Before we can truly understand what to search for and how to understand the academic information we'll encounter, we often need to get a basic understanding of a topic or concept first. This is known as getting background information. Sometimes, you'll actually use the information you find and cite these sources in your paper, but sometimes, you'll simply use them to learn more about your topic.
A literature review provides an overview of a topic, and is something most of you have encountered at one time or another. It can be an entire article, or a section of an article,* that compiles and summarizes published information (from books, articles, studies, etc.) resulting in an examination of literature (the research) on a chosen topic. They can cover a broad topic or a sub-area of a larger topic.
*Lit reviews aren't always obviously labeled "literature review"; they may be embedded within sections such as the Introduction or Background.
When searching in Summon:
When searching in a database, such as ScienceDirect:
