How to Write a Literature Review in Biomedical Research: A Complete Guide
- Dr. Eoghan McGrath
- 6 days ago
- 7 min read
Learning how to write a literature review is essential for anyone working in biomedical research, from students and academics to industry professionals. A well-designed literature review does more than summarise studies, it shapes research direction, drives conversations, supports regulatory and commercial decisions, and reduces risk. This guide explains how to write a literature review in biomedicine, including key types, methods, tools, and real-world applications for success.
Importance of Literature Reviews in Biomedical Research
Literature reviews play a key role across biomedicine. In academia, they help researchers understand new fields, find important studies, collaborate, and build authority. In clinical research, they support regulatory submissions, ethical approvals, and informed decision-making. In commercial settings, they help identify gaps, strengthen organisational credibility, support positioning, and reduce risk through evidence-based strategies for better planning and investment decisions.
This article covers the types of literature reviews, when to use each one, and the practical steps involved in producing a high-quality review. It also explores regulatory, commercial, and real-world applications, along with modern tools, common challenges, and expert tips to ensure your next review lands perfectly with your target audience.
What Are the Different Types of Literature Reviews?
There are several types of literature reviews, each suited to a different purpose and requiring a specific approach. Goals for writing a literature review can include educating other researchers, understanding the therapeutic landscape of a rare disease, or supporting a specific research or business decision. Understanding when to use each type of literature review is essential for maximising its impact.
Systematic: A comprehensive, rule-based, and reproducible review of the literature to answer a narrow research question. In systematic reviews, all available literature is assessed for relevance and quality before being included.
Scoping: A comprehensive evaluation of the available literature on a broad topic. It is used to identify the “scope” of existing research and determine how extensively the topic has been studied.
Narrative: A broad summary of a topic or research area that does not follow a structured methodology. It often uses a storytelling style and is commonly used to give an overview or introduce a subject.
Rapid: A streamlined version of a systematic review that removes certain rules or constraints to quickly address a very specific question and deliver timely insights. Rapid reviews still follow a structured approach and are reproducible.
Living: A living literature review is a continuously updated collection of research that stays current as new studies are published. In theory, this type of review never becomes outdated.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Different Literature Review Types?
Review Type | Strengths | Limitations | Ideal Use Cases |
Systematic | Highly rigorous, comprehensive, and reproducible; strong evidence base | Time-consuming and resource-intensive; narrow scope | Clinical guidelines, regulatory submissions, risk/benefit assessments, treatment comparisons |
Scoping | Covers broad topics; identifies research gaps and trends | Less detailed; does not assess evidence strength deeply | Mapping disease areas, evaluating research landscapes, informing future research agendas |
Narrative | Flexible, easy to read; good for summarising complex ideas | Subjective; risk of bias; not reproducible | Education, background sections, introductory overviews for clinicians, students, or stakeholders |
Rapid | Faster than systematic; still structured and focused | Less comprehensive; may miss some evidence | Time-sensitive decisions, emerging health threats, urgent policy or clinical guidance |
Living | Continuously updated; always current in theory | Requires ongoing resources and monitoring | Fast-evolving fields (e.g., oncology, infectious diseases, genomics, AI in healthcare) |
What Are the Steps in Writing a Systematic Literature Review?
Systematic reviews are the most structured type of literature review, and specific tools and databases are available to support protocol development and planning. In general, they follow a defined series of steps to ensure transparency, consistency, and reproducibility. These can include:
Planning and protocol development: Choose a well-defined topic and set a clear goal. Create and, if required, register a review protocol (e.g. PROSPERO)
Define the search strategy: Identify keywords, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and search limits.
Database selection and searching: Choose relevant databases and run structured searches.
Screening: Review titles, abstracts, and full texts, and document the process using a PRISMA diagram (see example below).
Data extraction and synthesis: Extract key data and analyse it using qualitative or quantitative methods.
Regulatory-Focused Literature Reviews
Literature reviews play a fundamental part in regulatory submissions, supporting major submission types, including IND, NDA, 510(k), PMA, CTD, and CER. Reviews also support the post-marketing phase by monitoring the literature for new risks or adverse events reported in clinical manuscripts. In addition, comprehensive reviews can help companies identify opportunities for special regulatory pathways, such as breakthrough therapy, orphan drug, or accelerated approval, when there is an urgent medical need.
When conducting a literature review for regulatory purposes, it is important that Good Practice (GxP) guidelines are followed and SOP documentation standards are maintained throughout. Regular reviews can help research teams keep track of retractions and identify unreliable or fraudulent publications, protecting data quality and compliance.
How Do I Leverage Modern Tools and Grey Literature in R&D?
