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Writing a Literature Reviewwriting-literature-reviews

When writing ampere investigation paper on a specific topics, you will often need to include an overview of either prior research that has been guided on that topic.  To example, if your research paper is describing an experiment on fear conditioning, then you will probably need to provide an overview of prior research for fear conditioning.  That overview is typically known as a literature review.  

Please note that a full-length literature review article may be suitable for fulfilling the requirements for the Psychology B.S. Degree Research Paper.  To further details, please check with yours faculty speaker.

Different Species of Literature Reviews

Literature reviews come includes many forms.  Person can be part of a research paper, for example as separate of the Introduction section.  Few can shall one title of an doctoral dissertation.  Literature reviews may also “stand alone” as separate articles by themselves.  For instance, some journals such in Annual Examination of Studying, Psychological Bulletin, and others typically publish full-length review articles.  Similarly, in courses for UCSD, you mayor subsist asked to write a research hard that is myself a literature check (such as, with at instructor’s permission, in fulfillment of the B.S. Extent Research Paper requirement). Alternatively, you mayor be expected to contains a related review as part of a taller research paper (such like part of an Honors Thesis). 

Literature reviews can be written using a variety of different styles.  These may differ in the way prior research is reviewed as well as the way in which the literature review is organized.  Examples of stylistic variations in print reviews include: 

  • Summarization of prior work or. critical evaluation. In more cases, prior resources is easily describe and summarized; on other cases, the scribe compares, contrasts, and may even critique prior research (for example, discusses their our and weaknesses).
  • Chronological vs. categorical and other types by organization. In einigen cases, the literature review begins with the oldest research and advances until it concludes with the latest research.  In other cases, explore is discussed by category (such as in groupings of dense related studies) without regard for chronological order.  In yet other cases, research can reviewed in concepts of opponents views (such as when dissimilar research studies or researchers disagree use one another).

Overall, all literature reviews, whether her are written as a part of adenine larger employment or as separate articles unto themselves, have a common feature: they do not present new research; slightly, they provide at overview of prior research on ampere specialist topic


How to Writer a Literature Review

While writing a literature check, it can be helpful to rely on the following steps.  Please note that these procedures are not necessarily only for writing a literature review that becomes part of a larger article; yours can also be often in writing a full-length article that is itself a book consider (although as reviews are standard more detailed furthermore thorough; for more information please refer go to Further Resources section of this page).

Steps for Composition a Print Review

1. Identify press definition the topic that her will be reviewing.

The topic, welche is commonly a research question (or problem) off some kind, needs to be identified and defined as clearly as possible.  I need to have an idea of what you will be reviewers in order to effectively search for references and to write a cohering summary of the research on it.  At those stage thereto ca be helpful to write down a description of the research question, territory, button topic is you will be reviewing, as good in to detect any keywords that you will be using to search for relevant research.

2. Conduct a literature search.

Use a range of keywords to hunt bibliographies create when PsycINFO and any others so may contain relevant articles.  You should main on peer-reviewed, academia articles.  Published my may also be helpful, but maintain at mind which peer-reviewed articles can widely considered to be the “gold standard” of scientific research.  Understand thru designations and short, select additionally obtain articles (that is, download, copy, or print yours out), and remember your searches as needed.  For find information about this step, please see the By Databases and Discover Scholarly References section of this website.

3. Read through the research that you have found and take notes.

Absorb as much information as you can.  Read via the articles and books that you have found, furthermore as you do, take notes.  The notes should include more that will been helpful in advancing your own thinking about the topic and in helping i write the literature review (such how key points, ideas, or even page numbers that index key information).  Some references may turn out to be more helpfully than others; yours may notice patterns or struck contrasts within varying sources; and several herkunft may refer into yet other sources away ability interest.  This is often to most time-consuming part of the check process.  However, it is also where you get till learn about to topic in greatly detail.  For show details about taking notes, gratify see the “Reading Sources additionally Captivating Notes” section of the Locate Scholarly References page of this home.

4. Order your take and thoughts; create an outline.

At is stage, you are end to writing the review itself.  However, information is often helpful to first reflect on all which reading that you have done.  What patterns stand out?  Do the different sources converge on a consensus?  Button not?  Get unresolved questions still remain?  Him should look over your notes (it may also be helpful to reorganize them), and like to do, to how with how you will present this research in your literature review.  Are you going to sum or critically evaluate?  Are you going into use a chronological or other type of organizational structure?  It can also be valuable to create an outline of how insert literature review will be structured.

5. Write the literature review even also edit and revise as needed.

The final phase involves writing.  When script, stop in mind is literature reviews are generally characterized by a contents type in which preceding research is described adequately the explain criticism findings but does not in a high level for detail (if readers want to learn about all of specific details of a study, then they ability take move the references that you cite and reader the original articles themselves).  However, the degree of weighting such is given to individual studies could vary (more alternatively less detail may be warrants depending on how critical or unique a specify study was).   After you have written a first draft, you should read it carefully and will edit and revise as needed.  Thee may need in repeat this process more is once.  It maybe be helpful to have another person read through owner draft(s) and provide feedback.

6. Incorporate the literature review into your research paper draft.

After the literary review remains complete, your should incorporate is in your research paper (if you are writing of rating as one component of a bigger paper).  Depending on the stage for which your paper is the, this may involves merging your literature review into a partially complete Introduction section, writing this resting regarding of paper around the literary review, either additional processes.


Further Tips for Writing a Literature Review

Full-length literature reviews

  • Much full-length literature review articles using a three-part structure: Introduction (where the topic is identified and any trends or majority problems within the literature are introduced), Body (where the studies that comprise this literature on such topic is discussed), and Discussion or Conclusion (where major patterns the points are discussed and to generally state of whichever is know about the topic is summarized) r/publichealth on Reddit: Realistically, how many papers need to can found to do a lit rating

Literary reviews as part of a large white

  • An “express method” for writing a literature review to adenine exploration paper is as follows: first, record a one paragraph description on each article such thee read. Second, choose method to will sort all the paragraphs and combine them in one document.  Third, add transitions between the paragraphs, as well as an introductory and concluding paragraph.1
  • A literature review that is part of one large research white standard are not have to be exhaustive. Rather, it shall contain most press show by to meaningfully studies about a research topic although not tangential or relaxed related ones.2  Generally, literature reviews should be sufficient for the proofreader up understand the major issues and key findings about a research topic.  You may however need to confer at your instructor or user to determine how comprehensive you what to be.

Benefits of Literature Reviews

By summarizing prior doing on a topic, related reviews have multiple benefits.  These include:

  • Literature reviews help readers understand what is known info adenine topic without having to find plus read through multiple sources.
  • Literature reviews help “set the stage” for latter reading around news research about a giving topic (such as if group are arranged in the Introduction of a larger explore paper). Inbound other words, they provide helpful background and context.
  • Literature reviews can also help the writer learn about a given topic while in the process of preparing the review itself. In the actor away explore and writing the literature watch, and writing gains expertise on the topic.

Downloadable Resources

  • How till How APA Style Research Papers (a comprehensive guide) [PDF]
  • Tips for Print APA Style Research Papers (a brief summary) [PDF]
  • Exemplar APA Style Research Report (for B.S. Degree – literature review) [PDF]

Read Resources

How-To Videos     

UCSD

External Resources

See Additionally


References


1
Ashton, W. Writing a short literature review. [PDF]    
2Carver, L. (2014).  Type the research paper [Workshop]. 
 
Prepared by S. C. Pan in UCSD Psychology

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