• specify the prior research that is the basis for the research question in the term paper; 

• identify relevant problems that have not been solved in full in prior research; 

• define the main concepts, theory, etc. required to address the research problem; 

• formulate hypotheses for further testing (in case, the research is going to employ quantitative methodology).

In most cases, the term paper focuses on a narrow research question. Hence, the overview of prior literature is based only on the relevant research question, not on the entire theme in general. Students should not discuss prior research that has only an indirect relationship to the research question.

The literature review should be based on only the most relevant and fundamental prior research (20 articles minimum) in top tier academic journals (4*, 4, 3, 2 Journals according to the ABS rating and Q1 and Q2 Journals according to SJR). In the literature review, references to textbooks are not allowed. The literature review should not consist of only a list of previous studies and the primary conclusions of these studies. In the literature review, students are required to organize prior studies in a systematic way, to identify similarities and differences in these studies, and justify the relevance of each prior study for the term paper. When different prior studies come to different conclusions, students should summarize these different conclusions and discuss which conclusion they agree with, using logical arguments and reasoning. At the end of the literature review section, in case of quantitative study, the students should specify the relationships between concepts to be analyzed based on the links to extant research for each hypothesis, justify and develop their hypotheses. The students should introduce the corresponding research streams for each hypothesis before it is formulated by starting with a critical review of the studies focusing on the relationship of interest. After outlining the main directions of the academic discussion on the relationship of interest, students formulate the hypotheses. This should be done separately for each hypothesis to adhere to the generally accepted standards for hypotheses’ development in academic journals of decent quality.