Guidelines and rubric for literature review

Assignment: write a literature review (LR) in which you further develop your
knowledge of and demonstrate your expertise on the specific research
question/problem that you addressed in the annotated bibliography.

1. List of reviewed sources

This list will contain between 8-12 primary research reports (i.e. not literature
reviews) that concern your topic for exploration. At least some, and maybe all, of your
annotated bibliography sources will be in this list. The list will have a title that makes
the topic clear—I should not have to figure out the topic by reading the titles of your
sources.

1. Outline

The outline will:

 show the overall structure of the literature review.

 make Section 1 the introduction.
 make Section N the conclusion (or other appropriate title).
 have Sections 2 through N-1 with appropriate titles.
 have at least one level of subsections within each section, including the
introduction and conclusion.
 for each section, indicate which sources will be cited.

1. Introduction

The introduction will:

 provide background/context for the topic, citing at least three background

sources in addition to the 8-12 in your source list (element I).
 briefly explain the current state of the research on this topic (element II).
 show that there is a need for this literature review that others have not met
(element III)
 give a clear statement of purpose (element) making it clear that this is a
literature review, not primary research.

Final draft of the entire LR

The final draft will contain between 3000 and 3500 words, and will meet the
requirements listed in the rubric below.

Title and introduction

Your review has a meaningful title that indicates the topic and shows that the paper is
a literature review. Your introduction meets the requirements specified above, and is
between 300 and 500 words.
 
Bibliographic citations
Entries are flawlessly consistent within chosen reference style, using appropriate
ordering, punctuation, and font for authors’ names; publication dates, capitalization in
article, book, journal, and conference titles; page numbers, website addresses; and
other information. Sources are listed in alphabetical order according to the first
author’s family name. Every source listed here is cited at least once in the paper.
 
Body sections
Your paper has at least 2 sections between the introduction and the conclusion, each
divided into subsections. The connections between the sections are made clear by
your use of coherence techniques. The connections between the subsections and
paragraphs within each section are made clear by your use of coherence techniques.
These sections total between 2000 and 2500 words, and will cite between 8 and 12
primary research reports.
 
Conclusion and future directions
Your conclusion briefly summarizes your observations and opinions from the body
sections, and does at least one of the other “conclusion moves” discussed in class. It
will be between 300 and 400 words.
 
Proper citation practices
You use summary reminder phrases as appropriate. You introduce and use direct
quotation if it is needed. (Remember: Even if some facts are common knowledge, I
assume you wrote the specific sentences you use to present them. If you copied
them
from somewhere, they MUST be quoted, and the source must be listed in your
references!) You refer to authors by family name only, unless you’re doing some
recounting. You list all authors, or use et al. as appropriate. ALL sources cited in
the text—background sources AND reviewed sources—are listed in the
references. Quotations are properly integrated into the text.
 
Grammar and usage
Your paper contains flawless grammar, or grammar errors that could be seen as
stylistic differences. Points will be subtracted for awkward phrases (e.g. direct
translations of native language) or incorrect usage, or errors in morphology or syntax
(e.g. subject-verb agreement, complementation, verb tense or verb form). Errors that
impede understanding will lose more points than errors that are noticeable but do not
impede understanding.