Writing a Literature Review Assignment Overview: A well-written literature revie

Writing a Literature Review
Assignment Overview:
A well-written literature review reflects sufficient depth, identifying and discussing all sides of the issues covered, including conflicts, controversies, and disagreements in the field. In addition to literature from academic journal articles, your literature review should also include information from respected professional publications and from reputable institutional, organizational, and governmental agency sources.
Begin this week’s assignment by reviewing all the sources you have identified on your topic and research question. Build on the literature-review outline you wrote in Week Five to compose a literature review that provides your reader with an in-depth overview of the literature in your topic area. Include background information on the topic, and offer justification for proposed research activities intended to expand or enhance understanding of the topic. Reflect on the qualities of a sound literature review that you discussed in your Week Five Weekly Discussion to critique your own literature review. Ensure that your literature review meets the requirements of being sound, well conceptualized, and well written.
Written Assignment Instructions:
Use the literature-review outline you prepared in Week Five to write a literature review of at least 2,500 words (not including title, abstract, and reference pages) that supports the topic and the research study you have proposed. Take into consideration your instructor’s feedback on your literature-review outline as you begin this assignment. In your literature review, make sure to:
Group information sources together according to their theme or point of view; start with general ideas and progress to specific conclusions, providing logical transitions between one theme and another.
Synthesize and summarize information across sources, don’t merely report on one source after another in a serial fashion.
Identify trends and patterns across the sources, as well as similarities and differences in the findings or conclusions of the sources; note inconsistencies in the studies you found.
Point out studies that are of notable importance or relevance to the understanding of your topic.
Identify study methodologies, populations included in research studies, and strengths and weaknesses of various sources.
Discuss how the literature addresses your research topic and how it supports the need for a study that would answer your research question.
Focus the review on sources that are relevant and directly related to your topic of interest and avoid sources that are only peripherally related to your topic.
Use contemporary sources (those published within the past 5 to 10 years), and include older sources when those sources are necessary to develop an understanding of the topic; identify seminal or foundational studies as such.
Make clear and concise conclusions about the topic and the relevance of a study to answer your research question, based on the content of the literature review.
Cite sources within the literature review and in the reference list, following APA guidelines.
Incorporate at least 20 different sources into your literature review, including articles from academic and professional journals and information from institutional, organizational, and governmental agency sources. Include title, abstract, and reference pages in your paper.