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Literature Review
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What is Literature Review?

A literature review is a structured survey of existing research on a given subject, designed to map what is already known, identify gaps, and establish context for new inquiry. It appears across virtually every academic discipline — from medicine and social science to education and business — because nearly every field requires writers to situate their arguments within an ongoing scholarly conversation. What makes the form academically demanding is that it requires critical synthesis rather than simple summary: writers must evaluate sources, trace patterns across findings, and build a coherent understanding of how a topic has developed over time.

The papers archived here reflect the breadth of subjects that a literature review can address. Some take a clinical or scientific orientation, examining topics such as kidney transplantation, stem cell treatment of leukemia, and maggot debridement therapy for necrotic tissue. Others focus on social and policy concerns, including teen pregnancy risk factors, fatherless homes and child development, affordable housing for low-income families, and special education referral processes for Haitian students. Still others address organizational and research methodology questions, such as pay-for-performance models, scenario planning, and international research methods. Across all these angles, the core task remains the same: synthesizing journal-based evidence to support a focused argument.

A strong literature review establishes a clearly scoped research question and organizes sources thematically or conceptually rather than listing them one by one. Evidence drawn from peer-reviewed journals carries the most weight, and writers should prioritize recent, field-specific studies. The most common pitfall is letting the review become purely descriptive — strong papers consistently evaluate the quality, limitations, and implications of the sources they discuss.

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Paper Undergraduate
Critique of Minor's Faculty Senate Models in University Governance
Minor's "Understanding Faculty Senates: Moving From Mystery to Models": A Critique
Research Paper Undergraduate
Cystic Fibrosis: Diagnosis, Imaging, and Treatment Advances
Cystic Fibrosis in the Modern Era disease that steals a childhood, adolescence and adulthood in an assault on the lungs and other vital organs that cause every living action to revolve around the diagnosis, care, and…
Research Paper Undergraduate
Tall Buddies: Peer-Assisted Learning for Elementary Schools
Tall Buddies: Peer-Assisted Learning Initiative for Elementary Schools
Paper Undergraduate
Women's Contributions to the Progress of Knowledge: Buckle Revisited
This study examines different types of knowledge and how women have affected progress in these domains through a critical review of the relevant literature, including open source media such as Wikipedia, but peer-reviewed and scholarly sources as well concerning H. T. Buckle's discourse from 1858 concerning the contributions of women to the progress of knowledge. A summary of the research and a synthesis of the findings are presented in the study's conclusion concerning the contributions of women to the progress of knowledge in the years since Buckle's original discourse.
Paper Undergraduate
Supply Chain Planning Under Uncertainty: A Real Options Approach
In a manufacturer's quest to manage its supply and demand chains, one simple word aptly portrays a certain, common, contemporary concern that a company can count on having to cope with - uncertainty.
Paper Undergraduate
Manager Likeability and Its Impact on Leadership Success
The likeability of a manager will determine how effective they are on transactionally-oriented tasks while also being a very accurate predicator of hwo effective they will be in more transformational roles in an organization. The intent of this analysis is to define likeability from a leadership standpoint, illustrating how this aspect of a leader's personality must be authentic, transparent in approach and genuine in how a leader earns and keeps the trust of subordinates, peers and superiors. A likeable person is by definition one that is known for their friendliness or the ability to create an ongoing dialogue that includes a significant level of self-disclosure and ability to communicate with accuracy, clarity and honesty (George, 1995). A likeable leader is one that has the ability to combine friendliness, relevance of communication to others, empathy or the capacity to feel what others are also feeling ands enunciate those emotions, all unified by a very strong level of authenticity, integrity and realness (Gabriel, Griffiths, 2002). All of these factors together define a likeable person, and add in the willingness of a leader to self-sacrifice, create and stay consistent with roles in an organization that capitalize on the unique strengths of an associate, and a strong foundation of transformational leadership begins to emerge. One of the key findings of this study is that to the extent a manager has the ability to create and sustain a high level of trust with subordinates is the extent to which they are able to also sustain transformational leadership in a team. While leaders have varying levels and depths of skills that contribute to their ability to be transformational in the scope of their work, those with demonstrated high levels of emotional intelligence (EI) combined with the four foundational aspects of transformational leadership skills consistently have a higher level of likeability than their more transaction-oriented counterparts (Gabriel, Griffiths, 2002). In evaluating if likeability leads to greater leadership performance, a model of proposed Likeability and Organizational Transformation has been created and is presented in this analysis. The existing body of research indicates that likeability is one of the foundational elements of effective transformational leadership, yet it does not exist in isolation. The accumulated research completed for this study indicates that likeability of a leader is highly correlated to their level of EI. The dimensions of EI have a direct, predictive effect on how likeable and effective a leader will be. Another finding from this analysis is that likeability by itself does not guarantee a leader will be effective; it is only their ability to translate EI-based skills in conjunction with a very strong foundation of transformational skills that they are able to accomplish challenging goals and propel an organization to fulfill its shared vision. This study also concludes that likeability is also not essential for success either, as the many examples from leaders and CEOs renowned for being very difficult to work with who have propelled their organizations to leadership positions in their industries. Larry Ellison of Oracle, known for being exceptionally demanding and for creating a culture of mistrust and intense internal competition is not likeable according to the dimensions of the research completed for this study. He is however exceptionally effective in driving his organization to attain its vision and mission. What this study has found is that when the triad factors of Emotional Intelligence (EI), trust and transformational leadership are combined, leaders increase the propensity of being liked. These three factors combined provide leaders with a solid foundation of being effective in their roles as well. Likeability does not assure results however. Figure 1, Analysis of Key Factors of Likeability, shows how these three factors must be balanced and in proportion to each other in a leader's management style to be effective. Deficiencies in EI for example could lead to a very collegial work environment yet the leader would not know how and when to define tasks and key strategies to accomplish objectives over time. All three must be balanced in order for a catalyst of continued progress to be formed and stabilized within an organization.
Paper Undergraduate
Non-Traditional Students: Retention, Attrition & Campus Support
In the 1980s a major switch happened in the culture and population of colleges and universities. Instead of the stereotypical 18-year-old recent high school graduate, the non-traditional student became the norm on campus.
Paper Undergraduate
Gender-Based Education in Middle Schools: A Literature Review
For many decades there have been disparities in education along the lines of gender. Some of these disparities were as a result of sexism and an unwillingness to teach female students.
Paper Doctorate
Elder Abuse and Neglect: Psychological, Physical, and Medical Impacts
The Varying Byproduct and Impact of Abuse
Paper Undergraduate
Scenario Planning in Strategic Management: A Literature Review
In Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, habit #2 for success is to begin with the end in mind (Covey, 1989). Nothing epitomizes this habit more than the job of the strategic manager.