Academic Papers
Academic papers and manuscripts are prepared according to several formats. The three most common are known as APA, MLA, and Chicago. All three are updated on a regular basis, and some institutions and publications have their own modified guidelines for papers. Always consult with instructors or editors before adopting a formatting guide.
For online academic writing, the Columbia Guide to Online Style, or CGOS is used. Writing for electronic publications follows APA or MLA guidelines, with minor changes to accommodate the medium. The CGOS is maintained by Columbia University.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/index.html
Organizations
Who made these groups the arbiters of style? Quite simply, university presses and libraries did. The standards allow researchers to cross-reference articles, making it a lot easier to use the library... and easier to do yet more and more research. The key to original projects is discovering what was already known and building on the past. There really is a reason for standards: they help us understand each other.
Chicago
The University of Chicago Press maintains the Chicago Manual of Style, originally a guide for authors published by the university. Today, the Chicago style is used by many non-fiction publishers. The formatting and style guide applies to manuscripts, not the appearance of published works.
What would become The Chicago Manual of Style began in the 1890s as a single sheet of typographic fundamentals, prepared by a proofreader at the University of Chicago Press as a guide for the University community. That sheet grew into a pamphlet, and the pamphlet grew into a book—the first edition of the Manual of Style, published in 1906. Nearly a century later the Manual is in use in homes and offices around the world.
— http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/about.html (May 2004)
The University of Chicago Press maintains a guide for electronic submission, which also applies to students submitting papers from a word processor. See the Electronic Manuscript Preparation Guide at http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/emsguide.html for up-to-date information on the format.
APA
APA style is commonly used in the sciences, especially their bibliographic formats. The APA Web site states:
The American Psychological Association has established a style that it uses in all of the books and journals that it publishes. Many others working in the social and behavioral sciences have adopted this style as their standard as well.
APA’s style rules and guidelines are set out in a reference book called The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Please note that when researchers talk about APA style, they may be referring to APA’s system of citations in text and reference format. If you are unsure, you should clarify with your instructor or editor how they define “APA style.”
— http://www.apastyle.org/ (May 2004)
The complete APA style guide can be located online at http://www.apastyle.org/, though there is a charge for some services. The FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions, section of the site offers basic tips for students. http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html
MLA
If you are an English instructor or student, the MLA style applies to your papers and manuscripts. The MLA is the Modern Language Association.
Founded in 1883, the Modern Language Association of America provides opportunities for its members to share their scholarly findings and teaching experiences with colleagues and to discuss trends in the academy. MLA members host an annual convention and other meetings, work with related organizations, and sustain one of the finest publishing programs in the humanities. For over a hundred years, members have worked to strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature.
The Modern Language Association does not publish its documentation guidelines on the Web. For an authoritative explanation of MLA style, see the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (for high school and undergraduate college students) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (for graduate students, scholars, and professional writers).
— http://www.mla.org/about (May 2004)
Comparison of Styles
Each style guide is unique. Recognize that these styles do not apply to fiction, periodicals, or online publications. For information on periodicals, see our section on the Associated Press Stylebook.
Selecting a Style
Papers in the humanities, especially those dealing with literature and language, use the MLA guidelines. The sciences favor APA guidelines. However, when preparing a book manuscript, Chicago publication guidelines are followed by most university presses.
General Grammar
Verb Tense
| APA | Use the past or present perfect when citing a source or referring to research. |
|---|---|
| Chicago | Varies by type of publication. |
| MLA | Use present tense when citing a source or referring to another individual’s research. |
Formatting
Typefaces
| APA | A readable 12-point Times or Courier. No strong preference is indicated. |
|---|---|
| Chicago | The CMS prefers 12-point Courier for editing purposes, but accepts Times faces as well. Check with your editor. |
| MLA | A readable 12-point Times or Courier. Avoid “sans serif” faces, such as Arial or Helvetica. |
Spaces and Punctuation
| APA | The Publications Manual calls for one space following all punctuation, though some editors prefer two spaces after terminal punctuation when a monospaced font is used, such as Courier. |
|---|---|
| Chicago | Use only one space for CMS manuscripts. |
| MLA | Use one space after punctuation unless preparing the manuscript in a monospaced font, such as Courier. |
Underlining, Italics, and Quotes
| APA | Use italics in place of underlining for the titles of works. |
|---|---|
| Chicago | Italics are favored in book publishing. |
| MLA | The “old-fashioned” approach of underlining still applies to titles of books. |
The following types of works are underlined in MLA, italicized in APA: books, newspapers, magazines, plays, films, television shows, paintings, sculptures, and complete music albums.
As part of works, the following items are placed within quotation marks in MLA and APA: chapters, articles, essays, short stories, poems, television episodes, and song titles.
Citations within Text
Citation formats are specified in the APA and MLA styles. The CMS does not specify citation formats; use the format appropriate to the topic.
Paraphrasing a Book
| APA | Place the year of a publication in parentheses, following the author’s name. |
|---|---|
| MLA | Begin the paraphrase with the author’s name and a clear reminder to the reader of the work being cited. End with the page number enclosed by parentheses, inside any punctuation. |
Long Paraphrase of a Book
| APA | Follow paraphrasing or quotation marks with: (qtd. in Lastname, YEAR, p. PG). |
|---|---|
| MLA | Enclose the author’s last name and a page number in parentheses, inside any punctuation. (Lastname PG) |
Interviews
| APA | (C. S. Wyatt, personal communication, May 15, 2004) |
|---|---|
| MLA | Reference the interview within the text. |
Complete Web Site
| APA | The usage was verified at the Tameri Guide for Writers site (http://www.tameri.com). |
|---|---|
| MLA | Use “at” followed by the URL, unless instructed to use parentheses. |
Bibliographies
Bibliographic entries should be as complete as possible to locate an external source. In most cases, publisher names and common journals can be abbreviated for space.
