature Reviews."  Review of General Psychology 1 (September 1997): 311-320; Mark R. Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005; Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998; Kennedy, Mary M. "Defining a Literature." Educational Researcher 36 (April 2007): 139-147; Petticrew, Mark and Helen Roberts. Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide . Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2006; Torracro, Richard. "Writing Integrative Literature Reviews: Guidelines and Examples." Human Resource Development Review 4 (September 2005): 356-367; Rocco, Tonette S. and Maria S. Plakhotnik. "Literature Reviews, Conceptual Frameworks, and Theoretical Frameworks: Terms, Functions, and Distinctions." Human Ressource Development Review 8 (March 2008): 120-130; Sutton, Anthea. Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review . Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2016.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Thinking About Your Literature Review

The structure of a literature review should include the following in support of understanding the research problem :

• An overview of the subject, issue, or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review,
• Division of works under review into themes or categories [e.g. works that support a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative approaches entirely],
• An 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.

The critical evaluation of each work should consider :

• Provenance -- what are the author's credentials? Are the author's arguments supported by evidence [e.g. primary historical material, case studies, narratives, statistics, recent scientific findings]?
• Methodology -- were the techniques used to identify, gather, and analyze the data appropriate to addressing the research problem? Was the sample size appropriate? Were the results effectively interpreted and reported?
• Objectivity -- is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is contrary data considered or is certain pertinent information ignored to prove the author's point?
• Persuasiveness -- which of the author's theses are most convincing or least convincing?
• Validity -- are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the work ultimately contribute in any significant way to an understanding of the subject?

II.  Development of the Literature Review

Four Basic Stages of Writing 1.  Problem formulation -- which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues? 2.  Literature search -- finding materials relevant to the subject being explored. 3.  Data evaluation -- determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic. 4.  Analysis and interpretation -- discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature.

Consider the following issues before writing the literature review: Clarify If your assignment is not specific about what form your literature review should take, seek clarification from your professor by asking these questions: 1.  Roughly how many sources would be appropriate to include? 2.  What types of sources should I review (books, journal articles, websites; scholarly versus popular sources)? 3.  Should I summarize, synthesize, or critique sources by discussing a common theme or issue? 4.  Should I evaluate the sources in any way beyond evaluating how they relate to understanding the research problem? 5.  Should I provide subheadings and other background information, such as definitions and/or a history? Find Models Use the exercise of reviewing the literature to examine how authors in your discipline or area of interest have composed their literature review sections. Read them to get a sense of the types of themes you might want to look for in your own research or to identify ways to organize your final review. The bibliography or reference section of sources you've already read, such as required readings in the course syllabus, are also excellent entry points into your own research. Narrow the Topic The narrower your topic, the easier it will be to limit the number of sources you need to read in order to obtain a good survey of relevant resources. Your professor will probably not expect you to read everything that's available about the topic, but you'll make the act of reviewing easier if you first limit scope of the research problem. A good strategy is to begin by searching the USC Libraries Catalog for recent books about the topic and review the table of contents for chapters that focuses on specific issues. You can also review the indexes of books to find references to specific issues that can serve as the focus of your research. For example, a book surveying the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may include a chapter on the role Egypt has played in mediating the conflict, or look in the index for the pages where Egypt is mentioned in the text. Consider Whether Your Sources are Current Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. This is particularly true in disciplines in medicine and the sciences where research conducted becomes obsolete very quickly as new discoveries are made. However, when writing a review in the social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may be required. In other words, a complete understanding the research problem requires you to deliberately examine how knowledge and perspectives have changed over time. Sort through 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 explore what is considered by scholars to be a "hot topic" and what is not.

III.  Ways to Organize Your Literature Review

Chronology of Events If your review follows the chronological method, you could write about the materials according to when they were published. This approach should only be followed if a clear path of research building on previous research can be identified and that these trends follow a clear chronological order of development. For example, a literature review that focuses on continuing research about the emergence of German economic power after the fall of the Soviet Union. 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 environmental studies of brown fields if the progression revealed, for example, a change in the soil collection practices of the researchers who wrote and/or conducted the studies. Thematic [“conceptual categories”] A thematic literature review is the most common approach to summarizing prior research in the social and behavioral sciences. Thematic reviews are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the progression of time, although the progression of time may still be incorporated into a thematic review. For example, a review of the Internet’s impact on American presidential politics could focus on the development of online political satire. While the study focuses on one topic, the Internet’s impact on American presidential politics, it would still be organized chronologically reflecting technological developments in media. The difference in this example between a "chronological" and a "thematic" approach is what is emphasized the most: themes related to the role of the Internet in presidential politics. Note that more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order. A review organized in this manner would shift between time periods within each section according to the point being made. Methodological A methodological approach focuses on the methods utilized by the researcher. For the Internet in American presidential politics project, one methodological approach would be to look at cultural differences between the portrayal of American presidents on American, British, and French websites. Or the review might focus on the fundraising impact of the Internet on a particular political party. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed.

Other Sections of Your Literature Review Once you've decided on the organizational method for your literature review, the sections you need to include in the paper should be easy to figure out because they arise from 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. However, sometimes you may 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. However, only include what is necessary for the reader to locate your study within the larger scholarship about the research problem.

Here are examples of other sections, usually in the form of a single paragraph, you may need to include depending on the type of review you write:

• Current Situation : Information necessary to understand the current topic or focus of the literature review.
• Sources Used : Describes the methods and resources [e.g., databases] you used to identify the literature you reviewed.
• History : The chronological progression of the field, the research literature, or an idea that is necessary to understand the literature review, if the body of the literature review is not already a chronology.
• Selection Methods : Criteria you used to select (and perhaps exclude) sources in your literature review. For instance, you might explain that your review includes only peer-reviewed [i.e., scholarly] sources.
• Standards : Description of the way in which you present your information.
• 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?

IV.  Writing Your Literature Review

Once you've settled on how to organize your literature review, you're ready to write each section. When writing your review, keep in mind these issues.

Use Evidence A literature review section is, in this sense, just like any other academic research paper. Your interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence [citations] that demonstrates 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 research problem, whether it is thematic, methodological, or chronological. Related items that provide additional information, but that are not key to understanding the research problem, can be included in a list of further readings . Use Quotes Sparingly Some short quotes are appropriate if you want to emphasize a point, or if what an author stated cannot be easily paraphrased. Sometimes you may need to quote certain terminology that was coined by the author, is not common knowledge, or taken directly from the study. Do not use extensive quotes as a substitute for using your own words in reviewing the literature. Summarize and Synthesize Remember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each thematic paragraph as well as throughout the review. Recapitulate important features of a research study, but then synthesize it by rephrasing the study's significance and relating it to your own work and the work of others. Keep Your Own Voice While the literature review presents others' ideas, your voice [the writer's] should remain front and center. For example, weave references to other sources into what you are writing but maintain your own voice by starting and ending the paragraph with your own ideas and wording. 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. Even when paraphrasing an author’s work, you still must provide a citation to that work.

V.  Common Mistakes to Avoid

These are the most common mistakes made in reviewing social science research literature.

• Sources in your literature review do not clearly relate to the research problem;
• You do not take sufficient time to define and identify the most relevant sources to use in the literature review related to the research problem;
• Relies exclusively on secondary analytical sources rather than including relevant primary research studies or data;
• Uncritically accepts another researcher's findings and interpretations as valid, rather than examining critically all aspects of the research design and analysis;
• Does not describe the search procedures that were used in identifying the literature to review;
• Reports isolated statistical results rather than synthesizing them in chi-squared or meta-analytic methods; and,
• Only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contrary findings and alternative interpretations found in the literature.

Cook, Kathleen E. and Elise Murowchick. “Do Literature Review Skills Transfer from One Course to Another?” Psychology Learning and Teaching 13 (March 2014): 3-11; Fink, Arlene. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper . 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005; Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998; Jesson, Jill. Doing Your Literature Review: Traditional and Systematic Techniques . London: SAGE, 2011; Literature Review Handout. Online Writing Center. Liberty University; Literature Reviews. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J. and Rebecca Frels. Seven Steps to a Comprehensive Literature Review: A Multimodal and Cultural Approach . Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2016; Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students . 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2012; Randolph, Justus J. “A Guide to Writing the Dissertation Literature Review." Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation. vol. 14, June 2009; Sutton, Anthea. Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review . Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2016; Taylor, Dena. The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Writing a Literature Review. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra.

Writing Tip

Break Out of Your Disciplinary Box!

Thinking interdisciplinarily about a research problem can be a rewarding exercise in applying new ideas, theories, or concepts to an old problem. For example, what might cultural anthropologists say about the continuing conflict in the Middle East? In what ways might geographers view the need for better distribution of social service agencies in large cities than how social workers might study the issue? You don’t want to substitute a thorough review of core research literature in your discipline for studies conducted in other fields of study. However, particularly in the social sciences, thinking about research problems from multiple vectors is a key strategy for finding new solutions to a problem or gaining a new perspective. Consult with a librarian about identifying research databases in other disciplines; almost every field of study has at least one comprehensive database devoted to indexing its research literature.

Frodeman, Robert. The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity . New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Another Writing Tip

Don't Just Review for Content!

While conducting a review of the literature, maximize the time you devote to writing this part of your paper by thinking broadly about what you should be looking for and evaluating. Review not just what scholars are saying, but how are they saying it. Some questions to ask:

• How are they organizing their ideas?
• What methods have they used to study the problem?
• What theories have been used to explain, predict, or understand their research problem?
• What sources have they cited to support their conclusions?
• How have they used non-textual elements [e.g., charts, graphs, figures, etc.] to illustrate key points?

When you begin to write your literature review section, you'll be glad you dug deeper into how the research was designed and constructed because it establishes a means for developing more substantial analysis and interpretation of the research problem.

Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1 998.

Yet Another Writing Tip

When Do I Know I Can Stop Looking and Move On?

Here are several strategies you can utilize to assess whether you've thoroughly reviewed the literature:

• Look for repeating patterns in the research findings . If the same thing is being said, just by different people, then this likely demonstrates that the research problem has hit a conceptual dead end. At this point consider: Does your study extend current research?  Does it forge a new path? Or, does is merely add more of the same thing being said?
• Look at sources the authors cite to in their work . If you begin to see the same researchers cited again and again, then this is often an indication that no new ideas have been generated to address the research problem.
• Search Google Scholar to identify who has subsequently cited leading scholars already identified in your literature review [see next sub-tab]. This is called citation tracking and there are a number of sources that can help you identify who has cited whom, particularly scholars from outside of your discipline. Here again, if the same authors are being cited again and again, this may indicate no new literature has been written on the topic.

Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J. and Rebecca Frels. Seven Steps to a Comprehensive Literature Review: A Multimodal and Cultural Approach . Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2016; Sutton, Anthea. Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review . Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2016.

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Home » What is Literature – Definition, Types, Examples

What is Literature – Definition, Types, Examples

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Definition:

Literature refers to written works of imaginative, artistic, or intellectual value, typically characterized by the use of language to convey ideas, emotions, and experiences. It encompasses various forms of written expression, such as novels, poems, plays, essays, short stories, and other literary works.

History of Literature

The history of literature spans thousands of years and includes works from many different cultures and languages. Here is a brief overview of some of the major periods and movements in the history of literature:

Ancient Literature (3000 BCE – 500 CE)

• Ancient Mesopotamian Literature (3000 BCE – 2000 BCE): This period includes the earliest known writings, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian epic poem that explores themes of friendship, mortality, and the search for immortality.
• Ancient Greek Literature (800 BCE – 200 BCE): This era produced works by legendary writers such as Homer, known for the Iliad and the Odyssey, and playwrights like Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides, who wrote tragic plays exploring human nature and the conflicts between gods and mortals.
• Ancient Roman Literature (200 BCE – 500 CE): Roman literature included works by poets like Virgil (known for the Aeneid) and historians like Livy and Tacitus, who chronicled the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.

Medieval Literature (500 CE – 1500 CE)

• Early Medieval Literature (500 CE – 1000 CE): During this period, literature was mainly religious and included works such as Beowulf, an Old English epic poem, and The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, an Italian epic poem that describes the journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.
• High Medieval Literature (1000 CE – 1300 CE): This era saw the emergence of troubadour poetry in Provence, France, which celebrated courtly love, as well as the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, such as The Canterbury Tales, which combined diverse stories and social commentary.
• Late Medieval Literature (1300 CE – 1500 CE): Notable works from this period include Dante’s Divine Comedy, Petrarch’s sonnets, and the works of Christine de Pizan, an early feminist writer.

Renaissance Literature (14th – 17th centuries)

• Italian Renaissance Literature (14th – 16th centuries): This period witnessed the flourishing of humanism and produced works by authors such as Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio, who emphasized the individual, the secular, and the revival of classical themes and styles.
• English Renaissance Literature (16th – 17th centuries): This era saw the works of William Shakespeare, including his plays such as Hamlet and Macbeth, which explored complex human emotions and the human condition. Other notable writers include Christopher Marlowe and Edmund Spenser.

Enlightenment Literature (17th – 18th centuries)

• This period marked a shift towards reason, rationality, and the questioning of established beliefs and systems. Influential writers during this time included René Descartes, John Locke, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Denis Diderot.

Romanticism (late 18th – mid-19th centuries)

• Romantic literature emphasized individual emotion, imagination, and nature. Key figures include William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats.

Victorian Literature (19th century)

• This era was characterized by the reign of Queen Victoria and featured writers such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, and Oscar Wilde.

Modernist Literature (late 19th – early 20th centuries)

• Modernist literature emerged as a response to the social, political, and technological changes of the time. It is characterized by experimentation with narrative structure, language, and perspective. Notable modernist writers include T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and Marcel Proust.

Postmodern Literature (mid-20th century – present)

• Postmodern literature challenges traditional notions of narrative and reality. It often incorporates elements of metafiction, intertextuality, and fragmented narratives. Prominent postmodern authors include Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, Salman Rushdie, and Margaret Atwood.

