Style Guides for Writing
Style Guides provide formatting guidelines for research papers, including citations and bibliographies. The style guides highlighted below are the most common style guides in use in academia today.
Consult your professor before selecting a style guide for your assignments.
ACS style guide, 3rd ed.Call Number: QD8.5 .A25 2006 Science ReferenceISBN: 0841239991ACS style is used for the sciences.
ASA Style Guide, 3rd ed.Call Number: HM586 .A54 2007 Central Reference Bookcase-1ISBN: 0912764309The ASA style guide is used in some sociology courses.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed.Call Number: LB2369 .G53 2003 Central Reference Bookcase-1ISBN: 1603290257MLA style commonly used in the humanities.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.Call Number: BF76.7 .P83 2001 Central Reference Bookcase-1ISBN: 1433805596APA style commonly used in the social sciences.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed.Call Number: Z253 .U69 2003 Central Reference Bookcase-1ISBN: 0226104036Chicago style is commonly used in the humanities. Also available online
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
Kennedy, J. Gerald. (1993). Imagining Paris: exile, writing, and American identity.
New Haven: Yale University Press.
MLA
Kennedy, J. Gerald. Imagining Paris: exile, writing, and American identity.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
Chicago
Kennedy, J. Gerald. 1993. Imagining Paris: exile, writing, and American identity.
New Haven: Yale University Press.
Tutorials Anyone?
For more citation fun check out one of these great tutorials.
- Citation Explained TutorialTutorial courtesy of University of Maryland University College
- Citing InformationTutorial courtesy of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
