There are many benefits of literature review in research.

One is that it helps researchers come up with original work and the other is it helps researchers avoid duplicating studies. But more so, one of the most essential benefits of a literature review is its importance in sharpening graduate students’ critical thinking skills.

What you should know is that by reviewing literature, you are not only examining what other scholars have documented about your niche; you’re also interrogating what they have said, looking at areas of disagreement and issues in thoughts and methodology.

In conducting an effective review, therefore, you’re more likely to raise a question (“how does Enlightenment shape the historical development of sociology?”) or even question the question raised in the previous studies (“how significant is the Enlightenment project in the development of sociology?”)—an exercise that will help you improve your critical thinking, one of the most essential skills you need as a graduate students.

A literature review also helps you find a gap in the research.

The task of every research is to produce another original study that will improve existing knowledge in that topic. When you interrogate previous studies, you’re working towards finding new knowledge and adding it in the existing one. For example, let us assume that you’re writing a thesis on “the impact of the Enlightenment on the development of sociology.”

The task before you is to write a study that will improve the literature on that subject. You’re not simply regurgitating what has been written by a dozen other scholars on the age of reason; you are suppose to come up with a fresh perspective, a new angle, a new worldview that improves the subject.

Finally, literature review also helps you position your argument in the existing study. You might think that writing a literature review is just about writing words on paper. It’s much more than that. It is about coming up with a strong thesis (argument) and boldly sharing that argument in writing—in an ongoing discussion.