Contemporary Literature (late 20th century – present)

• Contemporary literature encompasses a wide range of diverse voices and styles. It explores various themes and addresses contemporary issues, reflecting the cultural, social, and political contexts of the present time. Notable contemporary authors include Toni Morrison, J.K. Rowling, Haruki Murakami, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Zadie Smith.

Types of Literature

Types of Literature are as follows:

Short story

Graphic novel, electronic literature.

Poetry is a form of literature that uses language to convey emotions or ideas in a concise and often rhythmic manner. Poetry has been around for centuries, with many different cultures creating their own unique styles. While some people may view poetry as difficult to understand, there is often great beauty in its simplicity. Whether you are looking to read poems for enjoyment or to better analyze literary works, understanding the basics of poetry can be very helpful.

Examples of Poetry in Literature

There are countless examples of poetry in literature, ranging from ancient works to contemporary masterpieces. Here are just a few examples:

• “ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ” by T.S. Eliot (1915): This modernist poem explores themes of alienation, identity, and the human condition.
• “ Do not go gentle into that good night ” by Dylan Thomas (1951): This villanelle is a powerful meditation on death and the struggle for survival.
• “ The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot (1922) : This epic poem is a complex and multi-layered exploration of the modern world and its spiritual emptiness.
• “ The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe (1845) : This famous poem is a haunting and macabre exploration of grief, loss, and the supernatural.
• “ Sonnet 18″ by William Shakespeare (1609) : This classic sonnet is a beautiful and romantic tribute to the beauty of the beloved.
• “ Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats (1819) : This ode is a sublime exploration of the power of beauty and the transcendent experience of art.
• “ The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost (1916) : This famous poem is a contemplative meditation on choices, regrets, and the uncertainties of life.

These are just a few examples of the many works of poetry that exist in literature. Poetry can explore a wide range of themes and emotions, using language and imagery to create powerful and moving works of art.

Prose is a type of written language that typically contains dialogue and narration. In literature, prose is the most common form of writing. Prose can be found in novels, short stories, plays, and essays.

Examples of Prose in Literature

“ The Essays” by Michel de Montaigne (1580) – This collection of prose is a seminal work of the French Renaissance and is credited with popularizing the use of personal reflections in prose literature. Montaigne’s writing style in these works is informal and conversational, and covers a vast range of topics including morality, philosophy, religion, and politics. The prose is notable for its intimacy and personal nature, as Montaigne often uses his own experiences and thoughts to illustrate his ideas.

A novel is a fictional book that is typically longer than 300 pages. It tells a story, usually in chronological order, and has characters and settings that are developed over the course of the story. Novels are often divided into chapters, which help to break up the story and make it easier to read.

Novels are one of the most popular genres of literature, and there are many different types of novels that you can read. Whether you’re looking for a romance novel, a mystery novel, or a historical fiction novel, there’s sure to be a book out there that you’ll love.

Examples of Novels in Literature

• “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes (1605) – This novel is considered one of the greatest works of Spanish literature and is a satirical take on chivalric romance. It follows the adventures of a delusional knight, Don Quixote, and his loyal squire, Sancho Panza.
• “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe (1719) – This novel is considered one of the earliest examples of the English novel and is a tale of survival and self-reliance. It follows the story of a man named Robinson Crusoe, who is stranded on a deserted island for 28 years.
• “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen (1813) – This novel is considered one of the greatest works of English literature and is a romantic comedy of manners. It follows the story of Elizabeth Bennet and her complicated relationship with Mr. Darcy, a wealthy landowner.
• “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee (1960) – This novel is a classic of American literature and deals with issues of race, class, and justice in the American South during the 1930s. It follows the story of a young girl named Scout and her experiences with racism and prejudice.
• “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) – This novel is considered a masterpiece of American literature and is a social commentary on the decadence and excess of the Roaring Twenties. It follows the story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and mysterious man, and his obsession with a woman named Daisy Buchanan.

A novella is a work of fiction that is shorter than a novel but longer than a short story. The word “novella” comes from the Italian word for “new”, which is fitting because this type of story is often seen as being between the old and the new. In terms of length, a novella typically has about 20,000 to 40,000 words.

While novels are usually about one main plot with several subplots, novellas are usually focused on one central conflict. This conflict is usually resolved by the end of the story. However, because novellas are longer than short stories, there is more room to develop characters and explore themes in depth.

Examples of Novella in Literature

• “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad (1899) – This novella is a powerful and haunting portrayal of European imperialism in Africa. It follows the journey of a steamboat captain named Marlow, who is sent to find a man named Kurtz deep in the Congo.
• “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway (1952) – This novella is a Pulitzer Prize-winning story of an aging Cuban fisherman named Santiago and his epic struggle to catch a giant marlin. It is a testament to the resilience and determination of the human spirit.
• “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka (1915) – This novella is a surreal and disturbing tale of a man named Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. It explores themes of isolation, identity, and the human condition.
• “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck (1937) – This novella is a tragic story of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who dream of owning their own farm but are thwarted by their own limitations and the harsh realities of the Great Depression. It is a powerful commentary on the American Dream and the plight of the working class.
• “Animal Farm” by George Orwell (1945) – This novella is a satirical allegory of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism. It follows the story of a group of farm animals who overthrow their human owner and create their own society, only to be corrupted by their own leaders. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers of totalitarianism and propaganda.

A short story is a work of fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents.

The short story is one of the oldest forms of literature and has been found in oral cultures as well as in written form. In terms of length, it is much shorter than the novel, typically ranging from 1,000 to 20,000 words.

The short story has often been described as a “perfect form” because it allows for greater compression and variety than either the novel or poem. It also allows writers to experiment with different styles and genres.

Examples of Short Story in Literature

• “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe (1843) – This classic horror story is a chilling portrayal of a murderer who is haunted by the sound of his victim’s heartbeat. It is a masterful example of Poe’s psychological and suspenseful writing style.
• “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (1948) – This controversial short story is a commentary on the dark side of human nature and the dangers of blind adherence to tradition. It follows the annual tradition of a small town that holds a lottery, with a surprising and shocking ending.
• “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry (1905) – This heartwarming story is a classic example of a holiday tale of selflessness and sacrifice. It follows the story of a young couple who each give up their most prized possession to buy a gift for the other.
• “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway (1933) – This minimalist story is a reflection on the existential angst and loneliness of modern life. It takes place in a cafe late at night and explores the relationships between the patrons and the waiter.
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) – This feminist short story is a powerful critique of the medical establishment and the treatment of women’s mental health. It follows the story of a woman who is confined to her bedroom and becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper on the walls.

A graphic novel is a book that tells a story through the use of illustrations and text. Graphic novels can be based on true stories, or they can be fictional. They are usually longer than traditional books, and they often have more complex plots.

Graphic novels first gained popularity in the 1970s, when publishers began releasing collections of comics that had been previously published in magazines. Since then, the genre has grown to include original works, as well as adaptations ofexisting stories.

Graphic novels are now widely respected as a form of literature, and they have been adapted into many different mediums, including movies, television shows, and stage plays.

Examples of Graphic Novels in Literature

• “ Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-1987) – This graphic novel is considered one of the greatest works of the medium and is a deconstruction of the superhero genre. It follows a group of retired superheroes who come out of retirement to investigate the murder of one of their own.
• “ Maus” by Art Spiegelman (1980-1991) – This Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel is a harrowing and poignant account of a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and his strained relationship with his son. The characters are depicted as animals, with the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats.
• “ Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi (2000-2003) – This autobiographical graphic novel is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. It follows the author’s experiences growing up in Iran and then moving to Europe as a teenager.
• “Sandman” by Neil Gaiman (1989-1996) – This epic fantasy series is a masterful exploration of mythology, literature, and human nature. It follows the story of Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, as he navigates through the world of dreams and interacts with characters from across time and space.
• “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” by Frank Miller (1986) – This influential graphic novel is a gritty and realistic portrayal of an aging Batman who comes out of retirement to fight crime in a dystopian future. It is credited with revolutionizing the Batman character and inspiring a new era of darker and more mature superhero stories.

Electronic literature, also known as e-literature, is a genre of writing that uses electronic media to create works of art. This type of literature often includes elements of interactivity, hypertextuality, and multimedia.

E-literature has its roots in early computer games and interactive fiction. These early works were created using simple text-based programming languages like BASIC and HTML. Today, e-literature has evolved into a complex form of art that incorporates multimedia elements such as audio and video.

Examples of Electronic Literature in Literature

• “ Afternoon: A Story” by Michael Joyce (1987) – This hypertext fiction is considered one of the earliest examples of electronic literature. It is a nonlinear narrative that can be read in multiple paths and contains multimedia elements like images and sound.
• “ Patchwork Girl” by Shelley Jackson (1995) – This hypertext novel is a retelling of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” that uses digital media to explore the themes of identity, gender, and creation. It contains animated graphics, video, and sound.
• “ The Dreamlife of Letters” by Brian Kim Stefans (2000) – This work of interactive poetry uses computer algorithms to generate new poems based on the user’s input. It combines traditional poetic forms with digital technologies to create a unique reading experience.
• “ Flight Paths” by Kate Pullinger and Chris Joseph (2007) – This work of electronic literature is a collaborative multimedia project that explores the lives of immigrants and refugees. It combines text, video, and audio to create an immersive and interactive experience.
• “Inanimate Alice” by Kate Pullinger and Chris Joseph (2005-2016) – This interactive digital novel follows the story of a young girl named Alice as she grows up in a world of technology and media. It uses a combination of text, video, animation, and sound to create a unique and engaging narrative.

Non-fiction

Non-fiction in literature is defined as prose writings that are based on real events, people, or places. Non-fiction is often divided into categories such as biography, history, and essay.

Examples of Non-fiction in Literature

• “ The Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin (1859) – This landmark book is one of the most influential works in the history of science. It lays out Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and provides evidence for the descent of all living things from a common ancestor.
• “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Malcolm X and Alex Haley (1965) – This autobiography is a candid and powerful account of Malcolm X’s life as an African American civil rights leader. It explores his journey from a troubled youth to a powerful orator and activist, and provides insights into the social and political climate of the time.
• “ The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan (1963) – This groundbreaking book is a seminal work of feminist literature. It critiques the idea of the “happy housewife” and argues that women’s social roles and expectations are limiting and oppressive.
• “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander (2010) – This book is a powerful critique of the criminal justice system and its impact on communities of color. It argues that the system perpetuates racial inequality and provides a call to action for reform.

Drama is a genre of literature that tells a story through the use of dialogue and action. It often has a strong plot and characters who undergo change or development over the course of the story. Drama can be divided into several subgenres, such as tragedy, comedy, and farce.

Examples of Drama in Literature

• “ Hamlet” by William Shakespeare (1603) – This tragedy is considered one of the greatest plays ever written. It tells the story of Prince Hamlet of Denmark and his quest for revenge against his uncle, who murdered his father and married his mother.
• “ A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen (1879) – This play is a landmark work of modern drama. It explores themes of gender roles, marriage, and personal identity through the story of a married woman who decides to leave her husband and children in order to discover herself.
• “ Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller (1949) – This play is a powerful critique of the American Dream and the pressures of modern society. It tells the story of a salesman named Willy Loman and his family, as they struggle to come to terms with the realities of their lives.
• “ Fences” by August Wilson (1985) – This play is part of Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle,” a series of ten plays that explore the African American experience in the 20th century. It tells the story of a former Negro League baseball player named Troy Maxson and his relationship with his family.

Also see Literature Review

Examples of Literature

Examples of Literature are as follows:

• “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides
• “Normal People” by Sally Rooney
• “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens
• “The Water Dancer” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
• “The Ferryman” by Jez Butterworth
• “The Inheritance” by Matthew Lopez
• “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage
• “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman (inaugural poem at the 2021 U.S. presidential inauguration)
• “The Tradition” by Jericho Brown
• “Homie” by Danez Smith
• “The Carrying” by Ada Limón
• “Call Me by Your Name” (2017) directed by Luca Guadagnino (based on the novel by André Aciman)
• “The Great Gatsby” (2013) directed by Baz Luhrmann (based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
• “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (2001-2003) directed by Peter Jackson (based on the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien)
• “The Handmaiden” (2016) directed by Park Chan-wook (based on the novel “Fingersmith” by Sarah Waters)
• “Lemonade” (2016) by Beyoncé (visual album with accompanying poetry and prose)
• “To Pimp a Butterfly” (2015) by Kendrick Lamar (rap album with dense lyrical storytelling)
• “I See You” (2017) by The xx (album inspired by themes of love and connection)
• “Carrie & Lowell” (2015) by Sufjan Stevens (folk album exploring personal and familial themes)
• Blogs and online articles that discuss literary analysis, book reviews, and creative writing
• Online literary magazines and journals publishing contemporary works of fiction, poetry, and essays
• E-books and audiobooks available on platforms like Kindle, Audible, and Scribd
• Social media platforms where writers share their works and engage with readers, such as Twitter and Instagram

Purpose of Literature

The purpose of literature is multifaceted and can vary depending on the author, genre, and intended audience. However, some common purposes of literature include:

Entertainment

Literature can provide enjoyment and pleasure to readers through engaging stories, complex characters, and beautiful language.

Literature can teach readers about different cultures, time periods, and perspectives, expanding their knowledge and understanding of the world.

Reflection and introspection

Literature can encourage readers to reflect on their own experiences and beliefs, prompting self-discovery and personal growth.

Social commentary

Literature can serve as a medium for social criticism, addressing issues such as inequality, injustice, and oppression.

Historical and cultural preservation

Literature can document and preserve the history, traditions, and values of different cultures and societies, providing insight into the past.

Aesthetic appreciation:

literature can be appreciated for its beauty and artistic value, inspiring readers with its language, imagery, and symbolism.

