Criminal Justice/Criminology

Research Requirement:

Good morning! I wanted to provide you with specific information on the Literature Review assignment so you can begin working on it. REMEMBER...this assignment builds on the annotated bibliography assignment. Read these instructions in its entirety! There are specific requirements that you must fulfill to have this assignment eligible for grading. Course Learning Objectives: This assignment builds on the previous, annotated bibliography assignment. You should use the sources contained in the annotated bibliography to support the literature review assignment. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the nature, components, and methods of social science research, including problem formation, sampling design, measurement, data collection and operationalization, analysis, drawing conclusions, and analyzing the implications to and for the criminal justice system and its components. Assignment Instructions: STEP 1: The literature search - Find out what has been written on your subject.  IMPORTANT NOTE: (CLARIFICATION: You've found sources written about your subject, e.g. the annotated bibliography. Now, provide information on how the information in the source pertains to your research). STEP 2: Noting the bibliographical details - Write down the full bibliographical details of each book or article as soon as you find a reference to it.  STEP 3: Finding the literature - Once you have what looks like a list of relevant texts, you have to find them. STEP 4: Reading the literature - Take notes as you read the literature. STEP 5: Writing the review - Having gathered the relevant details about the literature, you now need to write the review.  Structural Requirements for the Literature Review: The literature review is to be between 7-10 pages in length. This DOES NOT include the title page, abstract, nor references. The text in the document should be either Times New Roman or Arial type, 12-point font, with 1–inch margins on all 4 sides of the paper. The final document must be properly formatted using APA style citation guidelines (e.g. new paragraphs indented, uniformly double spaced, with appropriate headings to identify changes in thought and or topic (ex. heading 1 = Introduction; heading 2 = Literature Review; heading 3 = Discussion/Conclusion)). You must also provide a minimum ten (10) scholarly sources – professional and academic journal articles, governmental reports, and other legitimate research sources. The sources should be included in your reference page and properly formatted according to APA guidelines. REMEMBER...you already have the sources from the annotated bibliography assignment...but feel free to add additional sources if needed. Additional Requirements for the Literature Review Assignment: You are required to submit a draft of your literature review to the writing center for feedback…AND…provide documentation that you've done so. The purpose of this is to ensure that you not only have your paper properly structured, but you've worked through other common issues associated with academic writing (e.g. citations, proper use of quotations, and overall APA formatting). Make sure you have a significant draft of your literature review completed before submitting it for review to the writing center. By significant draft, I mean a minimum of 5 completed pages of the document should be completed, so that a review of what you've completed can be done and that ample feedback on your progress can be provided. You should also submit a list of references used to that point so that they can check your formatting. Once you've submitted your document for review and you’ve received feedback, you will upload verification in the same dropbox as the final draft of the literature review.  If proof isn't provided, your literature review will not be graded. Important Note: Do not confuse a literature review with an annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography deals with each text, in turn, describing and evaluating the text, using one paragraph for each text. In contrast, a literature review synthesizes many texts in one paragraph. Each paragraph of the literature review should serve as a culmination of the issues, thoughts, solutions associated with those themes associated with your topic and how they are relevant to your interests and research you’ve conducted on the chosen topic. Thus, each paragraph or section of your review should deal with a different aspect of the literature. Your literature review must have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The paper will be graded according to the insight, analysis, interpretation, clarity, and degree of supportive research presented. Grammatical mistakes (e.g., spelling, punctuation, fragmented sentences, and run-on sentences) will cause a reduction in the final grade. Missing or improperly structured support material (citations, lists of references, etc.) will affect the paper and will result in grade reduction.