Q: What are the basic ingredients of a review or conceptual paper?

From your question, I understand that you are writing a literature review article, that is, a stand-alone article involving a detailed analysis of existing published literature on a particular topic. As per my understanding, it is a narrative literature review, that is, a theoretical or conceptual discussion of the literature, rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis.

As far as “ingredients” go, you will need to consider the structure and sequence of the paper.

Structurally, your paper should have the following elements.

• Introduction: Here, you provide the background and context for the review. You also need to talk about the purpose and objectives of the review, in other words, why you are doing this review.
• Body: Here, you summarize and evaluate the existing literature – and the information and knowledge it provides. If needed, you may have several sub-headings to talk about separate key points in the literature.
• Conclusion: Finally, you talk about the significant learnings from the review, including directions for further research.

Sequentially, you may organize your paper in any of the following ways based on the needs of your paper: chronologically, trend-wise, theme-wise, publication-based, or by some other methodological evaluation.

For more information, you may refer to the following resources:

• How should my literature review be structured?
• How do I write my literature review?
• How to write the literature review of your research paper