The Significance of Literature

Literature holds immense significance in various aspects of human life and society. It serves as a powerful tool for communication, expression, and exploration of ideas. Here are some of the key significances of literature:

Communication and Expression

Literature allows individuals to communicate their thoughts, emotions, and experiences across time and space. Through various literary forms such as novels, poems, plays, and essays, writers can convey their ideas and perspectives to readers, fostering understanding and empathy.

Cultural Reflection

Literature often reflects the values, beliefs, and experiences of a particular culture or society. It provides insights into different historical periods, social structures, and cultural practices, offering a glimpse into the diversity and richness of human experiences.

Knowledge and Education

Literature is a valuable source of knowledge, as it presents ideas, concepts, and information in an engaging and accessible manner. It introduces readers to different subjects, such as history, science, philosophy, psychology, and more, allowing them to expand their understanding and broaden their intellectual horizons.

Emotional and Intellectual Development

Literature has the power to evoke emotions and provoke critical thinking. By immersing oneself in literary works, readers can develop a deeper understanding of complex emotions, empathy for diverse perspectives, and the ability to think critically and analytically.

Preservation of Cultural Heritage

Literature acts as a repository of a society’s cultural heritage. It preserves the history, traditions, myths, and folklore of a particular community, ensuring that future generations can connect with their roots and learn from the experiences of the past.

Social Commentary and Critique

Literature often serves as a platform for social commentary and critique. Writers use their works to shed light on social issues, challenge societal norms, and promote positive change. By addressing controversial topics and presenting alternative viewpoints, literature can spark discussions and inspire activism.

Entertainment and Escapism

Literature offers a means of entertainment and escapism from the realities of everyday life. Engaging narratives, compelling characters, and vivid descriptions transport readers to different worlds, allowing them to experience joy, excitement, and adventure through the pages of a book.

Imagination and Creativity

Literature fuels the human imagination and nurtures creativity. It encourages readers to think beyond the boundaries of their own experiences, envision new possibilities, and explore alternative realities. Literature inspires writers to craft unique stories and ideas, contributing to the expansion of artistic expression.

Personal Growth and Self-Reflection

Reading literature can have a profound impact on personal growth and self-reflection. It provides opportunities for introspection, introspection, and self-discovery, as readers identify with characters, grapple with moral dilemmas, and contemplate the deeper meaning of life and existence.

The Enduring Impact of Literature

Literature has an enduring impact that transcends time and continues to influence individuals and societies long after it is written. Here are some ways in which literature leaves a lasting impression:

Cultural Legacy:

Literary works become part of a society’s cultural legacy. They shape and reflect the values, beliefs, and traditions of a particular era or community. Classic works of literature, such as Shakespeare’s plays or the novels of Jane Austen, continue to be studied, performed, and celebrated, preserving their impact across generations.

Influence on Other Art Forms:

Literature has a profound influence on other art forms, such as film, theater, music, and visual arts. Many famous literary works have been adapted into films or stage productions, reaching new audiences and extending their influence beyond the written word. Artists and musicians often draw inspiration from literary themes, characters, and narratives, further amplifying their impact.

Shaping Worldviews:

Literature has the power to shape and challenge worldviews. Through stories, ideas, and perspectives presented in literary works, readers are exposed to different cultures, experiences, and ideologies. This exposure fosters empathy, broadens perspectives, and encourages critical thinking, ultimately influencing how individuals perceive and understand the world around them.

Inspirational Source:

Literature serves as an inspirational source for individuals in various fields. Writers, artists, scientists, and thinkers often draw inspiration from the works of literary giants who have explored the depths of human emotions, grappled with existential questions, or challenged societal norms. Literature provides a wellspring of ideas and creativity that continues to fuel innovation and intellectual discourse.

Social and Political Change:

Literature has played a significant role in driving social and political change throughout history. Many literary works have addressed pressing social issues, advocated for human rights, and challenged oppressive systems. By shedding light on societal injustices and encouraging readers to question the status quo, literature has been instrumental in inspiring activism and fostering social progress.

Universal Themes and Human Experience:

Literature explores universal themes and the complexities of the human experience. Whether it’s love, loss, identity, or the pursuit of meaning, these themes resonate with readers across time and cultures. Literary works offer insights into the depths of human emotions, dilemmas, and aspirations, creating a shared understanding and connecting individuals across generations.

Intellectual and Personal Development:

Reading literature stimulates intellectual growth and personal development. It encourages critical thinking, analytical skills, and the ability to empathize with diverse perspectives. Literary works challenge readers to reflect on their own lives, values, and beliefs, promoting self-discovery and personal growth.

Enduring Literary Characters:

Iconic literary characters have a lasting impact on popular culture and the collective imagination. Characters like Sherlock Holmes, Hamlet, or Elizabeth Bennet have become archetypes, influencing the portrayal of similar characters in other works and becoming a part of our cultural lexicon.

Preservation of History and Memory:

Literature plays a crucial role in preserving historical events, experiences, and cultural memories. Historical novels, memoirs, and eyewitness accounts provide valuable insights into past eras, allowing future generations to learn from and connect with the past.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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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: 
• 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  

• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 

How to write a good literature review

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. 

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. 

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 literature review is an ongoing process, and it may be necessary to revisit and update it as your research progresses. 

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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How to undertake a literature search: a step-by-step guide

Affiliation.

• 1 Literature Search Specialist, Library and Archive Service, Royal College of Nursing, London.
• PMID: 32279549
• DOI: 10.12968/bjon.2020.29.7.431

Undertaking a literature search can be a daunting prospect. Breaking the exercise down into smaller steps will make the process more manageable. This article suggests 10 steps that will help readers complete this task, from identifying key concepts to choosing databases for the search and saving the results and search strategy. It discusses each of the steps in a little more detail, with examples and suggestions on where to get help. This structured approach will help readers obtain a more focused set of results and, ultimately, save time and effort.

Keywords: Databases; Literature review; Literature search; Reference management software; Research questions; Search strategy.

• Databases, Bibliographic*
• Information Storage and Retrieval / methods*
• Nursing Research
• Review Literature as Topic*

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Literature-based discovery approaches for evidence-based healthcare: a systematic review

Sudha cheerkoot-jalim.

1 Department of Information and Communication Technologies, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

Kavi Kumar Khedo

2 Department of Digital Technologies, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

Associated Data

Not applicable.

Not applicable

Literature-Based Discovery (LBD) is a text mining technique used to generate novel hypotheses from vast amounts of literature sources, by identifying links between concepts from disparate sources. One of the main areas where it has been predominantly applied is the healthcare domain, whereby promising results, in the form of novel hypotheses, have been reported. The purpose of this work was to conduct a systematic literature review of recent publications on LBD in the healthcare domain in order to assess the trends in the approaches used and to identify issues and challenges for such systems.

The review was conducted following the principles of the Kitchenham method. The selected studies have been scrutinized and the derived findings have been reported following the PRISMA guidelines.

The review results reveal useful information regarding the application areas, the data sources considered, the approaches used, the performance in terms of accuracy and reliability and future research challenges. The results of this review will be beneficial to LBD researchers and other stakeholders in the healthcare domain, by providing them with useful insights on the approaches to adopt, data sources to consider, evaluation model to use and challenges to reflect on.

The synthesis of the results of this work has shed light on recent issues and challenges that drive new LBD models and provides avenues for their application in other diverse areas in the healthcare domain. To the best of our knowledge, no such recent review has been conducted.

Introduction

Healthcare management, being one of the highest priorities of most governments, attracts huge investments in terms of health and medical research worldwide. Medical research was found to be the main contributing factor in the improvement of health and longevity of individuals and populations in developed countries [ 1 ]. Researchers in the field are making new discoveries and generating knowledge, which has the potential to enhance healthcare delivery, improve patient health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs, thus strengthening the overall healthcare system and economy. This is only achievable if the knowledge is actually put into action [ 2 ]. However, the transfer of research findings into healthcare practice in the clinical setting, known as knowledge translation [ 3 ], is a very complex and slow process, often resulting in patients not being provided with the most appropriate care, although better treatment recommendations have been proposed and demonstrated. A frequently stated average time lag for knowledge translation is 17 years [ 4 ]. Understanding the various stages of knowledge translation and speeding up the process is a policy priority for many health research systems [ 4 ].

In order to leverage new medical research findings more quickly for the benefit of patients, medical practitioners are encouraged to adopt the practice of evidence-based medicine, whereby medical practitioners are expected to scrutinize the scientific and clinical research literature in their respective areas in an attempt to translate health research knowledge into effective healthcare action more quickly. However, due to the large volumes of biomedical literature available and the time constraints of medical practitioners, the practice of evidence-based medicine has become a major challenge [ 5 ]. This limitation can be considerably overcome by the use of appropriate computation techniques for the automated or semi-automated knowledge extraction from relevant research literature. A broad term commonly used for such techniques is literature based discovery (LBD), whose main goal is to generate novel hypotheses from the vast available biomedical literature by discovering unknown associations in existing knowledge [ 6 ]. Recent advances in machine learning, text mining and statistical analysis techniques have spurred research in this field and have resulted in many publications on the design and application of LBD systems for various use cases in the biomedical and healthcare domains.

The purpose of this work is to perform a systematic literature review of recently published research papers on the application of LBD for evidence-based healthcare, with the objective of identifying and integrating the findings of the most relevant individual studies. It is expected that the results of this review will give insights on the different LBD approaches and tools used in various application areas in the healthcare domain. It will help establish to what extent research has progressed in the field, with a focus on performance criteria like effectiveness, accuracy and reliability. A main outcome would be to identify research challenges, which will invoke further studies and thus, provide avenues for future research in other areas in the healthcare domain. The Kitchenham guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews [ 7 ] was adopted and the reporting of this paper follows PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis) guidelines [ 8 ]. To the best of our knowledge, no such recent review has been performed for evidence-based healthcare.

Evidence-based healthcare

The challenges of knowledge translation have become a major concern to individuals who seek and need healthcare, healthcare providers, policy makers and funders of health services. The incorporation of scientific medical discoveries into practice guidelines and policies in the clinical setting can greatly improve healthcare delivery and patient health outcomes, and is the basis of evidence-based healthcare [ 9 ]. Evidence-based practice involves clinical decision making which considers the best and most up-to-date available scientific evidence, together with patient values and preferences, the clinical judgment of the medical practitioner and the context in which the care is provided [ 10 ]. Healthcare professionals seek evidence to support and justify any activity or intervention for patient care.

Literature based discovery in healthcare

In their practice of evidence-based medicine, medical practitioners are expected to scrutinize the best available evidence for making decisions about the care of individual patients. However, with the increasing volume of academic research papers and related structured knowledge resulting from medical research worldwide, they only focus on publications that are directly relevant to their respective area of specialization and often skip other potentially relevant research. Thus, discoveries in one field remain unknown to others and potential connections between sub-fields are often missed out [ 11 ]. This limitation can be greatly curbed by LBD, which can automate or semi-automate the analysis of online resources from disparate sources to find new discoveries. With the exponential growth of scientific literature, LBD is becoming an increasingly important tool for facilitating research [ 12 ].

LBD generates discoveries not yet published anywhere, by combining knowledge extracted from varied literature sources and therefore, supports hypothesis generation [ 13 ]. There are two modes of discovery in LBD, namely open discovery and closed discovery. Open discovery starts with a concept X and tries to generate a potential association between X and another concept Z, based on an intermediate concept Y. This follows from the ABC co-occurrence model, which states that if A and B are often associated to each other, and B and C are also often associated to each other, there may potentially be an association between A and C, even if this association is not mentioned in any research paper [ 14 ]. In contrast, in closed discovery, both the start concept X and end concept Z are known, and an association between X and Z is predicted, based on a hypothesis about the relationship between X and Z. This technique then attempts to demonstrate the hypothesis through an intermediate concept Y.

LBD approaches in healthcare are becoming essential, since biomedical knowledge is spread out across a larger number of publications [ 15 ]. Potential discoveries in healthcare can be associations that exist between biomedical concepts, which are not usually discussed together in the literature. Appropriate implementation of LBD techniques have the potential to predict future strong associations between these concepts [ 15 ] and therefore entails further research. In the LBD approach the starting concept X may be a disease and the end concept Z may be a treatment or cause for the disease. The results of such discoveries need to be further investigated through experimental methods or clinical studies.

Materials and methods

This review has been performed following the guidelines on undertaking systematic literature reviews by Kitchenham and Charters [ 7 ] and the reporting follows the PRISMA guidelines [ 8 ]. The methodology consisted of first setting out the research questions to give a focus for this review, followed by the specification of the search strategy, the application of assessment criteria for the selection of papers and finally the data analysis and extraction.

Research questions

Based on the objectives of this review, the research questions have been set out and elaborated as follows:

RQ1: What are the main application areas of literature based discovery in evidence-based healthcare?

We seek to find out the different application areas in which the application of LBD techniques has proved to be successful in the healthcare domain.

RQ2: Which important/impactful literature sources are considered by researchers/practitioners for literature based discovery?

The foundation of LBD is the large amount of scientific literature available for a specific field of study. It is therefore important to identify the different literature sources which have been harnessed for LBD in the different studies.

RQ3: Which specific literature based discovery approaches and tools have proven to be effective in the healthcare domain?

Due to the peculiarity of the healthcare domain, LBD techniques have to be adapted to specific application areas. There is therefore the need to investigate the specific LBD techniques/approaches which are more relevant and effective for the healthcare domain.

RQ4: How do literature based discovery systems in the healthcare domain perform in terms of accuracy and reliability?

Accuracy and reliability are imperative evaluation criteria for any computational technique in the healthcare domain, since a wrong intervention can lead to harmful consequences for the patient. We therefore study the different evaluation strategies used for LBD systems and find out their performance in terms of accuracy and reliability.

