The literature survey captures influential authors or works, developments, discourses, key concepts, controversies, or comparisons and trends on any social media research topic. This tutorial provides a step-by-step approach to conduct a literature survey on social media research and the critical quality issues needed. The section discusses: (a) why a literature survey is necessary for social media research, (b) recognizes various types of literature reviews and how they differ from the literature survey, (c) introduces the QuASARS conceptual framework (Question, Approach, Search, Administer, Report, Synthesis, and Share) as a method for literature surveys, (d) identifies literature sources on social media research and, (e) guides readers on techniques to synthesize the literature. A hypothetical study concerning the recent spate of fake news circulating on social media during the novel COVID-19 (coronavirus) is used to illustrate the concepts in the tutorial. This theoretical study shows how to focus the literature survey questions, techniques for managing the relevant literature. For example, how to build and apply literature matrix tables, concept maps, and the use of electronic reference managers. This work makes a detailed discussion on frameworks for gap-spotting and problematizing the literature to tease themes from the symbiotic relationship between the research questions and the argument. The tutorial applies some common social media research questions to illustrate the gap-spotting and problematization modes. Finally, a discussion is given on how to synthesize the literature review, i.e., the application of complex reasoning (different mapping and comparative thinking) to create a dialectic argument. The steps in this literature survey research design may not be followed rigidly as some steps may overlap with others or depend on another level or conducted before others
