Is three days enough to gather sources for my literature review?
I'm a community college sophomore planning to transfer and my professor wants a 5‑page literature review due tomorrow night. I have a 2,500‑word limit and need to use APA style, but I only have a few hours left and I'm not sure how many articles I should actually read and cite. I've already skimmed three journal articles, but I feel overwhelmed trying to decide if that's sufficient or if I need to pull more sources quickly.
1 Answer
Three days is definitely enough time to pull this off, but you have to be strategic rather than trying to read every single word of every article you find. Since you are already at the finish line with three articles, you are in a better spot than you think. For a five-page paper, aiming for six to eight solid sources is usually the sweet spot; it gives you enough substance to synthesize different viewpoints without burying yourself in research you won't have time to process. Think of it like packing for a weekend trip: you don't need to bring your entire closet, just the key outfits that make the most sense for the weather. I know how stressful this feels when the clock is ticking and your brain is starting to feel like mush. It is totally normal to feel overwhelmed, but try to stop hunting for more sources and focus on what you already have. Use the abstracts and the conclusion sections of those three articles to see which ones they cite, and grab two or three more that look directly relevant to your main argument. Once you have a handful of sources, stop searching and start writing. You can absolutely hit that word count by focusing on how these authors agree or disagree with each other rather than just summarizing them one by one. You have got the skills to get this done, so just take a deep breath, trust your research, and start putting those ideas on the page.
Have a similar question?
Ask the community →