ABSTRACT
Academic writing is a conversation in progress, where scientific theories and knowledge are being built, corroborated, debated, and debunked, often based on new empirical evidence or fresh analysis that has been added to the conversation. All claims that are made in an academic article must be backed up with evidence, and that evidence comes in two types: from the literature, or from your own data. The literature review is made up of the first type. It relies on things other people have said in the literature before turning to the data as evidence for claims. In both cases, the writer must connect the claims made to the evidence that supports it. The primary way this is done when claims are based on other sources is to acknowledge the source through citation.
