Literature Review Tips & Tools
On this guide, we share tips for doing any type of comprehensive literature review and tools that can help in the process.
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."
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. Different disciplines use different styles. Links to information about several commonly-used guides are listed below.
- 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
- 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.
- Using MLA Formatfrom the MLA Style Center
"Get started with MLA style. Learn how to document sources, set up your paper, and improve your teaching and writing."
