How to Do a Literature Review for a Research Paper
Writing a Literature Review
When writing a research paper on a specific topic, you volition often need to include an overview of whatsoever prior research that has been conducted on that topic. For instance, if your inquiry newspaper is describing an experiment on fearfulness conditioning, then you will probably need to provide an overview of prior research on fright workout. That overview is typically known as a literature review.
Please annotation that a total-length literature review article may be suitable for fulfilling the requirements for the Psychology B.Southward. Caste Inquiry Paper . For further details, please bank check with your faculty advisor.
Different Types of Literature Reviews
Literature reviews come up in many forms. They can be part of a inquiry newspaper, for instance as part of the Introduction section. They can exist one chapter of a doctoral dissertation. Literature reviews can besides "stand up lonely" as separate articles by themselves. For instance, some journals such as Annual Review of Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, and others typically publish full-length review manufactures. Similarly, in courses at UCSD, you may be asked to write a research paper that is itself a literature review (such as, with an instructor's permission, in fulfillment of the B.S. Degree Research Newspaper requirement). Alternatively, you may exist expected to include a literature review equally part of a larger enquiry paper (such as part of an Honors Thesis).
Literature reviews can be written using a diverseness of different styles. These may differ in the mode prior enquiry is reviewed equally well every bit the way in which the literature review is organized. Examples of stylistic variations in literature reviews include:
- Summarization of prior piece of work vs. critical evaluation. In some cases, prior research is but described and summarized; in other cases, the writer compares, contrasts, and may fifty-fifty critique prior inquiry (for example, discusses their strengths and weaknesses).
- Chronological vs. categorical and other types of organisation. In some cases, the literature review begins with the oldest research and advances until it concludes with the latest research. In other cases, research is discussed by category (such as in groupings of closely related studies) without regard for chronological social club. In withal other cases, research is discussed in terms of opposing views (such every bit when dissimilar inquiry studies or researchers disagree with i another).
Overall, all literature reviews, whether they are written every bit a office of a larger work or every bit split up articles unto themselves, have a common feature: they do not present new research; rather, they provide an overview of prior research on a specific topic.
How to Write a Literature Review
When writing a literature review, 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; they tin also be used for writing a full-length article that is itself a literature review (although such reviews are typically more detailed and exhaustive; for more information delight refer to the Farther Resource section of this page).
Steps for Writing a Literature Review
ane. Identify and define the topic that yous will be reviewing.
The topic, which is commonly a research question (or problem) of some kind, needs to be identified and divers as conspicuously as possible. Yous need to have an idea of what you will be reviewing in order to effectively search for references and to write a coherent summary of the inquiry on it. At this
2. Conduct a literature search.
Use a range of keywords to search databases such as PsycINFO and any others that may contain relevant articles. You should focus on peer-reviewed, scholarly articles. Published books may besides be helpful, merely proceed in heed that peer-reviewed articles are widely considered to be the "aureate standard" of scientific inquiry. Read through titles and abstracts, select and obtain manufactures (that is, download, re-create, or print them out), and save your searches as needed. For more than data about this step, delight run into the Using Databases and Finding Scholarly References department of this website.
3. Read through the research that you take found and have notes.
Absorb equally much information equally you can. Read through the articles and books that you have found, and as you do, accept notes. The notes should include annihilation that will exist helpful in advancing your own thinking well-nigh the topic and in helping you write the literature review (such as cardinal points, ideas, or even folio numbers that index primal data). Some references may turn out to exist more helpful than others; you may notice patterns or striking contrasts between dissimilar sources
four. Organize your notes and thoughts; create an outline.
At this phase, you are close to writing the review itself. Notwithstanding, information technology is often helpful to first reflect on all the reading that you take done. What patterns stand out? Exercise the different sources converge on a consensus? Or not? What unresolved questions still remain? You lot should look over your notes (information technology may also exist helpful to reorganize them), and as you practise, to think about how you will present this research in your literature review. Are you going to summarize or critically evaluate? Are yous going to use a chronological or
5. Write the literature review itself and edit and revise equally needed.
The final stage involves writing. When writing, go along in mind that literature reviews are more often than not characterized by a summary mode in which prior research is described sufficiently to explicate critical findings but does not include a high level of particular (if readers want to learn well-nigh all the specific details of a study, and then they can wait up the references that you cite and read the original articles themselves). However, the degree of emphasis that is given to individual studies may vary (more or less particular may be warranted depending on how critical or unique a given written report was). After you have written
half-dozen. Incorporate the literature review into your research paper draft.
After the literature review is consummate, y'all should comprise it into your inquiry paper (if yous are writing the review every bit one component of a larger paper). Depending on the stage at which your newspaper is at, this may involve merging your literature review into a partially complete Introduction section, writing the balance of the paper effectually the literature review, or other processes.
Further Tips for Writing a Literature Review
Full-length literature reviews
- Many full-length literature review articles use a iii-part structure: Introduction (where the topic is identified and any trends or major bug in the literature are introduced), Body (where the studies that comprise the literature on that topic are discussed), and Discussion or Conclusion (where major patterns and points are discussed and the general country of what is known about the topic is summarized)
Literature reviews as part of a larger paper
- An "express method" of writing a literature review for a research paper is as follows: starting time, write a
one paragraph description of each commodity that you read. Second, choose how you will guild all the paragraphs and combine them in one certificate. Tertiary, add transitions between the paragraphs, as well as an introductory and terminal paragraph.1
- A literature review that is office of a larger research paper typically does non have to be exhaustive. Rather, it should contain most or all of the meaning studies about a enquiry topic but not tangential or loosely related ones.2 By and large, literature reviews should be sufficient for the reader to understand the major bug and key findings near a enquiry topic. You lot may however need to confer with your instructor or editor to determine how comprehensive you need to be.
Benefits of Literature Reviews
By summarizing prior inquiry on a topic, literature reviews have multiple benefits. These include:
- Literature reviews help readers understand what is known most a topic without having to discover and read through multiple sources.
- Literature reviews aid "prepare the phase" for subsequently reading about new research on a given topic (such every bit if they are placed in the Introduction of a larger research newspaper). In other words, they provide helpful background and context.
- Literature reviews tin can also help the writer learn about a given topic while in the process of preparing the review itself. In the act of research and writing the literature review, the author gains expertise on the topic
.
Downloadable Resources
- How to Write APA Style Research Papers (a comprehensive guide) [PDF]
- Tips for Writing APA Manner Research Papers (a brief summary) [PDF]
- Example APA Style Inquiry Paper (for B.S. Degree – literature review) [PDF]
Further Resource
How-To Videos
- Writing Enquiry Newspaper Videos
UCSD
- UCSD Library Psychology Research Guide: Literature Reviews
External Resource
- Developing and Writing a Literature Review from N Carolina A&T State University
- Example of a Brusque Literature Review from York College CUNY
- How to Write a Review of Literature from UW-Madison
- Writing a Literature Review from UC Santa Cruz
Meet Likewise
- Pautasso, G. (2013). Ten Unproblematic Rules for Writing a Literature Review. PLoS Computational Biology, 9(7), e1003149.
doi : 1371/journal.pcbi.1003149
References
1Ashton, Due west. Writing a short literature review . [PDF]
2Carver, L. (2014). Writing the research paper [Workshop].
Prepared by S. C. Pan for UCSD Psychology
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Source: https://psychology.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-program/undergraduate-resources/academic-writing-resources/writing-research-papers/writing-lit-review.html
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