Table of Contents

What is APA Style? ........................................................................................................................................................... 1

APA Formatting and Writing Style ............................................................................................................................. 2
GENERAL APA GUIDELINES .......................................................................................................................................... 4
APA Citation Basics .......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Basic Rules for Most Sources...................................................................................................................................... 15
MLA FORMAT .................................................................................................................................................................. 22
MLA FORMATTING AND NOTATION STYLE......................................................................................................... 23
IN-TEXT CITATIONS: THE BASICS ............................................................................................................................ 24
MLA General Format ..................................................................................................................................................... 25
BASIC IN-TEXT CITATION RULES.............................................................................................................................. 29
In MLA Style, .................................................................................................................................................................... 29
AUTHOR-PAGE CITATION FOR CLASSIC AND LITERARY WORKS WITH MULTIPLE EDITIONS.......... 31
MLA Tables, Figures, and Examples ......................................................................................................................... 37
Chicago style format for papers | Requirements & examples ........................................................................ 39
In-text citations and notes .......................................................................................................................................... 44
References: ....................................................................................................................................................................... 47

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Different format in research writing

What is APA Style?

APA Style establishes standards of written communication concerning:

the organization of content

writing style
citing references
and how to prepare a manuscript for publication in certain disciplines.
Why Use APA?
Aside from simplifying the work of editors by having everyone use the same format for a
given publication, using APA Style makes it easier for readers to understand a text by
providing a familiar structure they can follow. Abiding by APA's standards as a writer will
allow you to:

provide readers with cues they can use to follow your ideas more efficiently and to locate
information of interest to them
allow readers to focus more on your ideas by not distracting them with unfamiliar formatting
and establish your credibility or ethos in the field by demonstrating an awareness of your
audience and their needs as fellow researchers.
Who Should Use APA?
APA Style provides fairly comprehensive guidelines for writing academic papers regardless
of subject or discipline. However, traditionally, APA is most frequently used by writers and
students in:

Social Sciences, such as Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, and Criminology

Business

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Nursing
If you are a student, consult with an instructor to learn what style your discipline uses before
using APA Style in your work. If APA Style is appropriate for your writing project, use the
links below to learn more about APA and how to follow its rules correctly in your own work.

APA Formatting and Writing Style

The following pages introduce some of the basic requirements of APA Style as well as
describing the different formatting and writing conventions that are used in APA papers.

General APA Format

Covers the basic page layout for a typical APA manuscript.
Includes a general list of the basic components of an APA paper: title page, abstract, body,
and reference page.
Headings and Seriation
Provides models and examples for the section headers used to organize APA papers.
Describes how to format lists within the text of APA papers.
Footnotes and Endnotes
Recommends using footnotes or endnotes to avoid long explanations in the text.
Covers two basic kinds of notes: content and copyright permission notes.
APA Citations and Reference List
The following pages walk through the details of making in-text citations and developing a
reference page at the end of your paper. They contain numerous illustrative examples.

In-Text Citations: The Basics

Addresses the basic formatting requirements of using the APA Style for citing secondary
sources within the text of your essay.

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Provides guidance on how to incorporate different kinds of references to borrowed material,
from short quotes to summaries of entire articles.
In-Text Citations: Author/Authors
Focuses on various details about referring to the authors of your sources within your essay,
which can be a difficult task if the source has more than one author or has an unclear author
(e.g., an organization).
Describes how to cite indirect quotes, electronic sources, and/or sources without page
numbers.
Reference List: Basic Rules
Guides you through the general rules that apply to any reference list developed using APA
Style.
Serves as a primer on formatting the sorts of references that will be described in greater
detail at the pages linked below..
Reference List: Author/Authors
Walks through how to construct a reference entry for sources with a wide variety of author
configurations.
Notes how references differ depending on the number of authors or if there are multiple
works by the same author.
Reference List: Articles in Periodicals
Describes how to refer accurately to academic journal articles—a very important kind of
source in scholarly writing.
Lists types of entries depending on the type of periodical (e.g., journal, newspaper,
magazine, etc.) and the type of article.
Reference List: Books
Describes how to properly refer to book-length sources.
Addresses both the basic book format as well as requirements for unique book sources that
require additional detail, such as translations or parts of multivolume works.

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Reference List: Other Print Sources
Offers a short list of uncommon print sources with instructions for how to construct
references for them.
Examples include indirect print citations (i.e., a print source that is cited in another) and
government documents.
Reference List: Electronic Sources
Walks through the requirements and unique qualifications for constructing references for
electronic sources.
Covers sources from online periodicals and scholarly databases to emails.
Reference List: Audiovisual Sources
Offers guidance on all manner of audiovisual sources, including sound recordings and
YouTube clips.
Also describes how to cite visual artwork hosted online.
Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources
Focuses primarily on how to reference uncommon non-print sources, including presentations
and interviews.
Notes that personal communication (e.g. an interview or conversation) is not to be included
in the reference list.

GENERAL APA GUIDELINES

Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1"
margins on all sides. Include a page header (also known as the “running head”) at the top of
every page. For a professional paper, this includes your paper title and the page number. For
a student paper, this only includes the page number. To create a page header/running head,
insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush
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left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened version of your paper's title and
cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

FONT
The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual requires that the chosen font be accessible
(i.e., legible) to all readers and that it be used consistently throughout the paper. It
acknowledges that many font choices are legitimate, and it advises writers to check with
their publishers, instructors, or institutions for guidance in cases of uncertainty.

While the APA Manual does not specify a single font or set of fonts for professional writing,
it does recommend a few fonts that are widely available. These include sans serif fonts such
as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, and 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode as well as serif fonts
such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, 10-point Computer Modern.

Major Paper Sections

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and
References.

TITLE PAGE
Note: APA 7 provides slightly different directions for formatting the title pages of
professional papers (e.g., those intended for scholarly publication) and student papers (e.g.,
those turned in for credit in a high school or college course).

The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional
affiliation. A professional paper should also include the author note. A student paper should
also include the course number and name, instructor name, and assignment due date.

