Research review articles provide a critical and comprehensive analysis of existing research on a specific topic. Examples are meta-analyses, systematic reviews and literature reviews. Authors of these articles meticulously report on existing research through summarizing and analyzing, comparing, identifying common themes and gaps in the knowledge base, and providing directions for future research.
Unlike original research papers, these are considered secondary research because the author is discussing other researchers’ work. These are great articles to find when you are conducting your own research review and are writing your paper. They identify common findings and gaps and can point the reader to a whole wealth of different articles on a topic of interest to them. Research review articles typically are long, ranging anywhere from 8,000 to 20,000 words. Many disciplines publish these review articles, or chapters, in a published handbook. And they are often created by multiple authors writing collaboratively.
Charlesworth Author Services, 2021.