Capstone Papers-The purpose of conducting and writing a literature review
You are writing to inform/educate your audience. Who is your audience? How much do they know about your research topic?
You are trying to convince your audience you are competent as a researcher, dealing with your topic and proposed research question. You do this by evaluating and integrating/synthesizing the literature, by examining and naming the patterns existing among the articles, and by discussing the studies you consider strongest within the body of literature you have reviewed.
You also do this by stating clearly in the beginning your research topic and your proposed research question, a succinct statement of the significance of this topic and question–and, as always your purpose for writing this literature review and your map of the themes/major concepts you intend to evaluate and synthesize.
You identify the weaknesses and/or gaps you found in the literature, as well as the researchers’ suggestions for additional research. A weakness or a gap may be small; for example, a certain population may not have yet been researched for your topic.
You give clear credit for direct quotes and ideas not original to you. Be overly cautious to avoid plagiarism, using Turnitin as a form of feedback that you have done this well.
A perfect literature review does not exist in a first draft. Submitting a first draft provides you with feedback from your instructor, and it supports your efforts to perfect your literature review .
Many writers of literature reviews concentrate on the body of their literature review first and then write the introduction and the summary near the end of their writing. This can be useful, if you are absolutely clear about your purpose for writing this literature review and have your research question clearly written and in front of you, as you state and develop your themes.
Allow time (12–24 hours) to put your first draft aside, prior to submitting it to your instructor. Reread your first draft with a fresh mind, and then make any minor adjustments. Use the spell check function on your computer to review your first draft. Proofread your paper in addition to using spell check. And…if at all possible, ask someone to read your paper out loud while you listen, to be as sure as possible that you are very clear in what you are saying.
