APA and MLA formatting

guide

Anlisis de textos en lengua inglesa I

Prof. Manuel Snchez Garca

Writing Your Own Academic Essay

Aim of this section:
Giving your essays a format that follows a number of widely accepted
conventions.

Anglosaxon teaching system: few lessons, frequent essays assigned.

Spanish teaching system: many lessons, few essays.

Since essays and presentations are so common in the Anglosaxon

academic tradition, many convention systems are available for students:
American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association of
America (MLA), Chicago Manual of Style, American Sociological Association
(ASA)

The format of an academic essay

In order to assure the homogeneity and readability of all academic

papers, a number of general rules regarding format and presentation are
necessary.
We will use those offered by the American Psychological Association
(APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA).

APA Style: General format

Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper

with 2.5 cm. margins on all sides. You should use a clear font that is highly
readable such as Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri. Font size should be
12 pt. in all cases.
Include a page headeror running head at the top of every page. The
running head is a shortened version of your paper's title and cannot
exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.
The running head must appear flush left using all capital letters. Insert
page numbers flush right.

MLA Style: General format

Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper

with 2.5 cm. margins on all sides. You should use a clear font that is highly
readable such as Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri. Font size should be
12 pt. in all cases.
Include a page headeror running head at the top of every page. The
running head must include your surname(s), followed by a space and the
page number, both elements flush right. The running head and page
number are optional for the first page.

Paper sections

In APA style, your essay should include four major sections:

1.Title Page
2.Abstract
3.Main Body
4.References

In MLA style, no separate page is devoted to the title page, and there is
no abstract page either. The essay is divided in just two sections, then: the
main body and the Works Cited section.

APA Style: Title page

The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name,
and the institutional affiliation. Include the running head flush left with the
page number flush right at the top of the page. Please note that on the
title page, your running head should look like this:
Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER

Pages after the title page should have a running head that looks like
this:
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER

APA Style: Title page

Type your title, with all main words beginning with upper case letters,
centered in the upper half of the page. APA recommends that your title be
no more than 12 words in length 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.

Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation, which

should indicate the location where the author(s) conducted the research.

MLA Style: First page

In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your
instructor's name, the course, and the date. Be sure to use double-spaced
text.

Center the title. Do not underline it, italicize it, or place it in quotation
marks. Use capital letters for all main words. Double space between the
title and the first line of the text.

APA Style: Abstract

Begin a new page. On the first line of the abstract page, center the
word Abstract (no bold, formatting, italics, underlining, or quotation
marks).

Beginning with the next line, write a single, double-spaced, 150-to-250word paragraph with 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 want to list keywords from your paper in your abstract. To
do this, indent a new line, type Keywords: (italicized), and then list your
keywords separated by commas.

APA Style: Main body. Headings.

APA Style uses a unique 5-heading-level system to separate and

classify paper sections. Notice that the Introduction section never gets a
heading and that headings are not indicated by letters or numbers.
1. Centered, boldface, uppercase for all main words.
2.Left-aligned, boldface, uppercase for all main words.
3. Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body
text after the period.

MLA Style: Main body. Headings.

MLA does not have a prescribed system for headings, but recommends
whatever system of formatting that works best for individual authors as
long as it remains consistent throughout the document. Some possibilities
are:

Numbered headings

Formatted,

unnumbered

headings
1. Early Writings
2. The London Years
2.1. Marriage
2.2. Life as a Widower
3. Travelling the Continent
3.1. Adventures in Spain
3.1.1. Seville
3.1.2. Barcelona
4. Final Years

Early Writings
The London Years
Marriage
Life as a Widower
Travelling the Continent
Adventures in Spain
Seville
Barcelona
Final Years

Citing in the main text

When you use some authors idea in your own text, no matter if you
quote word by word or if you rephrase that idea in your own words, youll
need to signal the origin of the idea in your text.
This is done by inserting some key information (namely, author, date
and page) next to where the idea appears. Then, this key information is
expanded in the reference list at the end of the paper.
Although APA and MLA do this differently, they pay attention to
basically the same details.

Avoiding plagiarism

Authors need to

they also must

Develop a topic on what has

already been said by others

write something new and original

Rely on
opinions

improve upon, and even disagree

with, those opinions

experts

Give credit
researchers

to

former
previous

Look for accurate expression

in the works of previous
authors

BU
T

make their own contribution

use their own words most of the
time

Avoiding plagiarism

Plagiarism is the uncredited use (both intentional and unintentional) of

somebody else's words or ideas (Purdue OWL). Nowadays, a charge of
plagiarism can have severe consequences for students (ranging from
failing a subject to being expelled from university) and academics (loss of
credibility and even of a job).

