Elements of a review paper

This guide explains each section of a review paper and gives specific information about
what should be included in each.

Title Page

On the title page include the title, your name, and the date. Your instructor may have
additional requirements (such as the course number, etc.) so be sure to follow the
guidelines on the assignment sheet. Professional journals may also have more specific
requirements for the title page.

Abstract

An abstract is a brief summary of your review. The abstract should include only the main
points of your review. Think of the abstract as a chance for the reader to preview your
paper and decide if they want to read on for the details.

Introduction

The introduction of your review should accomplish three things:

 Introduce your topic

o It may sound redundant to "introduce" your topic in the introduction, but
often times writer's fail to do so. Let the reader in on background
information specific to the topic, define terms that may be unfamiliar to
them, explain the scope of the discussion, and your purpose for writing the
review.
 State your topic's relevance
o Think of your review paper as a statement in the larger conversation of your
academic community. Your review is your way of entering into that
conversation and it is important to briefly address why your review is
relevant to the discussion. You may feel the relevance is obvious because
you are so familiar with the topic, but your readers have not yet established
that familiarity.
 Reveal your thesis to the reader
o The thesis is the main idea that you want to get across to your reader. your
thesis should be a clear statement of what you intend to prove or illustrate
by your review. By revealing your thesis in the introduction the reader
knows what to expect in the rest of the paper.

Discussion
The discussion section is the body of your paper. The discussion section contains
information that develops and supports your thesis. While there is no particular form that
a discussion section must take there are several considerations that a writer must follow
when building a discussion.

 Don't summarize!
o A review paper is not simply a summary of literature you have reviewed. Be
careful not to leave out your own analysis of the ideas presented in the
literature. Synthesize the material from all the works—what are the
connections you see, or the connections you are trying to illustrate, among
your readings.
 Analyze, Synthesize, Interpret.
o A review paper is not a pure summary of the information you read for your
review. You are required to analyze, synthesize, and interpret the
information you read in some meaningful way. It is not enough to simply
present the material you have found, you must go beyond that and explain
its relevance and significance to the topic at hand. Establish a clear thesis
from the onset of your writing and examine which pieces of your reading
help you in developing and supporting the ideas in your thesis.
 Stay focused.
o Keep your discussion focused on your topic and more importantly your
thesis. Don't let tangents or extraneous material get in the way of a
concise, coherent discussion. A well focused paper is crucial in getting your
message across to your reader.
 Organize your points.
o Keeping your points organized makes it easier for the reader to follow along
and make sense of your review. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence
that relates back to your thesis. The headings used for this guide give you
some idea of how to organize the overall paper, but as far as the discussion
section goes use meaningful subheadings that relate to your content to
organize your points.
 Relate the discussion to your thesis.
o Your thesis should illustrate your objectives in writing the review and your
discussion should serve to accomplish your objectives. Make sure your keep
your discussion related to the thesis in order to meet your objectives. If you
find that your discussion does not relate so much to your thesis, don't panic,
you might want to revise your thesis instead of reworking the discussion.

Conclusions

Because the conclusions section often gets left for last it is often the weakest part of a
student review paper. It is as crucial a part of the paper as any and should be treated as
such.
A good conclusion should illustrate the key connections between your major points and
your thesis as well as they key connections between your thesis and the broader
discussion—what is the significance of your paper in a larger context? Make
some conclusions—where have you arrived as a result of writing this paper?

Be careful not to present any new information in the conclusion section.

References

Here you report all the works you have cited in your paper. The format for a references
page varies by discipline as does how you should cite your references within the paper.

Format for a review paper

Title page:

Title-- reflecting topic of review

Your Name

Date

Abstract: An abstract should be of approximately 200-300 words. Provide a brief

summary of the review question being addressed or rationale for the review, the major

studies reviewed, and conclusions drawn. Please do not cite references in the Abstract.

Introduction: Introduce the topic and your rationale for addressing this topic focusing

on why this topic is important. Clearly define exactly what this article will discuss, outline

the order in which you will discuss each subtopic to give the reader any background

information needed to understand the coming sections.

Body (subtopics being addressed): Although the structure may vary based in the

sub-topics or review questions being addresses. For example, if you are reviewing three

different methodologies, you might divide the body of the article into three sections,

each discussing one of the methods. In these sections, be sure to describe the research

methods and evaluate how studies were conducted focusing on the study design and

analysis e.g., intention to treat versus completers/retention rate, compare studies, and

discuss their implications.

Conclusions: You should develop the conclusion by briefly restating the rationale for

your review and the purpose of the article, then discussing the conclusions you have

drawn. You should also discuss the implications of your review findings and where you

think research in this field should go from here.

Literature Cited: Use a standardized referencing system. A widely used one in the

medical literature is the AMA style.

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