A well-written literature review is broad in scope and illustrates the extent to which you understand the current research related to your topic. Toward this end, you’ll need to dig through the databases in the Excelsior College library to find peer-reviewed articles and research studies published in academic journals. If you need assistance searching the academic databases, contact an Excelsior librarian. To achieve the broad scope necessary, include 9-15 scholarly (peer reviewed) sources related to your field of study. Depending on your topic, you may find select research reports from some government agencies (.gov) or institutions (.edu or possibly .org); these may be used in addition to the required scholarly sources.
Do not include information found in popular sources, commercial websites, or any site with an author who is unknown or whose credibility cannot be determined. Be mindful that you are writing for a scholarly audience; consequently, the quality and scope of sources used will affect your own credibility as a scholar.
Depending on the number of scholarly sources used, your literature review should be approximately 2,000-2,500 words, and no more than 3,000 words. (Word counts exclude title pages, headers, and reference lists.)
Focus on examining a succinct and clearly stated problem of inequality based upon the literature. Examine what’s known and not known about inequality on the topic. Do not propose solutions to the problem.
Writing a literature review requires you to think and read critically to recognize diverse arguments and themes. You need to analyze and synthesize findings from pertinent current scholarly research and practices. By “current” we mean research studies within the past ten years, and not earlier than 2000. You may choose to use a few select older studies (<10% of total sources) to illustrate how researchers’ understanding of the issue has evolved through time. You must, however, draw explicit connections between historical studies and contemporary theory and practice.
Literature reviews do not advocate for or against a particular position, and do not reflect personal opinions, beliefs, or values. When searching for journal articles related to your topic, draw upon a diverse collection of studies. A synthesis matrix form is provided in the course that can help you keep track of different arguments and how they relate. A matrix can be useful in discovering themes, trends, and opportunities for further research.
As you’re reading, you’ll notice that the literature reviews included in research studies generally conclude by identifying a “gap” in the literature—that is, identifying something specific that hasn’t yet been fully explored. Those studies then seek to examine the “gap” issue and thus contribute new research to the body of knowledge in the field of study. Because of the compressed nature of this capstone, you will not focus on identifying new opportunities for research. Instead of identifying “gaps” in the literature, we expect you to conclude your literature review with a section in which you summarize—in your own words—the most prominent research and findings related to your topic. Substantiate your summation by drawing upon well-reasoned evidence from your literature review and explaining how these findings contribute to the literature and collective knowledge in the field of study. Do not include direct quotations in this section.
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