Citation Information Order
| APA | (1) Author, (2) Year, (3) Title, (4) Editor, (5) Collection, (6) Pages, (7) City, (8) Publisher. |
|---|---|
| MLA | (1) Author, (2) Title, (3) Volume/Issue, (4) Editor, (5) Edition, (6) Number of Volumes, (7) Place of Publucation, (8) Publisher, (9) Date, (10) Page. |
Book, Simple Entry
| APA |
Lastname, I. (YEAR). The Book’s Title. City: Publisher. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname. The Book’s Title. Xth ed. City: Publisher, YEAR. |
Book, Two Authors
| APA |
Lastname, I., & Lastname, I. (YEAR). Title. City: Publisher. Publishers are not abbreviated in APA style. Also, only initials are used for first names. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname. The Book’s Title. Xth ed. City: Publisher, YEAR. Use the abbreviated ordinal for edition numbers, in Arabic numerals: 1st, 2nd, 3rd…. Use “et al.” for three or more authors. Notice the second author is listed in “First Last” order. |
Edited Works (multiple contributors)
| APA |
Lastname, I. (Ed.) (YEAR). Collection Title. City: Publisher. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname, ed. Anthology Title. City: Publisher, YEAR. |
Work from Collection
| APA |
Lastname, I. (YEAR). Article Title. In I. Lastname (Ed.), Collection Title (pp. XXX-XXX). City: Publisher. Do not abbreviate page ranges. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname. “Article Title.” Anthology Title. Ed. Firstname Lastname. City: Publisher, YEAR. XXX-XX. For page numbers, you can abbreviate the end of a range: 110-15, 1005-15. |
Reference Books (Encyclopedia)
| APA |
Lastname, I. (YEAR). Article Title. In Reference Name. (Vol #, pp. ##-##). City: Publisher. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname. “Article Title.” Reference Name. Xth ed. YEAR. |
The Bible or Holy Texts
| APA |
Generally not applicable to sciences. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
The Bible. King James Version. The Newest Translation of the Bible. City: Publisher, YEAR. Do not underline or itallicize the phrase “The Bible” or books of the Bible. Do italicize or underline the names of special editions and indicate publication information. |
Magazine Article
| APA |
Lastname, I. (YEAR, Month day). Article Title. Magazine Name, pp. XX-XX |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname. “Article Title.” Magazine Name day Mon. YEAR: XXX-XX. |
Journal Article
| APA |
Lastname, I. (YEAR). Title: Subtitles are lowercase. Journal Name, VOL, PG The volume and page numbers are in Arabic numerals, separated by a comma. Do not use “Vol.” or “pp.” before the values. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname. “Title: Subtitles Are Common.” Journal Name VOL (Mon. YEAR): XXX-XX The volume and edition formats differ by journal. Use Arabic numerals when possible. |
Newspaper Article
| APA |
Lastname, I. (YEAR, Month day). Article headline. Newsspaper Name, p. SN The date format is: 2004, May 15. Use lowercase for the headline. Page numbers are in the format: A1, I-1, B2-4. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname. “Article Headline.” Newspaper Name day Mon. YEAR: SN. The date format is: 15 May 2004. After the year, put the page number and section designation, which varies by newspaper: 12A, 3-II, 2-OP/ED. |
Organization Papers
| APA |
Organization Name. (YEAR). Title of work (Xth ed.). City, ST: Author. In this case, “Author” is a reference to the organization. Do not use a name, unless it is important. |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Organization. Report Title. City, ST: Org, YEAR. The full legal name of the organization is used on first reference, while a common acronym or abbreviation may be used as the publisher. |
Web Site
| APA |
Author or Organization. (YEAR, Month day). In Online Publication. Retrieved Month day, YEAR, from http://www.site.com/page.html |
|---|---|
| MLA |
“Article Title.” Online Publication. day Month YEAR. Author or Organization. day Month YEAR.<http://www.site.com/page.html>. The first date is refers to the date of the article. The second date indicates when the site was viewed by the manuscript author. MLA uses < > to enclose URL syntax. |
Web Article from a Printed Professional Journal
| APA |
Lastname, I. (YEAR). Title of Work [Abstract]. Title of Publication, Issue, XXX-XX. Retrieved Month day, YEAR, from http://www.site.com/page.html |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, I."Title of Work." Publication, Issue, (YEAR): XXX-XX. day Month YEAR from http://www.site.com/page.html. The first date is refers to the date of the article. The second date indicates when the site was viewed by the manuscript author. MLA uses < > to enclose URL syntax. |
Online Newspaper Article
| APA |
Lastname, I. (YEAR, Month day). Article headline. Newspaper Name, Retrieved Month day, YEAR, from http://www.site.com/page.html |
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname. “Article Headline.” Newspaper Name day Mon. YEAR. day Month YEAR < http://www.site.com/page.html.> The first date is refers to the date of the article. The second date indicates when the site was viewed by the manuscript author. MLA uses < > to enclose URL syntax. |
E-Mail to Author
| APA |
|
|---|---|
| MLA |
Lastname, Firstname. “Subject.” E-mail to the author. day Month YEAR. |