ABSTRACT
A literature review is an overview of the existing work on the research question, found early in any research paper. Research is an ongoing process, with new research building on the existing research and engaging in a dialog with past work on the subject. The goal of any new research project is to build on the foundations of the existing research and move the discussion forward. Literature reviews in research papers consist of only academic sources. This means that newspaper articles, magazine articles, opinion pieces, and reviews have no place in a literature review. Although today's students often learn to start the research process by looking at online sources, material that's published purely online is of limited use in academic literature reviews. The existence of these online portals has dramatically altered the problems researchers face when looking for relevant pieces of their literature reviews.
