Transcript Slide 1

Scholarly Writing Using
APA and MLA Styles
Presented by:
RIT Academic Support Center
1
Thought-provoking Questions
How many of these questions can you answer:
 What is the value of using a style guide when
writing?
 Why do we use specific writing styles?
 What is the difference between APA and MLA
styles?
 Where can we find detailed information on
different styles?
2
Scholarly Writing
Why: student assignments, articles for
professional journals, theses, and
dissertations
Who: scholarly writing is produced by scholars
for other scholars.
Purpose: add to the existing body of knowledge
with research.
Types: results of original research; for review,
theoretical, and methodological articles; and
case studies
3
Characteristics of Scholarly Writing
As you write:
 Express ideas in a clear and logical manner.
 Persevere with the process.
 Ask for constructive feedback from others.
 Rewrite and continue to refine writing.
4
Good Practices for Scholarly Writing
Good practices include:
Using appropriate words in the proper
context.
Using grammatically correct sentences.
Writing in clear and concise paragraphs.
Using logical transitions.
5
Good Practices for Scholarly Writing
(cont.)
Good practices include:
Writing as if your audience is not familiar
with your topic or personal writing style.
Producing a document that is readable and
understandable by others.
6
Editorial Style
When professors or editors request writing in
APA or MLA Style, they do not mean writing
style. They are referring to the editorial style
that many of the social and behavioral
sciences have adopted to present written
material in the field.
7
Editorial Style (cont.)
Editorial style consists of publisher guidelines that
ensure clear and consistent presentation of
written material; e.g.:
 punctuation and abbreviations
 construction of tables
 selection of headings
 citation of references
 presentation of statistics, and
 other elements that are a part of a manuscript
8
Guidelines
General guidelines include information on all
aspects of formatting; e.g.:
 Paper size
 Spacing, font type and size
 Margins, page numbers
 Italics and underlining
 Title page
 Page numbering
9
Systems of Citations and Reference
Formats
When researchers refer to an APA or MLA
style, they refer to systems of in-text
citations as well as Works Cited and
Reference formats that:
 build their credibility.
 demonstrate accountability to their source
material.
 protect writers from accusations of
plagiarism.
10
Need for Specific Style
Authors who write for a publication follow the
rules of specific styles per the publisher to
avoid inconsistencies among journal articles
or book chapters.
For example, without rules of style, three
different manuscripts might use data base,
database, and Database in one issue of a
journal or book. The meaning of the word is
the same; however, the variations in style
may distract or confuse readers.
11
Need for Specific Style (cont.)
The need for a consistent style becomes more
apparent when complex material is
presented, such as tables and statistics.
12
When Citing is Not Required
Common sense and ethics help determine
your need for documenting sources. For
example, sources are not needed for:
 common knowledge.
 well-known quotations.
Note: Your audience dictates what constitutes
common knowledge.
13
Discussion: Check Your Current
Knowledge
Regarding APA and MLA styles:
 What resources do you have?
 Where do you go for up-to-date information
on these styles?
 How do you identify what is the most
reliable resources?
14
APA
The American Psychological Association (APA)
guidelines are the most commonly used
among the social sciences, behavioral
sciences, and education, which have
adopted the APA format to present written
material in their fields.
15
APA: Major Sections
Major sections of APA include:
 Title Page
 Abstract
 Main Body
 References
16
APA: In-Text Citation Rules
When paraphrasing an idea from another work,
make reference to the author and year of
publication in your in-text citation; e.g.:
Human beings have been described as
"symbol-using animals" (Burke, 1966).
17
APA: Corresponding Entry in
References Page
Your in-text citation will correspond with an
entry in your Works Cited page; e.g.:
Burke, Kenneth. (1966) Language as
symbolic action: Essays on life,
literature, and method. Berkeley: U of
California P, Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
18
APA: Citations of Electronic Sources
Include all information available, including an issue
number in parentheses. Provide a retrieval date
only if the information is likely to be updated or
changed at a later date (e.g., blogs and wikis);
e.g.:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title
of article. Title of Online Periodical, volume number
(issue number if available). Retrieved month day,
year, (if necessary) from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
19
APA: Common Errors
To minimize the common APA errors:
 avoid using bold, oversized, or decorative
fonts.
 avoid underlining text.
 use the ampersand (&) inside parentheses;
use “and” within text.
 double space all text in the document.
20
APA: Common Errors (cont.)
To minimize the common APA errors:
 use lowercase letters in parentheses to
identify elements in a series; e.g., (a), (b), (c).
 use separate paragraphs and Arabic
numerals for list or steps.
21
APA: Best Resources
For the most comprehensive, up-to-date
information on APA, use the following
sources:




