Literature Review
Literature Review
The purpose of this research project is for you to create a scholarly piece of graduate-level research and writing, which conforms to APA format. Competency in the APA format is required of all Business graduates of Liberty University, as set forth by policy of both the Graduate Faculty and the administration.
You will research and write a literature review on a topic relevant to our course. What is a Literature Review?
“A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period. It has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. The summary is a recap of the important information of the source; the synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on what is the most pertinent or relevant.”[i]
How is a literature review different from an academic research paper?
“While the main focus of an academic research paper is to support your own argument, the focus of a literature review is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others.”[ii] The academic research paper also covers a range of sources, but it is usually a select number of sources, because the emphasis is on the argument. Likewise, a literature review can also have an "argument," but it is not as important as covering a number of sources. In short, an academic research paper and a literature review contain some of the same elements. In fact, many academic research papers will contain a literature review section. But it is the aspect of the study (the argument or the sources) that is emphasized that determines what type of document it is.
The purpose of this research project is for you to create a scholarly piece of graduate-level research and writing, which conforms to APA format. Competency in the APA format is required of all Business graduates of Liberty University, as set forth by policy of both the Graduate Faculty and the administration.
You will research and write a literature review on a topic relevant to our course. What is a Literature Review?
“A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period. It has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. The summary is a recap of the important information of the source; the synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on what is the most pertinent or relevant.”[i]
How is a literature review different from an academic research paper?
“While the main focus of an academic research paper is to support your own argument, the focus of a literature review is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others.”[ii] The academic research paper also covers a range of sources, but it is usually a select number of sources, because the emphasis is on the argument. Likewise, a literature review can also have an "argument," but it is not as important as covering a number of sources. In short, an academic research paper and a literature review contain some of the same elements. In fact, many academic research papers will contain a literature review section. But it is the aspect of the study (the argument or the sources) that is emphasized that determines what type of document it is.