Read the first sample literature review (Review A) near the end of this book and respond to the following questions. Note that you will want to read this review again after you have learned more about the process of writing a literature review. The questions below ask only for your first, general impressions. Later, you will be able to critique the review in more detail.

• Have the reviewers clearly identified the topic of the review? Have they indicated its delimitations? (For instance, is it limited to a certain type of individual or certain period of time? Does it deal only with certain aspects of the problem?)

Yes, the topic of review was cyberbulling. Their particular area of study is for cyberbullying among college students in the United States, but they reviewed all types of bullying and all age ranges of adolescents, not just college students, 

• Have the reviewers written a cohesive essay that guides you through the literature from subtopic to subtopic? Explain.

The reviewers did a nice job of starting the review with the emotional hook of suicides resulting from bullying, then discussing the differences from traditional bullying to cyberbulling.  From there they began to review the statics of how widespread cyberbullying is. This section looked at cyberbullying among adolescents of all ages and all studies available, not just those in the United States. 

• Have the reviewers interpreted and critiqued the literature, or have they merely summarized it?

  In the article, the reviewers looked at several different studies and gave the statistics that were found in each study, but then critiqued them showing their weaknesses like the lack of the target sample "more research utilizing a college-age sample is necessary to better understand the prevalence rate among this population" (Schenk, A. M., & Remouw, W. J., 2012, p. 126). 

• Overall, do you think the reviewers make an important contribution to knowledge through their synthesis of the literature? Explain.

Yes, overall this is a good review of the literature on cyberbullying, with a focus on college age students. The gap in the literature is shown as numerous studies from a variety of countries and age ranges were reviewed, but showed there were few studies specifically focusing on college students in the United States. I did have a little trouble following exactly the college focus for a while that was in the title of the article, but I believe there point was to show the lack of research in that area. The other confusing aspect to me were the sections about the Impact of Cyberbully victimization and the methods for coping with cyberbullying. I was having trouble following the prevalence then the other sections seemed a little out of place. 

Galvan, J. L. (2013). Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences (5th ed.). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing.

1. When you are assigned a research paper in a course, do you welcome it as an opportunity to learn, or do you see it as a burden or unwelcome task?
I would say I am between welcome and neutral. I do enjoy researching and writing, it is more of the "grade" that I find stressful and that is because of the small details of APA style that I may not get correct. 

2. How confident are you in your ability to use supporting material (quotations, examples, research) effectively to strengthen your ideas in a paper?
Moderately confident.
I do well with with direct quotations that help to support my viewpoint. I have more difficulty effectively summarizing multiple articles that discuss the same point and integrating them effectively in my papers.

3. How confident are you in your ability to paraphrase an idea for use in a research paper?
less than confident
As stated above, this is probably my weakest point. I worry that the paraphrase may be too close to the original, or once I have seen the actual quote I have a hard time thinking of how to restate it in other words. 

4. How much formal training have you had regarding plagiarism and how to avoid it?
some
Being a teacher in the public school system and in the department of technology and media services, our county department heads provide training about plagiarism that we are to teach the kids. It may be on a a different level, but it still does provide the basics of the training.

5. In writing a research paper, how easy have you found it to incorporate sources that conflict with your central argument or idea?
somewhat challenging
Honestly, I don't know that I have concentrated on making sure I truly show both sides of the argument. I may tell one or two studies or view points, but as a whole I haven't developed that as I should have in the past. 

6. How confident are you that you know the rules for using sources well enough to avoid unintentional plagiarism?
I would say I am neutral
There are many rules I feel like I know, needing to cite sources even if it is just the idea, but I feel there may be areas of which I am not aware that would cause me to commit unintentional plagiarism.

As I have read these beginning chapters in Harris (2014), I have a better understanding of the importance of looking at a variety of sources and understanding to use sources to still support what may be your own spin on the idea. I will be diligently working to learn more and more of the rules for citation to make sure I don't commit unintentional plagiarism, and also making sure I fully expose both sides of the argument, whether I agree with it or not.

Harris, R. A. (2014). Using sources effectively: Strengthening your writing and avoiding plagiarism (4th ed.). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak.