Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review

by Andrew Booth, Anthea Sutton, Mark Clowes, Marrissa Martyn-St James

Overview

Are you struggling with the complexities of literature reviews? This comprehensive guide demystifies the process, offering a flexible toolkit for analysing and synthesizing all types of data. From setting out different options for conducting a literature review to deciding how much literature to include, this book helps you choose the best approach for your research.

Key features of this book include:
• Case studies and worked examples to show you how best to put your knowledge into practice.
• Key learning points and worked exercises to support you with self-learning and project work with others..
• Troubleshooting tips to answer all your questions and help you break down complex processes into adaptable steps.

With online resources supporting practical work on real projects, this book is ideal for social sciences students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529696400
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	01/19/2026
Edition description:	Fourth Edition
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.53(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andrew Booth is a Reader in Evidence-Based Information Practice at the School of Medicine and Population Health, The University of Sheffield.


Anthea Sutton is a Research Fellow at the School of Medicine and Population Health, The University of Sheffield.

Mark Clowes is a Research Fellow at the School of Medicine and Population Health, The University of Sheffield.

Marrissa Martyn-St James is an Honorary Lecturer at the School of Medicine and Population Health, The University of Sheffield.

Table of Contents

1 Getting Started on your Literature Review
2 Meeting the Review Family: An Overview
3 Choosing Your Review Methods
4 Defining Your Scope
5 Searching the Literature
6 Selecting and Assessing the Evidence Base
7 Synthesising and Analysing Quantitative Studies
8 Synthesising and Analysing Qualitative Studies
9 Synthesising and Analysing Mixed Methods Data
10 Writing Up, Presenting and Disseminating Your Review

Editorial Reviews

The Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review (third edition) by Andrew Booth, Anthea Sutton, Mark Clowes and Marrissa Martyn-St James is a comprehensive overview of the entire evidence synthesis process – from selecting the appropriate method for an evidence synthesis topic all the way to the analysis and dissemination of the review. This book is of relevance to anyone interested in evidence synthesis – from trainees to researchers to decision-makers. Anyone can learn something from this book, whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advance researcher in evidence synthesis. This book is perfect for university-level courses or for anyone interested in evidence synthesis. The exercises, toolbox, key learning points, and frequently asked questions were particularly helpful in advancing my learning.

Andrea Tricco

This new interdisciplinary book on preparing and using systematic reviews is the single-best resource on the topic I have encountered. It is exceptionally comprehensive, yet readable and practical. Every human service professional and social scientist who uses the research literature will benefit from reading this great new book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and will consult it frequently
Bruce A. Thyer, Ph.D., LCSW
Professor of Social Work, Florida State University

Conducting, structuring and presenting a clear and concise literature review is a challenge for anyone conducting research, from undergraduate level to the 'post-doc.' This book provides a comprehensive and scholarly guide to the how, what and not least the why of doing literature reviews. It shows the reader how to be critical, a difficult art, in an important section on 'quality assessment'. The authors also explain the vital knack of making the review manageable and finite, discussing ways of avoiding the neatly termed 'scope creep'. Finally, the most important task of all is to synthesise the review to make it a coherent whole - rather than a catalogue-style list of one item after another- and then to write it up in a palatable yet scholarly way. These tasks are explained fully in the final chapters thus completing the full guide to the how, what and why of systematic reviewing. I strongly recommend this text
Professor Jerry Wellington
Head of Research Degrees University of Sheffield

This book offers a comprehensive account on how to conduct a good literature

review. The book is clear and concise. The use of summary boxes and further

reading at the end of each chapter are excellent. This book would suit

students as well as those teaching research methods courses, at all levels
Dr Kalwant Bhopal
Reader in Education

and Director of Social Justice and Inclusive Education Research Centre, University of Southampton

This book fills a long-standing gap in the market for a practical and scholarly guide to planning, carrying out and evaluating a literature review. It places literature review in a position in which it can stand as a credible form of inquiry as part of the research community. The comprehensive content takes the reader through guided exercises and activities in order to systematically build up a useful and valid study. It will be of great value to both postgraduate and doctoral students and to those supervising them
Sue Schutz
Senior Lecturer, Department of Continuing Education, Oxford Brookes University

From the Publisher

There is a need for a quality interactive text to help structure literature reviews and provide guidance for students and researchers. THIS is such a text. As part of the researcher toolkit this book will prove beneficial to students, researchers, teachers of research, and research supervisors. The really great feature of the book is the way it uses examples throughout the text to bring what could be a dull aspect of research to life. Overall, a very good book which will help readers to produce a quality literature review.

Joe Gazdula

As a university librarian with particular responsibility for supporting, among others, the educational psychology training course, I am very aware of the difficulties posed by producing a high-quality systematic review of the literature. Now in its second edition, Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review goes a long way towards alleviating some of the stresses and concerns caused by the process. Aimed at both students and researchers, it breaks down each element of the review process across ten comprehensive chapters, covering everything from review methods to effective dissemination. The clear layout makes it easy to follow for the newcomer and user-friendly for the more experienced researcher seeking a refresher on the process.

Ian Clark

The second edition of this text is most welcome. The new chapter on selecting your review methods is excellent, readable and scholarly. There is more practical guidance on rapid reviews and integrating qualitative and quantitative data, which will be of great assistance to students and researchers alike. The new content on review tools and more highly developed secondary data research such as concept analysis are great additions.

Sue Schutz

This is an excellent book for people who are interested in the finer points of literature reviews and perhaps it is a book that everyone involved with EAP should read. For that reason, it deserves a place on every EAP teacher's shelf.

Andy Gillett

Systematic reviews of literature are a crucial step of evidence-based practice, and this book establishes the benchmark on how to undertake this process. It provides a wonderful description on how to locate and critically analyse all relevant prior work, published and unpublished, in as unbiased manner as possible. This is the best book I have read on the topic and it is most highly recommended.

Bruce A. Thyer

Improve the efficiency of how you conduct reviews whether for a Ph D thesis, a peer-reviewed publication or as part of commissioned research report, and how to synthesise and analyse both qualitative and quantitative studies.

The book is packed with information but boxes and tables help to break up the text and clarify its key messages. I particularly liked the way in which it uses a question and answer approach in headings and FAQ formats. There are exercises, practical guidance and templates to use or adapt.

SRA Research Matters - Anna Coughlin