APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

Reviewing literature: searches and steps
Mastering advanced writing: APA review of literature
Perfecting presentation: beginnings, endings, and other writings

In this chapter

Rehearsing for professional scholars-in-training

Reviewing “the literature”

Adapting APA fundamentals

Formatting APA forevermore

It’s time for a taste from the menu of professional scholars — reviewing the literature, known pretentiously as “the literature.” Consistent with the inconsistent language of scholarship, a review of literature isn’t a review; it’s a synthesis of literature, a much more intimidating assignment.

A review of literature, sometimes referred to as a literature review, is like a research paper on steroids. A professional review requires a full semester’s work of collecting research, analyzing and synthesizing it, and writing a document that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion — with an essay sandwiched in.

Literature reviews are frequently assigned to undergraduates as stand-alone assignments related to a specific topic in an academic field. For example, you may be assigned to review literature on topics such as bullying in the workplace, online learning successes in elementary schools, or the logistics of vaccine dissemination.

Questions to ask before you write a literature review

Ask your professor the following questions about a literature review when you’re assigned to write one:

· Do you have any requirements for the number of sources to include in the literature review?

· Do you have requirements for the combination of sources you would like in the reference list?

· Do you want running heads as required by APA for professional scholarly papers?

· Can you offer any advice for locating scholarly articles for a review of literature?

· What is your go-to database for searching scholarly articles?

· What is the best scholarly database that our university offers?

· From your experience teaching literature reviews, where do students usually get off track in completing this assignment?

In this chapter, I offer an overview of a professional literature review and follow up with the undergraduate version for professional scholars-in-training like you. I also demonstrate with models of key sections of the review. And, as always, APA comes along for the ride. Note that one of the side effects of this chapter is that you’ll see dozens of ideas for future research topics.

Reviewing literature: searches and steps

If you’re a graduate student who is required to write a literature review for a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation, put a cover on this For Dummies book and buy the APA Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition. A literature review requires APA’s professional, scholarly approach. At the same time, you can use this book as a guide for improving your academic writing style and for referencing the basics of APA citations and formatting.

Also focus on Part 2, which offers you classroom-tested strategies for developing an effective academic writing style, accompanied by conventions and revising strategies.

At the graduate level, a literature review is a major part of a document submitted for an advanced degree, or a scholarly article submitted for publication. The review at that level is part of a formal document that includes an abstract, a description of the research question, a methods description, an analysis of previous investigations, and a plan for moving the research forward. The undergraduate review of literature is usually required as a separate assignment that analyzes scholarship in a field of study.

A stand-alone literature review is sometimes required for undergraduate students who are enrolled in combined undergraduate and advanced degree programs. A review is also assigned as a research exercise for special interest topics across majors. For example, a biology major may review literature on a topic such as obstructions in the human digestive system, and a political science major may review literature on a topic such as unexpected consequences of Title IX.

A separate review focuses on the introduction and conclusion sections of the professional review, with reduced reference to synthesis and interpretation of sources. Your professor determines the depth of the body of the review. The organizational strategy of a separate assignment is usually chronological, whereas a professional review is organized thematically, theoretically, or by methods of research.

The following sections guide you through the process of beginning your search and focusing your topic. Follow my advice for analyzing literature review models, and you’ll have a better understanding of the big picture of a literature review. The thesis statement models help you develop your own. Also, explore the steps I provide for the search process.

Educational research identifies getting started as the most difficult part of any assignment, especially an overwhelming project such as a literature review. But you have a team to start with that includes your advisor or the professor who assigned the review.

Starting the search

Assume you’re an upper-level undergraduate, and you have the good fortune of being assigned a literature review. Your immediate questions are, “What the heck is it?” “What’s the purpose?” “How do I do it?” and “Where do I start?” Here I explore some answers to help you understand why. I show you how to review literature in the upcoming sections that include “Focusing on the topic and “Sequencing the process.”

Why undergraduates review literature

Scholars study scholarship. One of the most intense exercises for exploring scholarship is analyzing a literature review — an academic activity second only to writing a doctoral dissertation and designing an original research project. A literature review gives you experience with research, researchers, and research projects.

Reviewing requires focus and intensity. You’ve completed research projects in the past, but you haven’t been required to analyze and synthesize a body of 15 to 20 scholarly articles common to a focused research question. Your past research offers a foundation of topics to select from for further study. Consider topics that interest you and curiosities that yearn to be satisfied.

