Students of the humanities often complete MLA research papers, based on their specialized education and an academic style guide, generally used within the United States or Canada. More precisely, there are quite a few countries around the world where this guide is commonly used ever since its first publication in America in 1985.

Published by the Modern Language Association, the MLA research style guide is a manual made for scholarly publishing. It consists of a series of fundamental rules used by students, editors, scholars and professional writers when writing research papers, mainly in the English fields of study. It serves as a guide also in learning modern languages and literatures, cultural studies or media. MLA documentation of literary criticism and comparative literature, and also other related disciplines of the above mentioned humanity studies can also go into the category of those considering the purpose of these rules.

The guidebook is extremely relevant, as a consequence, the latest edition of the MLA Style Manual, which was published in 2008 by the Modern Language Association is gaining increasingly more popularity in the world. After the United States and Canada, it was taken in by countries such as Brazil, China, India, Japan and Taiwan and throughout North America. Even if the main beneficiaries of such guidelines in MLA research papers are the academic departments, those same rules are used in scholarly and literary journals, newsletters and magazines.

The third publication of the style guide provides important ground rules in formatting the MLA studies, and also presents information concerning the use of font formats, i.e. underlining or italics.We further gather that certain writers may include underlined words as well as italics, although this may not serve as a proper formatting for a MLA research paper. In addition to using the guideline, the writers must also be advised by their editors about each of the unusual aspects of their research paper.

Authors might be expecting special software for managing citations supplied by the style guide, so as to make their writing job a lot easier. MLA research style does not comprise a special software, but it allows several possibilities intended for recording main features of a work. The style meets the needs of different sorts of MLA research papers, each one with its own emphasis on documentation. Using automatic templates will minimize the precision in documenting the research. In this case, MLA research paper studies cannot be dependent on specific software to generate entries.

Bogdan is an editor for this article. If you are willing to learn more feel free to check MLA Research.

For those writers who plan to have a book published, I can only hope that your manuscript will go through a thorough edit before it is printed. That is especially important for those who self-publish or use publish-on-demand services to bring their book to market. These methods usually do not require or offer editing services to catch mistakes that can cost you credibility as an author.

As an editor for individual authors as well as working as a contracted editor for two publishers, I’ve seen many grammatical or mechanical errors in manuscripts. I’ll share a few of the more common mistakes in hopes that you might avoid these pitfalls.

Please note that Associated Press (AP) style is commonly used for journalistic works such as newspapers and Web text. The examples I am going to use are from Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) published by the University of Chicago Press. It is one of the most respected and trustworthy guidelines for literary works such as books.

1. A very common error in many of the books I edit or proofread occurs in the title, headers, and subheaders. The Chicago Manual of Style 7.127 states: In regular title capitalization, also known as headline style, the first and last words and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions (if, because, as, that, etc.) are capitalized. Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions, regardless of length, are lowercase unless they are the first or last word of the title or subtitle.

2. A book is not entitled (meaning deserving, allowed, permitted); it is titled (meaning to have a title, label, or name).

3. The titles of books, record albums, movies, TV shows, and screenplays should be in italic type. Do not use “quotation” marks. Do not underline these titles unless you are formatting them for a bibliography. However, article titles and poem and song titles do go inside quotation marks.

4. Unless a word is an acronym, it should not be in ALL CAPS. Use italics for emphasis.

5. OK should be spelled out: okay.

6. ISBN is the acronym for International Standard Book Number. To write “ISBN number” is the same as stating International Standard Book Number number. It is redundant to use the word “number” or the pound symbol (#) after ISBN.

7. Percent symbols (%) should be spelled out “percent” unless used in a chart or table. Numbers followed by a percent should be in numeric form. Example: 91 percent. However, if a percentage is the first word of a sentence in a literary work, it should be spelled out. Example: Ninety-one percent of the students passed the test.

8. Use one space (not two) after a period, question mark, colon, or semi-colon. This is quite the opposite of what we were taught in typing class way back when! It can be a hard habit to break.

9. CMOS 5.57 states, “In a series listing three or more items, the elements are separated by a comma.” For example: The dog, cat, hippo, and cow jumped over the moon.

10. When writing years, do not use an apostrophe. Example: 1960s, not 1960′s unless you want the possessive form of the word. If abbreviated: ’60s is correct; 60′s is incorrect. Notice that the apostrophe [ ' ] is used as a placeholder for missing the numbers, and not a single close quote mark [ ' ] which faces the opposite direction.

