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How to Do a Literature Review: Resources

• Introduction
• Where to Begin
• Organization & Writing

Video Tutorials

Sample Papers

• Sample APA Literature Review Contains explanations and tips. From the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
• Example APA Paper from Purdue OWL Example of an APA communications paper with a literature review inside it. From the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Online Resources

• PDF Literature Review Guide A succinct guide to literature reviews, including a short sample of a literature review.
• Writing a Literature Review A basic guide to writing a literature review. From the University of Guelph.
• Literature Reviews Very detailed guide to writing literature reviews. From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Literature Review Tutorial From American University.
• Why is Writing a Literature Review so Hard?
• Literature Reviews: OWL Purdue Graduate Workshop
• Social Work Literature Review Guidelines: OWL Purdue Writing Lab

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• Specific Examples/Applications of APA Style, 7th edition

Sample APA-Style Papers (7th edition)

The following links provide samples of student-paper formatting in APA's 7th edition style.  The first is from APA's web site; the second is from Purdue OWL's web site.

• Sample APA Student Paper This document from the APA web site illustrates the 7th edition formatting of a student paper. This format is a simplified version of the professional paper format (excluding things like running heads, etc.).
• Purdue OWL Sample Student Paper This sample student paper in APA 7th edition comes from PurdueOWL. It can be used to supplement the example from the APA web site, or stand on its own.

The following links provide samples of professional-paper formatting in APA's 7th edition style.  The first is from APA's web site; the second is from Purdue OWL's web site.  The formatting of these professional papers is a bit more involved than that of the student sample papers.

• Sample APA Professional Paper This sample professional paper from the APA web site illustrates the 7th edition formatting for a paper submitted for publication to a professional journal.
• Purdue OWL Sample Professional Paper This sample paper from Purdue OWL illustrates in 7th edition formatting a professional paper. It can be used to supplement the APA sample paper or it can stand alone.

Quotations and Paraphrases in APA Style (7th edition)

• Quotations (APA 7th Edition) This link takes you to a page on the official APAstyle.org web site with information that includes how to cite both direct and indirect quotations (short and long), how to cite material for direct quotations that do not contain page numbers, and more.
• Quotations--PurdueOWL (APA 7th edition) On this "Basics: In-Text Citations" page from PurdueOWL, scroll down to see explanations and example for quotations both short (under 40 words) and long (40+ words). In addition, it gives guidance about paraphrases/summaries and how to use in-text citations to document their original source(s).

Formatting an Annotated Bibliography in APA Style (7th edition)

• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): Annotated Bibliographies This helpful page from PurdueOWL explains the purpose of annotated bibliographies, what they often contain, and why they're helpful.
• Guidelines for Formatting Annotated Bibliographies (APA, 7th ed.) This document provides guidance for formatting annotated bibliographies, including a sample annotated bib.

Formatting a Literature Review in APA Style (7th edition)

While APA doesn't itself provide an example of how to format a literature review, it does provide some guidance in its Publication Manual * about the content of a lit review:

Literature Reviews:

• provide summaries and evaluations of findings/theories in the research literature of a particular discipline or field;
• may include qualitative, quantitative, or a variety of other types of research;
• should define and clarify the problem being reviewed;
• summarize previous research to inform readers of where research stands currently in regard to the problem;
• identify relationships, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the current literature;
• suggest next steps or further research needed to move toward solving the problem.  (APA, 2020, Section 1.6, p. 8)

* American Psychological Association. (2020).  Publication manual of the American Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.

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Library Guide for Education Graduate Students

• Library Basics
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APA 7th Edition

Purdue's OWL (Online Writing Lab) provides instruction on how to use APA 7th. Below are a few topics covered by the OWL.

• APA Style Introduction Purdue OWL resources that will help you use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation and format style.
• APA Overview and Workshop APA 7th
• General Formatting APA 7th
• In-Text Citation: Authors APA 7th
• Foot Notes and Appendices APA 7th
• Changes in the 7th Edition APA 7th
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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

General Format

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Please use the example at the bottom of this page to cite the Purdue OWL in APA.

You can also watch our APA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel .

General APA Guidelines

Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1" margins on all sides.   Include a page header (also known as the “ running head ”) at the top of every page. For a professional paper, this includes your paper title and the page number. For a student paper, this only includes the page number. To create a page header/running head , insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened version of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual requires that the chosen font be accessible (i.e., legible) to all readers and that it be used consistently throughout the paper. It acknowledges that many font choices are legitimate, and it advises writers to check with their publishers, instructors, or institutions for guidance in cases of uncertainty.

While the APA Manual does not specify a single font or set of  fonts for professional writing, it does recommend a few fonts that are widely available. These include sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, and 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode as well as serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, 10-point Computer Modern.

Major Paper Sections

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page , Abstract , Main Body , and References .

Note: APA 7 provides slightly different directions for formatting the title pages of professional papers (e.g., those intended for scholarly publication) and student papers (e.g., those turned in for credit in a high school or college course).

The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name , and the institutional affiliation . A professional paper should also include the author note . A student paper should also include the course number and name , instructor name , and assignment due date .

Type your title in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page. The title should be centered and written in boldface. APA recommends that your title be focused and succinct and that it should not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. Your title may take up one or two lines. All text on the title page, and throughout your paper, should be double-spaced.

Beneath the title, type the author's name : first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD).

Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation , which should indicate the location where the author(s) conducted the research.

A professional paper should include the author note beneath the institutional affiliation, in the bottom half of the title page. This should be divided up into several paragraphs, with any paragraphs that are not relevant omitted. The first paragraph should include the author’s name, the symbol for the ORCID iD, and the URL for the ORCID iD. Any authors who do not have an ORCID iD should be omitted. The second paragraph should show any change in affiliation or any deaths of the authors. The third paragraph should include any disclosures or acknowledgements, such as study registration, open practices and data sharing, disclosure of related reports and conflicts of interest, and acknowledgement of financial support and other assistance. The fourth paragraph should include contact information for the corresponding author.

A student paper should not include an author note.

Note again that page headers/page numbers (described above for professional and student papers) also appear at the top of the title page. In other words, a professional paper's title page will include the title of the paper flush left in all capitals and the page number flush right, while a student paper will only contain the page number flush right.

Student APA title page

Title page for a student paper in APA 7 style.

Professional paper APA title page

Title page for a professional paper in APA 7 style.

Begin a new page. Your abstract page should already include the page header (described above). On the first line of the abstract page, center and bold the word “Abstract” (no italics, underlining, or quotation marks).

Beginning with the next line, write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also include possible implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings. Your abstract should be a single paragraph, double-spaced. Your abstract should typically be no more than 250 words.

You may also want to list keywords from your paper in your abstract. To do this, indent as you would if you were starting a new paragraph, type Keywords: (italicized), and then list your keywords. Listing your keywords will help researchers find your work in databases.

Abstracts are common in scholarly journal articles and are not typically required for student papers unless advised by an instructor. If you are unsure whether or not your work requires an abstract, consult your instructor for further guidance.

APA Abstract Page

Abstract page for a student paper in APA 7 style.

Please see our Sample APA Paper resource to see an example of an APA paper. You may also visit our Additional Resources page for more examples of APA papers.

How to Cite the Purdue OWL in APA

Individual resources.

The page template for the new OWL site does not include contributors' names or the page's last edited date. However, select pages  still include this information.

In the absence of contributor/edit date information, treat the page as a source with a group author and use the abbreviation "n.d." for "no date":

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.).  Title of resource.  Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://Web address for OWL resource

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.).  General Writing FAQs. Purdue Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/general_writing_faqs.html

The generic APA citation for OWL pages, which includes author/edit date information, is this:

Contributors' names. (Last edited date).  Title of resource . Site Name. http://Web address for OWL resource

Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

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Education Research Guide: How to Write a Literature Review

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Literature Reviews Explained

Use the articles below to learn about:

• what a literature review is
• how to select and research a topic
• how to write a literature review
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The Writing Center: Literature Reviews
• OWL (Purdue University Online Writing Lab): Using APA to format your Literature Review

Synthesizing Explained

Synthesizing is a method of analyzing the main ideas and important information from your sources as you read and prepare to write a literature review. Review the resources below for sample synthesizing methods. Both examples have tables you can fill out as you read articles to help you organize your thoughts. 