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Type your title in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page. The title
should be centered and written in boldface. APA recommends that your title be focused and
succinct and that it should not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. Your
title may take up one or two lines. All text on the title page, and throughout your paper,
should be double-spaced.

Beneath the title, type the author's name: first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Do not
use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD).

Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation, which should indicate the
location where the author(s) conducted the research.

A professional paper should include the author note beneath the institutional affiliation, in
the bottom half of the title page. This should be divided up into several paragraphs, with any
paragraphs that are not relevant omitted. The first paragraph should include the author’s
name, the symbol for the ORCID iD, and the URL for the ORCID iD. Any authors who do
not have an ORCID iD should be omitted. The second paragraph should show any change in
affiliation or any deaths of the authors. The third paragraph should include any disclosures
or acknowledgements, such as study registration, open practices and data sharing, disclosure
of related reports and conflicts of interest, and acknowledgement of financial support and
other assistance. The fourth paragraph should include contact information for the
corresponding author.

A student paper should not include an author note.

Note again that page headers/page numbers (described above for professional and student
papers) also appear at the top of the title page. In other words, a professional paper's title

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page will include the title of the paper flush left in all capitals and the page number flush
right, while a student paper will only contain the page number flush right.

Student title page:

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ABSTRACT
Begin a new page. Your abstract page should already include the page header (described
above). On the first line of the abstract page, center and bold the word “Abstract” (no italics,
underlining, or quotation marks).

Beginning with the next line, write a concise summary of the key points of your research.
(Do not indent.) Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions,
participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also include possible
implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings. Your
abstract should be a single paragraph, double-spaced. Your abstract should typically be no
more than 250 words.

You may also want to list keywords from your paper in your abstract. To do this, indent as
you would if you were starting a new paragraph, type Keywords: (italicized), and then list
your keywords. Listing your keywords will help researchers find your work in databases.

APA Citation Basics

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 should appear in the text,
like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in
the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the material, or
making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference
to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should
include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.”
(for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en
dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998,
pp. 199–201). This information is reiterated below.

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Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in
the reference list at the end of the paper.

In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.
If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters
long or greater within the title of a source: Permanence and Change. Exceptions apply to
short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs: Writing New Media,
There Is Nothing Left to Lose.
(Note: in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized: Writing new
media.)

When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word: Natural-
Born Cyborgs.
Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of
Hitchcock's Vertigo."
If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case
capitalization in the text: The Closing of the American Mind; The Wizard of Oz; Friends.
If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and
title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence case): "Multimedia
Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;" "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."
SHORT QUOTATIONS
If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of
publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and “pp.”
for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).

You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name
followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

According to Jones (1998), "students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it
was their first time" (p. 199).
Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what
implications does this have for teachers?
If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last
name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did
not offer an explanation as to why.
LONG QUOTATIONS

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Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten
lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the
left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire
quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within
the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout, but do not
add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should come after the
closing punctuation mark.

Because block quotation formatting is difficult for us to replicate in the OWL's content
management system, we have simply provided a screenshot of a generic example below.

Professional title page:

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A Work by One Author
The APA manual recommends the use of the author-date citation structure for in-text citation
references. This structure requires that any in-text citation (i.e., within the body of the text)
be accompanied by a corresponding reference list entry. In the in-text citation provide the
surname of the author but do not include suffixes such as "Jr.".

As Ahmed (2016) mentions...

(Ahmed, 2016)
Citing Non-Standard Author Categories
A WORK BY TWO AUTHORS
Name both authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses each time you cite the work. Use
the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand in
parentheses.

Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports...

(Wegener & Petty, 1994)
A WORK BY THREE OR MORE AUTHORS
List only the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in every citation, even the first, unless
doing so would create ambiguity between different sources.

(Kernis et al., 1993)

Kernis et al. (1993) suggest...
In et al., et should not be followed by a period. Only "al" should be followed by a period.

If you’re citing multiple works with similar groups of authors, and the shortened “et al”
citation form of each source would be the same, you’ll need to avoid ambiguity by writing
out more names. If you cited works with these authors:

Jones, Smith, Liu, Huang, and Kim (2020)

Jones, Smith, Ruiz, Wang, and Stanton (2020)
They would be cited in-text as follows to avoid ambiguity:

(Jones, Smith, Liu, et al., 2020)

(Jones, Smith, Ruiz, et al., 2020)
Since et al. is plural, it should always be a substitute for more than one name. In the case
that et al. would stand in for just one author, write the author’s name instead.

UNKNOWN AUTHOR
If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase or use the
first word or two in the parentheses. Titles of books and reports are italicized; titles of

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articles, chapters, and web pages are in quotation marks. APA style calls for capitalizing
important words in titles when they are written in the text (but not when they are written in
reference lists).

A similar study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using Citations,"
2001).
Note: In the rare case that "Anonymous" is used for the author, treat it as the author's name
(Anonymous, 2001). In the reference list, use the name Anonymous as the author.

ORGANIZATION AS AN AUTHOR
If the author is an organization or a government agency, mention the organization in the
signal phrase or in the parenthetical citation the first time you cite the source, just as you
would an individual person.

According to the American Psychological Association (2000),...

If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, you may include the abbreviation in
brackets the first time the source is cited and then use only the abbreviation in later citations.
However, if you cite work from multiple organizations whose abbreviations are the same, do
not use abbreviations (to avoid ambiguity).

First citation: (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2000)

Second citation: (MADD, 2000)
TWO OR MORE WORKS IN THE SAME PARENTHESES
When your parenthetical citation includes two or more works, order them the same way they
appear in the reference list (viz., alphabetically), separated by a semi-colon.

(Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983)

If you cite multiple works by the same author in the same parenthetical citation, give the
author’s name only once and follow with dates. No date citations go first, then years, then
in-press citations.

(Smith, n.d., 1995, 2002, in press)

AUTHORS WITH THE SAME LAST NAME
To prevent confusion, use first initials with the last names.

(E. Johnson, 2001; L. Johnson, 1998)

TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR IN THE SAME YEAR
If you have two sources by the same author in the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c)
with the year to order the entries in the reference list. Use the lower-case letters with the year
in the in-text citation.