11. Speaking of years, hyphens and numerals are used when you write “the 16-year-old boy.” No hyphen is needed, and the number is spelled out when you write “the boy is sixteen years old.”

12. Internet is a proper noun and the first letter should be capitalized. The debate on whether or not Web should be capitalized is still ongoing. CMOS says it should be written in proper case. It is another name for World Wide Web, which is a proper noun.

RE: Web site. When a word is used a lot, its spelling becomes commonly accepted even if it is incorrect. The most common spelling and use of this word is website. However, according to CMOS, it is two words: Web site. As long as you are consistent throughout your book or document, I doubt most people will question either spelling.

13. The em dash [-] is defined as one em (letter “m”) in width. The double hyphen will convert to an em dash-if you type two dashes (hyphens) — and do not put a space before or after. Or, you may create an em dash in Windows-based programs by pressing and holding Caps Lock and Alt while typing 0151 on your number key pad. Similar to a parenthetical phrase (like this), the em dash sets apart clauses in a sentence.

14. The en dash [-] is one en (letter “n”) in width: half the width of an em dash. The en dash is used to indicate a closed range, or a connection between two things of almost any kind: numbers, people, places, etc. For example: June-July 2008. Create an en dash in Windows-based programs by pressing and holding Caps Lock and Alt while typing 0150 on your number key pad. There should be no space before or after an en dash.

15. When writing dialogue, all punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. When a word or phrase is used to set apart text in scare quotes, the first example below is correct; the second is incorrect:

Every day we hear that the price of gas has hit an “all time high.” Every day we hear that the price of gas has hit an “all time high”.

16. Numbers less than ten should always be spelled out. Some style guides will disagree about higher numbers. Chicago advocates that all numbers under 101 should be spelled out. If in question, always consult a style guide. Be consistent and use the same style guide throughout the document or manuscript. Correcting these common errors will make your manuscript much easier and enjoyable to read.

If you need assistance with preparing your book manuscript, the editors on our team would be happy to help you. Our rates are more affordable than you might expect. See writersinthesky.com for more information.

Yvonne Perry is a freelance writer and the owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services (WITS). She and her team of ghostwriters are ready to assist you with writing and editing for books, Web text, business documents, resumes, bios, articles, and media releases. For more information about writing, networking, publishing, and book promotion, or to sign up for free email delivery of WITS newsletter, please visit www.writersinthesky.com. New subscribers receive a free eBook Tips for Freelance Writing.

The American Psychological Assocation (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) are two common style guides used for writing academic papers. APA is used within social sciences (e.g. psychology, education, sociology). MLA is primarily used in the liberal arts and humanities.

If you are just starting to write papers for college or are a graduate student, your instructors will include the style that is required for assignments in the assignment guidelines. In addition, they may require additional preferences (e.g, a different style to the cover page). Pay attention to these requirements because instructors will remove grade points if a student does not follow the formatting for approved grammatical and citation requirements.

It is recommended (strongly) that students study and learn the requirements of the style early on in their education career and keep updated as different editions are released by MLA (currently 3rd edition) and APA (currently 6th edition). Having good knowledge of the style will help the student write more efficiently. Another recommendation is to have the style book by your computer as you work so that you can check punctuation and citations as you write. Highlight the most commonly used punctuation and other information with a highlighter and post-it notes, because the answer surely will come up again.

Both APA http://www.apastyle.org/ and MLA http://www.mla.org/ have Websites and search engines that can help if you have a tough style problem. Also, most colleges have Writing Centers or online tutorials to help you with ensuring that your use of the style guidelines in your academic paper are perfect.

Here are some major differences in the two styles.

Reference Examples:

APA Style
Jelfs, A., Richardson, J., & Price, L. (2009). Student and tutor perceptions of effective tutoring in distance education. Distance Education, 30(3), 419-441. doi:10.1080/01587910903236551.

Mellers, B.A. (2000). Choice and the relative preasure of consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 910-924.

MLA Style
Jelfs, Anne, John T. E. Richardson, and Linda Price. “Student and tutor perceptions of effective tutoring in distance education.” Distance Education 30.3 (2009): 419-441. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.

Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism. New York: St. Martin’s, 1997. Print.

