A. Purposes

1. Learn as much as you can from the efforts and work of others
2. Prevents duplication or identifies replication needs
3. Identifies the frontier of knowledge and the potential research contribution
4. Provides ideas and directions

B. Conduct

1. Literature search: search for journal articles, book chapters or working papers [only; no books, mag articles, web pages, etc]. . Start at Belk Library: Research Guide for Economics. Also consider working papers (RePEc, SSRN) and Google Scholar. Note some economics journals rankings.
2. Engage in active reading: take notes while you read [and make sure you actually read the paper!]
3. Summarize each paper: Should include the (a) purpose of the paper, (b) a description of the data, (c) the form of empirical model estimated [y = xb; what is y? what is x?], and (d) results
4. Last paragraph: Analyze, compare and contrast

C. Examples

1. Journals of literature reviews: Journal of Economic Literature, Journal of Economic Surveys
2. Do this: The effects of cocaine and heroin price on drug-related emergency department visits
3. Don't do this: Economic Theory and Experimental Economics

D. Details

1. At least 5 references
2. Content: analyze, compare and contrast. Identify gaps in the literature.
3. Length: The literature review should be between 1 and 2 pages.
4. Format: 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins all around, double-spacing (no extra spaces)
5. References should be set out in alphabetical order of the author's name in a list at the end of the paper. They should be given in a standard form, as in the following example:
   
   Dasgupta, Partha and Stiglitz, Joseph, "Industrial structure and the nature of innovative activity," Economic Journal 90: 266-293, 1980.