Transcript MLA 101 - Lake-Sumter State College | Home

How to format and document a research
paper using APA Guidelines
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Choosing and narrowing a topic
Formulating a working thesis
Planning
◦ What do you already know?
◦ What do you need to know?
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Gathering and processing sources
◦ Note-taking
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Creating References entries
Formatting an APA paper
Internal documentation with APA
How to know what to write…
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Carefully take notes as your instructor
describes the writing assignment
Ideally, you’ll have a written assignment to
which you can refer at various points to make
sure you’re on track
Consider what type of paper it is:
◦ Informative? Persuasive?
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Consider the writing mode that will work best?
◦ This might be a part of the assignment
◦ Look/listen for keywords: analyze, compare, give
examples, discuss cause or effect, form an
argument, etc.
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Slavery in the US
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Addiction
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US Economy
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Terrorism
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Too Broad
The “Middle Passage” and the
conditions during the Slave
Trade
Physical and emotional effects
of alcoholism on the individual
Explore the development of
the Economic Stimulus Plan of
2009
Analyze the Patriot Act of 2001
as a response to the 9/11
terror attacks
Just Right!
Don’t leave home without
one!
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1.Determine what kind of paper you are writing:
◦ An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component
parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and
evaluation to the audience.
◦ An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
◦ An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this
claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy
proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an
interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the
audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.
2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only
what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with
specific evidence.
3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first
paragraph of a paper.
4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise
your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed
in the paper.
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“In this paper, I will discuss…”
Generalities: “Baseball is a great sport.”
Personal Preferences: “Bill Clinton is my
favorite American President.”
Oversimplification: “All drugs should be
legalized immediately.”
Too narrow a focus: “My street has twelve
potholes that the city won’t fix.”
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Contains a Topic & the Controlling Idea
Bad:
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Good:
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A good thesis predicts the order and acts as a
road map for the reader.
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◦ Baseball is a great sport.
◦ My mom is unique.
◦ Baseball is America’s favorite pastime because of
exciting players, the strategies employed, and the
ballpark food.
◦ Everyone’s mom is special, but mine is a gourmet
cook, a humanitarian, and a prize-winning
photographer.
What do you already know?
What do you need to know?
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It is important to consider what you already
know about the topic.
◦ Make notes
◦ Sketch out a rough outline of what you think you’ll
need to cover
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Next is finding out more.
◦ Where are the gaps in your own knowledge?
◦ Is this a controversial topic about which people
might not agree?
◦ If so, how can you be sure you’re getting the whole
story and not just one side?
Gathering & Processing the
Information Gathered from
Sources
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Our impulse says, “First stop, GOOGLE!”
◦ The internet can be useful, especially for familiarizing
yourself with a topic you might not know a lot about
◦ It is not, however, the best place to gather
information for an academic research paper
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All libraries, both public and those attached
to a school have several better avenues for
researching when you’re writing a paper for
class:
◦ Books and Databases
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Search the LSCC Library Catalog for books on
your topic
When searching books, use the most general
topic term first and then narrow if you have
too many results:
◦ For example: “Alcoholism” is a better first search
than “Physical Effects of Alcoholism”
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Many of the Library’s holdings are e-books
and can be accessed from the comfort of
your own home (just like the internet!)
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For most papers that you will write in 10002000 level classes, the following LSCC
Databases are likely to be perfect:
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Academic Search Complete
General One File
Opposing Viewpoints
Encyclopedia Britannica
…just to name a few!
There are also specialized databases in many
fields including Psychology, Education,
Nursing, Literature, etc.
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If you search the term “alcoholism” in
Academic Search Complete, even limiting
yourself to a “full-text” only search, you will
get more “hits” than you can handle.
When searching a database, you can start
with more specific terms and then broaden if
you’re not finding what you need.
Most importantly, if you are struggling to find
resources, DO NOT SUFFER ALONE! Contact
an LSCC Librarian, and ask for help!
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Stay organized!
Keep track of what information comes from what
source.
