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POSC 4370: International Relations

This course provides a conceptual overview of the international system, examining the determinants of state behavior in the pursuit of security and prosperity.

What a Literature Review is Not

Before writing the literature review, let's look at what a literature review is NOT:

  • It is not an essay or research paper in and of itself, but it could be a part of one.
  • It's also not a list of articles with your descriptions of what each article is about--that's an annotated bibliography.
  • The literature review does not state or prove your main points.
  • Lastly, a literature review is not just a report of what you have read on a topic. You need to be saying something as well.

How to Write a Literature Review in 30 Minutes or Less

This video from David Taylor (writing professor at Colorado Technical University) breaks down writing a literature review into 5 steps:

  1. Separate your summary paragraphs from your citations.
  2. Arrange your summary paragraphs in a logical order.
  3. Combine your summary paragraphs, if needed.
  4. Add in topic sentences and logical transitions.
  5. Add introductory and concluding paragraphs, as well as topic headers.

A text version of the video is available at:  http://www.peakwriting.com/litreview/Index.html