Scientific Perspective of Inquiry

The purpose of a literature review is to get your reader up to speed on any relevant information so they can understand the purpose of the research. This includes background information on the topic and often background information on techniques used. This particular assignment requires 5-7 pages for full credit. Be aware that if you do only the minimum for each section you will not reach the required 15 for the entire paper.

· Lit review or Executive Summary: 5-7 pagers

Writing Style

This is a formal paper which means it needs to be written in the passive voice. It is intended to be read by scholars, not the general public. This is not story time, a blog or a “how to pamphlet.”

You will not:

· Use I, we, your, our, should, anyway, society, anyhow, us, so in your writing

· Use the following phrases or words

· All in all

· When it comes to

· In the long run

· Never the less

· With that being said

· Of major concern

· Worrisome

· Overall health

· Human beings (it is just humans)

· On the other hand

· In today’s society

· Thing

· Being (as a verb)

· In the long run (over time)

· A lot

· Good

· Whopping

· People (they are consumers, patients, victims etc.)

· Huge (large or significant)

· More and more (increasing amounts)

· At the end of the day

· It (Name what IT is)

· Ask the reader questions (this is forbidden)

· Use “according to” (sometimes this is okay but it annoys me so don’t overdo it)

· Excessive use of quotations (this also annoys me)

· Be vague and unscientific

· Have incomplete or run on sentences

· Have grammar mistakes

· Make too large of a leap with information and lack evidence to support your claim

· Have missing or incorrect citations

· Have incorrect information

· Lack fluidity and have illogical sequencing of information

· Use .coms, blogs or Wikipedia as a source

Command of topic

· Using more than one source in a paragraph

· Using one demonstrates you know how to paraphrase and regurgitate someone else’s work

· Using introductory sentence in each paragraph

· Using summarizing sentences in each paragraph

· Using transition sentences that link one concept to another

· All points that are introduced are elaborated on and concluded

· Using examples to support a claim (then cite them)

· Has substance

Citations

In a literature review the writer is contributing very little. They are simply reporting on the literature that already exists. That means that the majority of the paper is comprised of information that is not their own and must be cited. In this section of the paper almost every sentence is cited. The only exceptions are

· Introductory sentences – preview of more detailed information to come and then followed by cited evidence

· Summary sentences – a recap of previously introduced information

This paper requires a minimum of 12 reliable sources.

 

 

 

Fluidity and Logical Sequencing

The presentation of the information must be logical in the paper as a whole and within in each paragraph. The most general information is written first in the form of introductory sentences and then followed by more detailed and related evidence. Transitions between paragraphs and within paragraphs must also have fluidity. Using choppy sentence structure and not employing transition sentences makes the paper unpleasant to read and comprehension difficult.