Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Eight Common Misconceptions About Psychology Papers
- 2 How to Generate, Evaluate, and Sell Your Ideas for Research and Papers
- 3 Literature Research
- 4 Writing a Literature Review
- 5 Planning and Writing the Experimental Research Paper
- 6 A Word About Content, Language, and Style
- 7 Commonly Misused Words
- 8 American Psychological Association Guidelines for Psychology Papers
- 9 Guidelines for Data Presentation
- 10 What Makes a Good Paper Great? Standards for Evaluating Psychology Papers
- 11 Ethics in Research and Writing
- 12 Submitting a Paper to a Journal
- 13 How to Make Your Paper Even Better: Proofreading, Revising, and Editing
- 14 Writing a Grant or Contract Proposal
- 15 How to Find a Book Publisher
- 16 Writing a Lecture
- 17 Article Writing 101
- References
- Appendix: Sample Psychology Paper
- Index
4 - Writing a Literature Review
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Eight Common Misconceptions About Psychology Papers
- 2 How to Generate, Evaluate, and Sell Your Ideas for Research and Papers
- 3 Literature Research
- 4 Writing a Literature Review
- 5 Planning and Writing the Experimental Research Paper
- 6 A Word About Content, Language, and Style
- 7 Commonly Misused Words
- 8 American Psychological Association Guidelines for Psychology Papers
- 9 Guidelines for Data Presentation
- 10 What Makes a Good Paper Great? Standards for Evaluating Psychology Papers
- 11 Ethics in Research and Writing
- 12 Submitting a Paper to a Journal
- 13 How to Make Your Paper Even Better: Proofreading, Revising, and Editing
- 14 Writing a Grant or Contract Proposal
- 15 How to Find a Book Publisher
- 16 Writing a Lecture
- 17 Article Writing 101
- References
- Appendix: Sample Psychology Paper
- Index
Summary
Most undergraduate research papers, and many graduate and professional research papers as well, are based on literature reviews. The aims of a literature review are different from those of an empirical research paper, and hence the skills required differ somewhat as well. The goals of literature reviews are the following (American Psychological Association, 2009):
To define and clarify problems
To inform the reader about a subject by summarizing and evaluating studies
To identify inconsistencies, gaps, contradictions, and relationships in the literature
To suggest future steps and approaches to solve the issues identified
There are five kinds of literature reviews that can be distinguished on the basis of the aim of the review. Reviews can strive to (a) generate new knowledge, (b) test theories, (c) integrate theories, (d) develop a new theory, or (e) integrate existing knowledge.
If you plan to submit your literature review to a journal and have to decide where to submit it, you may want to read some literature reviews that have been published in the journals you are considering to find out whether your paper is a good fit to the journal. Generally, the probability of an article being accepted is highest when you develop new knowledge, a new theory, or integrate several theories (instead of just reviewing and summarizing the literature on a particular topic) (Eisenberg, 2000).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Psychologist's CompanionA Guide to Writing Scientific Papers for Students and Researchers, pp. 61 - 79Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010