Track the following information:
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Author
Titles of Articles and Books
Editors of Anthologies
City, Publisher, and Year for Books
Journal/Magazine Title
Volume, Issue, Date info for Periodicals
Database for Any Electronic Resource
Date Accessed for Any Electronic Resource
For Web Sources, the Publisher (usually an organization)
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If you are using the source’s exact words,
make a point of it in your notes
If you are paraphrasing, follow these simple
guidelines:
Read the passage carefully several times
Look away from the source
Write down the idea you’re wanting to capture
Check against the source to make sure not only the
wording is different, but the sentence structure as
well
◦ Put quotes around key phrases or terms that you
cannot paraphrase
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Do NOT wait until the paper is
written. Doing your
References first will save time
in the long run.
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Make sure you’re using up to date information
◦ APA changes editions periodically, so you want to make sure
the version you’re using is the latest
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Handbooks
◦ Ideally, you will own an updated Handbook for as long as
you’re in college, but if you don’t have one, every library
does!
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LSCC Library
◦ How to Cite Sources on the Library’s website contains up to
date information you can access online
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Websites
◦ There are plenty of websites offering Citation Generation,
and many of them are accurate; however, if you do not
know how to do them yourself, you may have a false sense
of security.
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The alphabetical References list comes at the end of
the paper with page #s staying consecutive
The title References is centered at the top of that page,
and the font/size are consistent with the rest of the
paper
The entire page is double spaced, and entries are
created with a hanging indent
Title capitalization: only the first word of the title and the
first word of the subtitle are capitalized (except for
proper nouns)
Book, magazine, newspaper, and journal titles are in
italics, but article titles are not (and there are no
quotation mark titles in APA)
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Book
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Magazine article
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Journal Article (continuous page numbering)
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Journal Article (begins each issue on page one)
◦ Gorman, J. M. (1996). The new psychiatry: The essential
guide to state-of-the-art therapy, medication and
emotional health. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
◦ Cowley, G. (2000, January 31). Alzheimer’s: Unlocking the
mystery. Newsweek, 135, 46-54.
◦ Lindahl, K. M. & Malik, N. M. (1991). Observations of marital
conflict and power: Relations with parenting in the triad.
Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 320-330.
◦ Arek, K. D. & Rantz, M. J. (2000). Aging in place: A new
model for long term care. Nursing Administration Quarterly,
24(3), 1-11.
http://www.lscc.edu/library/Documents/apacite.pdf
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Newspaper Article
◦ Woodward, C. (2000, April 24). Storm surrounds raid as
Elian has quiet Easter. The Daily Commercial, p. A1.
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Book from database
◦ Brockopp, D.Y. (1995). Fundamentals of nursing research
[Electronic version]. Boston: Jones & Bartlett Publishers,
Inc. Retrieved from netLibrary database.
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Magazine Article from database
◦ Kelly, B. (2007, August 27). The story behind the rankings.
U.S. News and World Reports, 143, 4. Retrieved from
General Onefile database. 3 6/1/2011
http://www.lscc.edu/library/Documents/apacite.pdf
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Journal article from database
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Newspaper article from database
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Citing an online book (Not from a library
database)
◦ Brown, P. (2006). Answers to key questions about
childhood leukemia--for the generalist. Contemporary
Pediatrics, 23(3), 81-84. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with
Full Text database.
◦ Henderson, D. (2006, August 29). FDA to take a harder
look at custom blending of drugs. The Boston Globe.
Retrieved from America’s Newspapers database.
◦ Robinson, P. (1993). Freud and his critics [Electronic
version]. Berkeley: University of California Press. Retrieved
from http://escholarship.cdlib.org/ucpress/robinson.xml
http://www.lscc.edu/library/Documents/apacite.pdf
Does the format really matter?
YES! 
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Plain double spacing for everything in an APA
paper (including title, references, quotes, etc.)
Cover page includes author, title, class, instructor,
and date
Header contains partial title on left margin (all
caps) and page # on the right margin
References page comes at the end but is part of
the same document
Margins are 1” all around, a “standard font in a
standard size” (typically Times New Roman in 12
pt. or Arial in 11 pt.)
Video 1) How to format an APA paper:
http://youtu.be/KUjhwGmhDrI
Parenthetical citations: what
goes in them? Where do they
go?
Being open and clear about
your sources.