In-text citation examples:

APA Style
This is the citation format when there is a quote: According to Black (2009), “all clowns scare children to death” (p.3).

MLA Style
According to Kenneth Black, “all clowns scare children to death” (3).

Professional Editing

There is another option if you need help with academic writing, especially when you are writing a thesis or submitting a paper for publication. Many editors specialize in academic writing and will offer to edit a paper based on word count or pages and the type of editing required. Academic editing will cost more than a standard edit. These editors are professionals who have a lot of experience editing papers in different style formats. They can provide expertise for the difficult editing issues such as footnotes and endnotes, charts and tables, and citing references.

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Some research is usually involved in writing a non-fiction book. Whenever you borrow a quote or use information from references you need to correctly cite the source.

MLA or Modern Language Association style is most commonly used for literary works. However, if your document pertains to behavioral and social sciences, you would use APA or American Psychological Association format.

You can use many different sources to find material:

• articles (both in print and online)
• audio recordings
• books
• emails
• journals
• letters and memos
• live performances
• music
• pamphlets and lectures
• personal interviews
• radio or television broadcasts
• videos
• works of art

Each of these source types is noted in a slightly different manner in both your end/footnotes and bibliography. I suggest you purchase a style manual to keep on your desk that demonstrates the correct format for each type of source.

There are three ways to document your material: by using in-text quotations, end/footnotes, and works cited.

In-text Quotes:

Any time you borrow a quote from someone, it needs to be cited in the text at the point where the quote appears along with the page number if available (author name 72). It should also be included in your bibliography.

End/Footnotes:

Endnotes go at the end of a chapter as a mini-bibliography for all the works used in that chapter. Footnotes go at the bottom of the page where the cited text appears. Each gives complete information about where the material was found so anyone reading your document can find the article or book and read more.

Bibliography:

A works cited or bibliography page contains source information for all the material you used in your book.

When you correctly cite all your sources and give credit where it is due, you will avoid plagiarism and copyright violation issues. So, remember: if you cite, do it right!

Yvonne Perry is a freelance writer and the owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services (WITS). She and her team of ghostwriters are ready to assist you with writing and editing for books, eBooks, Web text, business documents, resumes, bios, articles, and media releases. For more information about writing, networking, publishing, and book promotion, or to sign up for free email delivery of WITS newsletter, please visit http://www.writersinthesky.com New subscribers receive a free eBook Tips for Freelance Writing.

Scientific writing has a different and unique style. This style is not like the novels and stories writing. The word scientific writing expresses a technical form of writing which is very important for the scientific publications and reports. You have to mention all the required fields and aspects of scientific writing while writing and publishing scientific reports and thesis etc.

Thousands of reports and research papers are published every year in different scientific research journals. Every scientific research journal has its own requirement and criteria for the submission of research papers. Likewise these research journals every organization and association present their own unique writing styles and formats. These are rules and terms of conditions if you want to publish your research paper in any journal and book from the platform of some special and specific organization.

The word APA is an abbreviation of American physiological association. This association is working for the development and progress of physiological studies, education and field practice information. The APA has its own format and style of writing research papers and books about the psychology. They give a complete set of rules and regulations for the writers. The writers must follow these rules of APA.

They have published near about 6 editions on the writing styles with amendments with the passage of time. APA 6th edition title page contains the recent and updated information about the writing style of the first heading page of the books, papers and reports related to the physiological studies. This edition covers the rules about writing the title page. Title pages usually contain heading or caption of your work. It expresses the purpose and field of study to the readers. It enables the users to evaluate and search the related topic by keywords online and in the libraries. After the heading you have to give complete title of your research work. It will divide your publication in the subdivisions of your field of specialization. Your name and institution is the next requirement to write on the first page of your paper by the APA 6th edition title page. This will make your paper and book more attractive for those readers who want to cite your work as a reference.

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As a psychology instructor, I often give psychology papers to students. As such, students need to learn APA format. The problem is, is the topic is dry to teach and it is hard to find things in the APA manual. As such, I created an APA style DVD to help students learn how to write papers. This sample video is the short and smaller version of Learning APA Format. The full version is 1 hour long, is DVD quality and covers the basics of writing APA style papers.

APA Citation Format is a set of formal rules written by the American Psychological Association for documenting sources when writing research papers for any of the social science disciplines.

