Style Guides for Writing
Style Guides provide formatting guidelines for research papers, including citations and bibliographies. The style guides highlighted below are among the most common style guides in use in academia today.
Consult your professor before selecting a style guide for your assignments.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed.Call Number: Z253 .U69 2003 Central Reference Bookcase-1Chicago style is commonly used in the humanities.
AAA Style GuideStyle Guide for the American Anthropological Association
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed.Call Number: LB2369 .G53 2009 Central Reference Bookcase-1ISBN: 1603290257MLA style is commonly used in the humanities.
Citing Sources?
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When you "cite" a source you are showing, within the body of your text, that you took the words or ideas from another place. |
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You also are providing a way for the reader (your professor) to locate the sources you relied on in your research. |
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Failure to acknowledge these sources can be considered plagiarism. |
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Remember that for whatever style you chose (in consultation with your professor), pay attention to the details and be consistent. Incorrect citations are just as bad as no citations at all! |
See the difference...
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The examples below demonstrate how the various elements of a book citation (author, title, publisher, and year) are arranged using three different style guides. |
APA
Danesi, M. (2009). X-rated!: The power of mythic symbolism in popular culture.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
MLA
Danesi, Marcel. X-rated!: The Power of Mythic Symbolism in Popular Culture. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
Chicago
Danesi, Marcel. 2009. X-Rated!: The power of mythic symbolism in popular culture.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
I forgot my style guide...
Do you need to format a citation for your bibliography and can't find your style guide?
Check out the Library's Style Guides for Writing page for some online examples of properly formatted citations for a variety of citation styles.
- Style Guides for WritingLinks to various types of style guides (e.g., MLA, Turabian, etc.).
Tutorials Anyone?
For more citation fun check out one of these great tutorials.
- Citation ExamplesCourtesy of University of Maryland University College
- Citing InformationTutorial courtesy of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
