The goals of a literature review are to provide the reader with a critical analysis of scientific literature about a specific topic or question. Writing a summary about other works can demonstrate the depth of familiarity of a chosen topic. In order to further one's understanding, or research, studying the works of others is important because multiple disciplines may have competing explanations for a given subject. Literature review is also structured in a particular style that creates a uniform way for writers to articulate their ideas in a fashion the reader is familiar with. Craig Anderson uses the APA guidelines to create a clear structure for his review studying the effects of heat and violence.
The structure of a literature review typically follows a certain format and order. In Anderson's, review Heat and Violence, he starts this process with a title that describes what the article is about. Following the title of the paper is an abstract, or overview, of what the entire article is about. Because there are a number of …show more content…
The introduction is the author's opportunity to hook the reader and give context to their review. Heat and Violence begins with an excerpt from Romeo and Juliet, then proceeds into his findings of the various sources he used for analysis. His abstract created an outline of what he was going to write about. The introduction should outline why the problem is important, in this case the relationship between heat and aggression has been noted for a very long, but the relationship between them did not have enough scientific research to back the theory. By labeling headers and sub headers readers can follow the outline and target specific information to digest. The outline mentions other studies that challenge and support his ideas. A good introduction should be able to detail why the study is important by clearly introducing the problem, explore it, describe other studies, and state their