When you start writing a research essay, you should consider the format of your writing and reference page. There are several citation styles you may want to use, including MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychiatric Association), and Chicago. Each style has its own rules. You don't need to know all three unless required, but you should at least master one of them if you work in a field related to the writing process. Below is a summary of each style to guide your essay writing process.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Using MLA Style
Step 1. Cite as you write
MLA uses short in-text citations in parentheses and sorts the references alphabetically on the Bibliography page (in English it is written as “Works Cited”) at the end of the document. When you write your essay, include sources of information that you use to avoid plagiarism (acknowledge other people's ideas as your own).
- You should include citations immediately after writing information that you have taken from others. This information includes paraphrases, facts, statistics, quote words, and examples.
- In-text citations using the MLA style include only the author's surname (or title if the author is unknown) followed by the page number. There is no comma between the author's name and the page number. Example: (Richards 456). "Richards" is the author's surname and "456" is the page number.
- If you know the author's surname (or title if the author is unknown), but don't know the page number, write only the author's surname (or title).
Step 2. Gather information
When writing a research essay using the MLA style, you need to gather certain information for each citation. You will need information about the author's name, publisher, date of publication, and page numbers.
- The easiest way to track information for writing MLA citations is to copy the copyright information into the document in a word processing program (example: MS Word and OpenOffice) while typing or writing the information in a notebook.
- Information that must be included, namely: author's name, date of publication, publisher name, page number, edition/volume and issue number, website, date of access, and anything else on the copyright page or information that can help you or your readers to find a quote.
Step 3. Manage the reference list
Once you have completed your writing and are ready to collect or publish it, you should sort the citations in the reference list alphabetically. This page should be placed at the end of the document.
- Example of a book citation format using the MLA style: Author's surname, First name. Book title. City of publication: Name of Publisher, year of publication. Media published.
- An example of a citation format for a website is written as follows. If there is no author name, start the citation with the page name: Family name, First name “Page Title.” Website Title. Publisher. Date of issue. Media published. Access date.
- Quotations for scientific articles are written as follows: Surname, First name. “Article Title.” Journal Title. Volume. Issue number (year): page number. Media published.
- Italicize the main title (book, magazine, journal, website, etc.) or underline it if you wrote the reference by hand.
- The chapter or title of the article must be enclosed in quotation marks.
Step 4. Sort the author's surname
Write a list of references alphabetically by the author's surname.
- If there is no author's name, as with most websites, skip the author's name and start the list of references with the title of the article.
- Sort by the first letter that appears in the list even if the source of the citation does not have the author's name.
Step 5. Format the Bibliography page
Use double space and give the title "Bibliography" (in English it is written as "Works Cited").
- Use Times New Roman font size 12. Write “Bibliography” at the top-center of the new page.
- Every reference must use a hanging paragraph. The row after the first row should indent 1.27 cm.
- Make sure each reference ends with a period.
Method 2 of 3: Using APA Style
Step 1. Cite as you write
APA requires in-text citations to be enclosed in parentheses and references are alphabetically listed on the Bibliography page at the end of your document. When you write your essay, include the sources of information you use to avoid plagiarism (a form of cheating).
- Include a citation in parentheses at the end of each sentence that contains information you got from other writings.
- An in-text citation using APA style only provides the author's surname (or title if there is no author's name) followed by the year of publication. There is no comma between the name and the year. Example: (Richards 2005). “Richards” is the author's surname and “2005” is the year it was published.
- If you know the author's name (or title without an author's name), but no year of publication, use the author's surname (or title). This is commonly used when citing websites.
- Setting the APA document format is very important. The APA article is divided into 4 sections. A list of references used in APA documents appears at the end called “References” (in English it is written as “References”).
Step 2. Gather information
Write down the copyright information for each material you use. Write down any sources you use to help you remember -- don't be surprised by the sheer number of ideas you paraphrase and your inability to remember where they came from.
To create an APA reference page, you will need information on the author's surname, date of publication, website link, date of access, title of the article, and so on
Step 3. Manage the reference list
Lists should be sorted alphabetically and written with hanging paragraphs like MLA format.
- Examples of APA format for references derived from scientific articles: Author's surname, First name initials. (Publication Year). Title of article or chapter. Journal or book title, issue number, page number range.
- APA format for references from books: Author's surname, First name initials. (Year.) Book Title: Capital letters for sub-headings. Location: Publisher Name.
- APA format for website-derived references: First author's surname, A. A. First name, & Second author's surname, B. B. (Publication date.) Title of article. In Title of website or document or book (chapter or part number). Taken from the website address link.