Search strategy and study selection

The search strategy involved the identification of potential research papers to be included in the review by performing a search on Google Scholar, with keywords ‘“Literature-based discovery” in health’. Google Scholar was chosen since it indexes scientific articles from various scholarly publishers and professional societies like Springer, ScienceDirect, ACM, IEEE Xplore, ResearchGate amongst others [ 16 ]. It also indexes biomedical-specific journals like the Journal of Biomedical Informatics, PLOS ONE and BioMed Central (BMC). Gusenbauer [ 17 ] performed a comparative study of academic search engines in 2019 and concluded that “Google Scholar is currently the most comprehensive academic search engine”. Keyword search was then followed by a manual screening of reference lists of relevant primary studies to extend the search space.

Eligibility criteria

Based on the objectives of this systematic review, we have set some inclusion and exclusion criteria to guide the study selection process, as follows. The focus of this review being on recent advances in LBD techniques and approaches, we considered studies carried out during the last five years, that is, since 2015. We only considered peer-reviewed papers published in the English language. Primary studies were included while secondary and tertiary studies, like surveys, systematic reviews and meta analyses were excluded. During an initial screening of studies, we came across papers which describe general LBD techniques without showing their application in the healthcare domain. Such studies were not included, since the objective of this review was to get insights on the different approaches which are more appropriate for specific application areas of LBD. We thus considered papers which describe the use of LBD approaches in a specific application area in the healthcare domain.

The database search was performed on 2 nd February 2021. The keyword search returned 650 results, after applying the filter on year of publication. The manual screening of reference lists of relevant studies returned 12 eligible studies. 8 duplicate studies were identified from the two sources, resulting in 654 studies to screen. After a rigorous screening of the titles and abstracts based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 29 studies were pre-selected for the review.

Quality assessment

After initial screening based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the pre-selected studies were assessed for “quality” in order to integrate more detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria. Based on the research questions, four quality assessment criteria were set as shown in Table ​ Table1. 1 . The possible outcomes for each criteria were “Yes” if the paper met the criteria and “No” if it did not meet the criteria. Two of the quality assessment criteria also had a “Partially” outcome.

Quality Assessment Criteria

During the quality assessment phase, appropriate scores were given to each pre-selected study. A score of 1 was given for a “Yes” outcome, 0 for a “No” outcome and 0.5 for a “Partially” outcome. Studies which obtained a score of at least 2.5 were included in the final review. This would allow for one “No” and one “Partially” outcome in the outmost scenario. After the quality assessment phase, 23 studies have been selected for the final review, based on the scores obtained. Figure  1 shows the PRISMA flow diagram for the study selection process.

PRISMA Flow Diagram for the Study Selection Process

The selected studies were thoroughly analyzed with an objective to extract information which would give insights to the research questions. More particularly, the information extracted were: the medical application area in which LBD was utilized and the discovery made as a result of LBD, the literature source/s considered, the type of discovery (open or closed), the techniques and tools used in the LBD approach, the performance of the system and the challenges identified by the authors. The data synthesis is shown in Table ​ Table2 2 .

Data Synthesis

N/A means Not Available

The selected studies were scrutinized with a major focus on the objectives of this review. The work of the various authors and their findings were mapped to the research questions and are discussed in the following sub-sections.

From the studies analyzed, it was found that LBD techniques have been implemented in a myriad of application areas in the healthcare domain, as described below.

Drug repurposing

Drug repurposing is one main application area in which researchers have put efforts, mostly because of the promising results achieved by the different LBD approaches proposed. Due to the huge costs and excessive amount of time involved in developing new drugs, it is regarded as a better alternative. Several studies [ 18 , 19 , 21 , 23 , 25 ] generated a list of potential drug-disease pairs by using drug-gene and gene-disease semantic predications. Phenotypes and symptoms have also been used as the linking concept between drug and disease [ 16 ]. Some studies have used knowledge-graph based drug discovery methods [ 18 – 20 ].

Pharmacovigilance and drug interactions

Pharmacovigilance involves the continuous monitoring of drug safety after drugs are put on the market, which is necessary since some adverse drug events (ADEs) remain undetected during clinical trials and unreported in adverse event reporting systems such as FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System). The health hazards that ADEs may pose to individuals motivate the extensive work on the application of various computational methods for pharmacovigilance. Authors of this study have either used an open LBD [ 15 , 23 , 24 ] or a closed LBD [ 22 , 25 ] approach for the detection of drug/ADE pairs.

Identification of potential causes, therapies or treatments for specific diseases

LBD’s potential to contribute to the advancement of the medical field has been demonstrated by the development of text mining systems which have been able to identify possible causes, therapies or treatments for specific diseases. Discoveries about connections between diet and degenerative diseases [ 34 , 35 ] were made from scientific literature to support better understanding and treatment of such diseases. LBD techniques have been used for rehabilitation therapy repositioning for stroke [ 31 ] and treatment repurposing for inflammatory bowel disease [ 36 ]. Other discoveries were made in the area of cancer [ 32 ] and chronic kidney disease [ 33 ].

Explanation for the correlation between diseases

Disease comorbidity is very common and is a popular area of research in the medical community, because of its impact on the treatment of diseases. Knowledge of the association between diseases can significantly improve the understanding of the mechanisms of diseases, thus aiding in better prevention and treatment [ 37 ]. Thus, Chen et al. [ 37 ] have used an open LBD approach for the detection of associations among complex diseases. Closed LBD approach was also used for the explanation of the correlation between epilepsy and inflammatory bowel disease [ 38 ], and between myocardial infarction and depression [ 39 ]. Rather et al. [ 40 ] proposed the use of deep learning for the discovery of potential new biomedical knowledge .

Table ​ Table3 3 summarizes the main application areas and the number of studies for each.

Main application areas for LBD in healthcare

RQ2: Which important/impactful literature sources are considered by researchers / practitioners for literature based discovery?

The main literature sources for LBD leveraged by authors of studies in this review are Medline (10 studies) and PubMed (13 studies). Medline, the bibliographic database of the US National Library of Medicine, is indexed with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, making search in the biomedical domain more effective. This explains its popularity among LBD researchers. PubMed on the other hand, is an interface to search Medline together with other additional biomedical content. Tools which extract data from PubMed and Medline, like Global Network of Biomedical relationships (GNBR) [ 20 ] and Semantic Medline Database (SemMedDB) [ 21 , 26 ] have also been proposed. Apart from PubMed, Zhang et al. [ 25 ] also extracted data from CORD-19 (Covid-19 Open Research Dataset), which contains Covid-19-related literature, which may not yet be available on PubMed. An additional literature source, Chinese Science Database (CNKI), was used to extract herb-disease pairs in Traditional Chinese Medicine [ 26 ].

Since the data sources mainly consist of free-text, the main techniques behind LBD are text mining and natural language processing (NLP). Most LBD approaches proposed have extracted meanings from biomedical text by using Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts and MeSH terms. The approaches used by authors of studies in this review are broadly categorized and described below.

Co-occurrence-based models

The ABC model of LBD is a common relation extraction technique used by many authors [ 18 – 20 , 26 , 30 , 31 , 39 ]. The associations between the different concepts are usually deduced from semantic predications extracted from NLP tools, like SemRep and MetaMap, which have been the most preferred tools. If the output of the ABC method consists of a long list of C terms, then these are ranked based on specific criteria and the higher-ranked C terms are considered as plausible hypotheses. Co-occurrence-based metrics are often used for analyzing the strength of entity associations, and prioritization of C terms are often based on the total frequency of co-occurrence [ 32 ]. Furthermore, Gubiani et al. [ 35 ] proposed a method to identify outlier documents by making use of two tools, namely OntoGen for outlier document detection and CrossBee for cross domain exploration.

Table ​ Table4 4 shows the different biomedical concepts A, B and C which have been considered in the studies in this review.

Biomedical concepts A, B and C considered in the ABC model of LBD

Distributional models

While most LBD methods apply co-occurrence-based methods to assess the relatedness of biomedical concepts, distributional models are also widely used. These models build vector representations of concepts which are based on the context in which they appear in literature. Relatedness between a pair of concepts is then derived based on the similarity between the vectors. Various distributional semantic techniques which have been proposed include Semantic Predications [ 18 , 25 , 30 ], Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) [ 37 ], Predication-based Semantic Indexing (PSI) [ 28 ] and composite feature vectors [ 29 ]. Mower et al. [ 29 ] have shown that distributional models perform better than co-occurrence-based models.

Machine Learning models

Several authors have used machine learning in different steps of their LBD methodology. For text analysis, Pyysalo et al. [ 32 ] propose the use of machine learning-based methods for the recognition of biomedical entity names and their grounding to domain-specific ontology identifiers. Ranking of LBD-generated hypotheses have been performed by Zhang et al. [ 27 ] through a machine learning-based filter (lasso regression filter) and Rastegar-Mojarad et al. [ 21 ] by using a binary classifier. Machine learning algorithms like logistic regression [ 22 , 23 , 29 ] and k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) [ 29 ] have been incorporated in models proposed by authors in this review. Rather et al. [ 40 ] integrated Word2vec, a neural network based algorithm, in their LBD approach and showed that the model was able to retrieve strong relationships which were not identified by UMLS. Deep learning has also been used in LBD techniques[ 18 , 35 ].

Knowledge-graph models

Knowledge-graph models use graph theory to identify novel associations among various concepts. In their LBD approach for drug discovery, Zhao et al. [ 22 ] constructed a biomedical knowledge graph based on semantic predications. A path ranking algorithm was then used to extract drug-disease relation path features. Sang et al. [ 23 ] also use a knowledge graph-based drug discovery method, which involves the training of a logistic regression model by learning the semantic types of paths in the knowledge graph. Knowledge graph embedding and knowledge graph completion have also been used [ 24 , 25 ].

The papers analyzed have shown that diverse performance evaluation methods have been used for LBD systems, mostly due to the peculiarities of the healthcare domain and the specific requirements of the varied application areas.

No gold standard to benchmark performance

The evaluation of LBD systems in terms of accuracy and reliability is quite challenging in the healthcare domain. It becomes difficult for researchers to reliably distinguish between false positive signals and new discoveries. Most authors therefore have to rely on manual review by experts to confirm the final candidates for LBD. Many authors have claimed that there was no gold standard against which they could accurately benchmark the performance of their approaches [ 18 , 21 ] and that precision and recall were not good metrics to measure the performance in all conditions [ 20 ].

Accuracy and reliability impacted by performance of text mining tools

The performance of the systems developed in several studies of this review is highly impacted by the performance of the tools and resources used in the LBD approach. In the evaluation of their system, Rastegar-Mijarad et al. [ 18 ] used the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) resource, which does not annotate the type of relationship between drug and disease, therefore resulting in loss of valuable information. Sources of error are also often introduced in text mining tools like SemRep, due to inaccuracies in language processing or in the literature itself [ 21 , 22 , 25 , 27 , 38 ] and MetaMap whose accuracy reduces in the presence of ambiguity, resulting in the inability to resolve word sense disambiguation [ 23 ]. Sosa et al. [ 24 ] have acknowledged that the performance of their algorithm could considerably be improved if NLP tools improved their capability to capture complex relationships from unstructured text.

Computationally intensive models

The resource requirements for most LBD systems, specially those which use the open discovery approach are huge. Therefore, it is quite challenging for researchers to make their model computationally feasible, thereby imposing certain limitations resulting in suboptimal outcomes [ 24 , 25 , 28 , 32 ]. One limitation of Pyysalo et al.’s [ 32 ] open discovery method is that it can recognize only a single correct target response for each case and their system is currently limited to discovery over paths of length two. Since the graph generated by the relations in SemMedDB is very large, making models computationally intensive, Zhang et al. [ 25 ] have used a sub-graph instead which resulted in loss of information, therefore affecting the accuracy of their model.

Limited data sets

Many authors agree that the use of larger and more variate data sets would improve the accuracy of their models. Limitations encountered include the use of unbalanced [ 21 ] and small [ 22 , 32 ] data sets. The models proposed by Zhao et al.[ 22 ] and Pyysalo et al. [ 32 ] perform well using a rather small data set. However, the authors agree that their system’s computational efficiency may be greatly reduced if the knowledge base is large. Yang et al. [ 19 ] believe that the rankings of the drug-disease pairs generated by their model may be adversely affected since their methodology did not consider aliases for drug names.

Research challenges and future directions

The proposed LBD approaches have demonstrated considerable achievements and promising results in the discovery process. An in-depth analysis of the techniques used has revealed major insights to the main research challenges and future directions for such systems. The proper handling of the research challenges will definitely result in improved accuracy and performance in the LBD process.

