Writing Integrative Literature Reviews

Abstract

This article presents the integrative review of literature as a distinctive form of research that uses existing literature to create new knowledge. As an expansion and update of a previously published article on this topic, it reviews the growing body of literature on how to write literature reviews. The article identifies the main components of the integrative literature review, provides examples of visual representations for use in literature reviews, and describes how to write literature reviews that are integrative, definitive, and provocative. The article concludes by discussing the role of the integrative literature review in assessing future directions for policy and practice and in catalyzing further research.