What Are the Steps of a Literature Review Psychology
Writing a Literature Review
When writing a research paper on a specific topic, you will often demand to include an overview of whatever prior enquiry that has been conducted on that topic. For example, if your inquiry paper is describing an experiment on fearfulness conditioning, then you lot will probably need to provide an overview of prior enquiry on fear workout. That overview is typically known as a literature review.
Please note that a full-length literature review commodity may be suitable for fulfilling the requirements for the Psychology B.South. Degree Research Newspaper . For further details, please bank check with your faculty advisor.
Different Types of Literature Reviews
Literature reviews come in many forms. They can be role of a research paper, for instance every bit part of the Introduction section. They can be one chapter of a doctoral dissertation. Literature reviews tin can also "stand up alone" equally separate articles by themselves. For case, some journals such as Annual Review of Psychology, Psychological Message, and others typically publish full-length review articles. Similarly, in courses at UCSD, yous may exist asked to write a enquiry paper that is itself a literature review (such every bit, with an instructor's permission, in fulfillment of the B.S. Degree Research Newspaper requirement). Alternatively, you may be expected to include a literature review equally part of a larger research paper (such as role 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 equally the mode in which the literature review is organized. Examples of stylistic variations in literature reviews include:
- Summarization of prior piece of work vs. disquisitional evaluation. In some cases, prior inquiry is but described and summarized; in other cases, the author compares, contrasts, and may even critique prior research (for case, discusses their strengths and weaknesses).
- Chronological vs. categorical and other types of organization. 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 past category (such as in groupings of closely related studies) without regard for chronological order. In yet other cases, research is discussed in terms of opposing views (such as when different research studies or researchers disagree with one another).
Overall, all literature reviews, whether they are written every bit a part of a larger piece of work or as split up articles unto themselves, have a common feature: they practice non nowadays new research; rather, they provide an overview of prior enquiry on a specific topic.
How to Write a Literature Review
When writing a literature review, information technology can be helpful to rely on the following steps. Please note that these procedures are not necessarily but for writing a literature review that becomes part of a larger article; they tin likewise 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 data delight refer to the Further Resources section of this page).
Steps for Writing a Literature Review
one. Identify and define the topic that you will be reviewing.
The topic, which is commonly a research question (or problem) of some kind, needs to be identified and defined as clearly equally possible. Yous demand to have an idea of what you lot will be reviewing in gild to effectively search for references and to write a coherent summary of the inquiry on it. At this
ii. Deport 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 manufactures. Published books may also be helpful, but go on in listen that peer-reviewed manufactures are widely considered to be the "gold standard" of scientific inquiry. Read through titles and abstracts, select and obtain articles (that is, download, copy, or print them out), and save your searches equally needed. For more information about this step, please run into the Using Databases and Finding Scholarly References section of this website.
3. Read through the enquiry that you lot have establish and take notes.
Absorb equally much data as you can. Read through the articles and books that yous have found, and as you practise, take notes. The notes should include annihilation that volition be helpful in advancing your own thinking almost the topic and in helping you write the literature review (such every bit key points, ideas, or fifty-fifty page numbers that index cardinal information). Some references may turn out to be more helpful than others; you may notice patterns or striking contrasts between different sources
four. Organize your notes and thoughts; create an outline.
At this stage, you are close to writing the review itself. Notwithstanding, it is oftentimes helpful to first reflect on all the reading that you take done. What patterns stand up out? Do the different sources converge on a consensus? Or not? What unresolved questions still remain? You should look over your notes (it may besides be helpful to reorganize them), and as you lot practice, to think about how you will present this research in your literature review. Are y'all going to summarize or critically evaluate? Are you going to employ a chronological or
5. Write the literature review itself and edit and revise equally needed.
The final stage involves writing. When writing, keep in mind that literature reviews are generally characterized past a summary style in which prior inquiry is described sufficiently to explain critical findings but does not include a high level of particular (if readers want to acquire near all the specific details of a report, and then they can wait up the references that yous cite and read the original articles themselves). However, the caste of emphasis that is given to individual studies may vary (more or less detail may be warranted depending on how critical or unique a given study was). Subsequently yous have written
6. Incorporate the literature review into your enquiry paper draft.
After the literature review is consummate, you should incorporate it into your research paper (if you are writing the review as i component of a larger paper). Depending on the stage at which your paper is at, this may involve merging your literature review into a partially consummate Introduction section, writing the rest of the paper around the literature review, or other processes.
Further Tips for Writing a Literature Review
Full-length literature reviews
- Many full-length literature review manufactures use a three-part structure: Introduction (where the topic is identified and any trends or major problems in the literature are introduced), Body (where the studies that contain the literature on that topic are discussed), and Discussion or Conclusion (where major patterns and points are discussed and the general state 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 newspaper is as follows: starting time, write a
one paragraph clarification of each commodity that you lot read. Second, choose how you will order all the paragraphs and combine them in ane document. Third, add transitions between the paragraphs, as well equally an introductory and terminal paragraph.1
- A literature review that is part of a larger research paper typically does not have to be exhaustive. Rather, information technology should comprise nearly or all of the meaning studies almost a research topic just non tangential or loosely related ones.2 Generally, literature reviews should exist sufficient for the reader to empathise the major issues and key findings most a inquiry topic. Y'all may notwithstanding demand to confer with your instructor or editor to make up one's mind how comprehensive yous need to be.
Benefits of Literature Reviews
By summarizing prior enquiry on a topic, literature reviews have multiple benefits. These include:
- Literature reviews help readers understand what is known almost a topic without having to find and read through multiple sources.
- Literature reviews assist "set the stage" for afterward reading nearly new research on a given topic (such as if they are placed in the Introduction of a larger research paper). In other words, they provide helpful groundwork and context.
- Literature reviews can as well help the author learn about a given topic while in the procedure of preparing the review itself. In the human activity of research and writing the literature review, the writer gains expertise on the topic
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Downloadable Resource
- How to Write APA Style Research Papers (a comprehensive guide) [PDF]
- Tips for Writing APA Style Enquiry Papers (a brief summary) [PDF]
- Case APA Manner Research Newspaper (for B.Southward. Degree – literature review) [PDF]
Further Resources
How-To Videos
- Writing Research Paper Videos
UCSD
- UCSD Library Psychology Research Guide: Literature Reviews
External Resources
- Developing and Writing a Literature Review from N Carolina A&T State Academy
- Example of a Curt 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 Also
- Pautasso, M. (2013). Ten Unproblematic Rules for Writing a Literature Review. PLoS Computational Biology, 9(7), e1003149.
doi : 1371/journal.pcbi.1003149
References
1Ashton, W. Writing a short literature review . [PDF]
2Carver, L. (2014). Writing the research newspaper [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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