1.2: Literature Review

Remember the purpose of your review:
1. Show readers what has been written about a topic, so that they can understand a particular development of ideas concerning that topic
2. Explain to readers why certain ideas or theories concerning a topic should be challenged or reexamined
3.Help readers understand more about why a topic is being examined by a researcher in a particular way

A potential outline could be like this:
I. Introduction
a. Set up research topic within the context of you review.
b. You may need to clarify what you will or won’t address in terms of research (especially if your topic is broad)
c. Define your purpose for the review.
d. Thesis: Road map for your draft
i. For example: This research review will consider research in the last 20 years and will discuss the research in terms of recent and early evidence.
ii. OR: This review will cover the various subtopics within this field, including x, y, and z.

II, III, IV. Sub-Topic/Heading (A, B, C)
a. State how this research fits together. Why did you choose to group these sources together?
b. Summarize and synthesize the sources
c. Any conclusion you might draw at the end of this section that includes only this research

V. Conclusion
a. State how this research fits into the larger field or context.
b. You may need to again restate the purpose of your review, in order to show how you have accomplished that purpose.