Identifies the student’s specific literature review topic, explicitly articulating a unifying, overarching theme that will guide the project Literature Review: Summarizes the general state of the lit

PSYC 699: Literature Review Rubric

	Exemplary	Accomplished	Developing	Beginning	Did not attempt
Introduction
Statement of Problem 30 pts	Detailed statement of the problem and why it is important to study.	Statement of the problem and why it is important to study. Some details are vague.	Statement of problem and why it is important to study. Needs clarification and elaboration.	Statement of problem and why it is important to study are included but incoherent.	No attempt to include statement of problem.
Context of Problem 30 pts	Detailed examination of existing literature to establish background for study. Key terms and theories defined.	Examination of existing literature to establish background for study. Key terms and theories defined. Some details are vague.	Examination of existing literature to establish background for study. Key terms and theories defined. Needs clarification and elaboration.	Examination of existing literature done in the field. Literature is not relevant to thesis. Key terms and theories are incoherent or irrelevant to thesis.	No attempt to include context of problem.
Relevance to field 30 pts	Detailed description of how literature review contributes to field of psychology.	Description of how literature review contributes to field of psychology. Some details are vague.	Description of how literature review contributes to field of psychology. Needs clarification and elaboration.	Some description of how literature review contributes to field of psychology. Description is not relevant to thesis.	No attempt to include relevance to field.
Relevance to student’s professional interests 30 pts	Detailed description of how literature review contributes to student’s professional interests	Description of how literature review contributes to student’s professional interests. Some details are vague.	Description of how literature review contributes to student’s professional interests. Needs clarification and elaboration.	Some description of how literature review contributes to student’s professional interests. Description is not relevant to thesis.	No attempt to include relevance to student’s professional interests.
Literature Review
Literature Sampling Approach 30 pts	Literature sampling approach and techniques are clearly articulated and can be reproduced.	Literature sampling approach and techniques are clearly articulated and can be reproduced.	Literature sampling approach and techniques are vague. Needs clarification and elaboration.	Some description of literature sampling approach and techniques. Description is insufficient to reproduce.	No attempt to explain literature sampling approach.
Critical Analyses of Literature 30 pts	Thorough summary of the general state of the literature (cumulative knowledge base) on the specific research question by synthesizing themes, methods, results, and/or theoretical frameworks used in current literature.	Summary of the general state of the literature (cumulative knowledge base) on the specific research question by synthesizing themes, methods, results, and/or theoretical frameworks used in current literature.	Summary of the general state of the literature (cumulative knowledge base) on the specific research question with some synthesis of themes, methods, results, and/or theoretical frameworks used in current literature. At times, analysis is incoherent and/or is not relevant to thesis.	Some description of the general state of the literature (cumulative knowledge base) on the specific research question. Themes, methods, results, and/or theoretical frameworks used in current literature are not addressed. Analysis is incoherent and/or is not relevant to thesis.	No attempt to analyze literature.
Summary 30 pts	Succinct summary of each section before transitioning to the next section included.	Summary of each section before transitioning to the next section included. Some details are missing.	Summary of each section before transitioning to the next section included. Needs clarification and elaboration.	Summary of some sections before transitioning to the next section included. Summary is incoherent or not relevant to thesis.	No attempt to include a summary of each section before transitioning to the next section.
Discussion
Main Themes & Meaning of Findings 30 pts	Clear identification of main themes. Detailed synthesis of conclusions from literature review to alter conceptualizations of existing paradigms or establish new paradigms.	Identification of main themes. Synthesis of conclusions from literature review to alter conceptualizations of existing paradigms or establish new paradigms. Some details are missing.	Some main themes identified. Synthesis of conclusions from literature review to alter conceptualizations of existing paradigms or establish new paradigms. Needs clarification and elaboration.	Few to no main themes identified. Incomplete or incoherent synthesis of conclusions from literature review to alter conceptualizations of existing paradigms or establish new paradigms.	No attempt to identify main themes. No synthesis of conclusion from literature review.
Contribution to Field 30 pts	Detailed explanation of new knowledge gained through literature findings and how the findings contribute to field’s understanding of the overall topic.	Explanation of new knowledge gained through literature findings and how the findings contribute to field’s understanding of the overall topic. Some details are missing.	Some explanation of new knowledge gained through literature findings and how the findings contribute to field’s understanding of the overall topic. Need for clarification and elaboration.	Minimal explanation of new knowledge gained through integration of literature findings and how the findings contribute to field’s understanding of the overall topic.	No attempt to explain new knowledge gained through literature findings and how the findings contribute to field’s understanding of the overall topic.
Implications for Future Research 30 pts	Detailed, insightful recommendations for future research, with supporting rationale.	Detailed recommendations for future research, with supporting rationale.	Recommendations for future research, with some supporting rationale. Need for clarification and elaboration.	Some recommendations for future research. Recommendations are vague and lack supporting rationale.	No attempt to include recommendations for future research.
Conclusion 30 pts	Clear, succinct summary of entire paper and findings.	Clear summary of entire paper and findings.	Some summary of entire paper and findings. Need for clarification and elaboration.	Brief, vague summary of entire paper and findings.	No attempt to include summary of paper findings.
Writing/Formatting
Writing/Formatting 30 pts	Work is presented in a logical and coherent way and maintains an academic tone. Writing is clear, articulate, and error free. Citations are composed in proper format with few or no errors. Scholarly resources are used. EOP formatting of Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents, and APA format for References.	Work is grammatically sound with a few minor errors and maintains an academic tone. Citations are composed in proper format with some errors. Scholarly resources are used. EOP formatting of Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents, and APA format for References.	Work contains frequent grammatical errors. At times, work does not maintain an academic tone. Citations are inaccurate or improperly formatted. Some scholarly resources are used. Minor errors in EOP formatting of Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents, and APA format for References.	Work does not demonstrate appropriate graduate level writing. Work does not maintain an academic tone. Citations are inaccurate or improperly formatted. Scholarly resources are not used. Errors in EOP formatting of Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents, and APA format for References.	No attempt to cite information or format in APA style. Scholarly resources not used.