Looking for a Research Paper Literature Review Sample

If your professor has asked you to do a literature review, then you may be confused as to what is expected of you. Basically, a literature review requires you to read and analyze a segment or full body of literature. You will then use comparison to prior literature reviews, articles, or studies, as well as summary and classification to perform your analysis.

Finding Examples of a Literature Review

Some people learn better through example. If this is the case for you, then simply looking at a how-to guide for a literature review will not necessarily help you write a research paper. Instead, you need to find samples of the work you are expected to perform. To find an example, you should go to your favorite search engine and type in “examples of a literature review.” This will direct you to several different websites that have samples that will be able to help you understand exactly what you must do.

Choosing Your Literature Review Topic

The key to a great review is choosing a great topic. Your topic should be one that has many articles related to it, because the meat of your review will be comparing the literature you read against other articles and reviews. Once you have done a general search for information, it is time to identify a specific topic.

You should begin by brainstorming, which is writing several ideas on paper. Remember that the topic you choose should be interesting to you, as well as interesting to others. It is likely you will be working with this topic for an entire semester. Once you have finalized the list, narrow your choices down to three of the most interesting topics.

Once you have three topics, conduct preliminary research on each. The last thing you want to do is write about a topic that has limited information. If you need to, broaden or narrow the scope of your topic as you search for information- you want to be sure that you can meet the project requirements. Finally, you can choose one of the three topics. This should be the one that has the best sources of information. Once it is appropriately narrowed, submit it to your professor for your approval. Once you have chosen the topic and had it approved, use the samples you have found and your information to begin writing your literature review.