Formatting your essay using MLA style doesn’t have to be a daunting experience, even for those who don’t like writing as a general rule. Even for those who are unfamiliar with MLA Style, our basic rules and tips should help you hammer out a solid, A+ essay in no time at all!

Let’s take a second to lay out the basics of MLA format. Trust me, it isn’t too bad.

First thing’s first: Make sure your document is set with one-inch margins all the way around. This is standard for MLA. And, unless your professor or mentor has instructed you differently, make sure your MLA essays are always in twelve-point Times New Roman font. Also be sure to include page numbers (typically with your last name) on every page, including the Works Cited page(s).

If you’re writing several essays in MLA format, it’s a good idea to go ahead and set all these adjustments as the default in the word processing app of your choice so you don’t have to keep repeating the formatting setup each time.

How to Format the Works Cited Page in MLA Style

Every MLA essay should have a Works Cited page at the end unless you’ve been instructed otherwise. Luckily, though, this page follows the same basic formatting as the rest of your MLA essay.

Here’s a pro tip to get you started: Every single citation in your Works Cited page should end with a period, no matter the source type.

Center the words “Works Cited” at the top of your Works Cited page, and leave one space between that line and the first citation. Your citations should be single-spaced, with one blank space between each of them. Don’t forget to format your citations with a half-inch hanging indent for each line that comes after the first.

When providing a single page number for a citation, you should format it as follows: p. 92. However, if you’re using a source that covers multiple pages—for instance, an article in a scholarly journal—you should format it as follows: pp. 90-95. Note that you’ll use a hyphen there, not to be confused with an n-dash.

Your citations need to be listed in alphabetical order by their first word—typically the author’s last name or the first word of the title of the source.

In-Text Citations In MLA Style

In-text citations are crucial to an MLA essay because they directly link your arguments and information to the source that you’re drawing from. They can get pretty specific and tricky, so let’s break it all down into five simple rules.

1. In-text citations should be inside parentheses and will almost always come at the end of the sentence they reference before the period.  
2. In-text citations should only include the first word of their corresponding full-length citation and the page number(s) if it’s relevant to that source.
3. If you’re citing only one page from a source, you should format it as follows: (Smith 92).
4. If you’re citing more than one page from a source, you should format it as follows: (Smith 90-95). Note that you’ll use a hyphen there, not an n-dash.
5. If you need to cite two different sources in one sentence, your citation should look like this: (Smith 92; King 74). Make sure the one you referenced first in the sentence is listed first in the in-text citation.

And there you have it! These five simple rules should make MLA in-text citations feel like a breeze!

Summary

The MLA Style Guide contains hundreds of incredibly specific rules, but the basic ideas listed here should give you the knowledge you’ll need for your next MLA essay. Don’t let all the rules overload your ability to write something awesome!

If you’re thinking about purchasing the latest edition of the MLA style guide, we already did that for you! Everything you’re reading here was cross-referenced with the latest guide. Yeah, yeah, we know. You’re welcome!

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When it comes to formatting quotes in MLA style, everything falls into these two categories: short quotes and long quotes. Using a direct quote from a source can be a great way to reinforce topics you’ve already written about or introduce a new topic at the beginning of a paragraph, so it’s essential to format it correctly!

Identifying if your quote is considered short or long by MLA standards is much easier than you may think. Here’s a simple explanation for both types of quotes and how to format them!

How to Format Short Quotes in MLA Format

The MLA Style Guide says that short quotations take up four lines or less of prose and quotes that take up three lines or less of verse. What’s the difference between prose and verse? Well, if you’re quoting from a poem or book of poetry, that is considered verse, so if your quote only takes up three lines or less, you should format it as a short quote. Any other source type is prose.

So what does it look like to format a short quote in MLA style? You’ll need to enclose your quote in double quotation marks and provide the page number where you found it as part of the in-text citation (if that applies to your source type). 

If your quote ends with an exclamation point or question mark, that will come before the in-text citation. But if your quote ends with any other form of punctuation—or none at all—it comes after the in-text citation.

These quote rules might all sound somewhat complicated so far, so let’s look at a few examples.

Here’s an example paragraph for a short quote of prose:

         Larry Brown’s collection of short stories entitled Facing the Music takes the reader on a wild ride through his interpretation of out-of-the-box writing. Brown’s experimental writing style is evident in each story, as they each take on an entirely new feel, which affects character perception and the pacing and rhythm of each beat. A perfect example of this is the story “Kubuku Rides,” which opens like this: “Angel hear the back door slam. It Alan, in from work. She start to hide the glass and then she don’t hide the glass, he got a nose like a bloodhound and gonna smell it anyway, so she just keep sitting on the couch” (Brown 11).

