Instructions
For this assignment, you may use the resources from your annotated bibliography to create a literature review paper. A literature review is a critical summary of what the scholarly literature states about your specific topic or research question. This paper is a draft that you will revise, based upon instructor feedback, to submit as the introduction section of your Week 8 Signature Assignment.
You will organize your literature review by using a format similar to the content below:
Introduce your research question/topic (e.g., what it is and why it is worth examining).
Briefly outline the organization of the paper (for example, if there is a major controversy in this literature, briefly describe it and state that you will present research supporting first one side, then the other. Or, if various methodologies have been used to address the question, briefly describe them, and then state that you will compare the results obtained by the various methods).
Start broad in discussing the literature and narrow your review to the research that is most relevant to your research question (e.g., your literature review should resemble a funnel; broad at the top and narrow at the bottom).
Describe studies in enough detail that the reader has a general sense of the studys problem, purpose, hypothesis (if applicable), methods, and findings.
Compare and evaluate studies. For example, rather than providing article summaries, provide descriptive, scholarly evaluations of the research.
Discuss implications of the studies. For example, provide your scholarly analysis of what the studies show, and what the next research steps might be.
Be sure your sources reflect the last 5 years.
Listed below are additional suggestions for writing your literature review:
When writing the introduction, start with your chosen topic, progressively narrow it, and finally state the specific lines of research you will be discussing. You want to ensure smooth transitions when moving
from a broad topic to a specific topic, avoiding sudden transitions that will lose your reader.
Describe each article (or each line of research, depending on what makes sense), and then compare them. Comparisons are essential; descriptions alone are not illuminating. What do you compare? All studies have strengths and weaknesses. Finding them will help you make meaningful comparisons. Hint: If you are having trouble here, it probably means that you do not thoroughly understand the articles. It will be helpful to review them again.
Based on your comparisons, evaluate the work done in the area you are researching. State strengths, weaknesses, and what remains to be done. Your assertions must be well supported by scholarly evidence. Use specific language and support your arguments with concrete examples.
Sentences that start with I feel, I think, I believe, in my opinion, often signal unsupported claims. These should be revised or deleted as all opinions, feelings, thoughts, and beliefs are best to exclude from objective, scholarly work. Your assertions must be supported by credible, scholarly evidence.
Paraphrase dont quote. In scholarly writing, paraphrasing an authors ideas are more common than using direct quotes. For information on how to document the source of a paraphrase or quote, see the most recent APA style manual.
Evaluate what you report. Your goal is to synthesize the research, not just describe it. Evaluation requires more thought and entails more critical thinking.
Avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is easy to avoid if you give credit where credit is due. Whenever you cite someone elses ideas or use their language, give the name of the author and the year of publication. Using old review articles as a starting point for your paper is not plagiarism, as long as you do not present someone elses ideas as your own.
Length: 5-7 pages, not including title and references pages
References: Include a minimum of 3 scholarly references.