A review requires you to analyze each article individually and then the body of all the articles. A crown jewel of a review of research is locating a landmark or seminal study that influences research direction. Research is like scuba diving; reviewing literature is like scuba diving while exploring the Titanic.

Your review represents a contribution to current research, and your synthesis of sources identifies not only trends, similarities, and consistencies, but also gaps, irregularities, and inconsistencies that need further study. Reviewing literature builds your expertise on a topic in your field and positions you for future research.

Your good fortune is an opportunity to dig a mile deep into research on a topic related to your field. Undergraduates explore topics such as the following:

· Communication styles that contribute to miscommunication

· The psychology of disagreement in the classroom

· Social media’s influence on high school athletes

· What screen time doesn’t tell us about screen addiction

· What the Dow Jones tells us about financial stability

At the thesis, master’s, and dissertation levels, purposes of a literature review include the following:

· To show your understanding of an overview of research during a specified time frame, usually within the last five years

· To investigate theories and knowledge on the topic

· To find your niche among other researchers on the topic and move the topic forward

· To identify gaps, inconsistencies, shortcomings, and controversy in the field of study

· To identify topics for future research

With a stand-alone assignment, your purpose is to analyze current research and demonstrate your knowledge of issues related to the topic. The difference between graduate-degree reviews and undergraduate reviews is that your review doesn’t require collection of original data, as needed by a dissertation. Lucky you.

Analyzing literature review models

One of the best ways to improve how you write your literature review is to study and look at other reviews. You can find dozens of literature review models by searching Google Scholar and your university database. Search for models related to your field; annotated models provide additional instructional information. Locating APA style models also benefits you. Formatting exclusive to APA includes the resource list in the back, titled “References” or “Annotated Bibliography,” and hanging indentations at the beginning of each reference entry.

After you find a few models, keep the following tips in mind as you inspect them. Identify the following types of information:

· Any language identifying the statement of the problem in the introduction, the thesis statement, synthesis of issues in the literature analysis, and inconsistencies in the literature

· Language patterns in major sections: introduction, body, and conclusion

· APA formatting for title page design, page formatting, heading levels, and running heads

· The number of citations in each major section and the number of entries in reference sections, to get an indication of the range of sources used

· Whether citations and references offer potential research resources

Also study models for writing style. Estimate average words per sentence, sentences per paragraph, and paragraphs per section.

Undergraduate reviews of literature are frequently required for honors’ theses, senior projects, and combined undergraduate and graduate degree programs. If you aren’t enrolled in a graduate-level path, choose a topic based on the assumption that you’ll be enrolled.

When a review is part of a larger degree-granting document, it’s positioned after the introduction section and before the methods section.

Focusing on the topic

Begin focusing on your topic with some preliminary research prior to scheduling an appointment with your advisor. Search “topics for literature reviews (in your field of study).” Reference these searches when you meet. Professors are impressed with students who show initiative before a conference.

Another topic-brainstorming strategy includes meeting with a small study group to discuss topics, approaches, and ideas.

Begin your review by discussing your topic with your advisor and formulating a working thesis statement. Also study online review models for samples of completed projects.

When you meet with your advisor, review department guidelines and discuss your topic interests and your advisor’s interests. A match of interests with your advisor can be an asset, but lack of compatibility isn’t necessarily a liability. Begin with a broad approach to topics such as social media, literature, film study, communication, government, history, technology, environmental issues, business, science, education, psychology, and sociology.

Narrow broad topics to focused interests, such as narrowing social media to issues related to education, privacy, the First Amendment, addiction, availability, and access. Narrow your time frame to study the topic, usually within five years.

Formulate your topic into a question, such as, “How do social media patterns correlate with use by four generations: Generation Z, millennials, Generation X, and boomers?” Topics are developed into thesis statements such as, “Each generation’s use of social media has developed differently.”

Table 16-1 lists some topics developed into thesis statements.

TABLE 16-1 Topic ideas and theses

In addition to your main focus question, list additional questions that your major question will answer. Here are some examples:

· How does technology familiarization correlate with social media use?

· How significant is the first social media experience?

· Does level of education correlate with social media use?

· Does social media fulfill humans’ need for interdependence?

Validate your topic selection by answering questions such as the following:

· Does the topic have relevancy and currency to the academic community?

· Is a body of research on the topic available?

