In addition to the sources cited in the individual text boxes of this writing guide, listed below are recently published books about how to effectively write and organize a college-level research paper or dissertation [which frequently have good advice on writing regardless of their purpose]. Enter the title of the book in the USC Libraries' search engine to check the availability of these or any other books on college-level writing and research. If the library does not own a particular title, you can request to borrow the book free of charge from the USC Libraries' interlibrary loan department.
- Abbott, Andrew. Digital Paper: A Manual for Research and Writing with Library and Internet Materials. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2014.
- Anders, Marian. The Practical Grammar Handbook for College Writers. 2nd edition. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2015.
- Aveyard, Helen. Doing a Literature Review in Health and Social Care: A Practical Guide. 3rd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2014.
- Axelrod, Rise B. and Charles Raymond Cooper. The St. Martin's Guide to Writing. 10th edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013.
- Badke, William. Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog. 5th edition. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, LLC, 2014.
- Ballenger, Bruce P. The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers. 8th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2015.
- Barnet, Sylvan, Pat Bellanca, and Marcia Stubbs. A Short Guide to College Writing. 5th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2013.
- Becker, Lucinda. Writing Successful Reports and Dissertations. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2014.
- Birkenstein, Cathy and Gerald Graff. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 4th edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2018.
- Cahn, Steven M. and Victor Cahn. Polishing Your Prose: How to Turn First Drafts Into Finished Work. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.
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Carter, Caron, editor. Successful Dissertations: The Complete Guide for Education, Childhood and Early Childhood Studies Students. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.
- Channell, Carolyn. Engaging Questions: A Guide to Writing. 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2016.
- Cioffi, Frank L. The Imaginative Argument: A Practical Manifesto for Writers. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017.
- Clark, Roy Peter. Help! for Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces. New York: Little, Brown, 2011.
- Clouse, Barbara Fine. A Troubleshooting Guide for Writers: Strategies and Process. 7th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013.
- Cottrell, Stella. Dissertations and Project Reports: A Step by Step Guide. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
- Cutts, Martin. Oxford Guide to Plain English. 4th edition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013.
- Eby, Erika. The College Student's Guide to Writing a Great Research Paper: 101 Easy Tips and Tricks to Make Your Work Stand Out. Ocala, FL: Atlantic Pub. Group, 2012.
- Edwards, Mark. Writing in Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2014.
- Evans, David, Paul Gruba, and Justin Zobel. How to Write a Better Thesis. 3rd edition. Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University. Publishing, 2011.
- Faigley, Lester. Writing: A Guide for College and Beyond. 4th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Higher Ed, 2016.
- Fiske, Robert Hartwell. To the Point: A Dictionary of Concise Writing. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2014.
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Floyd, Randy G., editor. Publishing in School Psychology and Related Fields: An Insider's Guide. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2018.
- Gelman, Howard. Everyone Can Write: A Guide to Get You Started. Wollombi, NSW, Australia: Exisle Publishing, 2014.
- Gill, Charlene. Essential Writing Skills for College and Beyond. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books, 2014.
- Giltrow, Janet, Richard Gooding, Daniel Burgoyne, and Marlene Sawatsky. Academic Writing: An Introduction. 3rd edition. Tonawanda, NY: Broadview Press, 2014.
- Gibson, Twyla, and Mark Lipton. Research, Write, Create: Connecting Scholarship and Digital Media. Ontario, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Glaser, Joe. Understanding Style: Practical Ways to Improve Your Writing. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
- Goodson, Patricia. Becoming an Academic Writer: 50 Exercises for Paced, Productive, and Powerful Writing. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2016.
- Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. Rules for Writers. 9th edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2018.
- Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Research Imagination. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2018.
- Harvey, Michael. The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing, 2013.
- Hjortshoj, Keith. The Transition to College Writing. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009.
- Howard, Rebecca Moore. Writing Matters: A Handbook for Writing and Research. 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2013.
- Johnson, William A. A Criminal Justice Student's Writer's Manual. 6th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2015.