Minimize manual expert review

From the analysis of the various studies, it was found that extensive manual expert review was required for the selection of the final LBD candidates from a very large number. There is therefore the need to develop approaches to prioritize LBD candidates, which will provide domain experts with essential evidence instead of information overload. The following approaches are proposed to decrease the effort required by domain experts:

• Determine a suitable threshold score for LBD candidates [ 18 , 21 ]. Candidates below that threshold would be considered as false positives and those above the threshold would be considered for further investigations and experiments.
• Develop a tool to provide recommendations for hypothesis generation [ 35 ]
• Make use of rigorous statistical techniques to replace the manual review step by a more automated approach [ 18 ]
• Design NLP techniques to detect false predications which occur due to negative associations [ 19 – 21 , 23 ]

Seamless integration of multiple data sources for improved accuracy

Most models designed have only considered PubMED and MEDLINE abstracts as their main text corpus. Many authors have proposed the incorporation of additional data sources as the text corpus of their models to improve accuracy. A larger knowledge base has the potential to produce more complex relation paths. The additional data sources which could be considered include:

• NIH grants summary to identify potentially hidden and novel associations by investigating exploratory analysis methods [ 40 ]
• Biological data to find more drug candidates for Covid-19 drug repurposing [ 25 ]
• Biomedical ontologies to consider additional interesting associations [ 38 ]
• Drug-disease databases like CTD and DrugBank for better training in drug-repurposing [ 19 ]
• FAERS data for pharmacovigilance methods instead of only relying on EHR data [ 28 ]
• Spontaneous reporting data for the extraction of drug-side effect associations [ 29 ]

Computational optimisation for improved accuracy and reliability

Studies in this review have clearly indicated the quest for researchers to obtain more accurate results. Due to the very large datasets and the multitude of possible pathways, the LBD models proposed are computationally intensive, therefore leading to certain limitations. Techniques proposed to improve accuracy include:

• Integration of machine learning and deep learning algorithms in LBD models [ 27 , 29 , 37 ] ,
• Development of high-quality NLP tools for better accuracy, due to the reported shortcomings of existing tools
• Use of relevant tools for the normalization of gene and disease targets [ 19 ]
• Consideration of full texts of research articles instead of only titles and abstracts [ 32 ]
• Use of graph embedding to obtain long paths [ 23 ]
• Consideration of indirect relationships from knowledge graphs [ 24 ]

The purpose of this work was to carry out a systematic literature review of recent publications in Literature Based Discovery approaches in the field of evidence-based healthcare. Four research questions had been set out in the planning phase of the review and the papers were deeply analyzed so as to get insights on the research questions. This work has revealed the potential of LBD techniques to discover hidden knowledge in emerging areas of healthcare and provides a comprehensive contextualization to various stakeholders in the health informatics community. The results of this review will therefore help the latter to have a good understanding of the appropriate approaches used in different application areas and contexts, and the challenges they will have to face.

The synthesis of the results of this work has shed light on recent issues and challenges that drive new LBD models and provides avenues for their application in other diverse areas in the healthcare domain. The research challenges identified show different perspectives to address further research in the field and, if properly tackled, will result in better overall accuracy and performance of LBD systems, therefore contributing in the speeding up of the knowledge translation process.

Authors’ Contributions

All authors have made a substantial, direct, intellectual contribution to this study.

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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• Five tips for developing useful literature summary tables for writing review articles
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• http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0157-5319 Ahtisham Younas 1 , 2 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7839-8130 Parveen Ali 3 , 4
• 1 Memorial University of Newfoundland , St John's , Newfoundland , Canada
• 2 Swat College of Nursing , Pakistan
• 3 School of Nursing and Midwifery , University of Sheffield , Sheffield , South Yorkshire , UK
• 4 Sheffield University Interpersonal Violence Research Group , Sheffield University , Sheffield , UK
• Correspondence to Ahtisham Younas, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL A1C 5C4, Canada; ay6133{at}mun.ca

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2021-103417

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Introduction

Literature reviews offer a critical synthesis of empirical and theoretical literature to assess the strength of evidence, develop guidelines for practice and policymaking, and identify areas for future research. 1 It is often essential and usually the first task in any research endeavour, particularly in masters or doctoral level education. For effective data extraction and rigorous synthesis in reviews, the use of literature summary tables is of utmost importance. A literature summary table provides a synopsis of an included article. It succinctly presents its purpose, methods, findings and other relevant information pertinent to the review. The aim of developing these literature summary tables is to provide the reader with the information at one glance. Since there are multiple types of reviews (eg, systematic, integrative, scoping, critical and mixed methods) with distinct purposes and techniques, 2 there could be various approaches for developing literature summary tables making it a complex task specialty for the novice researchers or reviewers. Here, we offer five tips for authors of the review articles, relevant to all types of reviews, for creating useful and relevant literature summary tables. We also provide examples from our published reviews to illustrate how useful literature summary tables can be developed and what sort of information should be provided.

Tip 1: provide detailed information about frameworks and methods

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Tabular literature summaries from a scoping review. Source: Rasheed et al . 3

The provision of information about conceptual and theoretical frameworks and methods is useful for several reasons. First, in quantitative (reviews synthesising the results of quantitative studies) and mixed reviews (reviews synthesising the results of both qualitative and quantitative studies to address a mixed review question), it allows the readers to assess the congruence of the core findings and methods with the adapted framework and tested assumptions. In qualitative reviews (reviews synthesising results of qualitative studies), this information is beneficial for readers to recognise the underlying philosophical and paradigmatic stance of the authors of the included articles. For example, imagine the authors of an article, included in a review, used phenomenological inquiry for their research. In that case, the review authors and the readers of the review need to know what kind of (transcendental or hermeneutic) philosophical stance guided the inquiry. Review authors should, therefore, include the philosophical stance in their literature summary for the particular article. Second, information about frameworks and methods enables review authors and readers to judge the quality of the research, which allows for discerning the strengths and limitations of the article. For example, if authors of an included article intended to develop a new scale and test its psychometric properties. To achieve this aim, they used a convenience sample of 150 participants and performed exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the same sample. Such an approach would indicate a flawed methodology because EFA and CFA should not be conducted on the same sample. The review authors must include this information in their summary table. Omitting this information from a summary could lead to the inclusion of a flawed article in the review, thereby jeopardising the review’s rigour.

Tip 2: include strengths and limitations for each article

Critical appraisal of individual articles included in a review is crucial for increasing the rigour of the review. Despite using various templates for critical appraisal, authors often do not provide detailed information about each reviewed article’s strengths and limitations. Merely noting the quality score based on standardised critical appraisal templates is not adequate because the readers should be able to identify the reasons for assigning a weak or moderate rating. Many recent critical appraisal checklists (eg, Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool) discourage review authors from assigning a quality score and recommend noting the main strengths and limitations of included studies. It is also vital that methodological and conceptual limitations and strengths of the articles included in the review are provided because not all review articles include empirical research papers. Rather some review synthesises the theoretical aspects of articles. Providing information about conceptual limitations is also important for readers to judge the quality of foundations of the research. For example, if you included a mixed-methods study in the review, reporting the methodological and conceptual limitations about ‘integration’ is critical for evaluating the study’s strength. Suppose the authors only collected qualitative and quantitative data and did not state the intent and timing of integration. In that case, the strength of the study is weak. Integration only occurred at the levels of data collection. However, integration may not have occurred at the analysis, interpretation and reporting levels.

Tip 3: write conceptual contribution of each reviewed article

While reading and evaluating review papers, we have observed that many review authors only provide core results of the article included in a review and do not explain the conceptual contribution offered by the included article. We refer to conceptual contribution as a description of how the article’s key results contribute towards the development of potential codes, themes or subthemes, or emerging patterns that are reported as the review findings. For example, the authors of a review article noted that one of the research articles included in their review demonstrated the usefulness of case studies and reflective logs as strategies for fostering compassion in nursing students. The conceptual contribution of this research article could be that experiential learning is one way to teach compassion to nursing students, as supported by case studies and reflective logs. This conceptual contribution of the article should be mentioned in the literature summary table. Delineating each reviewed article’s conceptual contribution is particularly beneficial in qualitative reviews, mixed-methods reviews, and critical reviews that often focus on developing models and describing or explaining various phenomena. Figure 2 offers an example of a literature summary table. 4

Tabular literature summaries from a critical review. Source: Younas and Maddigan. 4

Tip 4: compose potential themes from each article during summary writing

While developing literature summary tables, many authors use themes or subthemes reported in the given articles as the key results of their own review. Such an approach prevents the review authors from understanding the article’s conceptual contribution, developing rigorous synthesis and drawing reasonable interpretations of results from an individual article. Ultimately, it affects the generation of novel review findings. For example, one of the articles about women’s healthcare-seeking behaviours in developing countries reported a theme ‘social-cultural determinants of health as precursors of delays’. Instead of using this theme as one of the review findings, the reviewers should read and interpret beyond the given description in an article, compare and contrast themes, findings from one article with findings and themes from another article to find similarities and differences and to understand and explain bigger picture for their readers. Therefore, while developing literature summary tables, think twice before using the predeveloped themes. Including your themes in the summary tables (see figure 1 ) demonstrates to the readers that a robust method of data extraction and synthesis has been followed.

Tip 5: create your personalised template for literature summaries

Often templates are available for data extraction and development of literature summary tables. The available templates may be in the form of a table, chart or a structured framework that extracts some essential information about every article. The commonly used information may include authors, purpose, methods, key results and quality scores. While extracting all relevant information is important, such templates should be tailored to meet the needs of the individuals’ review. For example, for a review about the effectiveness of healthcare interventions, a literature summary table must include information about the intervention, its type, content timing, duration, setting, effectiveness, negative consequences, and receivers and implementers’ experiences of its usage. Similarly, literature summary tables for articles included in a meta-synthesis must include information about the participants’ characteristics, research context and conceptual contribution of each reviewed article so as to help the reader make an informed decision about the usefulness or lack of usefulness of the individual article in the review and the whole review.

In conclusion, narrative or systematic reviews are almost always conducted as a part of any educational project (thesis or dissertation) or academic or clinical research. Literature reviews are the foundation of research on a given topic. Robust and high-quality reviews play an instrumental role in guiding research, practice and policymaking. However, the quality of reviews is also contingent on rigorous data extraction and synthesis, which require developing literature summaries. We have outlined five tips that could enhance the quality of the data extraction and synthesis process by developing useful literature summaries.

• Aromataris E ,
• Rasheed SP ,

Twitter @Ahtisham04, @parveenazamali

Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests None declared.

Patient consent for publication Not required.

Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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• Published: 10 April 2024

The impact of environmental regulation on green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises in China-based on a three-stage exogenous variable model

• Fang-rong Ren 1 ,
• Tao-feng Wu 1 ,
• Yang-jun Ren 2 ,
• Xiao-yan Liu 1 &
• Xiaomei Yuan 3  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  8400 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

• Energy and society
• Environmental economics
• Sustainability

Due to the increased frequency of extreme weather events and the implementation of the China’s dual-carbon target, thermal power companies have been under pressure to construct green infrastructure and to actively pursue low-carbon transformation in response to stricter environmental regulations. This research thus selects 30 listed thermal power enterprises in China as study objects and assesses their green investment efficiency in the low-carbon transition process using three-stage DEA evaluation model with environmental regulation as an exogenous variable. Based on this, a benchmark regression model is used to corroborate the relationship between environmental regulation and green investment. Simultaneously, we carry out analysis to compare the correlation between thermal power firms’ green investment efficiency and their focus on green investments. The results show in terms of total efficiency that environmental regulation significantly improves the total efficiency of 80% of thermal power enterprises compared to the absence of this exogenous variable. With the addition of environmental regulation, firms’ total efficiency declines gradually in general from 2018 to 2022, with the mean value of efficiency falling by 0.068. In terms of stage-specific efficiency, the efficiency of the green investment stage of the majority of firms is between 0.3 and 0.6, which is much lower than that of the operational stage and the market performance stage. In terms of sub-indicator efficiency, both green investment efficiency and social donation efficiency among thermal power enterprises show obvious polarization, with 30% of them having an efficiency of 1 and 30% less than 0.1. In terms of green investment focus, thermal power unit renovation has a more obvious role in boosting the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises than do wind power and photovoltaic projects. Therefore, both governmental departments and thermal power enterprises need to take active measures in order to achieve green transformation from the perspective of green investment efficiency. Through the segmentation of important projects of green investment, this paper provides a reasonable investment direction reference for the sustainable transformation of China’s thermal power industry. It also provides a rich and novel theoretical basis for the Chinese government to further improve the relevant environmental protection laws and regulations of thermal power industry.

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Introduction

With environmental degradation and resource depletion becoming key impediments to global economic development, the green transformation of energy firms is on the horizon. According to the Energy Institute of the United Kingdom’s 2023 Statistical Yearbook of World Energy, worldwide energy demand increased by 1% in 2022. The historic increase of renewable energy has not altered the dominance of fossil fuels, which continue to supply 82% of global energy. Governments and other international organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, have been actively encouraging research into environmental pollution and its effects on development in this respect. With coordinated efforts, the share of renewable energy in the world’s energy consumption from 2021 to 2022 would be 7.5%, or up around 1% from the year before. Indeed, 84% of the increase in net electricity consumption is met by a record 12% rise in wind and solar power generation.

Thermal power generation in China has accounted for 66.6% of total power generation in 2022, or growing 1.4% year on year. As a key energy supplier, thermal power firms must undergo green transformation in order to achieve sustainable development, and achieving this goal necessitates significant green investments. Global green investment increased from US$7 billion in 2000 to US$154 billion in 2010 1 , with the majority of that growth occurring in China. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), by 2050, $125 trillion in green investments will be needed to achieve carbon neutrality. According to the United Nations climate change annual report 2021, China is the largest contributor to green investment, particularly in the energy sector, valued at $266 billion. Among them, China's thermal power industry has also made large breakthroughs in the field of green investment. For example, according to the latest analysis of the China Electricity Council, the installed non-fossil energy generation capacity of the thermal power industry exceeded the size of the installed thermal power capacity for the first time in 2023, accounting for the first time for the proportion of the total installed capacity to exceed 50%.

To promote green investment, the China government has also continued to improve the environmental regulatory system by levying environmental protection taxes and opening up the carbon emissions trading market and green subsidy system. China is gradually forming a comprehensive environmental regulatory system combining command and control, market-led, and public participation 2 , 3 . According to the China Electricity Council, between 2016 and 2021 the power industry has already reduced carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 21.51 billion tons through non-fossil energy sources, reduced coal usage in power supply, and lower line-loss rate. China has now constructed the world’s largest ultra-low emission thermal power plant cluster.

As thermal power firms are critical to energy savings and emission reduction, green investment can help drive their sustainable development and also meet market and government requirements by enhancing energy cleanliness and low carbon. Thermal power companies typically boost their green investments in the early stages of tighter environmental rules in order to enhance their brand value and company image. However, because pollution control costs are rising and profit margins are narrowing due to stricter environmental restrictions, green investments have decreased rather than increased (Fig.  1 ). Therefore, it is necessary for this study to dig deeper into the reasons behind the phenomenon—that is, the trade-off between costs and benefits of green investment in thermal power enterprises as well as the relationship between enterprise green investment efficiency and the choice of green investment focus.