• Writing a Literature Review and Using a Synthesis Matrix: NC University Tutorial Center
• Matrix Example from the University of West Florida Libraries
• Synthesizing Cornelsen This article is included in "Writing a Literature Review and Using a Synthesis Matrix" to illustrate synthesizing articles in the sample matrix.
• Synthesizing: Bruley This article is included in "Writing a Literature Review and Using a Synthesis Matrix" to illustrate synthesizing articles in the sample matrix.

Sample Literature Reviews

Make sure you follow any instructions from you professor on how to format your literature review! Use the examples below to get ideas for how you might write about the sources you found in your research.

• Literature Review 1
• Literature Review 2
• Literature Review 3
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APA Style Help & Tools

{{page_title}}, best bet: apa's academic writer.

Academic Writer is the only authoritative and complete online environment for teaching, writing, and publishing in APA Style®, now updated to the 7th Edition. Designed to help users develop their writing and professional research skills, Academic Writer combines sophisticated learning and teaching tools, advanced writing and content management technology, and full integration of APA’s best-selling Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association® to create an unparalleled web-based suite of integrated services and tools.

Access Academic Writer anytime with this link:

library.purdueglobal.edu/academicwriter

Academic Writer Documentation & Tips

The below links lead to more information, tips, and training about the basics of using Academic Writer.

• Library Guide to Academic Writer
• Getting Started Guide (PDF)
• Creating Academic Writer Accounts (PDF)
• Accessing the Publication Manual (PDF)
• Technical Requirements

Using Academic Writer's Writing Tools

Academic Writer contains a Writing section where you can create and write a full APA-formatted paper.  You can write the entire paper in Academic Writer or just use it to setup the title page, headings, and references.  Export your work at any time to a Microsoft Word document.  Below are documents from Academic Writer about the essential features of their Writing tools.  

• Setting up the Title Page
• Adding References to Papers (PDF)
• Adding In-Text Citations (PDF)
• Adding Tables (PDF)
• Exporting Papers (PDF)

Featured Items from Academic Writer

Basics of APA Style

Learn the basics of APA Style, including how to format a manuscript, understand the form and function of common manuscript parts, organize and express your thoughts clearly and precisely, employ the mechanics of style, use graphic elements effectively, credit sources and acknowledge the contributions of others, and construct a comprehensive and reliable reference list.

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© 2020 American Psychological Association.

How to Avoid Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

Learn how to avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism, including how to identify plagiarism, understand its risks and consequences, cite sources properly, and develop sound writing practices.

Learn how to set up the title page of an APA Style paper, including the page header and running head, title, author name and affiliation, and author note.

Paper Template: ("Merenda" Sample Student Paper)

This sample response paper presents a university student's personal reaction to an article about whether medication is prescribed too often to young children to treat psychological disorders. The title page demonstrates the simple default layout for a student paper. The paper has a simple setup with only a title page, body of text, and references. No "running head"! Response papers typically do not include author notes or abstracts, though this may vary by assignment.

Visit the Writing Center

Need writing help?  Visit the Writing Center to contact a tutor, submit your paper for review and feedback, or ask APA Style-related questions, as well as access dozens of writing tutorials, videos, webinars, and other instructional resources.

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PG Writing Center's Top APA Links

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eBook on APA Style 7th Edition

Zotero: Free Reference Management Tool

Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. This tool is especially popular for heavy researchers at the grad level and above.

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Title Page Setup

A title page is required for all APA Style papers. There are both student and professional versions of the title page. Students should use the student version of the title page unless their instructor or institution has requested they use the professional version. APA provides a student title page guide (PDF, 199KB) to assist students in creating their title pages.

Student title page

The student title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation, course number and name for which the paper is being submitted, instructor name, assignment due date, and page number, as shown in this example.

Title page setup is covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 2.3 and the Concise Guide Section 1.6

Related handouts

• Student Title Page Guide (PDF, 263KB)
• Student Paper Setup Guide (PDF, 3MB)

Student papers do not include a running head unless requested by the instructor or institution.

Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the student title page.

Professional title page

The professional title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation(s), author note, running head, and page number, as shown in the following example.

Follow the guidelines described next to format each element of the professional title page.