- Johnson Jr, William A., Gregory M. Scott, and Stephen M. Garrison. The Sociology Student Writer's Manual and Reader's Guide. 7th edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017.
- Joyner, Randy L., William A. Rouse, and Allan A. Glatthorn. Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation: A Step-by-step Guide. 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2013.
- Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. 12th edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012.
- Koerber, Duncan and Guy Allen. Clear, Precise, Direct: Strategies for Writing. Ontario, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2015.
- Langan, John. Exploring Writing: Paragraphs and Essays. 3rd edition. Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill, 2013.
- Lee, Kooi Cheng. Effective College Writing: A Process-Genre Approach. 2nd edition. Singapore: McGraw-Hill, 2009.
- Lerych, Lynne and Allison DeBoer Criswell. Everything You Need to Know about College Writing. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016.
- Lester, James D. and James D. Lester. Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide. 14th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2012.
- Lindemann, Kurt. Composing Research, Communicating Results: Writing the Communication Research Paper. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2017.
- Marsen, Sky. Professional Writing. 3rd edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
- McMillan, Kathleen and Jonathan Weyers. How to Improve Your Critical Thinking and Reflective Skills. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited, 2013.
- McNiff, Jean. Writing Up Your Action Research Project. New York: Routledge, 2015.
- Miller, Scott A. Writing in Psychology. New York: Routledge, 2014.
- Muller, Jake. Writing in the Social Sciences: A Guide for Term Papers and Book Reviews. 2nd edition. Ontario, Canada: Oxford University Press Canada, 2015.
- Northey, Margot, Dianne Draper, and David B. Knight. Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Geography and Environmental Sciences. 6th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
- Oliver, Paul. Writing Your Thesis. 3rd edition. London: Sage, 2013.
- Parsons, Tony, and Peter G. Knight. How to Do Your Dissertation in Geography and Related Disciplines. New York: Routledge, 2015.
- Pyrczak, Fred. Writing Empirical Research Reports: A Basic Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. 8th edition. Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing, 2014.
- Raimes, Ann and Susan K. Miller-Cochran. Keys for Writers. 7th edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2014.
- Reinking, James A. Strategies for Successful Writing: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook. 1oth edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2014.
- Reynolds, Nedra and Elizabeth Davis. Portfolio Keeping: A Guide for Students. 3rd edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013.
- Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-step Guide for Students. 2nd edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2012.
- Roen, Duane, Gregory Glau, and Barry Maid. The McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life. 4th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018.
- Rudestam, Kjell Erik and Rae R. Newton. Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process. 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2014.
- Scott, Gregory M. and Stephen M. Garrison. The Political Science Student Writer's Manual and Reader's Guide. 8th edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017.
- Spencer, Linda. Writing Well in the 21st Century: The Five Essentials. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2014.
- Starr, Douglas Perret and Deborah Williams Dunsford. Working the Story: A Guide to Reporting and News Writing for Journalists and Public Relations Professionals. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2014.
- Szuchman, Lenore T. Writing with Style: APA Style Made Easy. 6th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014.
- Thurman, Susan and Larry Shea. The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need: A One-Stop Source for Every Writing Assignment. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2015.
- Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. 9th edition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2018.
- Wallwork, Adrian. English for Research: Usage, Style, and Grammar. New York: Springer Science and Business Media, 2012.
- Wang, Gabe T. and Keumjae Park. Student Research and Report Writing: From Topic Selection to the Complete Paper. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2016.
- Warner, John. The Writer's Practice: Building Confidence in Your Non-Fiction Writing. New York: Penguin/Random House, 2019.
- Watt, Jane. Report Writing for Social Workers. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2012.
- Wyrick, Jean. Steps to Writing Well. 12th edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2014.
- Wyse, Dominic and Kate Cowan. The Good Writing Guide for Education Students. 4th edition. London: Sage, 2017.
- Yagoda, Ben. How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them. New York: Riverhead Books, 2013.
