Beryl Pittman / 2015

Literature Review (15% of final grade)

Due: Day 7, 23:00, MyCourses
Purpose: The literature review is a fundamental component of academic research. The purpose of this
assignment is to provide practice in writing a literature review to help you with your persuasive report for
this class as well as your thesis later.
Length: 5-7 pages, minimum 10 academic (scholarly, peer-reviewed) sources
Format: Double-spaced. 11 pt Arial.
Citations and References: Refer to the Aalto University Citation and Reference Guide: The Harvard System
Hint: This assignment will take longer than you think! To choose 10 strong articles for the review, you will
need to review at least 15-20. Its okay to use the sources from your annotated bibliography if you believe
that theyll be useful.
What is a Literature Review: In the preliminary stages of any significant research project, scholars are
expected to carry out an extensive review of the literature relevant to their project. A literature review
synthesizes the literature on a topic and analyzes its significance; it does not simply string together
summaries and/or evaluative commentary. The conclusion of the literature review uses this analysis to
determine what still needs to be learned in the area under investigation. A literature review can be part of
a research paper or a separate, stand-alone document. This assignment is a stand-alone document; your
persuasive report will not include a lit review.
So, literature reviews have two main goals:
1. To describe to readers what research has been pursued and what answers have been established
for the topic.
2. To identify what questions still remain and what work still needs to be done.
Stages of a Literature Review:
Problem formulation If your thesis has changed since preparing the Thesis + Annotated Bibliography
assignment, thats fine. Youll base your formulation of the problem (basically the issue that your thesis
reflects) on your most recent thesis statement.
Find scholarly sources Continue to find scholarly sources on your topicacademically reputable articles
written by scholars in the field for an academic audience; youve gotten a good start with the Annotated
Bibliography, but youll likely need more. Popular magazines and material written for the general public,
such as Wikipedia, blogs, online magazines, company homepages, and newspaper articles will not work as
sources for this assignment. This is primarily because these types of sources do not describe existing
research in an appropriate level of depth and complexity. In general, you should plan to use the electronic
databases offered in the media center.
Again, for this assignment, you will need to use at least 10 scholarly articles on your topic. And since the first
10 that you look at wont be the best 10, youll need to skim a lot more. Keep in mind that, for this
assignment (not necessarily for the final persuasive report), these articles should be recent (within 15
years, depending somewhat on your topic). If you are having difficulty finding scholarly sources, you should
consult with Jaana about places to look and research tools to use. You are, however, more likely to have
the opposite problem: too many sources on your topic. You may be able to find a great many sources
published in the last 15 years that relate in some way to your topic, and youll need to select from among
them. Your selection should be based on your evaluation of which sources best represent the aspects of the

research you wish to highlight. There may, for example, be three studies that all produce similar results;
look for the one that is most comprehensive or current or that best exemplifies this kind of research for
your purposes.
Once you have found your sources, youll need to make sure you understand them. For the sources you
choose that werent part of your annotated bibliography, you will initially summarize the sources main
points and analyze the significance of their conclusions. You will then use these summaries as the basis for
the comparisons youll make about the studies. (You dont have to turn this in.)
Big Tips
Record citation information as you read even if you dont think youll use the source.
Take notes in your own words. This decreases the chances that you will inadvertently plagiarize.
Dont simply summarize; analyze. (Use the matrix.)
Dont choose the first five articles that you read.
Your lit review doesnt need an abstract.
Choose headings that relate to the point youre discussing. Dont use headings like Discussion
and Methodology.
Be sure that your thesis statement of the lit review sets you up to discuss trends, areas of
agreement and disagreement, etc. Dont use the same thesis statement as the one for your
academic report.
Writing the review You will use these sources to write a 5-7 page paper that gives an overview of the
topic you are writing about in your academic report and situates this topic within the context of the larger
fields of business, management, or economics.
The two larger goals of an effective literature review can be broken down into four main required moves:
1. Identifying overall trends in what has been published about the topic
2. Combining results into an explanation of what is and is not known about the topic
3. Identifying areas of controversy in the literature
4. Formulating questions that need further research by identifying a problem or new perspective that
emerges from the review
What this means is that a simple summary of the articles you read will not be adequate; your review hinges
on synthesis and analysis instead. Therefore, before you can begin drafting the review, you need to decide
on a logical organizational scheme that goes beyond simply summarizing or describing your articles one at a
time. In class, we will go over using a synthesis matrix to help you structure your review to reflect your
analytical findings.
At the top of the first page, write your thesis statement. Then begin the introduction. Remember that
the thesis statement for the lit review is different from the thesis statement for your academic report.
As you organize your findings and begin drafting, consider the following broad strategies for developing the
introduction, body, and conclusion of your review:
In the Introduction:
Introduce the specific subject matter that informs the project.
Define or identify the general topics, issues, or areas of concern that motivate your research, providing
your audience with a context for your literature review.
Briefly point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic; note any significant
conflicts in conclusions; point to gaps in research and scholarship.

Establish your analytical thesis on the state of existing knowledge and your criteria for analyzing and
comparing the literature.

In the Body:
Create sections according to common denominators in the literature such as strategies or approach,
conclusions of authors, specific purpose or objective, etc.
Point out similarities and differences between studies as you address denominators one at a time,
being specific about how they compare, what they relatively contribute, and any controversies your
comparisons reveal.
Indicate the significance of articles relative to other available research: Is this the only article on this
topic? Is this the clearest explanation of the phenomenon? Is this the most recent work?
When you do summarize, remember that the space you devote an article connotes the significance you
place on it; the longer your discussion, the more weight/significance it has.
Assess the research as a whole, providing a detailed analysis of trends, points of concurrence and
disagreement, and a careful explanation of the overall significance.
In the Conclusion:
Explain what conclusions you have drawn based on your research.
Review what the research lacks: what still needs to be studied or understood? What is the gap in our
knowledge?
Explain why any further research is necessary and how such research might better help us understand
your topic.
Reflect on how the gap in our knowledge might best be filled.

Evaluation
When I evaluate your literature review, I will be looking to see how well you have met the goals of a
literature review and of our assignment. Specifically, I will be looking for how well you analyze and show
relationships among the literature under review, and how well you support the work you believe still needs
to be done. If all you do is string summaries together (with or without evaluative commentary), your review
will not be successful.
Your review will still need to meet the general criteria of any good academic writing: a clear purpose and
focus; a logical, coherent, and unified organization; strong and deliberate use of supporting evidence; and
thoughtful development of your ideas. And, of course, it will need to be effective both stylistically and
grammatically for this rhetorical situation.