MLA

Prepared by :Zhian Fadhil Asaad

The Types of Research Writing

Academic organizations and some disciplines outline their own styles of how to cite sources and format research papers.  You may have heard of or used some of the styles before.   

MLA: Modern Language Association [Humanities]  APA: American Psychological Association [Social Sciences]  CMS: Chicago Manual of Style [various subjects]  ACS: American Chemical Society  CBE: Council of Biology Editors IEEE: Institute of Electronics & Electrical Engineers NLM: National Library of Medicine or AMA: American Medical Association

Associated Press. Associated Press is the go-to style for journalists and news writing. Sometimes this covers magazine writing, too, but each title is different. AP Style was originally written with the news wire in mind, and so symbols and “extras” like italics and underlining are kept to a minimum. For example, Latin names are printed without their accents in straight AP Style (although many publications correct this in their house style).

Chicago Manual of Style. CMS is the standard for book publishing, both fiction and non-fiction. It is not generally used for scholarly publishing (journals and research), although it is sometimes used for history. CMS is currently in its 15th edition. For a more compact approach to CMS, take a look at the Turabian style, below.

MLA. The Modern Language Association style is almost exclusively used in the academic world, and applies mostly to literature and humanities. This is likely the style first introduced to most writing students and undergrads. It does carry some similarities to CMS teachings.

American Psychological Association. The APA carries its own standard for the social sciences such as psychology, sociology, education and policitcs. (Although the American Sociological Association produces a style guide specifically for sociology, see below). APA style is sometimes used for engineering and business work, too.

Turabian. Turabian style is named after the book’s author, Kate Turabian, and focuses on style in research work. It is used for the research or academic arm of many subjects. In fact, many grad and undergrad students will be directed to use Turabian despite the availability of another system in their discipline. The CMS actually refers students to Turabian, and many will find it much easier to navigate, anyway.

ACS. The American Chemical Society got in on the act with a style guide specifically for (you guessed it!) chemists. Chances are that if you write about chemistry, you already know about this guide, but here's a crib sheet on ACS style if you ever need it.

ASA. Is the American Sociological Association trying to sway some former APA users? Maybe, although the APA still seems to be the more popular, even with more sociological-oriented disciplines.

Out line page

The out line page presents a topic or sentence outline and may include the thesis statement or controlling idea Basically, your outline will constitute three main parts namely the Introduction, the Body and the Conclusion.

Table of Contents

IntroductionBackground 2-1Objective 2-2Methods 2-3Review of Literature 3.1 Definitions 3-13.2 Basic Concepts to be Understood 3-23.3 Concept Model 3-4Materials and Methods Used 4.1 Population and Sample 4-14.2 Survey Development and Design 4-24.3 Data Collection Method and Analysis 4-5Results and Discussions 5.1 Description of the Sample 5-15.2 Description of the Responses 5-25.3 Analysis of Responses 5-3Conclusions6.1 Summary 6-16.2 Recommendations 6-6Appendix 7-1References and Acknowledgements 8-2

Research Paper Outline Formats – Detailed Outline

Detailed Outline – 1 per body paragraph (6 total) Topic sentence topic------Write your subtopic Set-up for quote-------How do you think you will transition?

Quote , author name, pg. #------- Write ENTIRE quote from research, etc Significance of quote (What does your source mean by what he or she is saying? How does it relate to novel? (Write a brief answer to this prompt) Concluding sentence topic This does not have to be in full sentences –this is just the info you will use to make your sentences!(How will you transition to 2nd sub-topic? If this is 2nd sub-topic, how are you going to wrap up this topic altogether?)

*Remember that 3 of your paragraphs will have quotes from the novel. Your outlines need to account for that as well. Those will probably be 7 sentence paragraphs.

General Guidelinesfor MLA

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 recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor(.Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.Indent the first line of paragraphs 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 for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing 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.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.Text Indentation. For the text body, indent the first line of each paragraph approximately half-inch from the left margin which also equates to 5-7 spaces. It is recommended that you make use of the Tab key for uniformity, rather than pressing the space bar 5-7 times.

Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text: 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.

MLA TITLE PAGE FORMAT GUIDE

For the MLA paper, note that: MLA officially does not require a title page, but your instructor

most likely will ask for one. Thus the examples show you the actual MLA format, and the common revised title page format.

If you use a title page in MLA, it is not counted in the page count. Page 1 is ALWAYS the first page containing the text of your paper.

If you use a title page, page 1 begins with the title centered 2 inches from the top of your paper. This is the only deviation allowed from the standard 1 inch margin.

You must include your last name 3 spaces to the left of the page number in the upper right hand corner of every page of text, including the Works Cited page. This information should be located in the Header 1/2 inch from the top of the paper.

Being a research paper, your paper will also have:

1inch margins all around: top, bottom, left and right everything double spaced. A Works Cited page that is a numbered page beginning on the first

page following the last page of text.

a sample of the first page of a paper in MLA style

Citing sources in the text  In MLA style, writers place references to sources in the paper to briefly identify

them and enable readers to find them in the Works Cited list. These parenthetical references should be kept as brief and as clear as possible.

Give only the information needed to identify a source. Usually the author's last name and a page reference suffice.

Place the parenthetical reference as close as possible to its source. Insert the parenthetical reference where a pause would naturally occur, preferably at the end of a sentence.

Information in the parenthesis should complement, not repeat, information given in the text. If you include an author's name in a sentence, you do not need to repeat it in your parenthetical statement.

The parenthetical reference should precede the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause, or phrase that contains the cited material.

Electronic and online sources are cited just like print resources in parenthetical references. If an online source lacks page numbers, omit numbers from the parenthetical references. If an online source includes fixed page numbers or section numbering, such as numbering of paragraphs, cite the relevant numbers.

MLA Style Works Cited

Arrange sources alphabetically by the author’s last name, or if no author, by the first word in the citation.Include the medium of each source: print, web, CD, DVD, television, radio, film, email, film, performance.Indent each source 1 inch from border, double space, and indent second and consecutive lines.

examples

Author's name in text Dover has expressed this concern (118-21). Author's name in reference This concern has been expressed (Dover 118-21).Multiple authors of a work This hypothesis (Bradley and Rogers 7) suggested this theory (Sumner, Reichl, and Waugh 23).Two locations Williams alludes to this premise (136-39, 145).Two works cited (Burns 54; Thomas 327)References to volumes and pages (Wilson 2:1-18)References to an entire volume (Henderson, vol. 3)Works with no authorWhen a work has no author, use the work's title or a shortened version of the title when citing it in text. (If abbreviating a title, omit initial articles and begin with the word by which it is alphabetized in the Works Cited list.):

Works Citedin MLA

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2003.Last name, First name. Title of the Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year.Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Name of the Scholarly Journal Volume. Issue (Date): first page-last page.Last name, First name. “Title of the Newspaper Article.” Title of the Newspaper Date, edition: Section Pagenumber+.“The Title of the Article.” Title of Magazine Date: page number. Name of the Library Database: Name of the Service. Name of the library with city, state abbreviation. Date of access <URL>.