120 Fresh and Thought-Provoking Topics for Literature Reviews in Different Disciplines

A literature review is an account of the scholarly works published on a topic. It is different from an annotated bibliography – and far more interesting at that. Instead of being just a list of summaries, a literature review synthesizes the information from all available sources in an overall relationship to your guiding concept. This may be the problem you are discussing, a statement you are arguing, a theory you are verifying, etc.

The goals of a literature review may vary:

• giving a historical overview of the research in the field
• summarizing the existing state of the topic
• finding a problem or a gap in the research field
• developing a new theory, etc.

That is why good literature review topics are often formulated as research questions. This type of paper is not an easy writing. You will need to parse immense volumes of information, synthesize and summarize coherently. You also need to devote plenty of time to reading.

This post contains a list of literature review topics suggested for various subjects. However, when choosing the most fitting one to dig into, ask yourself, what are the passions that you can apply to this research? This assignment will take a while, so you will need more than just a good study discipline to soldier on. A bit of enthusiasm and intrinsic motivation will get you much farther.

Literature Review Topics Examples on English and World Literature

Some of the suggestions in this post are linked to literature review examples in our free database. By clicking on a title, you get to a corresponding sample page, where you can read the entire text. If the topic you like isn't linked, but you would like to read an example, you can order it. We will arrange the most qualified paper writer to prepare it for you exclusively.

Ready? Let's start with topics for literature review papers on English and World Literature.

1. Phoenix as a symbol for endurance in a worn path
2. The novel Intuition by Allegra Goodman
3. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark through Girard's Lens
4. Ender's Game by an Orson Scott Card
5. Depiction of freedom and happiness in Brave New World
6. Feminism and Post-Colonialism in Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games
7. Rationality, logic, and mathematics in the novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
8. Victims of their time as a character type in the World literature
9. The last days of Judas Iscariot: a play by Stephen Adly Guirgis
10. The use of symbolism in Kafka's prose
11. Naturalism in American literature
12. Grotesque and Sublime in the prose of Edgar Allan Poe

Lit Review Topic Ideas on Science and Technology

Next are some literature review topic ideas on science and technology.

1. Electronic library and effects of its implementation
2. Benjamin Franklin: scientist and inventor
3. Virtual Reality, science fiction, and society today
4. Science, Technology, and Society as a field of knowledge
5. Frederick Winslow Taylor and the principles of scientific management
6. What is the future of work
7. Concepts of science and technology
8. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis and influence of technological advancement on man and nature
9. Types of machine learning
10. Internet of Things and biometrics: implications, benefits, threats
11. Emotional intelligence and natural language processing
12. SmartCity projects that have already been implemented and their lessons

As the field is vast, we can barely scratch the surface with these suggestions. To help you with brainstorming, here are a few tips on how to choose good topics for a literature review yourself:

• Make sure the topic ties nicely with class requirements as well as your interests
• Do some preliminary research to see if there is enough literature on your topic
• Scale up if the information is scarce or down if there are too many sources to handle
• Use sources recommended for reading in the class materials
• Supplement the list with only trustworthy scholarly sources

Follow these guidelines, and you are on a path to some great ideas!

Psychology Literature Review Topics

When brainstorming topics on psychology, don't forget about the subdisciplines: biopsychology, social, educational, organizational, etc. If the suggestions below won't be enough, try looking for inspiration in Biology, Sociology, Education, or Business. The most exciting topics are often at the intersection of different areas of knowledge!

1. Tricyclic antidepressants vs. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) in treatment of depression
2. Stress, its causes, effects, and coping strategies
3. The family system and psychology
4. Tibetan compassion practices: working with terror, trauma, and transcendence
5. Behaviorism psychology
6. Culture and psychopathology
7. Correlation between diet and cognitive functions in primary school students
8. The evolutionary role of phobias and intrusive thoughts
9. Popular psychology and its implications
10. PTSD in mass disasters survivors: immediate relief and long-term assistance
11. Cults and vulnerable populations
12. False memories and gaslighting

Nursing Literature Review Topics

Nursing lit review topics are probably the most diverse in scale, as you can see from the examples below. They can describe a larger issue or a concrete solution applied to a narrowly defined problem. Following this principle, you can modify our lit review topics suggestions zooming out or in on the subject material.

