Literature Review: What is a literature review?

“Literature reviews … are critical evaluations of material that has already been published…  By organizing, integrating, and evaluating previously published material, authors of literature reviews consider the progress of research toward clarifying a problem. In a sense, literature reviews are tutorials in that authors

• Define and clarify the problem;
• Summarize previous investigations to inform the reader of the state of research;
• Identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature; and
• Suggest the next step or steps in solving the problem.”

(APA manual 6^th edition, pp. 10)

Objectives: By completing this assignment you will:

• Become adept at locating, comprehending, and critically evaluating scholarly sources
  • Use PsycInfo/PsycArticles and Google Scholar to conduct a thorough search; you can use the services of the McDaniel Writing Center: https://writingcenter.mcdaniel.edu/budapest-student-faqs/
  • Evaluate sources, relying on primary, empirical sources that were published in peer reviewed journals
  • Evaluate results and conclusions of journal articles, recognizing weaknesses or biases in studies
  • Evaluate the state of the field in some area, noting gaps in our knowledge
• Make connections between studies to synthesize and integrate findings, thus moving beyond summarizing studies separately.
• Communicate in the manner of the discipline of psychology (adopt an objective, scientific, scholarly voice)
• Create new knowledge by comprehensively evaluating a topic to determine what is known, what alternative explanations exist, what conclusions can be drawn, and what future directions for research or practice are evident.

Topic

The general topic of your paper will be the same as the topic of the article you selected at the beginning of the course.

Choosing an Approach

Within your chosen topic, you must develop a thesis statement, which will guide your research and review. To form an effective thesis statement, you might consider one of the following approaches:

• Comparative approach – consider similarities and differences between two or more perspectives
• Problem-solution approach – propose the topic as a problem, outline possible solutions, and then evaluate each solution to draw your conclusion
• Debated-topics approach – present current empirical research and theory to address each side of a debated topic (support may come from differing psychological subfields or perspectives) and evaluate the debate in light of scientific evidence and theory.

Whatever the approach you take, you should keep careful notes on your sources and critically evaluate them.

Literature Review Overview:

Introducing your topic: Your introduction should explain the question to be explored and provide a preview of your paper. It should include a clear thesis statement and define the concepts, which are central to your paper.

The body of your review: You should organize the body of your review around central ideas, which are supported or refuted by multiple research studies. A strong review must synthesize several pieces of original research to support each idea. Typically, a review article will have many references (often 30 or more). However, the author will not discuss every article in exhaustive detail. Rather s/he may cite only a single idea or main point from some articles, while providing greater detail for others. You must decide how much detail to include from each of your sources. As a general guideline, you should include only as much detail as is necessary to make your point.

The body of your review should be carefully balanced to present all sides of your chosen issue. Specify whether evidence for a particular point is strong (i.e., many peer-reviewed studies have reached the same conclusion), weak (i.e., supporting studies have design flaws, cannot be generalized beyond the sample used, or have not been replicated), or inconclusive (i.e., conclusions from different studies are contradictory). If the definition of key terms in the field is inconsistent, point out these inconsistencies. Identify gaps in knowledge and areas needing continued research.

Future directions/implications: Your review should include a section proposing future studies that are needed to draw a definitive conclusion, as well as practical implications that stem from your review. All papers should offer some guidance regarding next steps that psychologists can take in addressing the issue.

Conclusion: Your paper should end with a section labeled “Conclusion” where you restate your thesis and address the conclusions that can be drawn from past research. Support your thesis by summarizing the evidence you discussed earlier in the paper. This may include evidence supporting your thesis and evidence ruling out alternatives. Your conclusion should not introduce new ideas, but it should give a strong sense of closure to your paper.

Common mistakes

• “Study stacking” refers to describing each study in sequence without integrating their conclusions. If you find that you are referencing one study per paragraph, you may be “study stacking.” To avoid this mistake, aim to include several references in each paragraph and identify connections between the studies you review.
• Another common mistake is including detailed summaries of studies, rather than evaluation. It is not appropriate to include methodological details of a study in a review (e.g., number of participants, measures used, data, graphs), unless that information is critical for a broader point you wish to make.
• Inappropriate use of quotations is common in student review papers. It is NOT appropriate to quote material directly from an article unless you need the author’s exact words to make a point. While quotations are necessary in some instances, this is VERY rare. To meet the goals of this assignment, it is critical that you read the articles, synthesize the material, and describe it for your reader in your own words.
• Students sometimes have difficulty writing in a scholarly voice. When you write scientific papers in APA style, you should focus on past research, not on your own personal experiences. APA style papers rarely use first person voice (“I”).

Detailed Guidelines & Rubrics

Guidelines for the Literature Review
Your literature review paper should include an introduction of your topic, the body of your review (which will differ depending on the approach you take, an evaluation of future directions or implications, and a conclusion. The paper must include at least 6 peer-reviewed sources and should be about 1000 words in length (excluding title page, and references). Use the rubric below and the overview on p. 2 of this assignment as a guide.

Final Literature Review Paper

Grading Rubric

APA

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