There are many ways to summarize knowledge in written assignments. As a student, it is smart to know what is expected of you and your assignment. Here is an overview of the most important differences between a student assignment and a larger, systematic review. Don’t hesitate to talk to your supervisor about which requirements pertain to you.

	Literature review as group, Bachelors or Masters assignment	Systematic review
Scope	The literature search is set up in a structured way but does not need to include every single relevant search term Select, assess, and summarize a central part of the results	The goal of the literature search is to find all the studies on the topic Select, assess, and summarize the entire result
Methodological requirements	Structured searching in one or more databases One person can select studies, extract data, and assess the articles	Systematic literatature searches in all relevant databases. Searches in unpublished material and quotation searches may be necessary At least two people select studies, extract data, and assess the quality of the articles independent of one another
Purpose	Obtain an overview of research (research frontiers, themes, researchers, theories, methods, lessons, knowledge gaps, relevant scholarly disciplines)	To comment on effect To identify, assess, select, and organize all high-quality research relevant to a specific question
Time use	A few months	Usually, a year or more

If you would like to learn more about different literature studies read more at 1.4. Deep dive: different types of literature studies.

Literature:

Borch, A., Thorvik, C., Wollscheid, S., & Ødemark, I. L. (2024). Kunnskapsoppsummeringer for samfunnsvitere. Cappelen Damm akademisk.

Prøitz, T. S. (2022). Forskningsoversikter i utdanningsvitenskap : systematikk og kreativitet (1. utgave.). Fagbokforlaget.