When writing research reports, researchers are expected to cite relevant research and to provide an overview of the previous studies completed on their chosen research topic – also called a literature review.

It is very important to remember that a literature review is not the same thing as an abstract. A literature review should not be just a summary, but rather acritical assessmentof the literature. (This is not a book report). Do not include the word ‘I” While your opinion is important ..it should not be included in your literature review. The writer should assess the quality of each article and evaluate its content. Some specific aspects to assess include: approach to sampling and measurement, experimentaldesign, bias, and limitations.

While critical assessment of each article is important, a literature review should also be a synthesisand provide the big picture in terms of what is known and what is not known regarding the research question. The writer shouldexplicitly point out major trendsand commonalities in the results of previous research. The writer should alsopoint out gaps and major discrepancies in the results.

This week, you will be using the 10-12 scholarly articles from your Annotated Bibliography (see attachment) to write an 8-10 page Literature Review on your chosen research topic: “What are the effects of stress on the human body?”

Be sure to include a ‘title’ page and ‘reference page’. Please note the title page, reference page, andseparate pics, graphs etc. do not count toward the 8 – 10 pages. Do not include Wikipedia as a Reference. Please use 12 font in the entire document.