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Research by Berndt (1981a) revealed strong correlations. However, a parallel study (Berndt,
1981b) resulted in inconclusive findings.
INTRODUCTIONS, PREFACES, FOREWORDS, AND AFTERWORDS
When citing an Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword in-text, cite the appropriate
author and year as usual.

(Funk & Kolln, 1992)

PERSONAL COMMUNICATION
For interviews, letters, e-mails, and other person-to-person communication, cite the
communicator's name, the fact that it was personal communication, and the date of the
communication. Do not include personal communication in the reference list.

(E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

If using a footnote to reference personal communication, handle citations the same way.

1. P. Smith also claimed that many of her students had difficulties with APA style (personal
communication, November 3, 2002).
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
When citing information you learned from a conversation with an Indigenous person who
was not your research participant, use a variation of the personal communication citation
above. Include the person’s full name, nation or Indigenous group, location, and any other
relevant details before the “personal communication, date” part of the citation.

(Caroline Jennings, Cherokee Nation, lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, personal communication,

October 2019)
CITING INDIRECT SOURCES
Generally, writers should endeavor to read primary sources (original sources) and cite those
rather than secondary sources (works that report on original sources). Sometimes, however,
this is impossible. If you use a source that was cited in another source, name the original
source in your signal phrase. List the secondary source in your reference list and include the
secondary source in the parentheses. If you know the year of the original source, include it
in the citation.

Johnson argued that... (as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).

(Johnson, 1985, as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).
ELECTRONIC SOURCES
If possible, cite an electronic document the same as any other document by using the author-
date style.

Kenneth (2000) explained...

UNKNOWN AUTHOR AND UNKNOWN DATE

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If no author or date is given, use the title in your signal phrase or the first word or two of the
title in the parentheses and use the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date").

Another study of students and research decisions discovered that students succeeded with
tutoring ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).
SOURCES WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS
When an electronic source lacks page numbers, you should try to include information that
will help readers find the passage being cited. Use the heading or section name, an
abbreviated heading or section name, a paragraph number (para. 1), or a combination of
these.

According to Smith (1997), ... (Mind Over Matter section, para. 6).
Note: Never use the page numbers of webpages you print out; different computers print
webpages with different pagination. Do not use Kindle location numbers; instead, use the
page number (available in many Kindle books) or the method above.

OTHER SOURCES
The APA Publication Manual describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and
content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that
the manual does not describe, making the best way to proceed unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of APA citation to the
new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply
use the standard APA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to
cite. For example, a sensible way to cite a virtual reality program would be to mimic the
APA's guidelines for computer software.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions
for how to cite this kind of source.

Formatting a Reference List

Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information
necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper.
Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in
the reference list must be cited in your text.

Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label this
page "References" in bold, centered at the top of the page (do NOT underline or use
quotation marks for the title). All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of your
essay.

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Basic Rules for Most Sources
All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half
inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.
All authors' names should be inverted (i.e., last names should be provided first).
Authors' first and middle names should be written as initials.
For example, the reference entry for a source written by Jane Marie Smith would begin with
"Smith, J. M."
If a middle name isn't available, just initialize the author's first name: "Smith, J."
Give the last name and first/middle initials for all authors of a particular work up to and
including 20 authors (this is a new rule, as APA 6 only required the first six authors).
Separate each author’s initials from the next author in the list with a comma. Use an
ampersand (&) before the last author’s name. If there are 21 or more authors, use an ellipsis
(but no ampersand) after the 19th author, and then add the final author’s name.
Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each
work.
For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in
chronological order, from earliest to most recent.
When referring to the titles of books, chapters, articles, reports, webpages, or other sources,
capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title and subtitle, the first word after a
colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
Note again that the titles of academic journals are subject to special rules. See section below.
Italicize titles of longer works (e.g., books, edited collections, names of newspapers, and so
on).
Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as chapters
in books or essays in edited collections.
General guidelines
NECESSITY
Visual material such as tables and figures can be used quickly and efficiently to present a
large amount of information to an audience, but visuals must be used to assist
communication, not to use up space, or disguise marginally significant results behind a
screen of complicated statistics. Ask yourself this question first: Is the table or figure
necessary? For example, it is better to present simple descriptive statistics in the text, not in
a table.

RELATION OF TABLES OR FIGURES AND TEXT

Because tables and figures supplement the text, refer in the text to all tables and figures used
and explain what the reader should look for when using the table or figure. Focus only on
the important point the reader should draw from them, and leave the details for the reader to
examine on their own.

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DOCUMENTATION
If you are using figures, tables and/or data from other sources, be sure to gather all the
information you will need to properly document your sources.

INTEGRITY AND INDEPENDENCE

Each table and figure must be intelligible without reference to the text, so be sure to include
an explanation of every abbreviation (except the standard statistical symbols and
abbreviations).

ORGANIZATION, CONSISTENCY, AND COHERENCE

Number all tables sequentially as you refer to them in the text (Table 1, Table 2, etc.),
likewise for figures (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.). Abbreviations, terminology, and probability
level values must be consistent across tables and figures in the same article. Likewise,
formats, titles, and headings must be consistent. Do not repeat the same data in different
tables.

Tables
Data in a table that would require only two or fewer columns and rows should be presented
in the text. More complex data is better presented in tabular format. In order for quantitative
data to be presented clearly and efficiently, it must be arranged logically, e.g. data to be
compared must be presented next to one another (before/after, young/old, male/female, etc.),
and statistical information (means, standard deviations, N values) must be presented in
separate parts of the table. If possible, use canonical forms (such as ANOVA, regression, or
correlation) to communicate your data effectively.

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ELEMENTS OF TABLES
NUMBERS
Number all tables with Arabic numerals sequentially. Do not use suffix letters (e.g. Table 3a,
3b, 3c); instead, combine the related tables. If the manuscript includes an appendix with tables,
identify them with capital letters and Arabic numerals (e.g. Table A1, Table B2).

TITLES
Like the title of the paper itself, each table must have a clear and concise title. Titles should
be written in italicized title case below the table number, with a blank line between the number
and the title. When appropriate, you may use the title to explain an abbreviation
parenthetically.