Traditionally, literature reviews have involved time-consuming, manual searches through multiple databases, potentially yielding thousands of relevant papers depending on the topic and scope. Recently, modern AI-driven tools have emerged to help shorten the time required to complete literature reviews while improving accuracy. These include tools for performing exhaustive searches and receiving summaries with a single click, and software dedicated to performing systematic reviews such as Covidence and Rayyan.
What is Grey Literature?
Grey literature includes sources such as clinical trial registries, conference abstracts, and regulatory databases. Although these are not published in traditional academic journals, they provide valuable information and should be considered for inclusion when creating a systematic review protocol for certain topics. Using grey literature sources can provide several advantages.
Reducing publication bias by highlighting negative results or unpublished data, giving reviews a greater sense of completeness
Providing regularly updated information through sources such as clinical trial registries, offering a reliable view of current evidence
Delivering earlier insights than traditional journals, as important findings may be shared at conferences before formal publication
While grey literature has advantages, teams must be careful when implementing it. Some sources may not be subject to rigorous peer review and may require additional validation and careful interpretation before being used to guide decision-making.
Commercial and Market Access Applications of Literature Reviews
Literature reviews are crucial within the commercial sector of the life sciences and contribute directly to decision-making, helping companies stay proactive, identify growth opportunities, and anticipate potential threats to their products and strategies.
Competitive intelligence: Literature reviews help companies gain a broad understanding of the patient landscape and keep track of competitor development pipelines and evolving clinical benchmarks.
Health Economics and Outcomes Research: Literature reviews provide the basis for making claims on the effectiveness and safety of a potential medical intervention. This makes them a key part of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) submissions and payer dossiers.
Real-World Evidence synthesis: Reviews are useful for gathering evidence on the real-world safety and effectiveness of treatments, helping demonstrate their value and support reimbursement decisions.
Medical Affairs and MSL evidence packages: Literature reviews help keep internal and external medical communications up to date, support compliant, evidence-based messaging, and maintain organisational credibility among medical professionals.
Common Challenges and Literature Review FAQs
How do I actually start a literature review if I’ve never done one before?
Starting a literature review from scratch can feel daunting, even for experienced researchers. Creating a clear plan that defines the scope and timeline of your search, including which databases to use, can make the process more manageable. Seek advice from colleagues or supervisors, and read similar reviews to see how others approach the task. Systematic reviews typically follow a specific series of steps, and focusing on one at a time can help avoid feeling overwhelmed.
How do I choose a good topic for a literature review?
Choosing a strong topic for a literature review depends on your goals. You may need to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment class or explore the research history of a specific enzyme. If your topic is already subject to many review articles, consider waiting for new studies or offering a fresh perspective with a narrative review. If you find a topic that lacks an up-to-date review, seize the opportunity to address it and establish authority.
How do I find and manage too many (or too few) research papers?
Reference managers such as EndNote and Zotero are widely used and can help you track and organise the papers in your review. Their library features make it easier to manage papers on different topic areas. If you cannot find enough relevant studies, consider expanding your search terms or widening the scope of your review. Mini-reviews and short communications are often more suitable for topics where there is a limited amount of existing research.
What are the 5 C’s of writing a strong literature review?
The 5 C’s of literature review writing provide a clear framework for creating a coherent and compelling review. They ensure the review goes beyond simple summarisation by guiding readers through past findings, explaining how they relate to each other, and offering a balanced, expert interpretation.
Cite: Reference relevant sources to support your points and avoid plagiarism
Compare: Identify and discuss similarities between studies or ideas
Contrast: Highlight key differences between studies or viewpoints
Critique: Present a fair assessment of both the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence
Connect: Link findings to broader themes or questions and include future perspectives
Positioning Literature Reviews as Strategic Assets
Literature reviews are a vital part of academic research and crucial strategic assets for R&D, regulatory, and commercial teams. When planned carefully and updated regularly, they improve decision-making, support compliance, and reveal new opportunities. Cross-functional collaboration and living review models will become increasingly important as research grows and adjacent fields become more interdisciplinary. Looking ahead, AI tools, open-access data, and evolving regulations will further shape how evidence is gathered and applied. Staying ahead of these changes requires organisations to invest in robust, future-ready literature review processes, such as outsourcing to experts.
Literature reviews can be difficult to complete alone, and expert support can make the difference between a review that informs and drives action and one that makes the reader question its credibility. At Co-Labb, we are experts in how to write a literature review. Our team of PhD-level writers meets your team where they are, partnering with you to deliver clear, rigorous, and impactful literature reviews that support strategic decision-making.
We love to learn and write about exciting topics. Let’s chat about your next review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Catherine Kennedy Ph.D Scientific & Medical Writer Eoghan is a seasoned research scientist turned writer, holding a BSc. in genetics and a Ph.D in cancer biochemistry. Holding multiple post-doctoral positions in the field of oncology research, including at the prestigious INSERM Institute in Rennes.
