February 22nd, 2020 
Final Research Paper: Instructions & Requirements
Students are required to conduct a literature review on the following research question/topic:
How stakeholder engagement affects IT projects?
Part of this literature review, some of the items that need to be addressed are:
Define stakeholders
Describe stakeholder management
List pros and cons of stakeholder management
The purpose of this literature review is to provide an in-depth overview of research pertinent to
the subject topic. You will need to identify current relevant research papers (i.e. published since
2015); classify your selected papers; and use your references to tell the story (i.e. how other
researchers support this topic). The focus of the literature review must be on IT projects.
Your final research paper should contain a title page, an introduction, an overview of literature
review, a results/discussion section, a section on conclusion and recommendations, and a
reference page.
Introduction
The introduction of this literature review should include the research question and purpose, scope
of the literature review, significance of the topic study, and background information. This section
sets the theoretical framework for your research paper.
Overview of Literature Review
This section of your literature review should summarize the findings of relevant studies that you
have identified and selected. For each study, you should briefly explain its purpose, procedure
for data collection and major findings. In addition, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
particular studies.
Remember that a literature review should not be a listing of articles or researchers but rather a flowing article incorporating both prose and citations.
Results/Discussion
This section should synthesize and analyzes the literature with focus on central ideas relevant to the topic; critically evaluate sources and perspectives; highlight any consensus or disagreement on the topic; identify gaps and controversies, as well as study limitations if relevant.
Conclusion and Recommendations
This section should briefly summarize key literature review results and provides a compelling argument/conclusion that is appropriately qualified (given study limitations). In addition, provide recommendations for future research.
The final research paper will be graded as per the following breakdown:
Introduction ————————————————-15 points
Overview of Literature Review —————————20 points
Results/Discussion——————————————35 points
Conclusion and Recommendations———————–10 points
Clarity, Organization, Grammar and Spelling———-10 points
APA Style and Referencing——————————-10 points
Total ——————————————————– 100 points
The length of final research paper must be at least 1200 words (not including title or reference pages.) Use double-spaced APA style. The paper must include a minimum of six APA-compliant references and corresponding in-text citations. At least four of your references must be scholarly peer reviewed articles. Most references must be current/recent, published since 2015. The University of the Cumberlands Library provides myriad of online resources to assist students with proper research. Recommend taking advantage of this highly useful source for your research.
Check for plagiarism BEFORE submitting!! Safe Assign will be used to analyze your paper for
any plagiarism. For guidance to avoid plagiarism, please check Content>Week 1: Getting Started
folder.
Please submit your final research paper via your assignment folder as a Microsoft word
attachment in the week 7 folder by the end of week 7 session.
Recommended Readings
In addition to the Graduate Writing Resources provided under the Week 1: Getting Started
folder, you will find the following sources/links useful in conducting and writing your literature
review:
Guidelines for writing a literature review:
http://www.d.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litreview.html
Examples of literature reviews:
https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring81/maguire81.htm
Literature Reviews: https://libguides.csuchico.edu/c.php?g=414315&p=2822687
Research and Citation Resources:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html
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