China’s thermal power industry annual green investment.

Summarizing the research conducted by scholars at home and abroad in this field, there are three main limitations. First, the analysis of existing research in this field mainly focuses on developed regions or areas, and lacks research on developing countries 1 , 4 . However, the impact of environmental regulation on green investment has a strong geographical nature, and the differences in policies across countries can lead to different implementation strengths of environmental regulation by local governments. Second, due to the difficulty of obtaining data on corporate green investment, scholars' studies on green investment have mainly focused on the national or city cluster level, and lacked analysis on the corporate level 5 , 6 . Even the studies on corporate green investment are too broad in terms of industries, ignoring the fact that the impact of environmental regulations on green investment is limited by industry attributes 3 , 7 . Third, most of the existing literature uses the amount of green investments made by firms or cities, which is rather one-sided 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 . The input–output indicator system constructed with multiple variables is more comprehensive to measure the efficiency of green investment.

Therefore, this study overcomes the above shortcomings with the following three main contributions. First, it considers that changes in both the ESG index and media attention affect the financial support received by enterprises, which in turn influences the size of the funds used by enterprises for green investment projects. Therefore, this study incorporates the enterprise ESG index and media attention into the index system for assessing the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises.

Second, there are fewer studies on the green investment efficiency of energy enterprises in developing countries, especially Chinese thermal power enterprises. This study analyzes the impact of environmental regulations on the green investment efficiency of Chinese thermal power enterprises in the context of the country’s social system, taking into account the reality of its economic development.

Third, other studies have analyzed the efficiency of green investment using mainly econometric models, which can only deal with a single efficiency assessment. This study adopts the DEA model, which is not only able to deal with multiple inputs and multiple outputs, but also avoids subjectivity due to the assignment of weights.

Literature review

Impact of green investment.

The literature on the impact of green investment of thermal power companies on their market value is divided into two main views: the promotion theory and the inhibition theory. Green investment is a form of resource allocation in thermal power companies, which can improve their environmental quality and corporate reputation by reducing the necessary investment in generating pollutants in their operations 1 . Taking listed energy companies in China as an example, some scholars have found that green investment improves their environmental performance through the reduction of environmental violations. This enhances the impact of green investment on the long-term market value of energy companies 12 . In addition, incorporating green investments into energy business strategy formulation helps reduce corporate environmental risks and prompts companies to create value in terms of social sustainability, ultimately leading to an increase in their market value 7 , 13 , 14 .

Some scholars have put forward opposite views on the impact of green investment on firm value, arguing that green investment has a negative or zero impact on firm performance. This is because green investment is relatively costly, takes away resources that companies use for normal production and operations, and usually requires a long payback period. Therefore, when enterprises conduct green investment operations, they incur a certain negative impact on cash flow and financial performance 15 . In short, green investment may have a certain inhibitory effect on the financial performance of enterprises. However, in the long term, green investments can help improve the environmental performance of energy companies, which in turn contributes to financial performance. Therefore, energy companies need to weigh inputs and outputs when making green investments as part of a long-term development strategy to achieve sustainable development.

Factors affecting green investment

The literature on green investment has a variety of research angles. Some scholars have studied the influencing factors and development trends of green investment in the energy industry in developed countries by using econometric models from the perspective of macroeconomics 5 , 9 . The results show that green investment is influenced by economic growth, interest rates, and fuel prices 1 . At the same time, policy intervention of the national government, such as an environmental tax burden, also has a positive impact on green investment 10 , 11 . In view of the impact of an environmental tax burden, some scholars have used a variety of advanced panel data methods to conduct more detailed research. The results show although taxes have a weak catalytic effect compared to other factors that well-structured environmental regulation can still significantly promote green investment by firms 6 . Therefore, governments can provide tax incentives for companies to undergo green innovation, so that companies can get help with innovative projects.

Some scholars have studied the relationship between corporate ESG ratings and green investment using linear mixed models. The results show that there is a positive correlation between green investment and corporate ESG ratings, which has a significant impact on corporate sustainable operations 8 . In addition, some studies start from the perspective of public attention. Through the use of panel data and econometric models, research has found that strict environmental regulations prompt enterprises to increase green investment 5 . Given the high energy intensity of countries in the Asia–Pacific region, some economists have examined the relationship between green investment and renewable energy deployment from a renewable energy perspective. Using Panel Pooled Mean Group (PMG) technique, the study found that green investment potential positively affects renewable energy deployment 16 . Finally, from the perspective of R&D and innovation, some scholars use multiple regression models to conduct empirical analyses, and the results show that environmental regulation, by increasing green investment, not only benefits green innovation in the region, but also contributes to the neighboring region's 17 .

No matter from which viewpoint, scholars’ analysis of green investment mainly focuses on the motivation, and the conclusions are controversial. Therefore, the reasons for the dispute need to be further analyzed. Moreover, research has mainly focused on the green investment of enterprises, lacking any analysis and evaluation on green investment efficiency.

Influence of environmental regulation on green investments

As an important means to coordinate social development and environmental protection, environmental regulation has played an important role in environmental governance in recent years by effectively guiding the environmental behavior of enterprises and individuals. Studies mainly measure environmental regulation by the cost of pollution control, capital expenditure on pollution reduction 18 , pollutant discharge 19 , environmental tax burden 6 , 20 , 21 , and so on. Based on the differences in the above measurement standards, the impact of environmental regulations on green investment can be divided into three perspectives.

Traditional economists have argued that environmental regulations inhibit firms' green investments. They believe that environmental regulation inhibits firms' green investment. This group of scholars argues that environmental regulation can inhibit green investment by imposing unnecessary costs on firms and having a crowding-out effect on investment in innovation, which reduces the productivity of firms 22 , 23 , 24 . However, some scholars, led by Porter, have challenged that view. Porter believes that environmental regulation can bring “innovation compensation effect”, which is conducive to the realization of the enterprise's environmental performance and economic performance of the joint improvement 25 . Therefore, this group of economists point out that environmental regulation will stimulate enterprises to break the inherent business model and product structure, and put pressure on enterprises to consider environmental issues, so as to realize energy saving and emission reduction 26 , 27 . In addition, a small number of scholars, based on the “factor endowment hypothesis”, believes in a non-linear relationship between environmental regulation and corporate green investment.

No matter using regression analysis or the SBM-DDF model, studies have shown an inverted U-type non-linear relationship between environmental regulation and corporate green investment 3 , 28 . In the early stage of strengthening environmental regulations, enterprises increase green investment and change production methods due to legal requirements. However, with increasing environmental regulation, there will be an inflection point in the factor endowment advantage, when the costs of green investment outweigh the benefits of complying with environmental regulations. This is also contrary to the Poter hypothesis, where high pollution control costs lead to "crowding out" of R&D investment 29 , and firms prefer to accept penalties for non-compliance rather than make more green investments.

Most of the literature acknowledges the significant impact of environmental regulation on enterprises’ green investment, but due to differences in indicators and methods adopted by each research institute, the conclusions are inconsistent. A higher level of environmental tax burden closely relates to strict environmental regulations 30 . As an economic means, an environmental tax burden can regulate the environmental behavior of thermal power enterprises by directly affecting their production and operation. Therefore, this study uses environmental tax burden to measure environmental regulation and studies its impact on the green investment efficiency of China’s thermal power enterprises. Doing so provides a theoretical basis for the government to formulate relevant policies for the sustainable development of thermal power enterprises.

• Green investment efficiency

As green investment efficiency has gradually become a crucial factor affecting the sustainable development of energy enterprises, empirical research based on DEA theory has also been widely used by scholars. Some scholars have analyzed the relationship between enterprise green investment and performance by the DEA method and panel vector autoregression method (VAR). Findings show that enterprises’ green investment inhibits productivity improvement 31 . From the perspective of environmental regulation, some scholars have introduced the learning curve theory into the traditional DEA model to describe the dynamic changes of power enterprises under different policy scenarios. The results show an interactive relationship between environmental regulation, environmental protection investment, and the sustainable development of power enterprises 32 . Environmental regulation motivates enterprises to pay attention to environmental performance, thus improving the efficiency of their green investment 33 .

Some scholars hold a different view, with some quantifying the green investment efficiency of heavy polluting enterprises through the SBM-DEA model. The results show an inverted U-shape non-linear relationship between environmental regulation and green investment efficiency of Chinese polluting enterprises 34 . Some scholars have also utilized the Tobit model and found a double effect of environmental regulation on the green efficiency of thermal power enterprises. It is specifically manifested as a U-shape non-linear relationship of first inhibition and then promotion 35 . Therefore, local governments must pay attention to the differentiation of environmental regulations in order to encourage energy enterprises to improve green investment efficiency.

From the perspective of digital empowerment, some scholars have used the SBM-DEA method to conduct quantitative analysis of the green investment efficiency of heavy polluting enterprises. Research has found that digital empowerment promotes green efficiency through increased analyst attention and greater R&D investment 36 .

In short, the green investment efficiency evaluation method based on DEA has wide application prospects in the current global low-carbon environmental protection era. These theories also provide a theoretical basis for government departments to guide the environmental management of energy enterprises.

Although there is a growing body of literature on the relationship between environmental regulation, green investment efficiency, and firm performance, there are still some limitations in this research field. In fact, most studies admit under strict environmental regulations that green investment of enterprises positively impacts their performance. However, the existing studies on the relationship between green investment and environmental regulation are relatively broad, mostly focusing on city clusters or all enterprises, and rarely focusing on a particular industry, especially the thermal power industry. As a result, the conclusions and policy recommendations are not fully applicable to all industries, and it is difficult for the government to improve environmental policies accordingly. In addition, the existing literature on green investment at the enterprise level is mainly limited to econometric methods, and there is less literature on the use of DEA models to study the efficiency of green investment in energy enterprises.

Research method

Based on the fact that the evaluation performance of the DDF non-ray distance function is better and provides more accurate estimation results, this study amends the traditional DDF model, combines the dynamic DEA model of Tone and Tsutsui 37 , and considers the exogenous problem, so as to solve the deficiencies of one-, two-, and three-stage Dynamic DDF under an exogenous DEA model. The formula runs as follows.

Assume that a decision-making unit ( \({DMU}_{j},j=1,\dots ,J\) ) has \(t (t=1,\dots ,T)\) time periods. Within each time period there are three stages: Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3.

In the first stage, there are D inputs \({x}_{ij}^{t}\left(i=1,\dots ,m\right)\) that produce P intermediate products \({z}_{Pj}^{t}\left(p=1,\dots ,P\right)\) and Q desired outputs \({o}_{qj}^{t}\left(q=1,\dots ,Q\right)\) .

The second stage uses P intermediate products \({z}_{Pj}^{t}\left(p=1,\dots ,P\right)\) and F inputs \({a}_{fj}^{t}\left(f=1,\dots ,F\right)\) to create R desired outputs \({y}_{rj}^{t}\left(r=1,\dots ,R\right)\) and S intermediate products \({u}_{sj}^{t}\left(s=1,\dots ,S\right)\) .

The third stage uses S intermediate products \({u}_{sj}^{t}\left(s=1,\dots ,S\right)\) and G inputs \({f}_{gj}^{t}\left(g=1,\dots ,G\right)\) to create L desired outputs \({n}_{lj}^{t}\left(l=1,\dots ,L\right)\) .

Stage 1 (operation stage) inputs are number of employees and thermal power installed capacity. Output is operating revenue. Stage 1 links to Stage 2 via R&D expenses.

Stage 2 (green investment stage) inputs are green investment, proportion of installed renewable energy capacity, and social donation. Output is the ESG index. Stage 2 links to stage 3 via media attention.

Stage 3 (market performance stage) input is operating costs. Outputs are enterprise market value and market share. Exogenous variable \(={A}_{vj}\left(v=1\dots V\right)\) is environmental regulation, and carry-over \({= c}_{hj}^{t}\left(h=1,\dots ,H\right)\) is fixed assets.

Here, \(j\) represents the number of each DMU, i.e., the 30 thermal power enterprises in this paper, \(t\) represents the stage, and \(i,p,q,f,r,s,g,v,h,l\) represent the order of each variable. For example, \({x}_{ij}^{t}\) stands for the i ’th input of enterprise \(j\) in stage \(t\) .

Objective function

If there is an n dimension \(DMU\) set denoted as j , where \({DMU}_{o}\) represents the \(DMU\) under evaluation and \({DMU}_{o}\in j,\) then the mathematical model is formulated as follows.

Formula ( 1 ) calculates the efficiency of \({DMU}_{o}\) . Of these, formula ( 1 ) is primarily referenced to Chiu et al 38 .

If there is an n dimension \(DMU\) set denoted as \(j\) , where \({DMU}_{o}\) represents the \(DMU\) under evaluation and \({DMU}_{o}\in j.\)

Here, GFE represents Global-Factor Efficiency. \({\gamma }_{t}\) is the weight assigned to period t, and \({w}_{1}^{t}\) , \({w}_{2}^{t}\) , and \({w}_{3}^{t}\) are the weights assigned to Stage 1 efficiency, Stage 2 efficiency, and Stage 3 efficiency, respectively. Therefore, \({w}_{1}^{t}\) , \({w}_{2}^{t}\) , and \({w}_{3}^{t}\) and \(\sum_{t=1}^{T}{\gamma }_{t}=1\) .

Exogenous variable and links of stages

The exogenous variable is formula ( 2 ). Of these, formula ( 2 ) is primarily referenced to Li et al 39 .

Here, \( \lambda_{j}^{t} ,\;\mu_{j}^{t} ,\;\rho_{j}^{t}\) denote the weights of the benchmarking for \({DMU}_{o}\) in the first, second and three stages, respectively.

Stage 1 and Stage 2 links are formula ( 3 ). Stage 2 and Stage 3 links are formula ( 4 ). The two periods of links are formula ( 5 ). Of these, formula ( 3 ), (4), (5) is primarily referenced to Lu et al 40 .