Avoiding plagiarism

Giving credit to our sources by no means diminishes the value of our

work. Quite to the contrary, it proves that a necessary process of data- and
opinion-gathering has taken place prior to writing our own essay.
The number and length of ideas from our sources, however, must not
obscure our own contribution.

APA style: Quotations in the main body

Literal quotation, author mentioned in text:
According to Jameson (1997, p. 19), "Students often had difficulty
speaking in public, especially when it was their first time".
Literal quotation, author not mentioned in text:
She stated, "Students often had difficulty speaking in public" (Jameson,
1997, p. 19), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.
Paraphrase, author mentioned in text:
According to Jameson (1997, p. 19), speaking in public is difficult for
young learners.
Paraphrase, author not mentioned in text:
Speaking in public is a difficult experience for young learners (Jameson,
1997, p. 19).

APA style: Quotations in the main body

For direct quotations longer than 40 words, a separate double-spaced
paragraph with no quotation marks is used. The whole paragraph should
be indented, not just the first line. The parenthetical citation should come
after the closing punctuation mark.

In a recent study about the habits of freshmen in American universities, Jameson found a
number of interesting details about the hopes and fears of these students. Here are some of the
main ones:
It may come as a surprise that American college students are particularly afraid of making
a fool of themselves in the classroom when asked by a professor to give their opinion on
any subject. When in this situation, most of them will just look down and not say a word
until the professor gives up and asks a different student. (1997, p. 19)

MLA style: Quotations in the main body

Literal quotation, author mentioned in text:
According to Jameson, "Students often had difficulty speaking in public,
especially when it was their first time" (19).
Literal quotation, author not mentioned in text:
She stated, "Students often had difficulty speaking in public" (Jameson
19), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.
Paraphrase, author mentioned in text:
According to Jameson, speaking in public is difficult for young learners
(19).
Paraphrase, author mentioned in text:
Speaking in public is a difficult experience for young learners (Jameson
19).

MLA style: Quotations in the main body

For direct quotations longer than four lines of prose or three lines of
verse, a separate double-spaced paragraph with no quotation marks is
used. The whole paragraph should be indented, not just the first line. The
parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

In a recent study about the habits of freshmen in American universities, Jameson found a
number of interesting details about the hopes and fears of these students. Here are some of the
main ones:
It may come as a surprise that American college students are particularly afraid of making
a fool of themselves in the classroom when asked by a professor to give their opinion on
any subject. When in this situation, most of them will just look down and not say a word
until the professor gives up and asks a different student. (19)

Adding or omitting words in quotations

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets
around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text.
Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states, "some individuals [who retell
urban legends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale" (78).

If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the
deleted word or words by using ellipsis marks: full stops preceded and
followed by a space ( . . . ) or three consecutive full stops inside square
brackets []. For example:
In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some individuals make a
point of learning every recent rumor or tale . . . and in a short time a lively exchange of details
occurs" (78).

Footnotes and endnotes

Because long explanatory notes can be distracting to readers, most
academic style guidelines recommend limited use of endnotes/footnotes.
They are allowed, however, for bibliographic notes, which refer to other
publications your readers may consult. Examples:
1. See Blackmur, especially chapters 3 and 4, for an insightful analysis of this trend.
2. On the problems related to repressed memory recovery, see Wollens 120-35; for a
contrasting view, see Pyle 43; Johnson, Hull, Snyder 21-35; Krieg 78-91.

Or, you can also use endnotes/footnotes for occasional explanatory

notes (also known as content notes), which refers to brief additional
information that might be too digressive for the main text:
3. In a 1998 interview, she reiterated this point even more strongly: "I am an artist, not a
politician!" (Weller 124).

The reference list (APA) or works cited list

(MLA)

Your reference/works cited list 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 list should begin on a separate page at the end of your paper.
Label this page "References (APA) or Works Cited (MLA) centered at the
top of the page (do not bold, underline, or use quotation marks). All this
section should be double-spaced just like the rest of your essay.
Do not skip spaces between entries. Use hanging indentation (all lines
indented except the first one) for all entries.
Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the
first author of each work. For multiple articles by the same author, list the
entries in chronological order, from earliest to most recent.

APA Style: Reference list

Authors' names are inverted (last name first, then the initial). For more
than one author, use & between the last two.

Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in

Psychological Science, 11, 7-10.
Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (1994). Mood management across affective states: The hedonic
contingency hypothesis. London: Penguin Books.

