Research guides: Sociology and Legal Studies: LS/SOC 322

How to write a literature review

Below are come links with tips and suggestions for writing a great literature review

Literature Review Assignment Planner
This resource will help to identify the steps and stages of a literature review and to plan how much time to spend on each portion
Writing a Literature Review
Overview, How to Start and Plan your Literature Review

Citing

These guides can help you with your writing style & especially with formatting citations.

APA Citation StyleGuide
PDF from UWaterloo's Writing & Communication Center for APA citation style
APA interactive module
UWaterloo Library's interactive module for APA 7th edition (includes a quiz)

Librarian

Suggested Databases to Search

To find peer-reviewed academic articles try searching any of the following

Scopus
Peer-reviewed literature from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, covering the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
Coverage: 1966 - present
Sociological Abstracts
Articles, books, dissertations, and reviews in the social sciences on sociological topics as well as selected anthropology, criminology, demography, law, social psychology, and urban development.
Coverage: 1952 - present
PsycINFO
Articles, dissertations and book chapters in psychology and behavioral health.
Coverage: 1840 - present
Google Scholar
A search engine covering many disciplines and sources of scholarly literature.
Coverage: varies
Google Scholar is a search engine that emphasizes scholarly information, particularly in the sciences and technology. It draws from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities.

Note: Access To access materials paid for by your library, go to Google Scholar, then choose Settings and click "Library Links." The off-campus user will first need to login via "Get access from anywhere."

How Can I Tell If an Article is Peer-Reviewed?

Peer-reviewed articles may also be called “scholarly articles,” “academic articles,” or “referreed articles.” They are articles that have been reviewed by peers or experts in the author’s field of research/study. Not all articles in a peer-reviewed journal are peer-reviewed. Articles like book reviews or editorials for example are not peer reviewed.

Some clues that an article is peer-reviewed:

It's long. Generally peer-reviewed articles are at least 10 pages long
It references other research articles and has a list of citations
It has the author's contact information and scholarly credentials (i.e. where they work, their education)
It is published by an academic publisher or academic/professional association
It often has a Methods section along with a Results and Discussion section.

If you're still not sure, contact your instructor or a librarian.

Looking for ads?

Here are a selection of places you can search to find ads.

Ads of the World
This site provides access to award winning ads from around the world
AdForum
This site requires a subscription to view all materials but will allow you to view a limited selection for free.
Advertising Archive
This site specializes in older ads up to and including the 2010s. All ads are watermarked.