Writing an APA Literature Review

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Whether you are assigned a literature review as a standalone assignment or working on it as a section of a larger research paper, the APA manual outlines the content a literature review should include and suggests methods organization.

A literature review is not just a summary – it is a critical evaluation of sources and synthesis of current research.

Content

A literature review should include more than just a summary of the information you learned from your sources. While summarizing is definitely a rhetorical component of a literature review, it should address each of the following:

• What is the problem the researchers are attempting to solve?
• What is the research working to change or prove?
• What is the current state of research?
• What is the synthesis of the investigations discussed in your sources?
• How do the sources relate to one another? Address connections, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies.
• What do you think should happen next? In what direction should the research head? What questions remain to be answered? What issues could be clarified?

Organization

Students often organize a literature review source by source, meaning that one paragraph discusses one study, the next paragraph discusses another, etc.

This type of organization is not the most rhetorically effective organizational method and can hinder the kind of critical thinking the literature review is intended to develop.

Simply put, your literature review should include the following sections:

• Introduction: states the main topic and explains the scope of the literature review.
• Main Body: synthesizes your sources.
• Conclusion: summarizes the main body and identifies gaps.

APA Suggested Methods of Organizing Main Body Paragraphs

Sections by Conceptual Categories:

Your sources are likely to be investigating several aspects of the same problem. In a literature review on adolescent depression, for example, you might have a paragraph(s) discussing potential risk factors, a paragraph(s) discussing research on therapeutic options, and a paragraph(s) on the effect of pharmaceuticals. Likely, more than one source will be discussed in each section, and each source will be discussed in more than one section.

Sections by Methodological Similarities:

Group literature together based on how the researcher(s) approached the research. For example, do some of your sources use case studies, others use interviews, and others experiments? If so, this method of organization may work well for you. It allows you to present similar forms of research together, comparing and analyzing what the results mean.

Chronological / Historical Development:

This form of organization presents research chronologically, giving an idea of how the field of study has changed over time. This approach works especially well if a field has been studied over a long period of time or if there have been significant developments in the research.

TIPS:

1. Find an organizational focus.
2. Use quotes sparingly, and paraphrase carefully.
3. Think in terms of synthesis rather than summary.
4. Describe the search procedures you used.
5. Keep your own voice!

Writing a Conclusion

Written by Write Site Staff

When writing most papers, you will include an introductory paragraph, the main body paragraphs, and the conclusory paragraph. The conclusion is used to complete your paper. Without a conclusion, your paper will seem unfinished, like a story without the “happily ever after.” Having a strong conclusion will bolster your paper’s purpose while giving readers a satisfying ending.

Goals of a Conclusion

Emphasize your thesis.

Rephrase your thesis in a new way. This refreshes the reader’s memory about your main point and allows you to show that you have proven your thesis over the course of your paper. Many writers choose to restate their thesis for the first sentence of their conclusory paragraph.

Synthesize your argument and main points.

Synthesize – don’t summarize. You do not need to recap your entire paper point by point. Instead, synthesize the paper’s main points; show your reader how the points you made, and the support and examples you use to develop those points, fit together.

Succinctly answer the question “So what?” or “Now what?”

Why should readers care about your argument? What does your paper add to the discussion about your topic? Where should readers go from here? This is your opportunity to elaborate on the significance of your findings, suggest larger implications now that you have synthesized your main points, and even propose a course of action or questions for future study if appropriate.

Provide a sense of closure.

You can provide closure and make a clever exit by leaving the reader with a strong closing statement. This can be tricky because, depending on the paper, this may be the only piece of personal input you have. In an informative essay, your closing statement will be your only personal input on the subject – mostly being what you feel about the subject in accordance with your main points. In an argumentative essay, it will be your point of view – on which side of the argument you fall. You want to leave your reader thinking.

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One technique for restating your thesis with different language is to use a complex sentence for your thesis statement the flip the subordinating and independent clauses when you restate it. You can also use another subordinating conjunction that shows the same basic relationship between the two clauses.

For example:

• Original thesis: Most critics agree that the Harry Potter films were really well cast, although some purists believe that the films did not do justice to Ron’s character.

• Restated thesis: Whereas some purists believe that the Harry Potter films did not do justice to Ron’s character, most critics agree that the Harry Potter films were really well cast.

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