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Academic writing involves letting the reader
know where the information comes from by
using a standardized system
Even non-academic writing lets the reader
know, usually, when something was not the
writer’s own knowledge
◦ For example, if People magazine publishes an
interview with George Clooney, they will tell you
when the words spoken are Clooney’s
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Even in academic writing where parenthetical
citations are used to indicate the source,
writers often overtly mention their sources for
clarity and to add credibility to their papers
For example, you might find the following
statement introducing a source to be quoted
in a paper:
◦ A recent study by Dr. Jim Johnson at Johns Hopkins
University indicates…
 Giving the full name and affiliation not only makes it
clear where the information comes from, it highlights the
fact that this is a good source
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This is all the more reason to do quality
research
◦ Wouldn’t you rather say, “In a recent New York
Times article…” than, “According to Wikipedia…”?
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Once a source is established, you can alter
how you mention it to avoid repetition:
◦ Pam Jordan’s article entitled “Dogs are
Therapeutic”…
◦ Jordan’s article in Dog Fancy…
◦ Jordan says…
◦ “Dogs are Therapeutic” offers…
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When citing a whole work, you mention the author
followed immediately by the year of publication in
parentheses:
◦ Karen Marek (2000) argues that the elderly often do better
in familiar surroundings.
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When citing something specific, you mention the
source and follow up at the end of the quoted or
paraphrased material with a citation that includes
author, year, and page or paragraph number:
◦ Welty uses metaphors often when describing her early
experiences (Waldron, 1998, p. 38).
◦ The fate of MGM may rest largely on the shoulders of its
new CEO, whose focus will be to reach a broader market
with lower-budget films (Roberts, 2000, par. 3).
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For multiple authors:
◦ 2 authors
 Both names appear each time you cite the source
◦ 3-5 authors
 All names appear in the first parenthetical citation, but only the
first author et al in subsequent citations
◦ 6 or more authors
 Only the first author et al appears in the parenthetical citations
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No author listed:
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For corporate authors
◦ Partial title in italics for books, etc.
◦ Partial title in “” for articles, etc.
◦ Full name with acronym in [brackets] the first time, only
acronym thereafter
 Example: (American Association of Retired Persons [AARP] ,
2000) then (AARP, 2000)
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When citing a specific passage from a
paginated source, you will use both the year
and the page #: (Smith, 2009, p. 72).
When citing a specific part of a source, follow
the year of publication with a comma, the
abbreviation for the part, such as p. or chap.,
and the enumeration.
If the source uses paragraph numbers, as is
the case with some electronic journals, use
the abbreviation par. or pars., or the symbol ¶.
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Any idea or wording not your own must be
cited
Whenever possible, you want to paraphrase
rather than quote (with the exception of
literary works), and it’s best to avoid a lot of
long quotes
◦ Note: quotations over 40 words will be in “block
format”: separated from the rest of the paragraph
and indented a half full inch on the left. Refer to a
current handbook for samples and formatting
information.
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What is actually cited in the paragraph
below?
◦ The Pug has been around since before 400 BC.
Research shows a connection to Asia and a similarity
to the Pekinese. Tibeten monks kept Pugs in their
temples, and Prince William II brought the popularity
Pugs to England when he became King (“AKC”,
2011, par. 1).
 Only the last sentence is cited
 This is a problem since the previous sentences also came
from the same source
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This is a simple fix…
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What is actually cited in the paragraph
below?
◦ According to the American Kennel Club’s website,
the Pug has been around since before 400 BC.
Research shows a connection to Asia and a similarity
to the Pekinese. Tibeten monks kept Pugs in their
temples, and Prince William II brought the popularity
Pugs to England when he became King (“AKC”,
2011, par. 1).
 Note that the source is mentioned in the first sentence
 It is now clear that all 3 sentences come from this source
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The information is “sandwiched” between the
mention of the website and the citation
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LSCC’s Library and Learning
Center offer Online and Live
help with paper writing and
documentation
There are also a number of
great websites with advice,
most famously, perhaps, is
the OWL (Online Writing Lab)
created by Purdue University
The main thing to remember
is there’s nothing wrong with
asking for help!