MLA Style: Works cited list

The first authors name is inverted (last name first, then the name or
initial). For more than one author, use and between the last two.

Berndt, Thomas. Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in

Psychological Science 11 (2002): 7-10. Print.
Wegener, Daniel, and Rachel Petty. Mood management across affective states: The hedonic
contingency hypothesis. London: Penguin Books, 1994. Print.

MLA Style: Works cited list

If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, order the
entries alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the
author's name for every entry after the first:
Burke, Kenneth. A Grammar of Motives. [...]
---. A Rhetoric of Motives. [...]

When an author or collection editor appears both as the sole author of

a text and as the first author of a group, list solo-author entries first:
Heller, Steven, ed. The Education of an E-Designer. [...]
Heller, Steven, and Karen Pomeroy. Design Literacy: Understanding
Graphic Design. [...]

Italics and quotation marks for titles

Use italics (or underlining) for the following:
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (book)
Nature (journal)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (film)
True Blood (TV series)
Queen: Greatest Hits I (music album)

Put the following between double quotation marks:

The Importance of Shakespeares Wordplay (chapter of book or
article in journal)
The Authority Always Wins (TV episode)
We Will Rock You (song)

MLA Style: Works cited list

For every entry, you must determine the medium of publication. Most
entries will likely be listed as Print or Web sources, but other possibilities
may include Film, CD-ROM, or DVD.

APA1.Authors
Style:
Articles
ina comma
the and
reference
listFor
surname
followed by
the authors initial(s).
the second and subsequent authors, keep surnames before initials. Use
ampersand (&) between the last two authors names. Full stop.
2.Publication year between parentheses. Full stop.
3.Title of the article. Only the first word and proper nouns are
capitalized. Full stop.
4.Title of periodical in italics. All main words are capitalized. Comma.
5.Volume number, also italicized. Comma [no comma or blank space if
issue number is also given]
6.Issue between parentheses. Comma.
7.Inclusive page numbers (no omissions). Full stop.

Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal

articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893896.
Scruton, R. & Smith, F. (1996). The great eclipse of listening. The New
Criterion, 15(3), 5-13.

MLA1.Authors
Style:
Articles
ina comma
the reference
listor
surname
followed by
and the authors name
initials. For the second and subsequent authors, type the name first and
then the surname. Use and between the last two authors names. Full
stop.
2.Title of the article between inverted commas. All main words are
capitalized. Full stop.
3.Title of periodical in italics. All main words are capitalized. Space.
4.Volume number + full stop + issue number. Space.
5.Year of publication between parentheses. Colon.
6.Inclusive page numbers (functional omission needed). Full stop.
7.Medium of publication. Full stop.

Harlow, Henry. Fundamentals for Preparing Psychology Journal Articles.

Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 55 (1993): 89396. Print.
Scruton, Ray and Frank Smith. The Great Eclipse of Listening. The New
Criterion 15.3 (1996): 5-13. Web.

APA Style: Books in the reference list

1.Authors surname followed by a comma and the authors initials. For
the second and subsequent authors, keep surnames before initials. Use
ampersand (&) between the last two authors names. Add the
corresponding abbreviation if the person is not the author but the editor
(Ed.) or the translator (Trans.). Full stop.
2.Publication year between parentheses. Full stop.
3.Title of the book in italics. Only the first word and proper nouns are
capitalized. Full stop.
4.Location. Colon.
5.Publisher.Full stop.

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts

for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997). Consequences of growing
up poor. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

MLA Style: Books in the reference list

1.Authors surname followed by a comma and the authors name or
initials. For the second and subsequent authors, type the name first and
then the surname. Use and between the last two authors names. Add
the corresponding abbreviation if the person is not the author but the
editor (Ed.) or the translator (Trans.). Full stop.
2.Title of the book in italics. All main words are capitalized. Full stop.
3.Location. Colon.
4.Publisher.Comma.
5.Publication year. Full stop.
6.Medium of publication. Full stop.

Calfee, Ralph, and Elizabeth Valencia. The Guide to Preparing Manuscripts

for

Journal Publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological

Association, 2007. Print.

Crowley,

Sharon,

and

Debra

Hawhee,

eds.

