POLT 350: Political Theory: Governing Gender

4-5 pages (double-spaced) + works cited

Literature Review Prompt

A literature review documents the state of the research on your chosen topic. Your task is to show the state of literature (what did people look at/researched) in your area. Equally important you are expected to identify the gaps in the literature (what is left unexplained).

This is NOT an annotated bibliography! You will answer the following questions. 

• What are the major arguments in the literature?
• What does the literature accomplish to show?
• What are the controversies?
• What is missing in the literature?
• What needs reconsidering?

You are required to read at least 10 scholarly articles that are related to your area of study. 

(Assume that you are applying for a graduate program and one of the required application materials is a research proposal. To convince the selection committee that your research is necessary, and you should be admitted to the program, you should inform them about what has already been researched about your topic. You should identify which gap your research will fill in the literature.)

Your literature review should be organized logically and should have a structure. A common way of doing that is to start with the source that is the most relevant and move to less relevant sources. Depending on your narrative style you can do the opposite (go from broader to more specific). You might also organize it chronologically or based on the arguments.

Sample search from the main page Library Search
AND transgender OR lgbt.    in the Subject field
AND govern* OR politics.      in the Title field

Sample search in EBSCO
SU ( transgender or "gender nonconformity" or nonbinary or LGBTQ* ) AND SU ( govern* or politic* )

• Note: apply the peer review limiter
• Consider applying a date range
• If it is not fulltext, click the GETIT arrow.  It will look for fulltext in another database. If it isn't found, you can submit an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request.

In the search, above, you can see what indexes on the EBSCO platform had the most articles. To limit to a particular index, check the box.

• Decide on your topic. Begin with an Overview of the topic, including the thesis statement for the review
• Search relevant databases and library catalogs to Locate Sources
• Organize the Sources into categories - e.g. those that support one position, those against the position, those that offer an alternative thesis. You may also choose to organize sources in chronological order within your categories. 
• Connect Sources - explain how each source relates to other sources
• Conclusion - discuss which sources are most effective in supporting their position and which sources contribute the most to the current understanding of the topic

• What are the author's credentials? Is the author's position supported by scholarly evidence (primary sources, case studies, statistics, peer reviewed research)?
• Is the author objective? Is the information presented in an unbiased manner? Is opposing information reviewed in an open manner?
• Is the author persuasive? Is the presented position convincing?
• Is the presented information of value? Does the author make a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic?

Here is a version that I copied from Google Docs into MS Excel if you prefer that.   File > Save As > Save a copy - rename it and save it to your OneDrive.

• ​Analyze the topic carefully 
• Identify the key aspects of the topic
• Define the key terms 
• Explain the organization of the review
• Use primary research from peer-reviewed journals 
• Summarize the research in your own words
• Evaluate the research in your own words 
• Identify areas for further research

Note: It is not enough to simply summarize the research literature. You need to demonstrate that you understand the relevance and significance of the publications you reviewed and how they relate to each other.