Comparison of Median Income of Adopted Children (AC) v. Foster Children (FC)

HEADINGS
Keep headings clear and brief. The heading should not be much wider than the widest entry
in the column. Use of standard abbreviations can aid in achieving that goal. There are several
types of headings:

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Stub headings describe the lefthand column, or stub column, which usually lists major
independent variables.
Column headings describe entries below them, applying to just one column.
Column spanners are headings that describe entries below them, applying to two or more
columns which each have their own column heading. Column spanners are often stacked on
top of column headings and together are called decked heads.
Table Spanners cover the entire width of the table, allowing for more divisions or combining
tables with identical column headings. They are the only type of heading that may be plural.
All columns must have headings, written in sentence case and using singular language (Item
rather than Items) unless referring to a group (Men, Women). Each column’s items should be
parallel (i.e., every item in a column labeled “%” should be a percentage and does not require
the % symbol, since it’s already indicated in the heading). Subsections within the stub column
can be shown by indenting headings rather than creating new columns:

Chemical Bonds

Ionic

Covalent

Metallic

BODY
The body is the main part of the table, which includes all the reported information organized
in cells (intersections of rows and columns). Entries should be center aligned unless left
aligning them would make them easier to read (longer entries, usually). Word entries in the
body should use sentence case. Leave cells blank if the element is not applicable or if data
were not obtained; use a dash in cells and a general note if it is necessary to explain why cells
are blank. In reporting the data, consistency is key: Numerals should be expressed to a
consistent number of decimal places that is determined by the precision of measurement.
Never change the unit of measurement or the number of decimal places in the same column.

NOTES
There are three types of notes for tables: general, specific, and probability notes. All of them
must be placed below the table in that order.

General notes explain, qualify or provide information about the table as a whole. Put
explanations of abbreviations, symbols, etc. here.

Example: Note. The racial categories used by the US Census (African-American, Asian

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American, Latinos/-as, Native-American, and Pacific Islander) have been collapsed into the
category “non-White.” E = excludes respondents who self-identified as “White” and at least
one other “non-White” race.

Specific notes explain, qualify or provide information about a particular column, row, or
individual entry. To indicate specific notes, use superscript lowercase letters (e.g. a, b, c), and
order the superscripts from left to right, top to bottom. Each table’s first footnote must be the
superscript a.

a n = 823. b One participant in this group was diagnosed with schizophrenia during the survey.

Probability notes provide the reader with the results of the tests for statistical significance.
Asterisks indicate the values for which the null hypothesis is rejected, with the probability (p
value) specified in the probability note. Such notes are required only when relevant to the data
in the table. Consistently use the same number of asterisks for a given alpha level throughout
your paper.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001

If you need to distinguish between two-tailed and one-tailed tests in the same table, use
asterisks for two-tailed p values and an alternate symbol (such as daggers) for one-tailed p
values.

*p < .05, two-tailed. **p < .01, two-tailed. †p <.05, one-tailed. ††p < .01, one-tailed.

BORDERS
Tables should only include borders and lines that are needed for clarity (i.e., between elements
of a decked head, above column spanners, separating total rows, etc.). Do not use vertical
borders, and do not use borders around each cell. Spacing and strict alignment is typically
enough to clarify relationships between elements.

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 TABLES FROM OTHER SOURCES
If using tables from an external source, copy the structure of the original exactly, and cite the
source in accordance with APA style.

TABLE CHECKLIST
(Taken from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed.,
Section 7.20)

Is the table necessary?

Does it belong in the print and electronic versions of the article, or can it go in an online
supplemental file?
Are all comparable tables presented consistently?
Are all tables numbered with Arabic numerals in the order they are mentioned in the text? Is
the table number bold and left-aligned?
Are all tables referred to in the text?
Is the title brief but explanatory? Is it presented in italicized title case and left-aligned?
Does every column have a column heading? Are column headings centered?
Are all abbreviations; special use of italics, parentheses, and dashes; and special symbols
explained?
Are the notes organized according to the convention of general, specific, probability?
Are table borders correctly used (top and bottom of table, beneath column headings, above
table spanners)?
Does the table use correct line spacing (double for the table number, title, and notes; single,

20
one and a half, or double for the body)?
Are entries in the left column left-aligned beneath the centered stub heading? Are all other
column headings and cell entries centered?
Are confidence intervals reported for all major point estimates?
Are all probability level values correctly identified, and are asterisks attached to the
appropriate table entries? Is a probability level assigned the same number of asterisks in all
the tables in the same document?
If the table or its data are from another source, is the source properly cited? Is permission
necessary to reproduce the table?
Figures
Figures include all graphical displays of information that are not tables. Common types
include graphs, charts, drawings, maps, plots, and photos. Just like tables, figures should
supplement the text and should be both understandable on their own and referenced fully in
the text. This section details elements of formatting writers must use when including a figure
in an APA document, gives an example of a figure formatted in APA style, and includes a
checklist for formatting figures.

PREPARING FIGURES
In preparing figures, communication and readability must be the ultimate criteria. Avoid the
temptation to use the special effects available in most advanced software packages. While
three-dimensional effects, shading, and layered text may look interesting to the author,
overuse, inconsistent use, and misuse may distort the data, and distract or even annoy readers.
Design properly done is inconspicuous, almost invisible, because it supports communication.
Design improperly, or amateurishly, done draws the reader’s attention from the data, and
makes him or her question the author’s credibility. Line drawings are usually a good option
for readability and simplicity; for photographs, high contrast between background and focal
point is important, as well as cropping out extraneous detail to help the reader focus on the
important aspects of the photo.

PARTS OF A FIGURE
NUMBERS
All figures that are part of the main text require a number using Arabic numerals (Figure 1,
Figure 2, etc.). Numbers are assigned based on the order in which figures appear in the text
and are bolded and left aligned.

TITLE
Under the number, write the title of the figure in italicized title case. The title should be brief,
clear, and explanatory, and both the title and number should be double spaced.

