Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER (abbreviated: 4 – 5 words)
The Title (upper/lower case in Bold)
Type your title in bolded upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the
page. APA recommends that your title be no more than 12 words in length. It should not
contain abbreviations or useless words. All text on the title page should be double-spaced.
This Template is designed in APA 6th Edition format
This Literature Review must be AT LEAST 30 pages of written material. This does
not include the front material nor the references or appendix. You must have AT LEAST 30
references cited in this document and listed in the reference list in the back. Most of these
must be peer-reviewed journal articles although there may be a few that may be written by
leaders in the field to provide definitions and color for the Introduction.
A Graduate Review
Submitted to the
Division of Instructional Technology
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA
by
Your Name
Date (month, year of completion)
TITLE OF PAPER
2
This Review by: Your Name
Titled: Title of paper
has been approved as meeting the research requirement for the
Degree of Master of Arts.
_______________
Date Approved
______________________________________
Graduate Faculty Reader
_______________
Date Approved
_______________________________________
Graduate Faculty Reader
_______________
Date Approved
_______________________________________
Head, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
TITLE OF PAPER
3
Abstract
Remember to Write your Abstract LAST
Literature Review Abstract has the following parts:

The topic in one sentence

The purpose, thesis, or organizing construct and the scope of the article

The sources used and possibly the number of articles.

The conclusions and recommendations
Keywords: social media, classroom instruction,
Limit your abstract to 150 words.
Refer to the Dos and Don’ts Wiki. This wiki is identified for Literature Reviews,
but it’s multitude of hints for APA formatting will apply here as well.
You should spend time reading completely through this list before you write your
review.
http://zeitz.wikispaces.com/DosDontsLitReview
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4
Table of Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................................. 3
Level 1 .................................................................................................................................... 1
Level 2.............................................................................................................................................. 1
Level 3 ........................................................................................................................................................ 1
Level 4 ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Level 5. ............................................................................................................................................................... 1
Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 3
Analysis and Discussion .................................................................................................. 4
Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................................... 6
References ............................................................................................................................ 7
You are expected to include all of the headings, subheadings, sub-subheadings, etc in
your table of contents. Word can create a Table of Contents automatically. (The TOC
above was created automatically using the headings throughout this template.)
To automatically create the Table of Contents above, each of your headings must be
formatted using the Styles setting matching your heading level. You can format each title by
highlighting the heading and then selecting the Heading style. You will find this heading
style in the Word toolbar in the Styles frame of the Home toolbar. Do the same for each of
the levels that you will use throughout the paper.
If you are a visual learner, you might find this video useful:
Creating a Table of Contents in a Word Document (Windows)
Creating a Table of Contents in Word 2011 (Mac)
When you create your Table of Contents, select Options and use the Classic Format.
Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER (abbreviated: 4 – 5 words)
The Visual Location for Headings
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3.
Level 4.
Level 5.
Above are the progressive formats for your headings. The Level 1 titles include the
sections of the review (e.g., Introduction, Methodology, Analysis and Discussion). Level 2
Headings will include the titles for sections within major sections. These will diminish
sequentially as the organizers become more and more specific. This is just a model of the
levels. You will want to remove it.
Each of the titles on the various Levels will need to be formatted using the Styles
included in this document. Heading 1 though Heading 5 have been reformatted to align with
APA 6th Edition.
Each of the Heading I sections (Main chapters – Introduction, Methodology, etc)
should start on a new page. Insert a Page Break before each of these Level I headings. All of
the other headings are left in a sequential progression throughout the paper.
ONLY USE DOUBLE SPACE. Double space is used throughout your paper. Don’t
ever use Double-Double or single space.
TITLE OF PAPER
2
Introduction
You have identified one overall area that you would like to research. This area is
reflected in your title and you will describe it in your Introduction.
At the end of your introduction, you will list 3 or 4 specific research questions that
you believe will support your overall question. Each of these questions is a researchable
question that can be explored by empirical research. This means that you can find some
ACTUAL RESEARCH STUDIES that have explored each question.
Contents of your Introduction.
Describe the problem that the review will help resolve and indicate why an analysis
of existing information is appropriate for addressing this problem.
The Introduction creates the framework for the paper:

Present the importance of your topic and identify the problem(s).

Explain the context in which that issue or problem occurs. Include the stakeholders,
identify your assumptions and discuss the potential causes of the problem

Articulate the research question(s) that requires an answer to a solution — that asks,
in effect “Why is it so?”

The purpose of your action research — generally, to seek an answer to the research
question

The significance of the study — why the issue is important or why the problem needs
to be resolved.

Definition of Terms
TITLE OF PAPER
Literature Review
Methodology
Explain your method of identifying and locating sources:
Include the databases and search terms used. You might want to put your
search terms in italics to make them stand out.

Explain your rationale for selecting sources

Explain procedures used to analyze your sources

Identify your criteria for evaluating information found and determining if it
will be used in your review. This might include author, journal, year of publication,
citations, etc.
3
TITLE OF PAPER
4
Analysis and Discussion
Present evidence and ideas summarized from the sources you analyzed. This review
is driven by the problem presented and by sub-topics related to that problem. Therefore,
individual sources are to be reviewed, not as isolated entities, but with attention to the
contribution they make to the topic under discussion. Information based on personal
experience, observations, or interviews may be included as a means of clarifying questions,
exemplifying research conclusions, or as a source of new information, but your primary
resource MUST be research studies found in peer-reviewed journals.
An evaluation of the quality or adequacy of the related sources may also be included.
This evaluation may relate to individual works, or to characteristics of several investigations
available on a specific topic. This review, then, is a result of a search for the information that
will provide the most useful answers available for your research questions.
This literature review IS NOT a topic research paper. You don’t just describe a
topic area to your reader and cite your sources as you go. You are taking your readers on a
tour of the empirical research in your chosen topic.
REMEMBER: A literature review is not an annotated bibliography in which you
summarize briefly each article that you have reviewed. Rather, you need to critically analyze
and synthesize the selected research you discovered and find relationships between them.
You aim for a clear and cohesive essay that integrates the key details of the literature and
communicates your point of view.
As you progress through your Analysis and Discussion of the literature. You will
introduce each question and then specifically describe the studies that you have found that
pertain to each question. Do not bias your results. Include studies that both support and
TITLE OF PAPER
negate your question. You will include the topic of the study, the research methods, the
sample/participants and major conclusions from the study. Your reason for doing this is so
your readers can participate with you in drawing conclusions for each of the questions based
upon the research you have presented.
5
TITLE OF PAPER
6
Conclusions and Recommendations
You have presented each of your sub-questions along with actual research that has
explored answers to these questions. This section is where you get to draw your conclusions
for each of your research questions (based upon the presented research) and then draw an
overall conclusion for the overall research question that we reflected in the title of your
review. Identify and synthesize findings from the analysis as the conclusion of the review.
Use your research questions to organize your conclusions by answering the questions with
your conclusions. Your conclusion needs to make clear how the material in the body of the
review has supported the assertion or proposition presented in the introduction.
Include recommendations for future research, classroom applications, educational
policies and procedures, program revision, or other warranted situations should be presented.
TITLE OF PAPER
7
References
List your references using the APA 6th edition format. The author should sequence
these references alphabetically.
EVERYTHING in the references list is double-spaced.
You must have AT LEAST 30 references cited in this document.

All of the references in this list MUST have been cited in your paper.

All of the references cited in your paper MUST be in this list.