How to Write Literature Review

After you provide an introduction paragraph you will begin your literature review. A literature review is relatively straightforward. You select your topic that you want to focus on, research what has been written on the topic in academic sources, and then present the research in a coherent paper (or section of a paper) that highlights what has been written on the topic, how all of the research fits together, and (usually) what is missing or is weak with the existing literature. In research articles we tend to weave our arguments throughout the literature review so that we can present testable hypotheses. The example below is from an early draft of a paper a co-author and I are working on currently. As you will notice, we use far more sources than the minimum of six required by this assignment. For your purpose you will also stop short of presenting hypotheses and will instead focus on analyzing the research you are writing about. Ultimately, this is a REVIEW of the literature where you will analyze what has been written, outline its weaknesses (or what is missing), and provide some possible examples for future research.

Your paper should follow an outline similar to this:

1. Introduction Paragraph
   1. Provide a thesis statement
   2. Briefly outline what you will talk about
   3. Briefly talk about your conclusions
2. Literature Review
   1. Present your literature
      1. What does each article say?
      2. How does it relate to other research that you have selected?

• What is missing (I realize most of you will be stating things that are probably available in the literature. This is not a big deal for the purposes of this assignment)?
• Do you agree with the conclusions of this research?
  1. Why or why not?

3. Conclusion
   1. Sum up your findings
   2. Provide some ideas for avenues of future research