APA formatting, Literature Review-Master’s level
Here you will state the key information that is out there about your topic. You will share the source materials that exist which helped you to address your research question. It’s a good idea to state clearly what your bins are and how they relate to your topic. Essentially, you list out your topics in the order you will discuss them and give a broad statement linking them to your primary topic/research question.
Topic 1/Bin 1
Generally, this section will discuss your first “bin” or topic area. You will start each section by introducing the concept (ex: what are you talking about). Be sure to provide a clear statement about what you will discuss, how it was considered historically and current thinking surrounding your topic. You may take information out of your annotated bibliography for this section BUT be sure that you connect the annotations so that the whole section flows together. You can do this by including transition statements and focusing on how the information that you present addresses the topic sentence of this section and/or your research question (ie: what do these articles, when viewed together, tell you about the topic). The section should end with a brief summary.
This longer chapter (around 15 pages) provides the reader with a thorough overview of the literature related to your primary topic areas. It should provide the reader with the essential information that currently exists in the field related to your research question. It is a good idea to think of 3-4 primary areas of focus and then to concentrate on presenting a deep dive of those content areas.
Start by introducing your topic. Clearly state your research question and what you will discuss in the literature review. The introduction should summarize the key topics you will present, how they all fit together to address your question and the implications for clinical practice/the field.
Organize information using level 4 headings when needed
Subheadings can keep your work organized and cue the reader into the specifics about the topic. For example, you might have a general statement about response art. Then you might use subheadings to divide the discussion into (a) response art in general, (b) response art made during sessions and (c) response art in supervision. Each item in the previous sentence would be a subheading under the topic of Response Art.
Topic 2/Bin 2`
Organize information using level 4 headings when needed
Topic 3/Bin 3
Organize information using level 4 headings when needed
Bring all this Information Together (Synthesize)–Make a Statement about what all of this means using a level 3 heading like this one
This section is a synthesis of what you read/reviewed. Here you will make 3-4 key statements about your topic. Statements may be presented together or with separated level 4 headings. These statements need to be grounded in literature and relevant to your research question. You will back up each statement with the source materials you read (and you should have multiple sources for each idea/area).
Implications for the Field
In this section discuss what this review indicates to the practicing art therapist about your topic(s). This section is a synthesis of what you read in your individual articles-it brings all the information together to present a clear, concise, statement about what your work tells the practitioner about the work of the art therapist. Be sure to focus on the field of art therapy.
You will clearly identify what key pieces of information emerged from your literature review that are applicable to practice. Identify how these ideas are currently informing practice. Identify the overall suggestions that emerged from your review about continued or future practice. Be sure these ideas are supported and that they specifically relate to your research question and your topic area (often this information is in the suggestions/limitations section of your articles).
Conclusion
Finally, you summarize your overall literature review. A good way to do this is to (a) state your question, (b) re-state your key topic areas and how they related to the question, (c) summarize your key (biggest) bits of information related to the topic and (d) summarize what this all has to do with the field. You can do this in about 5 sentences. You then conclude by stating what you will do to address your topic-essentially what is the intention of your artmaking process. (ex: in the next section, I discuss my use of response art to better understand my internship site)