· Is the topic compatible within the study of similar topics?

· Do you (the author) have a personal investment in the topic?

Your topic and focus are a trial balloon at this point (called a working topic) and may be refined as your research and analysis progress.

Sequencing the process in four steps

I have a four-step process that guarantees you a successful review of literature. After you select your working topic, follow these steps:

Step 1: Search for literature

Identify key search terms such as Generation Z, millennials, Generation X, boomers, human development stages, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.

In addition to your university database, other search sites for a review of literature include

· Google Scholar: Contains a wide variety of disciplines for scholarly literature, most of which are peer-reviewed.

· JSTOR: Contains a wide variety of scholarly journals, nearly all peer reviewed.

· EBSCO: Offers an extensive database of academic resources, most of which are peer reviewed.

Search for sources that most directly address your research question. Always include sources identified as landmark, pivotal, or seminal. A graduate-level review includes between 17 and 20 sources. A stand-alone undergraduate review includes between 15 and 18 sources.

An asset to your literature review is including a landmark article, referred to as a pivotal, core, or seminal work. Landmark articles change thinking on a topic and are frequently cited in research. An example of a landmark study is the connection between reading and writing. Writing improves reading and reading improves writing.

Use Boolean operators to refine your search.

· AND: All search terms connected with AND appear in search results.

· OR: Search terms connected with OR produce one of the two options.

· NOT: None of the search terms connected with NOT appear in search results.

· NEAR: Search terms that appear within the designated number of words appear in search results.

Search tips for a review of literature

Begin your literature review search using key words identified from your topic and thesis statement. As you search, refine key words and apply Boolean operators, which include the words and, or, not, and near. Start by searching familiar academic databases from your university library. Library databases will access more content than online databases. Extend your search to content-specific databases and general, scholarly databases. If you need to broaden your results, search reference lists. If you need to narrow your search, limit database parameters and apply Boolean limitations. Search within the year limitations of your topic.

Evaluate your sources as I explain in Chapter 11. You’re searching exclusively for peer-reviewed scholarly articles. Popular sources don’t make the grade for a review of literature.

Research papers are supported with a combination of primary, secondary, and popular sources. Reviews of literature require exclusively peer-reviewed scholarly articles.

Step 2: Read and analyze the literature

Read each piece of research and identify specifics such as the following:

· Author credentials, affiliations, and approach to the topic

· Problem or question addressed

· Major argument and evidence that support the problem

· Key concepts to the argument and their definitions

· Contributions to the topic at issue

· Strengths and limitations

· How the researcher’s position aligns with similar researchers

Also identify summaries, paraphrases, and quotations that may appear in your review.

Step 3: Categorize patterns in the literature

Identify patterns common to all articles. Here are examples of patterns:

· Recurring themes such as social media proficiency began later in life.

· Boomers’ use of Facebook exceeded that of Generation X.

· Facebook use was common to all generations.

· Twitter use declined among all generations.

· Pivotal studies didn’t appear in the search.

During the early readings of your sources, begin notations for annotated references, to expedite citations and source engagement.

Step 4: Write the review

If you’re an outline person, list topics addressed in the review prior to writing. They include the following:

· Identification of the topic

· Description of the importance of the topic

· Limitations of the topic

· Highlights of the literature

· Arguments, analysis, and synthesis of the findings

· Recommendations for moving the research forward

As an example of graduate-level research, the APA Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition, details professional requirements for literature review that include “historical antecedents,” “qualitative goals,” and “mixed methods.”

Adapting the APA writing style to review literature

The APA writing style adapts to a variety of writing strategies including reviewing literature. Audience and purpose shape writing more than any other writing strategy. Here’s a look at how audience and purpose, along with other influences of academic writing, affect how the APA writing style adapts to writing a review of literature:

· Audience: Think of your audience as your professor, a member of the academic research community. Your audience represents serious researchers focused on addressing research questions.

· Purpose: The purpose of your research is to review literature, analyze and evaluate sources relevant to your topic, and determine their position among other sources.

· Tone: Research writing requires a serious academic tone that shows respect for the content and for the reader. Save your sense of humor for essay writing, not for reviewing literature.

· Focus: The writing focus is centered on answering the research question within the framework of the literature you’re reviewing.

· Transitions: The primary transitions in research are the headings and subheadings that direct information from topic to topic. Create your transition headings with action verbs and specific nouns, and apply parallel structure.