Starting with the common elements of structure that are discussed in chapter 8. Usually following the different structures of either quantitative, qualitative, or a mixture of the two called, “Mixed-methods”. In quantitative writing it usually follows the case of IMRaD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). The Introduction is where evidence or what is already know is most likely to be found in the report. Methods is when either quantitative, qualitative, or mixed are identified in the report. Results are usually presented by using heading as opposed to a title when following the IMRaD format. In the chapter there is an example of a results heading with a subheading just below it, showing that this is where they would be found. Other examples of structure of a report are conclusions, abstracts, acknowledgements, references, and titles. These all are headings or explanations where something would be when writing.

Another common element is language. Such examples include active and passive voice. Examples of this would be how the sentence is laid out. When the topic of the sentence comes first that is active voice, ie, “They asked her” would be active. “She was asked”, would be passive. Hedging is another example of language. This is when authors want to make a comment that isn’t completely fact without making a false claim. Using phrases like “seems as if”, “looks like”.

In regard to reference in writing there are different ways to have it. MLA, APA are examples of in text documentation. Paraphrasing is also reference, when not making a direct quote one would need to paraphrase or summarize.

How to organize sources for a literature review? When you have little knowledge on a topic it might be less of a review and more about learning about that topic. When you are comfortable with a topic you have more knowledge of organizing the information and honing in a specific topic you know a lot about without research. After picking your topic research comes next. After researching and organizing your topic, you need to synthesize your sources. This means the trends among research. How does the research from one person compare to different research from someone else.