Literature Review
Write a review of the literature in a specific area of interest in science, the topic is Literature Review: Mechanism on Long Term Depression (LTD) Induction.
The literature review serves several purposes. For the writer, it forces an in-depth reading of the science that has already been established. Not only does the writer read everything done in that topic, but he or she synthesizes the existing science, gaining insight into what is known and what still has to be done. The review serves the same purpose for the reader, but it has the benefit that someone else has already done the legwork. Reviews are sometimes written at a slightly more general level of discourse so that readers in related fields can see the state of scientific investigation in a highly specialized topic. The “literature” in a well-developed subfield within a mature science may run to hundreds of sources, and so reviews typically incorporate a considerable amount of published work.
You will write your own much shorter and more focused literature review. Choose the topic as stated above. This tightly-focused topic will greatly narrow the field for you as you gather sources. You might start with one report that you find interesting and useful, then try working backward, using the source articles in the “References” page. As much as you can, you should write your review at the level of discourse of the scientists who have written your source material. This can be challenging, particularly if you are still struggling to understand the field. So choose your articles well.
You must include five primary sources. For this assignment, use peer-reviewed journal articles only, and do not use someone else’s literature review as a source. The sources should be very recent, no more five years old.
Your review should conform to this format:
1. Title: make it quite specific and indicative that this is a review.
2. Abstract.
3. Introduction: briefly introduce the subject, explain your rationale and/or purpose, and announce the main point or central question.
4. Body: summarize, synthesize, and critique each source article. Include some comparison and contrast to show the relationship of these separate pieces of science.
5. Conclusion: briefly summarize the current state of knowledge, and suggest directions for future research.
6. References: include a References page and parenthetical citations.