Literature Review Handout
A literature review is a specific type of paper that requires a specific type of writing. Your task is not to take a position or argue a side, but rather to choose a topic, in the field of developmental psychology, and organize and summarize the research related to that topic.
A literature review is both the process and the product.
• The product of a literature review is a descriptive, analytic summary of the existing material relating to a particular topic or area of study.
• The literature review process involves a systematic examination of prior scholarly works related to your topic.
Reference to prior literature is a defining feature of academic and research writing. Why review the literature?
• To help you understand a research topic
• To establish the importance of a topic
• To help develop your own ideas
• For researchers – to make sure you are not simply replicating research that others have already successfully completed
The goal is to be able to convey what the research says in simple, easy to comprehend language. Anybody you give your literature review to, should be able to walk away from reading it with the sense that they understand the basic ideas of your topic, and what the research says about your topic.
Developmental Literature Review (40 Points) – This assignment requires that you choose a topic of interest within the broad area of developmental psychology. Your topic can (and should) focus on any area of developmental psychology that you choose. It is easiest to choose an area where a good amount of research has already been done. Once you choose a topic you should seek out research articles that are related to your topic. Your literature review must include at least eight peer reviewed journal citations from eight different peer reviewed journal articles, but more references and citations is better (Wikipedia and/or Psychology Today is not a peer reviewed journal). At least 5 of your citations should be from articles published within the last 10 years. You should choose research articles that report the findings of original studies related to developmental psychology, not policy papers or other literature reviews. Books are not appropriate sources as they are not peer reviewed, however the studies they report usually are peer reviewed. If you read about a study in the textbook, or some other book that is related to your topic and you would like to include it in your paper, use the information in the book to find the actual research article.
The goal of this assignment is to write a VERY SHORT (5 to 6 pages of text – double spaced), well-organized review/summary of the current literature of a topic in developmental psychology. Five pages of text means the actual writing that you do on the topic – this does not include the title page or the reference section. If you go longer than 5 pages, that is fine. If your paper is shorter than 5 pages it will receive an appropriate (and significant) point deduction. However, I certainly do not expect this to be an exhaustive review of the research in your chosen area. If your paper is late, it will receive a point deduction of 4 points per class late. When writing, you should write as though you know that the person reading your paper knows absolutely nothing about your topic and you are trying to give them a good basic understanding of the topic and the relevant research findings related to the topic. I have posted a website link (below) that will go into more detail about the process of writing a literature review and a sample (peer-reviewed) paper that might help you understand what is expected. If there is a topic that interests you but you are not sure about whether it would be appropriate, I would be happy to talk with you about it. Be sure that your paper deals with something related to development and developmental psychology.
Format – This paper is not an APA format paper, except for the following two requirements: You must use APA style citations in the body of the paper, and you must include an APA format reference section at the end of your paper. The reference section should start on a new page, with just the word “References” centered at the top. All of the papers you will be including in your literature review will have a reference section at the end that you can use as a guide. You do not need a title page, abstract, running head, etc. If you have additional questions about this or anything else related to this assignment, please ask me.
Tips to receive a higher score –
Do not use quotes – they are not necessary and all of the writing should be in your own words, to demonstrate your understanding of the topic you have chosen.
Proofread your paper – this is often where students lose lots of points by not correcting obvious mistakes.
Make sure that citations in text and references are done correctly.
Additional literature review information
https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/literature-reviews/
APA citation and reference information
https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaquickguide/intext
1. 50 percent of your score is based on your literature review. Considerations are the following: Demonstrating how well you appear to understand your topic, can recognize literature that is relevant to your topic, and you connect the literature to your topic.
2. 30 percent is based on how well you are able to effectively communicate your ideas – proofreading your papers can make a big difference in this area. Read the paper to yourself, as if you are reading for the first time; if there are parts that are not clear to you, they will almost certainly be unclear to me. Writing concise, thoughtful sentences can remedy most of the problems that occur when trying to convey your ideas in writing.
3. Up to 20 percent of the points can be deducted for pervasive spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting errors. Please be sure that you understand what APA format is for your reference section, and for your citations in the text. I am happy to help in this area if you are not sure about something.