The most recent set of guidelines can be found in the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association released in July 2009. The purpose of the manual is to provide a set of formal conventions that ensure clarity of communication, aid reader comprehension, avoid plagiarism and build accurate reference citations.

The Basics

When writing a research paper, APA style requires that citations are located both in the text of the body, as well as in a formal reference list section of the document. This article provides some general guidelines on how in-text citations should be formatted. For a more in-depth explanation, consult pages 169-179 of the Publication Manual.

For any in-text citation (in the body of the report) there should be an entry in the reference list, and the same goes for the reverse as well – any reference list entry should match an in-text citation.

When using APA format follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author’s last name and the year of publication for the source document should appear in the text like (Richards, 2001). A more complete citation should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

When writing your report, if you’re just referring to an idea from another source, but not directly quoting the material, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text citation.

In-Text Citation Formatting

• Always capitalize the author’s name and initials: P. Smith
• If you refer to the title of a source, capitalize any word that is greater than four letters long: Writing For Change. Note that this differs from the corresponding entry in your References list, in that entry only the first word is capitalized: Writing for change.
• Always capitalize the first word after a colon or dash: The Search For Life: The Case for Martian Water.
• Always capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word: Mars: In-Depth
• Italicize or underline the titles of longer works such as books and documentaries: Space Exploration in the Future
• Put quotation marks around the titles of shorter works like journal or magazine articles: “Saturn’s Rings of Dust”

If you are quoting directly from a work, include the author, year of publication and the page number for the reference (precede the page number with a “p”.) Introduce the quotation by including the author’s last name followed by the date of publication in parenthesis.

For example: According to Smith (2001), “astronauts often had difficulty managing stress during flight training” (p 44).

If the quotation is longer than 40 words, place the text in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and leave out the quotation marks. The long length quotation should be started on a new line, indented five spaces from the left margin. Any subsequent lines should keep the same margin, maintaining double spacing throughout. The referenced page number should appear after the closing punctuation mark.

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another source you only have to reference the author and year of publication in your in-text reference. Including a page number reference is preferred, but not obligatory.

In summary, formatting in-text citations in a research paper following APA Citation Format is not difficult once you know the rules of the road. With enough practice the citation formatting should become second nature.

For a quick set of tips on building Reference lists following APA Citation Format, check out http://www.apacitationformat.com

What’s Up with Those Single Quotation Marks?

Lately I have been seeing single quotation marks on certain words and phrases in the headlines that float across the bottom of the TV screen. These phrases have nothing to do with the story being reported on. I am referring mostly to CNN. I started noticing these rolling sentences shortly after the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center. I am not sure what annoys me more-the fact that they are using single quotation marks in place of double quotation marks or the constant bombardment of information on the screen.

I have also noticed that approximately 20% of the writing I get from my clients employs single quotation marks to designate important concepts or key phrases. This clearly violates the U.S.-American convention.

When to use single quotation marks:

It is always appropriate to use single marks when you have a quote within a quote.

Ex., Mary said, “I don’t care that John said, ‘I won’t eat that old pasta.’ I am going to eat it anyway.”

So the enclosed quotation (what John says) gets the single quotation marks. British usage sometimes does the reverse, and this may be where the trouble lies. They put the single marks on the first speaker’s words and double marks on the second’s speaker’s words (the quote within the quote).

Another use of single quotation marks:

People in certain academic disciplines are accustomed to using single quotation marks on particular terms and phrases, which is contrary to what the vast majority of writers do in the United States. These fields are linguistics, philosophy, and theology. Tina Blue, an online writer, points out the following example:

Ex., There is an essential difference between ‘being’ and ‘becoming’.

Note that in this case the closing single quotation mark goes before the period, which is also contrary to common U.S. usage.

Aside from papers in linguistics, philosophy, and theology, there is no justification for the use of single quotation marks (except for a quote within a quote). When you want to draw attention to key words or phrases, use double quotation marks. What follows is an exhaustive list of the various occasions when double marks are called for.

When to use double quotation marks:

1. The first use is, of course, to designate words in a quote.

Ex., The doctor said, “You really should cut down on your smoking.”

Ex., Then I said, “I can’t do that without going to a smoking cessation program.”

Note that in U.S.-American English, commas and periods go before the closing quotation marks.

2. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2010) lists another occasion when double marks are called for: “to introduce a word or phrase used as an ironic comment, as slang, or as an invented or coined expression” (p. 91).

