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Mastering APA and MLA Formatting

This document discusses different formatting styles used in academic writing such as APA, MLA, Chicago, AMA and Turabian. It focuses on APA and MLA styles which are most commonly used. Following formatting guidelines is important as it shows the paper should be taken seriously, gives proper credit to other works, and helps readers find additional materials. Producing an APA style paper does not need to be burdensome if guidelines are applied during the writing process and resources are utilized.

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63 views1 page

Mastering APA and MLA Formatting

This document discusses different formatting styles used in academic writing such as APA, MLA, Chicago, AMA and Turabian. It focuses on APA and MLA styles which are most commonly used. Following formatting guidelines is important as it shows the paper should be taken seriously, gives proper credit to other works, and helps readers find additional materials. Producing an APA style paper does not need to be burdensome if guidelines are applied during the writing process and resources are utilized.

Uploaded by

Sagar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

In this chapter, you will learn how to use APA style, the documentation and formatting style

followed by the American Psychological Association, as well as MLA style, from the
Modern Language Association. There are a few major formatting styles used in academic
texts, including AMA, Chicago, and Turabian:

 AMA (American Medical Association) for medicine, health, and biological sciences
 APA (American Psychological Association) for education, psychology, and the social
sciences
 Chicago—a common style used in everyday publications like magazines, newspapers,
and books
 MLA (Modern Language Association) for English, literature, arts, and humanities
 Turabian—another common style designed for its universal application across all
subjects and disciplines

While all the formatting and citation styles have their own use and applications, in this
chapter we focus our attention on the two styles you are most likely to use in your academic
studies: APA and MLA.

If you find that the rules of proper source documentation are difficult to keep straight, you are
not alone. Writing a good research paper is, in and of itself, a major intellectual challenge.
Having to follow detailed citation and formatting guidelines as well may seem like just one
more task to add to an already-too-long list of requirements.

Following these guidelines, however, serves several important purposes. First, it signals to
your readers that your paper should be taken seriously as a student’s contribution to a given
academic or professional field; it is the literary equivalent of wearing a tailored suit to a job
interview. Second, it shows that you respect other people’s work enough to give them proper
credit for it. Finally, it helps your reader find additional materials if he or she wishes to learn
more about your topic.

Furthermore, producing a letter-perfect APA-style paper need not be burdensome. Yes, it


requires careful attention to detail. However, you can simplify the process if you keep these
broad guidelines in mind:

 Work ahead whenever you can. Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I
Learn?” includes tips for keeping track of your sources early in the research process,
which will save time later on.
 Get it right the first time. Apply APA guidelines as you write, so you will not have
much to correct during the editing stage. Again, putting in a little extra time early on
can save time later.
 Use the resources available to you. In addition to the guidelines provided in this
chapter, you may wish to consult the APA website at [Link] the
Purdue University Online Writing lab at [Link] which
regularly updates its online style guidelines.

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