IMAGE
The image of the figure is the body, and it is positioned underneath the number and title. The

21
image should be legible in both size and resolution; fonts should be sans serif, consistently
sized, and between 8-14 pt. Title case should be used for axis labels and other headings;
descriptions within figures should be in sentence case. Shading and color should be limited
for clarity; use patterns along with color and check contrast between colors with free online
checkers to ensure all users (people with color vision deficiencies or readers printing in
grayscale, for instance) can access the content. Gridlines and 3-D effects should be avoided
unless they are necessary for clarity or essential content information.

LEGENDS
Legends, or keys, explain symbols, styles, patterns, shading, or colors in the image. Words in
the legend should be in title case; legends should go within or underneath the image rather
than to the side. Not all figures will require a legend.

NOTES
Notes clarify the content of the figure; like tables, notes can be general, specific, or probability.
General notes explain units of measurement, symbols, and abbreviations, or provide citation
information. Specific notes identify specific elements using superscripts; probability notes
explain statistical significance of certain values.

MLA FORMAT

WHY USE MLA?

Using MLA Style properly makes it easier for readers to navigate and comprehend a text
through familiar cues that refer to sources and borrowed information. Editors and instructors
also encourage everyone to use the same format so there is consistency of style within a given
field. Abiding by MLA's standards as a writer will allow you to:

Provide your readers with cues they can use to follow your ideas more efficiently and to locate
information of interest to them
Allow readers to focus more on your ideas by not distracting them with unfamiliar or
complicated formatting
Establish your credibility or ethos in the field by demonstrating an awareness of your audience
and their needs as fellow researchers (particularly concerning the citing of references)
WHO SHOULD USE MLA?
MLA Style is typically reserved for writers and students preparing manuscripts in various
humanities disciplines such as:

English Studies - Language and Literature

Foreign Languages and Literatures

22
Literary Criticism
Comparative Literature
Cultural Studies

MLA FORMATTING AND NOTATION STYLE

You should start by becoming familiar with the general formatting requirements of MLA
Style, as well as the different standards for notation that MLA writers are expected to use.
Because MLA is different than other writing styles, such as APA, you should pay attention to
every detail of the Style, from general paper layout to abbreviations. The following pages will
introduce you to some of these basic requirements to get you started in the right direction.

GENERAL FORMAT
Covers the basic requirements of page layout for a typical MLA manuscript
Includes general guidelines to apply throughout the document and specific formatting details
for the first page of the paper
Provides an image of the first page of a sample essay written in MLA Style

FOOTNOTES AND ENDNOTES

Explains the necessity for using both types of notes and how to use them effectively in an
MLA paper
Covers different reasons for why you may use a footnote or endnote to supplement the main
body of your paper
Describes how to number and format the notes to be consistent with MLA guidelines

FORMATTING QUOTATIONS
Describes how to format quotations borrowed from secondary sources
Addresses both short quotations worked into the writer's own sentences and long quotations
that are blocked off as distinct material
Explains how to omit or add in words properly to clarify the meaning of a quotation

ABBREVIATIONS
Covers MLA standards for abbreviating words commonly used in academic prose
Describes the different categories of abbreviations: times, locations, academic references, and
publishers
Includes guidelines for abbreviating information in citations on a Works Cited page

MLA CITATIONS AND WORKS CITED PAGE

As with any publishing style, the most difficult aspects of MLA Style are the requirements for
citing secondary sources accurately. The pages included here walk you through the details of

23
incorporating citations into the text of your paper as well as how to compose a Works Cited
page of references at the end of your paper. Read these guidelines carefully. It is important
that you refer to your sources according to MLA Style so your readers can quickly follow the
citations to the reference page and then, from there, locate any sources that might be of interest
to them. They will expect this information to be presented in a particular style, and any
deviations from that style could result in confusing your readers.

HOW TO DOCUMENT SOURCES IN MLA STYLE: AN OVERVIEW

Covers the process for developing Works Cited pages and in-text citations using MLA (9th
ed.)
Explains "containers," a concept new to the eighth edition, including how to apply them to
develop citations

IN-TEXT CITATIONS: THE BASICS

Addresses the MLA Style formatting requirements for citing secondary sources within the text
of your essay
Offers a few basic rules for using parenthetical citations, including when not to use them
Includes examples of in-text citations
Explains the author-page formatting of the parenthetical citation and how that applies to
different types of sources
Provides examples of in-text citations based on the kind of source being cited, such as a
literary work, an anonymous work, and a work with multiple authors
Describes how to cite a source indirectly referenced in another source

WORKS CITED PAGE: BASIC FORMAT

Guides you through the general rules that apply to any Works Cited page using MLA Style,
including where the page appears and how to organize the works
Walks you through how to construct a reference entry for different types of texts, starting with
a focus on authors
Serves as a primer on formatting that will be expanded in all of the following pages addressing
MLA Works Cited entries for different types of sources
Includes an example Works Cited Page

WORKS CITED PAGE: BOOKS

Builds from the basic format page with a focus on how to create citations for certain
commonly referenced book sources
Includes guidelines and examples for a variety of books depending on the number of authors,
whether the work is a piece is a larger work, or the book itself is part of multivolume collection

24
WORKS CITED PAGE: OTHER COMMON SOURCES
Provides guidelines on how to reference other sources you may encounter during research that
are considered books or non-periodical works
Includes works that you might likely use but that have unusual publication information, such
as a government document, pamphlet, or dissertation

WORKS CITED PAGE: PERIODICALS

Covers the guidelines for developing a citation entry for works found in periodicals (typically
articles in circulating publications that have different dates and volume/issue numbers)
Lists types of entries depending on the kind of journal (e.g. one paginated by volume), if the
source is a magazine vs. a newspaper, or the kind of article (e.g. a letter to the editor)

WORKS CITED PAGE: ELECTRONIC SOURCES

Demonstrates the basic requirements and unique qualifications for constructing references for
different types of electronic sources
Covers more standard sources—from online periodicals and scholarly databases—to less
conventional sources, like emails and video recordings found online
Includes OWL suggestions on how to cite blog entries and comments posted to blogs (NOTE:
consult your instructor to find out if these are acceptable research sources to use for your
assignment)

WORKS CITED PAGE: OTHER NON-PRINT SOURCES

Applies the basic MLA citation rules to non-print sources you may use in your research, such
as interviews and images
Provides directions and examples of how to cite video and sound recordings, as well as three-
dimensional works like sculptures

MLA General Format

MLA Style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and citing research in writing.
MLA Style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through
parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.

Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to
their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from
accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source
material produced by other writers.

If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult the MLA Handbook (9th edition).

25
Publishing scholars and graduate students should also consult the MLA Style Manual and
Guide to Scholarly Publishing (3rd edition). The MLA Handbook is available in most writing
centers and reference libraries. It is also widely available in bookstores, libraries, and at the
MLA web site. See the Additional Resources section of this page for a list of helpful books
and sites about using MLA Style.

Paper Format
The preparation of papers and manuscripts in MLA Style is covered in part four of the MLA
Style Manual. Below are some basic guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA Style:

General Guidelines
Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
Double-space the text of your paper and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever
font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough
that they are each distinct from one another. The font size should be 12 pt.
Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise prompted by
your instructor).

Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.

Indent the first line of each paragraph one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends
that you use the “Tab” key as opposed to pushing the space bar five times.

Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half
inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you
omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.)

Use italics throughout your essay to indicate the titles of longer works and, only when
absolutely necessary, provide emphasis.
If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page.
Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).
Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested or the paper is assigned
as a group project. In the case of a group project, list all names of the contributors, giving each
name its own line in the header, followed by the remaining MLA header requirements as
described below. Format the remainder of the page as requested by the instructor.
In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the
course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.

Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in
quotation marks. Write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.

26
Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you
would in your text. For example: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play; Human
Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
Double space between the title and the first line of the text.

Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a
space with a page number. Number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4,
etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or
other readers may ask that you omit the last name/page number header on your first page.
Always follow instructor guidelines.)

Here is a sample of the first page of a paper in MLA style:

Section Headings
Writers sometimes use section headings to improve a document’s readability. These sections
may include individual chapters or other named parts of a book or essay.

27
Essays
MLA recommends that when dividing an essay into sections you number those sections with
an Arabic number and a period followed by a space and the section name.

1. Early Writings
2. The London Years
3. Traveling the Continent
4. Final Years
Books
MLA does not have a prescribed system of headings for books (for more information on
headings, please see page 146 in the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing,
3rd edition). If you are only using one level of headings, meaning that all of the sections are
distinct and parallel and have no additional sections that fit within them, MLA recommends
that these sections resemble one another grammatically. For instance, if your headings are
typically short phrases, make all of the headings short phrases (and not, for example, full
sentences). Otherwise, the formatting is up to you. It should, however, be consistent
throughout the document.

If you employ multiple levels of headings (some of your sections have sections within
sections), you may want to provide a key of your chosen level headings and their formatting
to your instructor or editor.

Sample Section Headings

The following sample headings are meant to be used only as a reference. You may employ
whatever system of formatting that works best for you so long as it remains consistent
throughout the document.

Numbered:

1. Soil Conservation
1.1 Erosion
1.2 Terracing
2. Water Conservation
3. Energy Conservation
Formatted, unnumbered:

Level 1 Heading: bold, flush left

Level 2 Heading: italics, flush left

Level 3 Heading: centered, bold

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Level 4 Heading: centered, italics

BASIC IN-TEXT CITATION RULES

In MLA Style,
referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations. This method
involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a
quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source
information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However,
as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the
parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source
medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information
on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to
your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the
corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.
IN-TEXT CITATIONS: AUTHOR-PAGE STYLE
MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's
last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear
in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's
name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or
paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of
your sentence. For example:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings" (263).

Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"

(Wordsworth 263).
Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the
information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named

29
Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works
Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. Oxford UP, 1967.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS FOR PRINT SOURCES WITH KNOWN AUTHOR

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a
signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the
signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as "symbol-using animals" (3).
Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).
These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first
thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method.
University of California Press, 1966.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS FOR PRINT SOURCES BY A CORPORATE AUTHOR

When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation
followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g.,
nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly
long parenthetical citations.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS FOR SOURCES WITH NON-STANDARD LABELING SYSTEMS

If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or
poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical
would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the
examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:

The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence
of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine
eyes”, they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with
their relationship to creationism. (lines 5-6)

Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS FOR PRINT SOURCES WITH NO KNOWN AUTHOR

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author
name, following these guidelines.

30
Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a
longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number
if it is available.

Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding
articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse.

If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first
clause, phrase, or punctuation:

We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has
"more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and
study environmental change . . ." ("Impact of Global Warming").
In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title
appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand
margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in
quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader
directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs. 1999.
www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work,
that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must
be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know
which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your
interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

AUTHOR-PAGE CITATION FOR CLASSIC AND LITERARY WORKS

WITH MULTIPLE EDITIONS
Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary
scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's The
Communist Manifesto. In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the
edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the
appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.),
or paragraph (par.). For example:

31
Marx and Engels described human history as marked by class struggles (79; ch. 1).
AUTHOR-PAGE CITATION FOR WORKS IN AN ANTHOLOGY, PERIODICAL, OR
COLLECTION
When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical
or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For
example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which
was published in Nature in 1921, you might write something like this:

Relativity's theoretical foundations can be traced to earlier work by Faraday and Maxwell
(Einstein 782).
See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited.

CITING AUTHORS WITH SAME LAST NAMES

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is
taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first
initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For
example:

Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer children (R. Miller
12), others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A.
Miller 46).
CITING A WORK BY MULTIPLE AUTHORS
For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical
citation:

Best and Marcus argue that one should read a text for what it says on its surface, rather than
looking for some hidden meaning (9).
The authors claim that surface reading looks at what is “evident, perceptible, apprehensible in
texts” (Best and Marcus 9).
Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations, vol.
108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1

For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the
additional names with et al.

According to Franck et al., “Current agricultural policies in the U.S. are contributing to the
poor health of Americans” (327).
The authors claim that one cause of obesity in the United States is government-funded farm

32
subsidies (Franck et al. 327).
Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.”
American Journal of Preventative Medicine, vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.