Overall efficiency, period efficiency, stage efficiency, and period stage efficiency can be obtained from the above results.

Sub-efficiency values

The sub-efficiency values of the variables in this study are calculated in accordance with the Total-Factor Efficiency (TFE) indicator published by Hu and Wang 41 via the following equation.

Input variables and good output variables are formulae (6) and (7), respectively.

If the value of total factor efficiency is 1, then the efficiency target has been achieved; conversely, it means that there is an excess of inputs or a shortage of outputs, indicating that there is room for improvement.

Empirical analysis

Data description.

This paper selects data from 30 listed thermal power companies in China from 2018 to 2022. The selection is based on thermal power listed companies that are ranked among the top 30 in market capitalization on the Flush Financial Data Platform as of the end of 2022 and have been listed for more than five years. The abbreviations of the sample companies are in “ Appendix A ”. Since the green investment path of listed thermal power companies is not unique, different companies illustrate differentiated transformation by combining their own advantages.

Studies vary in their division of green investments. According to the green financial products invested, they can be divided into green credit, green securities, and green insurance 42 . According to the use of green investment project funds, they can be divided into expenditures for environmental pollution control and expenditures for environmental infrastructure construction 43 . As the research object of this paper is thermal power listed enterprises, power generation projects are the key aspects of their main business and green investments. Therefore, this paper classifies the green investments of enterprises into three types according to the energy type of the project by analyzing the important ongoing projects of thermal power enterprises: the transformation of thermal power units, photovoltaic projects and wind power projects (Table 1 ).

A new energy project is a national key support project that can effectively reduce the carbon emissions of enterprises. From the viewpoint of power generation cost, the cost of photovoltaic power generation has been reduced to parity and even lower than the cost of thermal power. From the viewpoint of geographical adaptability, wind power projects can be built in cities, suburbs, villages, and coastal areas with strong geographical adaptability. However, the instability of a wind project determines that thermal power units need to be used as a peaking power source to ensure stable operation of the grid. A new energy project construction cycle is longer, and it is difficult to achieve results in the short term. Therefore, thermal power companies still carry out thermal power unit renovation to maintain their stable operation.

Among the enterprises in the sample of this study, there are 25, 18, and 11 carrying out thermal power unit renovation, Photovoltaic projects, and wind power projects, respectively. There are 5 enterprises carrying out all three types of projects at the same time. Finally, 13 enterprises carry out both types of projects at the same time.

This study evaluates the number of employees, installed thermal power capacity, operating revenue, R&D expenses, green investment, proportion of installed renewable energy capacity, social donations, ESG index, media attention, operating costs, enterprise market value, market share, fixed assets, and environmental regulation of the sample companies from 2018 to 2022. Among them, Min–Max normalization is performed on the raw data of the proportion of installed renewable energy capacity and market share. The research framework based on the three-stage parallel DEA model with relevant indicators is given in Fig.  2 .

Research framework based on three-stage parallel DEA modeling.

The main design ideas of the three-stage DEA model in this paper are as follows. First, the process of assessing the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises is divided into operation stage (Stage 1), green investment stage (Stage 2), and market performance stage (Stage 3). The first stage is operation. Thermal power enterprises through the normal operation and profitability in this stage lay a good foundation for subsequent green investment. Thermal power installed capacity and the number of employees is mainly selected as inputs, and operating revenue and R&D expenses are outputs. The R&D expenses are continuously invested into the second stage as supportive funds for green investment.

Second, the second stage is green investment. Green investment, the proportion of installed renewable energy capacity, and social donations are taken as inputs. The ESG index and media attention are taken as outputs.

Finally, the third stage is market performance. Media attention is used as an input in the third stage to characterize its important role in a firm’s market performance. Operating costs are an input. Market value and market share are outputs. The T and T + 1 stages are connected through the carry-over variable of fixed assets. Table 2 below specifically explains each indicator.

Descriptive statistics

Due to space limitation, only major variables are selected for statistical description in this paper. Green investment stage is a key turning point for thermal power enterprises to achieve sustainable development and plays an important role in the steady operation of enterprises. Therefore, the selected indicators are categorized into two types for statistical description herein: operation and market indicators and sustainability indicators. Their mean, maximum, and standard deviation are calculated respectively, and the results are rounded to two decimal places. Figures  3 and 4 show the statistical description of the two categories of variables by year.

( a – d ) Descriptive statistics of operating and marketability variables.

( a – d ) Descriptive statistics of sustainability variables.

In terms of the operation and market performance of thermal power enterprises, their installed capacity (Fig.  3 a) has been relatively stable in recent years. R&D expenses (Fig.  3 b) have increased year by year, and the growth rate is also increasing year by year. By raising R&D expenses, thermal power enterprises can carry out technological innovation to develop new products or new energy technologies, thus improving their production and operational efficiency. In addition, although the market value of enterprises (Fig.  3 c) has obvious fluctuations, the market share (Fig.  3 d) is generally stable and does not show large changes.

Looking at the sustainability of thermal power firms, first, social donation (Fig.  4 a) is far more volatile than the other variables, with 2019 leading the five-year period in terms of this factor. Second, green investment (Fig.  4 b), which had been trending upward in the previous four years, suddenly declined in 2022, possibly due to increased environmental regulations. Finally, the steady growth trend in the proportion of installed renewable energy capacity (Fig.  4 c) and the high level of the ESG index (Fig.  4 d) reflect that companies are actively pursuing a green and low-carbon transition.

Empirical result analysis

Total efficiency analysis.

This study considers the inclusion of exogenous variables and the absence of exogenous variables separately when assessing each DMU. According to the empirical results of this paper, after adding exogenous variables, the green investment efficiencies of 24 out of 30 firms significantly improve. Without considering exogenous factors, the average value of the overall efficiency of enterprises is 0.553, and 10 enterprises have total efficiency greater than 0.6. After considering exogenous factors, the mean value of overall efficiency is 0.591, and 13 thermal power enterprises have total efficiency greater than 0.6. Obviously, environmental regulation as an exogenous variable in the model significantly improves the underestimation of enterprises’ green investment efficiency.

As can be seen from Fig.  5 , the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises was at its lowest in 2019 at 0.501 and hit its peak in 2021 at 0.590. The overall trend is that it first declines, then improves, and finally declines again. In 2018–2019, at the beginning of the strengthening of environmental regulations, the increased cost of thermal power enterprises for pollution control had a crowding out effect on innovation investment. This also led to a decline in the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises, from 0.553 to 0.501. With the implementation of environmental policies, enterprises are forced to develop cleaner and more environmentally friendly production methods due to pressure from the environmental tax burden. For example, the renovation of thermal power units and the development of new energy projects spurred the green investment efficiency of enterprises to increase by 8.9% in two years. However, as the proportion of new energy connected to the grid increases, the power system is not flexible enough, and the problem of consumption gradually emerges. The green investment efficiency of enterprises thus exhibits a significant decrease.

Average green investment efficiency (2018–2022).

Of the 24 thermal power companies that have improved after adhering to the environmental regulation, 18 companies are carrying out retrofitting of thermal power units and 15 are carrying out photovoltaic projects. Relatively fewer firms, less than half, are targeting the construction of wind power projects. Among the top 10 enterprises with the strongest improvement effect, 80% of them have carried out thermal power unit renovation. Obviously, enterprises prefer to realize the improvement of their green investment efficiency by retrofitting thermal power units. On the one hand, retrofitting thermal power units is flexible and has a low cost compared to new energy construction. Thermal power units can operate stably for a long period of time and adjust their output according to power demand. On the other hand, photovoltaic projects and wind power projects have strong volatility, homogeneity and require flexible resource packages to solve the consumption problem. In the case of a significant increase in electricity load, wind and solar clean resources are difficult to provide enough controllable power.

In China there are still provinces with a significant problem of abandoned wind or abandoned light. They include Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, and other wind power provinces. Some areas of wind power or photovoltaic power only have a utilization rate of 90%. Therefore, compared with Photovoltaic projects and wind power projects, companies can more feasibly improve their total efficiency through the renovation of thermal power units.

By comparing the green investment efficiency of the top 5 and bottom 5 thermal power enterprises, this paper finds that efficiency significantly improves after considering exogenous variables. As seen from Fig.  6 , the green investment efficiency value of each thermal power enterprise varies greatly. Among them, DHEP has the lowest green investment efficiency value of 0.341, which is only 1% higher than the case without considering environmental regulation. DLPC has the highest efficiency value of 0.960, which is an increase of nearly 10% over the case without taking into account exogenous factors. The improvement is significant. Therefore, the impact of environmental regulations on DLPC is much greater than that on DHEP. This may be due to the fact that DHEP is higher than DLPC in terms of enterprise size, capital cost, and technical feasibility. Its investment in green innovation has already reached a high level, and so the improvement rate is not as high as DLPC. In addition, DHEP’s fuel costs increased by U$$2.953 billion year-over-year in 2021 due to the increase in the unit price of standard coal used for power generation. The significant increase in operating costs leads to a company’s lower gross margin and continued losses. In turn, the focus on green investments continues to diminish, and the efficiency of green investments is bound to decrease.

Total efficiency values of thermal power enterprises (top and bottom 5). Notes : The ranking is based on the efficiency value after adding exogenous variables. S means considering exogenous variables. S* means not considering exogenous variables.

In terms of the magnitude of improvement, the impact of environmental regulation on GDGI ranks first among the sample firms, with a 20.8% improvement in green investment efficiency. On the one hand, GDGI's earnings continue to be high, and there is enough capital to build on green investments. On the other hand, environmental regulations have been strengthened, and significant results have been achieved in green investments. Therefore, a company can decide to continue to invest in green investments in the future and continue to invest in research and development. From thermal power generation to multiple energy sources, GDGI has always adhered to the direction of clean energy development. The improvement of its green investment efficiency is also an inevitable trend.

In conclusion, environmental regulations have a more significant impact on the green investment efficiency of Chinese thermal power companies. During the period from 2018 to 2022, the average value of the environmental tax burden paid by enterprises is generally increasing. Environmental regulations force thermal power enterprises to improve their production and operation methods by increasing their environmental management costs. Moreover, thermal power enterprises combine their own advantages to carry out green transformation of industrial structure. While realizing green and high-quality development, they also promote the improvement of green investment efficiency.

Stage efficiency analysis

Efficiency analysis of operation stage (stage 1).

In the operation stage, this study includes the number of employees, installed thermal power capacity, and operating revenue in the input–output index system of this stage. According to the empirical results of this paper, during the period from 2018 to 2022 the efficiency of thermal power enterprises in the operation stage performs well with an overall mean value of 0.613. However, there are still some enterprises with low efficiency in this stage, such as DTPC, whose efficiency value fluctuates around 0.2 or less than one-third of the average value.

As seen from Fig.  7 , the inclusion of environmental regulation can significantly increase the efficiency of thermal power enterprises in the operation stage. The collection of environmental taxes raises the production costs of highly polluting enterprises, thus promoting the optimal allocation of resources and industrial restructuring. For thermal power enterprises, the collection of environmental taxes pushes them to pay more attention to the development of clean energy and to increase investment in renewable energy. By optimizing the industrial structure, the energy efficiency of thermal power enterprises will improve. In response to the role of exogenous variables in this stage, BNEC is most strongly affected, mainly because BNEC is driven by environmental regulations and focuses on the level of cost optimization and energy savings. It is a commitment to operational efficiency improvement whose improvement effect is as high as 0.462 in 2019.

Average value of efficiency in operation stage (2018–2022). Notes : Stage1 means considering exogenous variables. Stage1* means not considering exogenous variables.

After 2020 in the late period of strengthening environmental regulations, the operational efficiency of thermal power enterprises has significantly weakened. The average efficiency fell by 14.5% in two years, perhaps due to the need for thermal power companies to invest more resources and funds in technology upgrades in order to meet more stringent environmental requirements. Therefore, for improving energy efficiency and reducing pollutant emissions, there will be some technical or economic restrictions that result in the decline of efficiency at this stage. In summary, environmental regulations can, to some extent, lead to higher efficiency values by inducing improvements in energy use efficiency and reductions in pollutant emissions during the operational stage of an enterprise. However, with increased pressure on profitability, thermal power companies may encounter some constraints in this regard, leading to a slowdown or decline in the rate of improvement of efficiency values.

Efficiency analysis of green investment stage (Stage 2)

The green investment stage is an indispensable part of thermal power enterprises to realize sustainable development. This study includes green investment, the proportion of installed renewable energy capacity, social donations, and the ESG index into the input–output index system of this stage. Table 3 shows the efficiency value of green investment stage of thermal power enterprises selected by this paper with more typical performance in this stage.

The inclusion of environmental regulations has somewhat increased the efficiency value of the green investment stage of thermal power companies during the period from 2018 to 2022. This may be due to the fact that environmental regulation incentivizes firms to approach the green investment business in a more prudent and proactive manner, which in turn promotes green investment efficiency. However, nearly one-third of the thermal power firms, such as HDEC and TFEC (Table 3 ), have reached the optimal efficiency value before the addition of the exogenous variables, and thus there is no significant improvement.

With the increase of environmental regulation pressure, the efficiency value of thermal power companies in the green investment stage shows a large decline. It falls from 0.566 in 2018 to 0.307 in 2022 or a drop of 25.9% (Fig.  8 ). Even though there is a slight rebound during the period, it again shows a more substantial fall in the following year. This is mainly due to the thermal power enterprises in the process of accelerating the development and utilization of clean energy illustrating that new energy generation will have difficulties in sending out and consuming. The wind turbines and photovoltaic equipment in many areas have been left idle for a long time.

Average efficiency of green investment stage (2018–2022). Notes : Stage2 means considering exogenous variables. Stage2* means not considering exogenous variables.

