What should be included in your literature review?
The literature review does not review the entire body of literature that pertains your topic
area (this would be impossible!). The literature review should be at most 8 pages
depending on your topic (it may be longer if you are using this for thesis, internship, or
future writing sample), how much has been done in the area, how you structure the
review, etc. Do not expound for the sake of filling pages and do not provide such a brief
review that the reader has no reference or framework for understanding the
question/hypothesis and subsequent presentation of the proposed research process. You
may use a quotes sparingly for your literature review but make sure they are no more
than 10% of your paper (in other words, for each 20 lines of typing you may have 2 lines
of quotes) – I want to hear your interpretation of the articles.
How many sources should I have?
I want each of you to find, read, and review at least 5 research articles from the
academic/scholarly, peer-reviewed literature on your topic, that were published within the
past five (5) years (i.e. 2016+). (refer to past assignments for the articles you have
compiled through the library database).
You will also need to have, at minimum, 5 sources form in-class materials (Contexts
reader and Canvas articles). One of these is expected to be your book of choice from the
beginning of the semester. Therefore, you should have at least 10 total references in
your literature review.
I do not want you to use pieces from the popular literature or newspapers/magazines,
except as background material or to establish common knowledge (these will not count
towards your 10 total articles and book references). And, I do not want you to use
literature from the Internet unless it has been published already in scholarly journals and
you are merely obtaining it through the Internet.
How long should my paper be?
I do not generally offer page minimums and instead ask students to work through being
sure all parts of the assignment are completed. However, there is an 8 page limit. It may
not be longer than 8.5 pages (there may not be a page 9).
Is there an expected format?
Yes. Your paper is expected to be:
Double-spaced
12 point font
Times New Roman or Arial font
1 inch margins
No title page
No more than 8.5 pages
Your bibliography should follow ASA formatting, please see your Assignment 1 and
Assignment 2 for reference help.
