Introduction
When forming a theoretical foundation for research, it is important to carefully explore all of the existing studies and articles on the relevant topic. The literature review is one of the vital elements of all research articles, and therefore they need to be analyzed most thoroughly to ensure that it contains solid ideas and reputable sources. The analysis of two articles, “Corruption as an obstacle to development in developing countries” and “The role of governance in countering corruption,” shows that they both have quality literature review sections.
An Analysis of “Corruption as an obstacle to development in developing countries”
The article “Corruption as an obstacle to development in developing countries” was written by Olatunde Julius Otusanya and published in the Journal of Money Laundering Control. In terms of the selection of literature criterion, the author of the article carefully adhered to all the standards. First of all, the author indicated the scope and purpose of the review by clearly defining the five main sections of the research. The author dedicated each section to particular topics, including the nature of corruption and the role of professionals in anti-corruption practices. Thus, the article contains relevant and balanced coverage of every aspect of the researcher’s main topic. Moreover, the article contains the latest and most recent studies since there are many sources published within the last five years. Additionally, the article covers an extensive number of sources, namely, more than one hundred ones, which enables the author to establish development and limitations in all areas of the topic. The article follows correct referencing standards and mostly relies on primary sources, at the same time, it still has a considerable quantity of secondary sources.
Due to the fact that the entire paper was dedicated to a literature review, the author focused on all of the main aspects of the topic of corruption in developing countries. As a result, the paper has a logically ordered layout which is divided into seven sections, five of which contain explorations of different themes and ideas. The article does not focus author but on the main topics such as the involvement of politicians in corrupt practices and the cost and effect of corrupt practices in developing countries. Moreover, the literature review has a gradual transition from the broader concept of corruption to a specific topic of the impact of corruption schemes on developing countries. The author provides an adequate critique of various research limitations, for instance, they criticize the Corruption Perceptions Index stating that it shows only one side of the corruption equation (Otusanya, 2011). The article presents a thorough account of all the debates and controversies and features studies supporting different perspectives. The article is clearly relevant to the problem of corruption in general and in developing countries and constitutes a valuable source of information.
Although the author presents many different perspectives on various topics in the sphere of corruption, they still manage to make interpretation of the information. Essentially, the author does not simply make a summary of the literature but makes their conclusions based on their analysis. For instance, they conclude that the Corruption Perceptions Index entails problematic measurements and cannot be used as the only tool to explore corruption. Moreover, the implications made by the author provide both theoretical and empirical justification for the research hypothesis. Specifically, the author formulates an implication that corruption has a highly determinantal effect on developing countries which aligns with the paper’s purpose of identifying the effects of corruption on developing countries. Additionally, the author discovers that corruption leads to the reduction of the quality of life and a decline in average life expectancy, which are also the effects of corruption constituting the purpose of the research. The implications also provide a rationale for the research design since the author state that the literature review is an effective methodology for exploring the perspectives concerning corruption in developing countries.
An Analysis of “The role of governance in countering corruption”
The article “The role of governance in countering corruption: an African case study” by Anton Earle was published in Water Policy. Although the author does not define the purpose of the review, he still outlines the main scope of the research. Specifically, the literature review of the paper covers the topic of the relationship between governance and corruption. As a result, the author includes balanced coverage of the existing literature concerning governance in relation to corruption. The studies which the author includes as part of the literature review are all relevant and recent since the majority of them were published within the past five years (Earle, 2007). The author includes a considerable number of sources to show the development of the main topic, yet they do not present any limitations existing in the literature. The author correctly references all of the sources and lists all of the cited materials in the bibliography section of the paper. The article mostly utilizes primary sources, yet there are also secondary ones such as Forbes magazine.
The author keeps a clear and logical order when analyzing the existing literature and divides the review into several sections. The first part is dedicated to the phenomena of corruption and governance, while the second part is allocated to the topic of the Lesotho Highlands case. Essentially, the paper focuses on different themes and ideas rather than on the authors themselves, which enables it to make a move from broader concepts to narrower ones. For instance, the author first introduces the notion of governance and then transitions to the overview of the literature on the theme of governance’s role in corruption. Nevertheless, the author does not provide an adequate critique of the research limitations or methodology of the studies reviewed as part of the analysis. The author also does not mention any academic and scientific debates and controversies in the field they analyze; therefore, there are no attempts to compare the existing studies. At the same time, the sources reviewed by the author are all relevant to the main problem of the article and provide substantial information.
The author was able to make an interpretation of the available literature and concluded that in order to ensure a high quality of governance, it was necessary to tackle corruption. The main implication of the article provides an empirical justification for the purpose of the study to determine the measures necessary for combating corruption and improving governance. The implication also provides a rationale for the research design since it shows that a case study is a correct methodology for discovering the actual ways to overcome corruption and enhance governance.
Conclusion
The articles “Corruption as an obstacle to development in developing countries” and “The role of governance in countering corruption” constitute examples of studies with proper literary reviews. Both of the articles analyze the most relevant and latest sources which enable the authors to make implications and to show the development in the areas of research. The articles are clearly ordered and have logical layouts which transition from broader concepts to specific ones.
References
Earle, A. (2007). The role of governance in countering corruption: An African case study. Water Policy, 9(2), 69–81.
Otusanya, O. (2011). Corruption as an obstacle to development in developing countries: A review of literature. Journal of Money Laundering Control, 14(4), 387–422.