The phenomenon of abandoning light and wind is serious. Moreover, supply chain issues and downward economic pressure due to COVID-19 could have also hindered green investments by thermal power companies between 2021 and 2022. However, some companies have bucked the trend. For example, GEPC’s green investment stage efficiency grew from 0.047 to 0.112, or an improvement of nearly three times.

Compared with the other two stages, the green investment stage has the lowest average efficiency value, between 0.3 and 0.6, and the largest difference in efficiency between enterprises. This is reflected in the serious bifurcation of the efficiency values of the sample enterprises in this stage. The difference between high-efficiency and low-efficiency enterprises is even close to 100%, which is also directly linked to the green investment focus of thermal power companies. Retrofitting thermal power units not only has greater potential and lower investment costs, but also smoothes out the impact of new energy power on the grid.

Thermal power units have a stronger role in improving the efficiency of the green investment stage. For example, JGCL’s green investment projects during this five-year period were dominated by the renovation of thermal power units and supplemented by the construction of new energy projects (Table 3 ). Thus, JGCL has always maintained a high level of efficiency in the green investment stage. By contrast, HDPC focuses on the construction of new energy projects, such as photovoltaic projects and wind power projects. Therefore, its efficiency in this stage is lower (Table 3 ).

Efficiency analysis of market performance stage (Stage 3)

Thermal power firms have the highest efficiency values in the market performance stage compared to the efficiency values in the other two stages. There is also not much difference in the efficiency values among the firms. Except for a few firms such as JNPC, NMHD, and SNPC, most of the other firms have efficiency values fluctuating around 0.7 in this stage. At this stage, the inclusion of environmental regulations had a relatively small effect on improving efficiency, with most firms improving by less than 5%. Overall, the market performance stage efficiency increased year-on-year with the strengthening of environmental regulations and rose much higher than the operational stage (Fig.  9 ). The unusual performance in 2018 was due to the multiple adjustments in the domestic refined petroleum product market along with the increase in coal prices during the year. They had a dampening effect on the efficiency of most thermal power companies, especially JGCL, in the market performance stage.

Average efficiency of market performance stage (2018–2022). Notes : Stage3 means considering exogenous variables. Stage3* means not considering exogenous variables.

The collection of environmental taxes will prompt thermal power enterprises to increase their investment in and development of clean energy. Thus, it will guide enterprises toward restructuring, transformation, and upgrading. For example, GDGI has not only raised its R&D investment year by year, but also continued to increase mergers and acquisitions of high-quality assets and clean energy to optimize its industrial layout.

There are some firms that are not sensitive to environmental regulation. For example, DTPC and HNPC, whose efficiency values in the market performance stage did not improve more significantly from the environmental tax burden (Table 4 ). The pressure of environmental regulations burden increases the cost of highly polluting and inefficient thermal power firms. For firms adopting clean energy and high efficiency technologies, their costs will be relatively lower. This leads to the exit of inefficient thermal power firms from the market. In turn, high-efficiency firms have the opportunity to expand their market share and increase their efficiency value in the market performance stage.

Sub-index efficiency analysis

Due to space limitations, only the main indicators are selected for sub-indicator efficiency analysis in this paper. Table 5 reflects the average values of the efficiency of the main indicators of Chinese thermal power enterprises from 2018 to 2022 with and without considering exogenous variables.

First, the efficiency of installed thermal power capacity directly affects the power generation capacity and capacity level of the enterprise. Hence, it is an important factor for thermal power enterprises to maintain normal business management. After considering the exogenous variable of environmental regulation, the average value of thermal power firms’ installed capacity efficiency increases in most years and peaks at 0.730 in 2020 (Table 5 ). A few firms are insensitive to the role of environmental regulation, such as JKPC and JNPC. Most companies show a very clustered thermal power installed capacity efficiency of 0.5 or more from 2018 to 2022. For highly polluting and inefficient thermal power units, environmental regulation will increase the operating costs of thermal power enterprises. Therefore, companies will actively adopt energy saving and emission reduction measures and emphasize technological innovation, such as vigorously renovating thermal power units and developing clean energy projects. For example, SNCL has invested in a number of hydrogen energy projects, driven by environmental regulation.

Second, enterprises’ market value efficiency stays at a high level from 2018 to 2021, yet declines substantially in 2022, as in the case of AHWC and GEPC. The inclusion of environmental regulations improves the average market value efficiency of thermal power firms in all years except 2022. In particular, in 2018 the average market value efficiency improves by as much as 15.9%. Environmental regulations can incentivize firms to adopt more environmental protection measures to reduce pollutant emissions, such as ultra-low emissions and desulfurization and denitrification technologies. However, in the late stage of environmental regulation strengthening, the obstruction of new energy construction and excessive cost burden can inhibit the market value efficiency of enterprises. Their average value of efficiency decreases by two-thirds from 0.931 in 2018 to 0.619 in 2022 (Table 5 ). For example, in 2018 to 2021, DTPC and DLPC have reached the optimal point of their enterprises’ market value indicator efficiency in yearly increments under the pressure of the environmental regulation. In 2022, however, excessive cost burdens led to a significant decline in firm market efficiency, or far less than half of what it was in 2021.

Third, with the strengthening of environmental regulations, the average green investment efficiency value of thermal power enterprises has been declining in fluctuation over the five-year period. The average green investment efficiency value is the highest in 2018 at 0.595, while 2022 has the lowest efficiency at 0.274 or less than half of that in 2018 (Table 5 ). Green investment efficiency rebounds considerably in 2021, but then deteriorates sharply in the following year, going from 54.2 to 27.4%. SEPC and GDGI have seen a typical plunge in the efficiency of their green investments, with a decline of almost 100%. This is mainly due to the fact that companies pay more attention to compliance in order to avoid being fined or facing other legal risks. This ultimately results in companies not being able to fully utilize the benefits of green investment.

After adding exogenous variables, the average green investment efficiency of the 30 thermal power companies has improved in the previous four years. Especially for BNEC, the addition of environmental regulation directly doubles its efficiency value several times to reach optimal efficiency. During this period, the average social donation efficiency value has fluctuated slightly, but overall, it is still slowly decreasing. The average social donation efficiency value in 2018 ranked first among the five years at 0.520 (Table 5 ). It is worth noting that both green investment efficiency and social donation efficiency of thermal power enterprises are bifurcated. High-efficiency enterprises, such as DLPC and HDEC, achieve an optimal efficiency of 1 for both green investment efficiency and social donation efficiency. However, more than half of the enterprises have both efficiencies of almost 0. This phenomenon may relate more to the enterprises’ view of social responsibility and their own operation situation.

Finally, the ESG index efficiency of most thermal power companies is decreasing year by year, from 0.907 to 0.486. This is mainly due to the fact that companies will reduce the financial pressure from an environmental tax burden by lowering environmental protection investment, which leads to the inability to fully utilize the benefits of ESG index efficiency. In the first two years, the inclusion of exogenous variables can improve the average ESG index efficiency of thermal power enterprises. However, in the latter three years, environmental regulation shows an inhibitory effect on it, and the inhibitory impact increases year by year. In 2022 the inhibitory effect of environmental regulations on the ESG index efficiency of thermal power companies hit 22.8%. This causes the average ESG index efficiency of firms to fall from 0.714 to 0.486 (Table 5 ). However, there are also firms that show an abnormal rise. For example, CEPC’s ESG index efficiency has been positively affected by environmental regulation with a small increase in efficiency values.

Regression analysis

where i denotes the individual company, t denotes the year, \({Green investment}_{it}\) denotes the amount of green investment of the thermal power enterprise, \({Environmental\; regulation}_{it}\) denotes the environmental tax burden paid by the thermal power enterprise, \({\gamma }_{t}\) denotes the time fixed effect, and \({\varepsilon }_{it}\) is the random perturbation term.

In order to further verify the impact of environmental regulation on green investment, this paper carries out a benchmark regression for formula ( 8 ). The regression results show that environmental regulation is significantly positive at the 1% level, indicating that environmental regulation can promote the green investment of thermal power enterprises. On the one hand, under the pressure of environmental regulation, thermal power enterprises will actively make green investment for tax incentives. On the other hand, environmental regulation will increase the cost pressure on thermal power enterprises, which will encourage them to make green investment to reduce their pollutant emissions. This result further confirms the accuracy of the above DEA model evaluation (Table 6 ).

Conclusions and suggestions

The above analysis shows that environmental regulation improves the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises. This is similar to the view of some scholars 26 , 27 , 33 , 44 . Environmental regulation improves the green investment efficiency of enterprises by encouraging them to use low-carbon technologies, which have a positive effect in promoting the sustainable development of enterprises. Some studies have also suggested that the relationship between environmental regulation and green investment is nonlinear 45 , 46 , 47 , mainly because the relationship is affected by industry and regional differences. Most thermal power enterprises are polluting enterprises, which are more sensitive to the role of environmental regulation and also bear a higher degree of pressure to spend on environmental protection compared to their own environmental pollution.

With the continuous strengthening of environmental regulation, the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises will gradually decrease. This is slightly different from some of the scholars’ research on heavily polluting enterprises 4 , 34 , 48 . It may be due to the fact that our study just selects the relevant data of thermal power enterprises within 5 years. Only some of the old power plants in thermal power enterprises are heavy polluters, and so there is some difference for the future trend of green investment efficiency.

Although the results of this study show a correlation between the green investment focus of thermal power enterprises and their green investment efficiency, there may still be some errors. Future research should explore the specific reasons for the changes in green investment efficiency in depth, taking into account the geographical location of thermal power enterprises and the impact of the policy environment. This will provide a more comprehensive analysis for the literature on green investment efficiency.

Conclusions

This paper draws the following conclusions by evaluating the operational, green investment and market performance efficiencies of 30 listed thermal power companies from 2018 to 2022, and regressing environmental regulation on green investment.

In terms of total efficiency, 80% of the sample firms show a significant improvement in total efficiency with the addition of environmental regulations compared to without exogenous variables. Among them, the improvement of GDGI is the most prominent. The addition of environmental regulations can force high-polluting enterprises to emphasize green innovation through the R&D mechanism, which turn plays a positive role in promoting the total efficiency of thermal power enterprises. However, with the addition of environmental regulations, the total efficiency of thermal power firms exhibits a slight decreasing trend between 2018 and 2022. This is associated with cost pressures on firms and the long-term nature of the reduction in green investments.

In terms of stage-specific efficiency, more than 60% of thermal power firms’ green investment stages are less efficient as a result of stronger environmental regulations. Compared with the operation and market performance stages, the green investment stage has the lowest efficiency at an overall average value between 0.3 and 0.6. This suggests that the green investment stage is a more difficult stage in the development process of thermal power enterprises and needs to be emphasized by enterprises.

In terms of indicative efficiency, there is a serious bifurcation in the green investment efficiency and social donation efficiency of thermal power enterprises. The difference between high-efficiency enterprises and low-efficiency enterprises even reaches 100%. This is strongly linked to the low-carbon transition strategy and operational financial status among thermal power enterprises.

In the benchmark regression analysis, environmental regulation is significantly positive at the 1% level, indicating that environmental regulation promotes green investment in electric utilities. This further confirms the accuracy of the DEA assessment.

In terms of the green investment focus of thermal power companies, compared to new energy construction, such as photovoltaic and wind power projects, thermal power unit retrofits are more effective in improving green investments in terms of economics and dexterity. Among the top 10 thermal power companies with the strongest improvement effect, eight of them have undertaken thermal power unit retrofits. Thermal unit retrofits are not only cheaper, but can also promote coal power and renewable energy interconnections. Therefore, their effect on energy utilization efficiency and green investment efficiency is more obvious.

Suggestions

Suggestions for thermal power enterprises.

First, thermal power enterprises should pay particular attention to green investment in the process of low-carbon transformation. Enterprises should not only target the expansion and upgrading of thermal power units, but also promote mature energy and low-carbon technologies.

Second, thermal power enterprises should achieve differentiated transformation according to their own situation. Due to wind power, photovoltaic and other new energy generation efficiencies are not high, and in the short term they cannot provide reliable power support. Thus, coal power installed capacity also needs to maintain reasonable growth.

Finally, thermal power companies should strengthen information disclosure. Through open and transparent information, investors can understand the enterprise’s green investment situation and the progress of low-carbon transformation as well as enhance investor confidence. In addition, through information disclosure, thermal power enterprises can also learn from the successful experience and lessons of other enterprises in order to improve their own green investment efficiency.

Suggestions for government departments

First, government departments should formulate medium- and long-term plans for the transformation of the thermal power industry as early as possible. The formulation of environmental regulations should be coordinated with market operation mechanisms. They can guide thermal power enterprises to form a market competition pattern for green investment. Governments can also provide policy preferences to enterprises that meet environmental protection standards and formulate and implement further incentive policies.

Second, in view of the phenomenon of increasing wind and solar curtailment in some local areas, government departments should coordinate solutions to the large-scale development and high-level consumption of new energy. When implementing unified dispatch across the entire grid, the State Grid Corporation should break through inter-provincial barriers, accelerate the construction of a new power system, and minimize the start-up period of thermal power as much as possible. At the same time, it can implement mandatory consumption of new energy across the entire grid. When wind and solar energy are curtailed, it can obligatorily reduce the output of matched thermal power and prioritize the transmission of new energy.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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This study was supported by Jiangsu Province Social Science Foundation Project (22GLD019), Major Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Universities of Jiangsu Province (2022SJZD053).

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F.-rR.: conceptualization, methodology and software resources. T.-fW.: formal analysis, writing—original draft preparation. Y.-jR.: visualization and investigation. X.-yL.: data curation, writing—review and editing. X.-mY.: project administration. All authors read and contributed to the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Ren, Fr., Wu, Tf., Ren, Yj. et al. The impact of environmental regulation on green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises in China-based on a three-stage exogenous variable model. Sci Rep 14 , 8400 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58396-x

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58396-x

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