Literature Reviews, Systematic Reviews & More for Health Sciences
Writing Resources on Campus
Check out these resources on campus for help with your writing
- University Writing CenterWriting Center tutors work with undergrad, graduate, staff, post-doc, and faculty writers on any academic genre at any point in the writing process
- UMass Amherst Graduate School Dissertation Writing Retreats"Open to graduate students from all departments who are at the dissertation-writing stage, these retreats offer extensive structured time to write and develop effective writing strategies alongside fellow dissertators."
- Commonwealth Honors College Honors Thesis Workshops & Resources"The Honors Thesis will be one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences you’ll have as an Honors student. It might feel daunting at first, but Commonwealth Honors College offers a number of ways to help you succeed, including how-to workshops, advising support, a dedicated faculty writing coach, and faculty mentoring."
Organizational Tools
- Bubbl.usFree online brainstorming/mindmapping tool that also has a free iPad app.
- CoggleAnother free online mindmapping tool.
- Literature Reviews from The Writing Center at University of North Carolina at Chapel HillGives several suggestions and descriptions of ways to organize your lit review.
Citation/Reference Managers
If creating citations has you stressed, there are several different tools out there that will help you with formatting. To learn more about what citation managers can do and to see a handy chart comparing the tools UMass Amherst Libraries support, click the link below!
You can also check out the pages on this guide for Zotero and Mendeley to learn more about them.
Citation Guides
Not only do you need to cite your sources, but you need to format them according to a particular style. Your instructor will often ask you to use a certain style in your paper. Here are links for more information about the styles commonly used in the health sciences:
**NOTE: Many databases provided by the Libraries will generate citations that are not always 100% accurate! When using APA or AMA style, always check the capitalization of words in the article title and the journal title to make sure they are correct.**
- APA Style 7th Edition Reference Quick Guidean overview of formatting citations in APA 7 from the APA Style team
- APA Style - Style & Grammar Guidelines for Referencesfrom APA Style website
- APA Citation Style Guidefrom Purdue University
Guide in print:
Du Bois Library: UM Reference Desk / BF76.7 .P83 2010
OR
Science & Engineering Library: UM Science Reference / BF76.7 .P83 2010 / Reference - AMA Manual of Style - 11th EditionE-book version of the latest American Medical Association style guide. (Limited to 3 users at a time.)
- AMA Style Guidefrom University of Washington
Guide in print:
Science & Engineering Library: UM Science Reference / R119 .A533 2009 - NLM Journal AbbreviationsAllows you to get the NLM abbreviation for a journal title to use in AMA citation format. Can also look up abbreviation to find full journal title.
- Chicago Manual of Style This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
The widely-used citation and style guide for scholarly writing.