1. Legalization of medical marijuana and its effects on the youth
2. Health effects of fiber: research findings
3. Achieving higher levels of education and training for nurses
4. Organic foods and cardiovascular disease
5. The importance of Central Venous Line (CVL) and Central Venous Access Devices (CVAD)
6. What effects do different types of music have on humans and their mental health?
7. The use of laboratory-grown organs for transplantation
8. The role of xylitol in alleviating dry mouth
9. The detection of tar and nicotine content of cigarette smoke extract using HPLC
10. Rheumatoid arthritis: etiology, diagnosis, vulnerable populations
11. Mobility aids for the elderly and quality of life
12. The role of play in the recuperation of hospitalized children

Education Literature Review Topics

To get more ideas from these literature review topic examples, try isolating an issue and put it in another educational context. For instance, student motivation in primary school vs. middle school or sleep deprivation in high school vs. college. This should give you plenty of material for brainstorming.

1. Simulation education for crisis prevention program
2. A critical consideration of the new pedagogy in its relation to modern science
3. Lack of students interest in studying science
4. Discovery-based learning and student-centered learning with a focus on mathematics at a high school level
5. The adverse effects of sleep deprivation on academic performance: a college student's struggle
6. Gender bias in special education programs
7. Higher education for senior citizens: challenges and best practices
8. Significant challenges of the teaching profession in the US
9. Factors contributing to international student mobility
10. Student motivation in private vs. state colleges
11. Benefits and challenges of homeschooling for students and families
12. Correlation between workload, stress levels, and self-esteem in middle-school students

Sociology Literature Review Topics

The best advice on finding current sociology topics is to look at the challenges your community faces. Become the first one to notice and address these issues!

1. Are video games affecting our current and future students?
2. Ways to prevent social media bullying
3. Spanking of children in the USA
4. The relation of poverty and exposure to crime in adolescent men
5. Transgender discrimination
6. The link between science and Utopia in Utopia and the New Atlantis
7. Effectiveness of group therapy in social work
8. Peer pressure, depression, and causes of suicide in the adolescents
9. Religious separatism social issues connected with it
10. Causes and effects of domestic abuse
11. Physical appearance and social status
12. Race, nationality, ethnicity, and identity

Political Science Literature Review Topics

Political science is one of the more formal disciplines on this list. Being heavy with abstract concepts, it doesn't lend itself easily to casual brainstorming. Well, at least start with these:

1. Electoral College, its functions, and role in public life
2. Why American and the British IPE are so different
3. Contingency planning
4. Effects of political gerrymandering
5. American political parties
6. The present urban regimes in Canada
7. International policies and domestic regulations: precedence and clashes
8. Tolerance as a political virtue
9. Grassroots activism and its impact on state and federal law
10. National security and constitutional freedoms
11. Historical analysis of anarchism
12. The effect of social media on civic engagement

Criminal Justice Literature Review Topics

Criminal justice is a complex field. It's ripe with variance and challenges – which is good for topic ideas at least. And you have state, federal, and international levels to add more variables.

1. Juvenile justice and the Missouri model
2. Car-related crime in the USA
3. An analysis of the impact of sexual harassment/sexual assault in the military
4. The process of the arbitration without the involvement of national courts
5. Serial killers and profiling
6. Policing and criminal justice systems
7. Psychological effects of cyberbullying on adolescents
8. Sexual human trafficking from the Central America region
9. Human sex-trafficking: the Canadian perspective
10. Gender and racial bias in criminal investigations
11. Possible ethical and legal dilemmas of using sniffer dogs
12. Sting operations vs. entrapment: ethics and regulations

Chemistry and Biology Literature Review Topics

Biology is fascinating. It has something for everyone: from biochemistry and genetics to ecosystems and nature preservation. Here are some suggestions to guide your choice:

1. Brain size correlation
2. Haruko Obokata, ethics of stem cells research, and scientific misconduct
3. Genomic and molecular genetics major and its perspectives for students
4. DNA use in mass disasters
5. DNA detection from dried blood spots
6. Captive breeding of marine mammals: pros and cons
7. The Dynamics of ER and mitochondria
8. Biomarkers in gastric cancer treatment
9. The chemistry behind gene splicing
10. Carcinogens and hyper-processed foods
11. Primates and monkeys as potential sources of novel zoonotic infections
12. Natural gases, ecosystems, and the global warming

Business and Marketing Literature Review Topics

Finally, here are some business and marketing topics as well. These disciplines might be relatively new, but they are among the most dynamic and information-rich – which means great fun to explore.

1. Effectiveness of neuromarketing in comparison to traditional marketing methods
2. Green supply chain management
3. Effectiveness of e-marketing to non-profit making organizations
4. The value of information
5. Shareholder engagement/activism and corporate performance
6. The relationship between ethics, stress, and productivity in the workplace
7. The role of integrity in business
8. Client confidentiality and its role in a prosperous business
9. Businesses, their impact on the community, and social responsibility
10. Startup fundraising stages
11. Innovative marketing in the age of instant feedback: risks and possibilities
12. Strategies for staff motivation