A review article is a lengthy literature review on a research topic, theory, or academic discipline/sub-discipline. A review article is often peer-reviewed by experts in that topic, theory, or academic discipline. Topics are selective or comprehensive. Review articles are organized chronologically, thematically, or methodologically. Most often, a person writing a review article is a specialist.

Review articles attempt to summarize what is known about a topic at writing. So it is an excellent introduction to themes in the research conversations that happen in scholarly journals. Even an older review article will have value because it will usually give students an idea of significant issues of concern.

Students should take notes of the subheadings and headings in a review article and pay attention to the names of journals and articles cited in the article. The subheadings can make excellent search terms for novice researchers unfamiliar with the disciplinary jargon. The researcher should follow up on frequently cited journals. Additionally, the researcher may want to take note of older articles because they are probably important if scholars are still referring to them 20 years after they are written.

In addition to review articles, any original research article will also contain a literature review section that authors use to frame the data they analyze in their research. Literature reviews in empirical articles good places to find books and articles to understand the theories and methods used by scholars working in that research area.