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Writing Literature Reviews: A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences

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This useful guide educates students in the preparation of literature reviews for term projects, theses, and dissertations. The authors provide numerous examples from published reviews that illustrate the guidelines discussed throughout the book.

New to the seventh



Each chapter breaks down the larger holistic review of literature exercise into a series of smaller, manageable steps

Practical instructions for navigating today’s digital libraries

Comprehensive discussions about digital tools, including bibliographic and plagiarism detection software

Chapter activities that reflect the book’s updated content

New model literature reviews Online resources designed to help instructors plan and teach their courses (www.routledge.com/9780415315746).

293 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

114 people are currently reading
193 people want to read

About the author

José L. Galvan

13 books2 followers
Jose L. Galvan (Ph.D., 1980, UT Austin) is Professor Emeritus at California State University, Los Angeles. His academic career spans 39 years, including appointments at UCLA; Teachers College, Columbia University; California State University, Los Angeles; and San Francisco State University.

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5 stars
66 (22%)
4 stars
102 (34%)
3 stars
94 (31%)
2 stars
23 (7%)
1 star
12 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
626 reviews3 followers
October 10, 2021
This was one of the required texts for my Academic Writing class, and because school takes away from my reading for pleasure time, I am counting this as one of my books for my yearly goal. :-)

This was a great refresher book on academic writing, and there were some really good tips on how to organize your notes/research and how best to approach beginning your literature review. I will definitely be keeping this book on the shelf as I go through my doctoral program, and it is useful for folks no matter WHERE they are in their academic career.
Profile Image for Deirdre.
150 reviews7 followers
November 11, 2020
A useful, practical, and easy to follow guide to completing a successful literature review. If you're looking for complex jargon in a boring instruction manual, you won't find it in this book. I started the book prior to starting my lit review and have just completed my first amateur review. This book definitely gave me the needed tools to get over the finish line.
Profile Image for Crystal.
65 reviews24 followers
August 24, 2017
An easy, comprehensive guide to writing a literature review. While it wasn't entirely appropriate for the level of the course that I'm currently taking, it would probably be a great help to college freshmen who have no idea what the hell it is they're doing.
Profile Image for Scott Whitney.
1,115 reviews14 followers
August 19, 2015
I did not pick this one up until the end of my degree. I should have picked it up sooner. The information is good, the ideas it has given me are going to be helpful for writing my final and I will probably use some of the information in this book for some of my honors students.
Profile Image for Stephen.
Author 4 books57 followers
July 24, 2011
READ APR 2009

Good high-level overview for academic writing in general, and writing literature reviews in particular.
Profile Image for Hannah.
623 reviews1 follower
February 15, 2020
This book was very informative on how to write literary reviews.
Profile Image for Mary.
14 reviews1 follower
October 15, 2023
A bit outdated with online/digital notations, however this book is a seminal work in how to write literature reviews. I found this very useful for my current research work, and I will absolutely reference this book again in the future!
Profile Image for Rob Moore.
115 reviews19 followers
March 7, 2021
Great overview of how to conduct a literature review. Clearly written, easy to digest, a good overview for people who are trying to do this well.
Profile Image for Sarah.
76 reviews
May 11, 2021
Review for the 6th edition:
A nice introduction to the topic for undergrads, review of the topic for grad students, and teaching resource for instructors.
Profile Image for Melissa Ganka-Collins.
380 reviews5 followers
June 30, 2025
All of this info is available on the internet now and can be organized using AI. A textbook guide is not needed.
Profile Image for Emmy.
339 reviews2 followers
June 12, 2015
I guess useful, but I don't want to ever have to need this ever again!
Profile Image for Nadia Jaramillo.
3 reviews5 followers
Read
January 11, 2015
Very useful and practical. Easy guidelines into writing the literature review
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

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