Abstract
History is a study of change in human society, about knowledge of human activities and society in the past, its acquisition and spread for the benefit of humanity. It is a mirror in which the present looks at the past. Generally, knowledge comes in two forms: firstly, in the form of a revelation or inspiration from God and secondly, through human efforts. While the former is generally regarded as dogmatic and immutable associated with the divine (often regarded too as unscientific) the latter is dynamic and is being guided by certain principles or methods, called research. The research a student is required to embark upon as a postgraduate is a conscious/deliberate effort one is putting to come up with something new to augment the quest of knowledge to fulfill part of the intellectual tradition and requirements for the award of a degree in view in any University you have registered. The paper dwells on seven (7) related items. The first is what research is; the second is what literature review is; the third discusses the purpose of literature review in history research; the fourth talks on the type of literature review; the fifth looks at some challenges in doing literature review; the sixth gives some recommendations to overcome the challenges and the last is the conclusion.
Keywords: History, Sources, Literature review, Methodology, Historical inquiry
DOI: 10.36349/sokotojh.2021.v10i01.002
