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From a Class Paper to a Publishable Review

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Writing for Publication

Part of the book series: Springer Texts in Education ((SPTE))

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Abstract

One criticism of dissertations is that they often take a “listing” approach to reviewing the literature rather than synthesizing the research to produce a conceptual landscape of the field. This chapter addresses the most common misconception about the work of reviewing: that a graduate student “already knows” how to do this by virtue of having written papers as class assignments. It begins with various purposes for literature reviews and distinctive types of reviews (e.g., integrative, systematic, meta-analytic, and qualitative/interpretive). It then examines a developmental sequence for reviewing and common characteristics of high-quality, publishable literature reviews. A wide variety of activities are incorporated to build the writer’s confidence and skill in reviewing the literature. This chapter takes the stance that, commencing with graduate studies, students should strive to generate a literature review with publication potential. The chapter concludes with a type of literature review that well-established scholars might pursue, the position paper.

Note: Portions of this chapter were excerpted, with permission, from “What is a Theoretical Base and How Can It Help You Write a Dissertation? “Bidding Adieu to Chapter 2” published in the All-But-Dissertation Survival Guide on July 29, 2011 “The Literature Review: Avoid the Pitfalls and Make it a Project!,” April 12, 2012

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Journal and Book Series Editor Springer, Indiana, PA, USA

    Mary Renck Jalongo

  2. Teaching & Learning, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Olivia N. Saracho

Authors
  1. Mary Renck Jalongo
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  2. Olivia N. Saracho
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Renck Jalongo, M., Saracho, O.N. (2016). From a Class Paper to a Publishable Review. In: Writing for Publication. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31650-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31650-5_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31648-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31650-5

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