What is the literature review section of a research paper

Avoid common errors of punctuation and grammar. Use the first person I, we rather than the passive voice. Link your ideas into a sensible sequence without repetitions or discontinuities. Get feedback on your article from colleagues.

What is the literature review section of a research paper

Kim teaches at Murray State College. A bug rancher, he also keeps honeybees Google Dr. A literature review is a must before writing a research paper. Source Doing a careful and thorough literature review is essential when you write about research at any level. It is basic homework that is assumed to have been done vigilantly, and a given fact in all research papers.

By providing one, usually offered in your introduction before you reach your thesis statement, you are telling your reader that you have not neglected the basics of research.

It not only surveys what research has been done in the past on your topic, but it also appraises, encapsulates, compares and contrasts, and correlates various scholarly books, research articles, and other relevant sources that are directly related to your current research. Given the fundamental nature of providing one, your research paper will be not considered seriously if it is lacking one at the beginning of your paper.

It Creates a Rapport with Your Audience A literature review helps you create a sense of rapport with your audience or readers so they can trust that you have done your homework.

As a result, they can give you credit for your due diligence: As a student, you may not be an expert in a given field; however, by listing a thorough review in your research paper, you are telling the audience, in essence, that you know what you are talking about.

As a result, the more books, articles, and other sources you can list in the literature review, the more trustworthy your scholarship and expertise will be. Depending on the nature of your research paper, each entry can be long or short. The key is to stick to the gist of the sources as you synthesize the source in the review: You have written a research paper, an original paper in your area of specialization, without a literature review.

When you are about to publish the paper, you soon learn that someone has already published a paper on a topic very similar to yours.

Of course, you have not plagiarized anything from that publication; however, if and when you publish your work, people will be suspicious of your authenticity. They will ask further about the significance of repeating similar research. In short, you could have utilized the time, money, and other resources you have wasted on your research on something else.

Guidelines for writing a literature review

Had you prepared a literature review at the onset of your research, you could have easily avoided such mishap. During the compilation of your review, you could have noticed how someone else has done similar research on your topic.

It Sharpens Your Research Focus As you assemble outside sources, you will condense, evaluate, synthesize, and paraphrase the gist of outside sources in your own words.

Through this process of winnowing, you will be able to place the relevance of your research in the larger context of what others researchers have already done on your topic in the past See Reference 1. The literature review will help you compare and contrast what you are doing in the historical context of the research as well as how your research is different or original from what others have done, helping you rationalize why you need to do this particular research See Reference 2.

Perhaps you are using a new or different research method which has not been available before, allowing you to collect the data more accurately or conduct an experiment that is more precise and exact thanks to many innovations of modern technology.

What is the literature review section of a research paper

Thus, it is essential in helping you shape and guide your research in the direction you may not have thought of by offering insights and different perspectives on the research topic. Source Many Different Types Depending on your area of specialization, a literature review can take various forms: An argumentative review is written to present an opposing view to a given position.

This will be valuable to persuade others to join you in supporting your thesis. An integrative review is composed of examinations and critical analysis on a given topic to introduce a need for a new research. For example, you can use it on the spreading of a pandemic plague, arguing how the old methods of gathering and analyzing the data were inadequate and how modern technology, such as DNA analysis, will help make the same research more accurate.

What is the literature review section of a research paper

Similarly, a historical review will assess all the historical records of scholarship chronologically while methodological review examines the research methods alone—collection of data, their critical analysis, interpretation, and research results, for example.

A literature review in any field is essential as it offers a comprehensive overview and recapitulation on the given scholarship from past to present, giving the reader a sense of focus as to which direction your new research is headed See Reference 3.

The University of Southern California:Approaches to learning: Literature review 1 Approaches to learning: Literature review Executive summary Introduction The International Baccalaureate’s (IB) major objectives are “to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring.

The following guide contains tips on writing a research paper in Education. Terms & Conditions Refund & Revision Policy. All the papers you get at initiativeblog.com are meant for research purposes only. The papers are not supposed to be submitted for academic credit. Literature review typically occupies one or two passages in the introduction section.

A well-written literature review should provide a critical appraisal of previous studies related to the current research area rather than a simple summary of prior works. If the review is a stand-alone assignment for a course, it should suggest any practical applications of the research as well as the implications and possibilities for future research.

Nine Steps To Writing A Literature Review 1. Find a Working Topic. Look at your specific area of study. Scholarly peer review (also known as refereeing) is the process of subjecting an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field, before a paper describing this work is published in a journal, conference proceedings or as a book.

The peer review helps the publisher (that is, the editor-in-chief, the editorial board or the program.

The Importance of Literature Review in Research Writing | Owlcation