Scopus and Web of Science both have the ability to provide author analysis, citation analysis and lists of cited references for each article, and allow you to view the impact of the article in the discipline. Additionally, Web of Science includes a book index, which indexes books and book chapters.

If you are looking for literature reviews that have been published in scholarly journals, try the following:

Try Annual Reviews  Remember not all specific topics have review papers already published on them – you may need to broaden your keywords (by using fewer or less specific terms) to find a review of your subject.

In an Article Database, search for the phrase “literature review” or the word review in the title field (you will usually need to use the Advanced search screen, and select title from the search type drop-down menu). In another search box, add your topic keywords. Try to keep your topic search terms broad.

Some article databases have “reviews” coded as a separate article format.  Here are some examples:

WEB OF SCIENCE  Select Document Type from the search type drop-down menu, then select Review.  Select Add Another Field. Type in your search term and search as a Topic. Click on Search.

BIOSIS Citation Index  Go to Web of Science. Select BIOSIS Citation Index from the All Databases drop-down menu on the grey bar. Select Literature Type as the search type, then select Literature Review from the drop-down menu. Select Add Another Field, enter your topic search terms, then select Search.

ERIC  Use the Advanced search screen. Enter "literature reviews" as a search term, then select Subject heading (all) - SU from the search type drop-down menu. Add you topic search term in the next search box. Select Search.

PsycINFO  After you have completed your topic keyword search, use the Methodology drop-down menu on the left side of your search results to select literature review. Use the Show More if literature review does not show up in the short list.

PubMed@Wayne  After you have completed your topic keyword search, use the Article Types on the left of your search results to limit to Review, Systematic Reviews and/or Meta-Analysis.

Google Scholar  Access Google Scholar from the library homepage (library.wayne.edu) to make sure you get links to library resources when you are off-campus. Enter  intitle:"literature review" your topic search terms

          EXAMPLE:  intitle:"literature review" transportation cultural

This will find the words literature review in the title of the article, and then transportation and cultural as your topical keywords found anywhere (title, abstract, article, etc.)

You will still need to look at the abstract(s) and/or the article(s) you find to determine if they are truly literature reviews. If the article is reporting original research results, it’s not a review article . Most reviews explicitly state that they are reviewing the literature in the abstract or first paragraphs, or use the phrase “We review recent studies” or similar. Review articles also typically cite dozens of other papers in their quest to be comprehensive, so their bibliography sections are longer than usual.

What is a JCR (Thomson) Impact Factor?

The JCR provides quantitative tools for ranking, evaluating, categorizing, and comparing journals. The impact factor is one of these; it is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period. The annual JCR impact factor is a ratio between citations and recent citable items published. Thus, the impact factor of a journal is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations to the source items published in that journal during the previous two years.

The impact factor is useful in clarifying the significance of absolute (or total) citation frequencies. It eliminates some of the bias of such counts which favor large journals over small ones, or frequently issued journals over less frequently issued ones, and of older journals over newer ones. Particularly in the latter case such journals have a larger citable body of literature than smaller or younger journals. All things being equal, the larger the number of previously published articles, the more often a journal will be cited.

Perhaps the most important and recent use of impact is in the process of academic evaluation. The impact factor can be used to provide a gross approximation of the prestige of journals in which individuals have been published. This is best done in conjunction with other considerations such as peer review, productivity, and subject specialty citation rates.

How to Find an Impact Factor?

Impact Factors are located in the Journal Citation Reports.