Outline For Lit- Review

The introduction should start off broad and then narrow into a thesis statement.*

1. Subtopic 1**

2. Subtopic 2

3. Subtopic 3

Etc.

4. Where possible, compare and contrast results of different studies. How do they relate? Are there contradictions?

5. Overall what conclusions can be drawn?

6. What might researchers do in the future?

Restate Thesis statement and become broader again for your conclusion!!!!

*A thesis statement (or topic statement) should outline the body of the paper and include the major areas or topics of discussion so the reader anticipates what will be discussed.

**Group your articles by a subtopic. It will make your paper more organized as well as help the reader to relate areas of research better

Individual Paragraph Outline

Ø Topic Sentence-a topic sentence lets the reader know what the paragraph will discuss. A topic sentence may also make a transition from the previous topic or paragraph.

Ø Introduce one or more articles/tell hypothesis/cite where appropriate

Ø Procedure-How did the get their results?

Ø What are the results?

Ø Why is this significant? How does this relate to other articles or paragraphs?

Ø Transition- a transition sentence allows a reader to relate one paragraph/topic to the next paragraph/topic***

*** There are ways in which you can use a transition in you topic sentence so that is fine to.

Keep in mind there are many ways of writing a lit review. This is only one suggestion, and you may find that for all or part of your papers, other organizations are more appropriate.