CITING MULTIPLE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work
from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics
and short titles of articles in quotation marks.

Citing two articles by the same author:

Lightener has argued that computers are not useful tools for small children ("Too Soon" 38),
though he has acknowledged elsewhere that early exposure to computer games does lead to
better small motor skill development in a child's second and third year ("Hand-Eye
Development" 17).
Citing two books by the same author:

Murray states that writing is "a process" that "varies with our thinking style" (Write to Learn
6). Additionally, Murray argues that the purpose of writing is to "carry ideas and information
from the mind of one person into the mind of another" (A Writer Teaches Writing 3).
Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with
the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when
appropriate, the page number(s):

Visual studies, because it is such a new discipline, may be "too easy" (Elkins, "Visual Studies"
63).
CITING MULTIVOLUME WORKS
If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number
followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only
cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)

. . . as Quintilian wrote in Institution Oratorio (1: 14-17).

CITING THE BIBLE
In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and
underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do
not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:

Ezekiel saw "what seemed to be four living creatures," each with faces of a man, a lion, an
ox, and an eagle (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5-10).

33
If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book,
chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:

John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

CITING INDIRECT SOURCES

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within
another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually
consulted. For example:

Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't
do that well" (qtd. in Weisman 259).
Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather
than citing an indirect source.

CITING TRANSCRIPTS, PLAYS, OR SCREENPLAYS

Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special
guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the
speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name
(e.g., JAMES.). After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should
receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with
that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker
changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.

Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually,
the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt,
so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers
or act/scene indicators.

Here is an example from O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh.

Alcohol makes an early appearance in O'Neill's play. In the very first scene, O'Neill's
characters treat alcohol as a panacea for their ills:
WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.

ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.

WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his
lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)

CITING NON-PRINT OR SOURCES FROM THE INTERNET

34
With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources
you found in digital environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for
scholarly work (reference the OWL's Evaluating Sources of Information resource), some Web
sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic,
film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source on your Works
Cited page.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources
because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require
a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the
following guidelines:

Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the
citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
Do not provide paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print
preview function.
Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the
appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the
name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like CNN.com or Forbes.com, as
opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.
MISCELLANEOUS NON-PRINT SOURCES
Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:

Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo stars Herzog's long-time film partner, Klaus Kinski. During the
shooting of Fitzcarraldo, Herzog and Kinski were often at odds, but their explosive
relationship fostered a memorable and influential film.
During the presentation, Jane Yates stated that invention and pre-writing are areas of rhetoric
that need more attention.
In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the
reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo. Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in
Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.

ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:

One online film critic stated that Fitzcarraldo "has become notorious for its near-failure and
many obstacles" (Taylor, “Fitzcarraldo”).

35
The Purdue OWL is accessed by millions of users every year. Its "MLA Formatting and Style
Guide" is one of the most popular resources.
In the first example (an online magazine article), the writer has chosen not to include the
author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited.
Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical
citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see
below).

In the second example (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page
does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used
as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence,
an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both
corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant, 13 Jun. 2003,

www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009.

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL, 2 Aug. 2016,
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.

MULTIPLE CITATIONS
To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-
colon:

. . . as has been discussed elsewhere (Burke 3; Dewey 21).

TIME-BASED MEDIA SOURCES
When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast,
include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example:
(00:02:15-00:02:35).

WHEN A CITATION IS NOT NEEDED

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not
need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations, or common knowledge
(For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first
President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on
your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example,
you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ
from common norms.

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MLA Tables, Figures, and Examples

General guidelines
Collect sources. Gather the source information required for MLA documentation for the
source medium of the illustration (e.g. print, Web, podcast).
Determine what types of illustrations best suit your purpose. Consider the purpose of each
illustration, how it contributes to the purpose of the document and the reader's understanding,
and whether the audience will be able to view and/or understand the illustration easily.
Use illustrations of the best quality. Avoid blurry, pixilated, or distorted images for both print
and electronic documents. Often pixelation and distortion occurs when writers manipulate
image sizes. Keep images in their original sizes or use photo editing software to modify them.
Reproduce distorted graphs, tables, or diagrams with spreadsheet or publishing software, but
be sure to include all source information. Always represent the original source information
faithfully and avoid unethical practices of false representation or manipulation (this is
considered plagiarism).
Use illustrations sparingly. Decide what items can best improve the document's ability to
augment readers' understanding of the information, appreciation for the subject, and/or
illustration of the main points. Do not provide illustrations for illustrations' sake. Scrutinize
illustrations for how potentially informative or persuasive they can be.
Do not use illustrations to boost page length. In the case of student papers, instructors often
do not count the space taken up by visual aids toward the required page length of the
document. Remember that texts explain, while illustrations enhance. Illustrations cannot carry
the entire weight of the document.
Labels, captions, and source information
Illustrations appear directly embedded in the document, except in the case of manuscripts that
are being prepared for publication. (For preparing manuscripts with visual materials for
publication, see Note on Manuscripts below.) Each illustration must include a label, a number,
a caption and/or source information.

The illustration label and number should always appear in two places: the document main text
(e.g. see fig. 1) and near the illustration itself (Fig. 1).
Captions provide titles or explanatory notes (e.g., Van Gogh’s The Starry Night)
Source information documentation will always depend upon the medium of the source
illustration. If you provide source information with all of your illustrations, you do not need
to provide this information on the Works Cited page.
MLA documentation for tables, figures, and examples
MLA provides three designations for document illustrations: tables, figures, and examples
(see specific sections below).