Ex., This is considered “normal” behavior.

In the previous example, the writer is calling into question the whole concept of normality, which can at times be quite subjective.

Bell (2008) explains that when you use double marks, you will render the sentence sarcastic, as in her following example:

Ex., People in many countries enjoy the “liberty” of voting for the only candidate on the ballot (p. 128).

She warns, however, not to use quotation marks with idiomatic expressions. “Quotes are not for showing your discomfort with a colloquial expression. Either make your peace with the idiom and use it without quotes, or choose another way to say what you mean” (p. 129).

Ex., That test was a piece of cake.

There is no need to put “piece of cake” in quotes.

3. APA (2010, p. 91) recommends using double quotation marks “to set off the title of an article or chapter in a periodical,” as in the next example.

Ex., Riger’s (1992) article, “Epistemological Debates, Feminist Voices: Science, Social Values, and the Study of Women”…

4. APA (2010, p. 92) says to use double quotes to indicate a quote within a block quotation, as in the example that follows:

Ex., Miele (1993) found the following:

The “placebo effect,” which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when [only the first group's] behaviors were studied in this manner. (p. 276)

In the previous example, the writer wishes to call attention to the phrase “placebo effect.” Since this quote has more than 40 words (I didn’t put the whole quote, for the sake of brevity), the writer has blocked the quote; this means that every line of the quote is indented. Therefore, no quotation marks are needed around a block quote, as the indenting signals a quote. So if quotation marks are needed to call attention to a phrase, then we start with double quotation marks. That is why “placebo effect” is in double marks rather than single marks. Some people may get confused and think that this phrase should be in single marks, as it is a quote within Miele’s quote. We don’t put single marks because we already know it’s a quote due to the blocking; therefore, we start with the double marks.

5. Another use of double quotation marks is when you wish to give the translation of a foreign word. You can put the translation in double marks or in parentheses. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS, 2003, p. 291) offers the following example:

The Prakit word majjao, “the tomcat,” may be a dialect version of either of two Sanskrit words:madjaro, “my lover,” or marjaro, “the cat.”

6. Use double quotes for a word used as a term.

Ex., What do you suppose “liberty” meant to Mr. Henry? (Bell, 2008, p. 128).

In the previous example, we are asking about what the term “liberty” meant to someone. So quotation marks draw attention to the term.

7. Merriam-Webster’s Guide to Punctuation and Style (1995, p. 51) says to use quotes when you wish to highlight the words themselves.

Ex., He went through the manuscript and changed every “he” to “she.”

When not to use double quotation marks:

Do not use double quotation marks when trying to hedge (APA, 2010, p. 92), as in the next example.

Ex., The teacher rewarded the class with tokens.

In the previous example, it is not necessary to put “rewarded” in quotation marks.

The APA manual also advises not using quotation marks to introduce a key phrase or a technical phrase. It recommends the use of italics instead.

Ex., She compared it with meta-analysis, which is described in the next section (p. 91).

Disciplines may vary with regard to this last point, so always check with your department or professor to see whether your school uses quotation marks or italics. Remember, if you do decide to use quotes to signal key concepts, make sure they are double.

Summary:

American English practice differs from that of British English. If you live in the United States and are seeking to publish in U.S. journals, it is advisable to use our system. Though nowadays there is a trend toward using single quotation marks instead of double marks, I recommend that you not jump on the bandwagon (even if CNN is doing it). The rule is simple: Use single marks only to indicate a quote within a quote. Unless you are writing a paper in linguistics, philosophy, or theology, you should be using double marks for all of the cases discussed in this article. Tina Blue sums it up nicely at the end of her article: “We should just stick with the conventions that are already familiar to us, so we don’t commit the crime of stylistic inconsistency, which is always a danger when you try to adopt someone else’s way of doing things.”

Sources:

American Psychological Association (APA). 2010. Publication manual of the American Psychological Association(6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Bell, J. (2008). Clean, well-lighted sentences: A guide to avoiding the most common errors in grammar and punctuation. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

Blue, T. (2001, January). Single vs. double quotation marks: Once again British and American usage differ.

Merriam-Webster. (1995). Merriam-Webster’s guide to punctuation and style. Springfield, MA: Author.

University of Chicago Press. (2003). The Chicago manual of style (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Author.

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This video is to help students format their research papersin APA style using MS Word 2007.