Fifth Edition of the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association (2007)
http://apastyle.apa.org/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu
http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/asc/tutoring_writing
center.php
22
APA vs. MLA
The table below lists just a few examples
of how APA style differs from MLA.
Topic
APA
MLA
Title Page
Separate title page
No separate title page
Quotation
Marks
Long quotations of 40 or more
words are displayed in a doublespaced block of typewritten lines
with no quotation marks.
Indented five spaces from the
left margin.
Quotes longer than 4 lines
are double indented, single
spaced, and only quotation
marks used by the author
are included.
Parenthetical
Citations
Author’s last name, date of
publication, and page number.
Author’s last name and page
number in parentheses
Discipline
Behavioral and Social Sciences
and Liberal Arts: Education,
Psychology, Humanities,
Theology
Natural and Physical
Sciences; e.g., Biology,
Physics, Chemistry.
23
MLA: Usages
The Modern Language Association (MLA)
guidelines MLA writing style is the most
commonly used among the humanities,
liberal arts, and fine arts disciplines*, and
therefore, is extremely valuable to all
college students for use in their general
education courses.
*Based on the previous slide, opinions vary on these
disciplines, so it is always important to ask what
style is expected.
24
MLA: Five-Paragraph Format
With the five paragraph format, your papers
contain five main parts:
 Introduction
 Claim
 Primary support
 Secondary support
 Conclusion
25
MLA: Basic In-Text Citation Rules
Referring to the works of others in your text is
done by parenthetical citation. Following a
quotation from a source or a paraphrase of
a source's ideas, place the author's name
followed by a space and the relevant page
number(s); e.g.:
Human beings have been described as
"symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).
26
MLA: Corresponding Entry in Works
Cited Page
Your in-text citation will correspond with an
entry in your Works Cited page; e.g.:
Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic
Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and
Method. Berkeley: U of California P, 1966.
27
MLA: In-Text Multiple Citations
To cite multiple sources in the same
parenthetical reference, separate the
citations by a semi-colon; e.g.:
...as has been discussed elsewhere
(Burke 3; Dewey 21).
28
MLA: Citations of Electronic Sources
Include as much information available; e.g.:
 Author and/or editor names
 Name of the database or title of project, book,
article
 Any version numbers available
 Date of version, revision, or posting
 Publisher information
 Date you accessed the material
 Medium (i.e., electronic)
 Electronic address, printed between carets (< >)
29
MLA: Changes as of May 2008
The most notable changes include:
 Adding the medium of publication to every
entry in Works Cited
 Simplifying the format for works-cited entries
for online sources that do not include the full
URL
 Including the volume and issue numbers for
every journal citation
 Using italics instead of underling for titles
30
MLA: Best Resources
For the most comprehensive, up-to-date
information on MLA, use the following
sources:




Sixth Edition of the MLA Handbook of Writers of
Research Papers (2003)
http://www.mla.org/style
http://owl.english.purdue.edu
http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/asc/tutoring_writing
center.php
31
Automatic Bibliography Builders
Some of you may be aware of these sites that
automatically generate Works Cited and
Bibliography pages; e.g.:
 http://www.easybib.com/
 http://www.bibme.org/
 http://www.workscited4u.com/
Question: How can you ensure that these are
accurate?
32
Activity: Check Your Resources
Use your computers to determine how to create
in-text citations and Works Cited/References
citations for the following information:
 U.S. Census Bureau information
 Proceedings from a professional
organization’s conference; e.g., IEEE, STC,
or ASTD
 Audio recording
 Unpublished doctoral dissertation
33
Check Your Understanding
Describe something you learned (or recall) about
scholarly writing and using APA and MLA formats;
e.g.:
 What is the value of using a style guide when
writing?
 Why do we use specific writing styles?
 What is the difference between APA and MLA styles?
 Where can we find detailed information on different
styles?
34
Resources
Contents adapted from the following websites (which
are excellent resources for further study):
 www.apastyle.org/
 http://www.mla.org/style
 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/61292/for
matting_a_paper_for_the_modern_language_pg3.ht
ml?cat=4
 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl
 Faigley, L. Backpack Writing. New York: Custom
Publishing, 2008.
35