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Tables

Refer to the table and its corresponding numeral in-text. Do not capitalize the word table. This
is typically done in parentheses (e.g. "(see table 2)").
Situate the table near the text to which it relates.
Align the table flush-left to the margin.
Label the table 'Table' and provide its corresponding Arabic numeral. No punctuation is
necessary after the label and number (see example below).
On the next line, provide a caption for the table, most often the table title. Use title case.
Place the table below the caption, flush-left, making sure to maintain basic MLA style
formatting (e.g. one-inch margins).
Below the title, signal the source information with the descriptor "Source," followed by a
colon, then provide the correct MLA bibliographic information for the source in note form
(see instructions and examples above). If you provide source information with your
illustrations, you do not need to provide this information on the Works Cited page.
If additional caption information or explanatory notes is necessary, use lowercase letters
formatted in superscript in the caption information or table. Below the source information,
indent, provide a corresponding lowercase letter (not in superscript), a space, and the note.
Labels, captions, and notes are double-spaced.
Table Example

In-text reference:

In 1985, women aged 65 and older were 59% more likely than men of the same age to reside
in a nursing home, and though 11,700 less women of that age group were enrolled in 1999,
men over the same time period ranged from 30,000 to 39,000 persons while women accounted
for 49,000 to 61,500 (see table 1).

Table reference:

Table 1

Rate of Nursing Home Residence among People Age 65 or Older, by Sex and Age Group,
1985, 1995, 1997, 1999a

38
Source information and note form
Notes serve two purposes: to provide bibliographic information and to provide additional
context for information in the text. When it comes to citing illustrations, using notes allows
for the bibliographic information as close to the illustration as possible.

Note form entries appear much like standard MLA bibliographic entries with a few
exceptions:

Author names are in First_Name—Last_named format.

Commas are substituted for periods (except in the case of the period that ends the entry).
Publication information for books (publisher, year) appears in parentheses.
Relevant page numbers follow the publication information.

Chicago style format for papers | Requirements & examples

Published on September 25, 2019 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on December 8, 2021.

39
The information in this article is largely drawn from Turabian style—a version of Chicago
style aimed at students and researchers. When writing a paper in Chicago style, these are the
guidelines to follow; for the sake of simplicity, the term “Chicago” is used here.

To apply Chicago format:

Use a standard font like 12 pt. Times New Roman.

Double-space the text.
Use 1-inch margins or larger.
Indent new paragraphs by ½ inch.
Place page numbers in the top right or bottom center.
Note that any specific formatting advice from your instructor or faculty overrules these
guidelines. Template documents set up in Chicago style are available to download below. Just
select the one with the citation style you’re following.

General formatting
Chicago doesn’t require a specific font or font size, but recommends using something simple
and readable (e.g. 12 pt. Times New Roman). Use margins of at least 1 inch on all sides of the
page.

The main text should be double-spaced, and each new paragraph should begin with a ½ inch
indent. Text should be left-aligned and not “justified” (meaning that the right margin should
look ragged).

Page numbers can be placed either in the top right or the bottom center of the page – one or
the other, not both.

40
Title page
A title page isn’t required in Chicago style—often it’s sufficient to just include your title at
the top of the first page—but if you’re asked to include one, Turabian provides guidelines for
how to present it.

All text on the title page should be center-aligned and double-spaced, and written in the same
font as the rest of your text. The title should appear about ⅓ of the way down the page, in
headline capitalization and in bold.

41
If you have a subtitle, the main title ends with a colon and the subtitle appears on the following
line, also in bold and the same size as the main title.

About ⅔ of the way down the page, add any information your instructor requests you to
include – your name, student code, the course name and code, the date, etc. Each new piece
of information appears on a new line.

The title page should not have a page number, but should be included in the page count – in
other words, the page numbering starts on page 2.

Headings
Headings should use headline capitalization:

If you use different levels of heading (e.g. chapters, sections, subheadings), make sure your
presentation makes clear which type of heading each one is.

All headings of one level should be presented the same way, and higher-level headings should
stand out more from the text. For example, you might use a larger font for chapter headings,

42
bold for section headings, and italics for subheadings:

Block quotes
Prose quotations of five or more lines (or more than 100 words), as well as poetry quotations
of two or more lines, are presented as block quotes.

Block quotes do not use quotation marks. Instead, a blank line separates them from the
surrounding text on both sides and they are indented by an additional ½ inch. Unlike the rest
of the text, they are not double-spaced.

43
Numbers and acronyms
Chicago recommends using words, not numerals, for numbers lower than 100. For example,
you would write “ninety-five,” not “95.” But numerals should still be used when you’re
referring to a specific measurement (e.g. “15 cm”) and when using decimals (e.g. “1.5”).

Acronyms should be introduced the first time you refer to the thing they stand for:

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) advocates for…

After this point, you can use the acronym alone.

Neither numerals nor acronyms should be used at the beginning of a sentence. Either rewrite
the sentence so that the numeral or acronym appears elsewhere, or write out the full phrase or
number:

Wrong: 100 people responded to the survey.

Right: One hundred people responded to the survey.
Right: The survey received 100 responses.

In-text citations and notes

Chicago provides guidelines for not one but two citation styles: author-date and notes and
bibliography.

In author-date style, citations are placed directly in the text in parentheses. In this style, you
have some flexibility about how exactly to integrate the citation:

44
Davis (2016) argues that the theory is “sound.” Other researchers, however, have contradicted
this assessment (Lee et al. 2017; Johnson 2018).
In notes and bibliography style, citations appear in footnotes or endnotes (the format is
identical either way), and the reader is referred to them by superscript numbers in the text.

Footnote and endnote numbers appear at the end of the relevant clause or sentence, after any
punctuation except a dash.

Endnotes appear on their own page just before the bibliography; footnotes appear at the
bottom of each page. Footnotes should be separated from the text by a short rule and be
presented in the same font size as the main text, or smaller. Word’s footnote function
automatically creates footnotes like this:

Bibliography or reference list

At the end of your paper, you’ll likely include a bibliography (for notes and bibliography style)
or a reference list (for author-date).

Bibliographies and reference lists are not double-spaced, but leave a blank line between
entries.

If an entry extends onto a second line, a ½ inch indent should be applied to all but the first
line of the entry.

45
46
References:
https://www.scribbr.com/chicago-style/format-paper/
https://www.scribbr.com/research-paper/research-paper-format/
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guid
e/mla_tables_figures_and_examples.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_style_introduction.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_overview_and_workshop.h
tml
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guid
e/in_text_citations_author_authors.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guid
e/in_text_citations_the_basics.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guid
e/general_format.html

47