Step 4. Manage referral pages
Reference pages must be double-spaced and given the title “Reference” at the top of the page.
- Write the surname and initials of the author's first name in capital letters followed by a period.
- Use capital letters for the first words of the journal article title unless the title uses a proper noun. The title of the book must be written exactly the same as how the title of the book was published.
- Use capital letters for the place of publication and the name of the publisher. Use proper abbreviations for state names. End each reference with a period.
- Italicize (or underline if handwritten) the title of a large publication, such as a book, journal, website, or magazine and the issue number after the title. In the APA format, titles of smaller publications, such as articles or chapters, should not use indicative punctuation (for example, exclamation points and colons).
- Each reference must end in a period.
Method 3 of 3: Using Chicago Style
Step 1. Cite as you write
CMOS or Chicago use two types of reference styles: Notes and Bibliography, and Date-Name. The form of in-text citations depends on the citation style you use.
- For Notes and Bibliography, use superscript at the end of each in-text citation and footnote at the bottom of the page. All footnotes are collected into notes at the end of the article, on the Bibliography page.
- For Name -Date, write the author's surname and year of publication in parentheses for in-text citations. Do not use any punctuation between the name and year. Write the complete information of the citation on the reference page. Sort citations alphabetically. Example: (Simon 2011). “Simon” is the author's surname and “2011” is the year it was published.
- You should include a citation immediately after writing down any information you have taken from someone else. This information includes paraphrases, facts, statistics, quote words, and examples.
Step 2. Gather information
As you do research for your essay, take note of the bibliographical information you find. This information includes title, author's name, publication, year, volume and issue number, publication location, website, and date of access (if you are using an online source).
- If you're using a book, write down all the important information you find on the copyright page, including the publisher's name, city name, and year of publication.
- For other types of citation sources, look for this information near the title. The publication date is generally listed at the bottom of the website page.
Step 3. Use Notes and Bibliography if required
Academics in the humanities (literature, history, art) generally prefer the Notes and Bibliography or "Notes and Bibliography" (NB) method. NB supports logging of multiple citation sources in greater detail, unlike the Date-Name method.
- Title it "Bibliography" (or "Bibliography " in English) on the reference page. Place it at the top-center of the page. Pause two lines before typing the first reference and one line between each reference.
- The NB style uses footnotes and endnotes. A Bibliography page is a collection of notes sorted alphabetically in hanging paragraph format for each listed reference.
- Example format for a book: Author's surname, First name. Book title. City: Publisher, Year.
- Example format for articles from scientific journals: Author's surname, First name. “Title of Article or Chapter.” Book or Journal Title Issue Number (Year): Range of page numbers. (For scientific journal articles published online, add: Access date. Link.)
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Example of a format for a website: Website Name. Page Title. Last modified date. Access date. Link.
- When the author's name is unknown, the reference begins with the title, whether for a website, chapter, article, and so on.
- When there is more than one author, the first author's name must begin with the surname then the first name so that citations can be sorted alphabetically by the author's surname. The second author and so on are written by the first name, such as: Alcott, Louisa May, Charles Dickens, and Elizabeth Gaskell.
- Always end references with a period.
Step 4. Use Date-Name if required
This style is commonly chosen by academics in the physical sciences, natural sciences, and social sciences. Name-Date is a more concise style of note taking.
- When using Date-Name, title your reference page "References" (or " References " if the article is written in English). Place the title at the top of the page. Pause two lines before writing the first reference and one line between each reference.
- The Date-Name Bibliography is sorted alphabetically by the author's surname (or title if the author's name is unknown) using a hanging paragraph format for each reference.
- Example format for a book: Surname, First name. Year. Book title. City Name: Publisher.
- Example format for an article in a scientific journal or a chapter in a book: Author's surname, First name. Year. “Chapter or Article Title.” Title of Book or Journal issue number: page number. (For scientific journal articles published online, add: Access date. Link.)
- Example of a format for a website: Site Name. Year. “Page Title.” Last modified date. Access date. Link.
Tips
- If you are asked to write using one of these citation styles, you will need to purchase a guide. The guide contains all the types of citation sources, formats, sentence structures, and special punctuation used by these styles.
- You don't have to write all the references yourself. You can download a citation management program such as Endnote (paid), Zotero (free), or use websites, such as https://www.bibme.org/ and https://www.easybib.com/. Choose the style you want before creating a quote. Copy the citation into your bibliography or reference list.
