literature review outline examples apa

literature review outline examples apa

The Importance of Literature Review in APA Format

1. Introduction

What is literature review? As obvious by the name, it is the critical analysis of the work that has already been published on a particular topic. It’s a writing on a particular topic, keeping in view the various aspects of the written or the spoken method, using the approach which is based on the type of work. It is said to be the effective evaluation of the work in question with an overview of the published work, keeping in mind certain definite objectives. This is just the tiniest essence of a much elaborate concept. In the upcoming sections, we throw some more light on the conceptual backbone of a literature review.

Before we start discussing the importance of literature review in a research process, it is better to elaborate its definition first. Presenting below the basic and most basic definition of the same we came up with:

2. Understanding Literature Review

Purpose for conducting the literature review: – To place research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likely directions for future research. – To carry out the research process with a clear understanding of what has already been done in the area and where you are taking it. A literature review is really a way to get you to try and improve on what others have done, giving you a measure for success. – To avoid needless duplication in research. Duplicating a previous study is a waste of time, effort, and in turn, money and resources. A literature review will help you avoid this. – As a learning aid to improve your own understanding of the area and research design. By doing a literature review, you will be better able to develop your own research and to know what is in the area already. By the time you’ve finished the literature review, you should be well on the way to a clear research idea.

A basic understanding in research is the systematic identification, location, and retrieval of supportive material to address a given research question. Then, a literature review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that you are carrying out. A literature review is not simply a report or a descriptive list of the material available or a set of summaries. A literature review is a critical and in-depth evaluation of previous research. It is a summary and synopsis of a particular area of research, allowing anybody reading the paper to establish why you are pursuing this particular research. A good literature review expands on the reasons behind selecting a particular research question.

3. APA Format for Literature Review

The word involves the use of careful graph of a few other papers to reduce disparities and feebleness of different clearing and to recapture at any rate the veritable substance of a piece of job writing this is attached with nonstop references to the primary wellspring of the information starting late a piece of job writing on the utilization of picture sounds final products in consideration on further settled people has been described Pynoos Clark and St John. Using relevant bits from this piece of job writing, we will follow the improvement of a literature review to its picture sounds last mentioned appraisal briefly and would then highlight how the referenced article has tried to accommodate absolute and coherent portrayal of the assessment inside the examination stage using the referenced up to this piece of job writing. Formation of a literature review is on a very basic level a fundamental thinking about any type of examination being driven. At the point when all of the basic contemplations for this review have been completed and it has been concluded to move the appraisal into utilization, a literature review can perceive huge inclination of the investigation’s drawing close to ground. While guiding this review, Pynoos Clark and St John had the choice to discover nonstop information about their topic and recognizably foster a spread out of what situations where ensured session would have happened. But prior to developing how picture sounds would have truly happened, they encountered a relative way to this date on the date was said as the starter evaluation using an uncertified methodology. It’s at this particular stage where said assessment would have happened and it is huge separate what has happened and events around the 5/18a to hang over to the happening to this current assessment’s trial and expected final products.

4. Benefits of Conducting Literature Review in APA Style

Literature review is conducted to have an idea about the previous work done on the topic and the method and the outcome of the research. Why to compile the sources in one document and then present it is a big question. The answer to this lies in the steps and methods of APA style. APA style is a set of rules and guidelines provided by this association to ensure a standard and consistent presentation of written material. It was set to give concise rules and standards to the scientific writing. ABC in APA style is to give short description of the article. In introduction sub heading 1, of the APA style it should not be missed to place the importance of article, so reader knows why further reading is must. This is entirely literature review. Coming to the methods, it should explain in detail, how the search was conducted and what were the definitive resources identified. The search on the literature review should be comprehensive. The document has to be kept where the references are easily retried, as this is very lengthy process. All this is explained in APA style under the heading of method. Step by step the two types, i.e. theoretical literature review and conceptual literature review can be written in APA format, theoretical literature review explains the theories and the works in details. Where as conceptual literature review will be to compare by critical evaluation the different work or views on the topic. Between the two conclusions can be drawn, and the out come can be easily understood in APA format. The references and the citing are worth mentioning, if one has to clarify something from the stated document he should able to have direct access to that work. This would make the literature review work meaningful. APA provides the proper ways to cite and reference the source of our secondary research in a document. An old but a well established method is by writing it at the bottom of the article. But in typesetting it the endnote fiasco is a big confusion. So the current or the latest method of citation is well defined by the APA. Now let’s consider the benefits of compiling all this in APA format. It is evident that whatever work APA guides is mainly for the sciences. But most of the parts are equally applicable to prepare any document of a research work. If a document is well compiled and properly arranged citing the sources and to the point, then it can be very useful and informative tool to the work done in past to the same new topic. It will be a complete guide. Now if different documents of the literature review are to be compared, it will be a short note though, the comparison can be easily done if they are in same format. The out come can be evaluated and it can be used as a tool to make the future research in the same topic more productive. APA provides the standard formats. This will save a lot of time. But most important point is that, it will provide a global platform and easy access to the research work. APA provides the citations so clear document of who said what, thus it will enable to get to the very source of the document. The work can be very helpful to the students who are in similar topics and researchers in the future. These days Internet is the tool for any information. Compiled work in APA is best mode of the ‘upload and download research’. In short it can be said that, all this methods and steps of APA are just ways to make the research work more fruitful in a particular target. This is the most convincing reason for compiling the literature review in APA format.

5. Conclusion

The place where the real value of the literature review can be seen is in an academic piece that is more focused on a specific issue. An example would be a critique of various works around how a specific measure of poverty is developed and its subsequent implementation. This will offer a real comparison as it will look at different studies and weigh their usefulness or effectiveness towards a certain goal. This is far more valuable than a mere summary, and if more reviews can aim to compare different works and their findings in such a manner, it will lead to the development of clearer ideas and a more concise measure towards developing new knowledge.

If the literature review is intended to be a piece that will contribute to the growth of new knowledge, it is vital that the review is planned in terms of new ideas. Often a review will just summarise what has happened or what is currently happening in an effort to offer a background to a specific topic. While it is useful to have this information, it does not lead to the formation of new knowledge.

It is well known that the literature review is often the first step in a research process. It is at this stage that a researcher will begin to learn more about their topic, learning about what has and has not been researched. This initial interest is important in a research paper as the writer will be more enthusiastic about a topic that is of interest to them.

The purpose of this essay was to discuss the importance of literature reviews in the context of a research paper or thesis. The essential and key points of the literature review have been distilled into a well-argued piece. The debate focused on the effectiveness of a literature review in terms of conducting primary research and its subsequent value in contributing to new knowledge.