Ancient

Rhetorics

Contemporary Students. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2004. Print.

for

APA Style: Book chapters in the reference

list 1.Author of chapters surname followed by a comma and the authors
initials. For the second and subsequent authors, keep surnames before
initials. Use ampersand (&) between the last two authors names. Full
stop.
2.Publication year between parentheses. Full stop.
3.Title of the chapter. Only the first word and proper nouns are
capitalized. Full stop.
4.In + Initials and surname of editor(s) + (Ed.) or (Eds.). Comma.
5.Title of book in italics. Only the first word and proper nouns are
capitalized. Space.
6.Inclusive page numbers between parentheses and preceded by pp..
Full stop.
7.Location. Colon.
8.Publisher.Full stop.

O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: A metaphor for
healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the
life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York, NY: Springer.

MLA Style: Book chapters in the reference

list
1.Author of the chapters surname followed by a comma and the
authors name or initials. For the second and subsequent authors, type the
name first and then the surname. Use and between the last two authors
names. Full stop.
2.Title of the chapter between inverted commas. All main words are
capitalized. Full stop.
3.Title of book in italics. All main words are capitalized. Full stop.
4.Ed. or Eds. + Name or initials and surname of editor(s). Full
stop.
5.Location. Colon.
6.Publisher.Comma.
7.Publication year. Full stop.
8.Inclusive page numbers. Full stop.
9.Medium of publication. Full stop.

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers
One to One. Ed. Ben Rafoth. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2000. 24-34. Print.

APA Style: Electronic sources in the

reference list
Article from an online periodical

Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart: For
People

Who

Make

Websites,

149.

Retrieved

from

http://www.alistapart.com/
Newspaper article
Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry.
The New York Times. Retrieved fromhttp://well.blogs.nytimes.com
Online encyclopedias and dictionaries [(n.d.) means no date
is present in the entry]
Feminism. (n.d.). In Encyclopdia Britannica online. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/

MLA Style: Electronic sources in the

reference list
Article from an online periodical
Dolby, Nadine. Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions
and Future Directions. Social Work and Society: The International
Online-Only Journal 6.2 (2008): n. pag. Web. 20 May 2009.
Newspaper article
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." The Washington Post.
The Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2009.
Online encyclopedias and dictionaries
Shakespeares Tragedies. Wikipedia. Web. <http://www.britannica.com/>

Practice: From MLA to APA

Shaw Fairman, Patricia. English Humour in English
Literature. Jan: Universidad de Jan, 1995. Print.
Brandt, Peter. "In Search of the Eighth Man: A Study of John
Fowles." Canadian Journal of English Studies, 7 (1983):
39-60. Print.
Helling, William and David Scott. The Category of Gender in
English. Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid, 2013. Print.
Dorao Ordua, Marisol. "E. Nesbit's Smile. The Touch of
Humour in Three Fairy Tales by E. Nesbit", Actas del VI
Congreso Nacional de AEDEAN. Ed. Walter White.
Barcelona: Universidad Central de Barcelona, 1983. 12532. Print.

Practice: From APA to MLA

Snchez Prez, A. (1991). Keys for an investigation into the
origins of the communicative methodology in language
teaching" English Studies in Spain, 4(2), 133-144.
Martnez Cuenca, C., & Johnson, K. (2002). Simulation:
Who's to blame: Mercedes or Gonzalo? Teaching English,
5(1), 10-13.
Brady, S. (2009). Using texts in the degree in English
philology. In M. T. Caneda Cabrera & J. Prez Guerra
(Eds.), English studies in the context of new technologies
(pp. 332-361). Amsterdam: Muyton Gruyter.
Davies, E. (2013). On the relevance of stylistics for
university students of English as a foreign language.
Anglo-American Studies, 10, 99-108.

Present the following texts both in APA

and MLA style

YEAR
1974
JOURNAL
college literature
ARTICLE
commonplace costumes and essential
gaudiness: Wallace Steevens poetry
PAGES
from 230 to 235
AUTHOR
John Warren Carrier
VOLUME
13

Present the following texts both in APA

and MLA style

TITLE
England and always: Tolkiens world of the rings
YEAR
1981
CITY
Grand Rapids
AUTHOR
Jared Lobdell
PUBLISHER Eerdmans

Present the following texts both in APA

and MLA style

EDITOR
Mercedes Ortega
PUBLISHER Oxford University Press
PAGES
from 157 to 176
AUTHOR
Jayne Bacon
BOOK
Jane Austens influence on modern writers
YEAR
1992
CITY
Oxford
CHAPTER
feminist criticism in the wake of Jane Austen

References

Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., &
Brizee,

A.

(2010,

May

5).

General

format.

Retrieved

from

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Russell, T., Brizee, A.,& Angeli, E. (2010). "MLA Formatting and Style
Guide."

The

Purdue

OWL.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/1/

Retrieved

from