Here’s an example paragraph for a short quote of verse:

In his debut poetry collection entitled Crush, Richard Siken delves into topics many poets have tried to tackle before him. These range from the oddness that everyday life can sometimes hold to the grief of losing your partner. However, the thing that sets Siken’s poetry apart from others in this realm is his ability to take his own day-to-day experiences and twist them just enough to make his readers see something new. In his poem, “Seaside Improvisation,” he does this with the image of his own hands. “I take off my hands and I give them to you but you don’t / want them, so I take them back / and put them on the wrong way, the wrong wrists” (Siken 8).

The slashes here mark line breaks in the poem. If your quote includes stanza breaks, indicate those with a double slash (//).

How to Format Long Quotes in MLA Style

Quotes that are longer than four lines of prose or three lines of verse will be formatted differently than short quotes. These long quotes start on an entirely new line inside the paragraph. You don’t need to add quotation marks anywhere, but you will need to add a half-inch indent for each line of the quote. When you reach the end of your quote, the final punctuation mark will fall before your in-text citation.

Here’s an example paragraph for a long quote of prose:

Larry Brown’s collection of short stories entitled Facing the Music takes the reader on a wild ride through his interpretation of out-of-the-box writing. Brown’s experimental writing style is evident in each story, as they each take on an entirely new feel, which affects character perception and the pacing and rhythm of each beat. A perfect example of this is the story, “Kubuku Rides,” which opens like this:

Angel hear the back door slam. It Alan, in from work She start to hide the glass and then she don’t hide the glass, he got a nose like a bloodhound and gonna smell it anyway, so she just keep sitting on the couch. She gonna act like nothing happening, like everything cool. Little boy in the yard playing, he don’t know nothing. He think Mama in here watching Andy Griffith. Cook supper. She better now anyway. Just wine, no beer, no whiskey, no vodka. No gin. (Brown 11)

Here’s an example paragraph for a long quote of prose:

In his debut poetry collection entitled Crush, Richard Siken delves into topics many poets have tried to tackle before him. These range from the oddness that everyday life can hold for some to the grief of losing your partner. However, the thing that sets Siken’s poetry apart from others in this realm is his ability to take his own day-to-day experiences and twist them just enough to make his readers see something new. In his poem, “Seaside Improvisation,” he does this with the image of his own hands.

I take off my hands and I give them to you but you don’t

want them, so I take them back

and put them on the wrong way, the wrong wrists. The yard is dark,

the tomatoes are next to the whitewashed wall,

the book on the table is about Spain,

the windows are painted shut. (Siken 8)

Please take note that when formatting long quotes, you’ll place the punctuation before the citation instead of after it. Notice that you won’t need to use slashes or double slashes to indicate line/stanza breaks. Alternatively, you’ll try to keep the poem as close to its original form as possible.

Summary

Quoting directly from a source or two in your MLA style essay can strengthen your argument and showcase the knowledge that you hold on your topic. These examples should help you format those quotes correctly, whether short or long, making your MLA essay the best it can be!

The post Using Quotations in MLA Style the Right Way appeared first on Writer's Hive Media.

If you’ve taken any psychology classes, then chances are you’ve written a few APA style papers. But if not, this simple guide will explain all the basics that you need to know before you sit down to write your remarkable APA style essay!

There are two types of APA papers: literature reviews and research reports. Let’s break down each of them.

APA Style Literature Reviews

Literature reviews are prevalent in psychology classes because they summarize the research conducted on any specific topic. Professors will often ask students to write about research on a particular topic that they themselves want to do research on in the future, so it’s important to know what you need to include in your literature review.

Student literature reviews include, at minimum, a title page, page numbers, text, and a reference list. These papers don’t typically need an abstract, but your professor may require this. We’ll cover how to write an abstract later on in this guide.

Literature reviews typically need each of the following elements:

• Introduction
• Thesis Statement
• Summary and Synthesis of Sources
• List of References

APA Style Research Report

Research reports are a bit more complicated than literature reviews because they are based on research that you found yourself through experimentation. They are, like literature reviews, precise and require distinct sections throughout the paper.

Research reports typically need each of the following elements:

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• Experiment(s)
• References
• Appendices (if necessary)
• Tables and Figures (if appropriate)

It looks like a lot to remember, right? An APA research report contains a lot of information, and you must pay attention to both formatting and organization, so readers can easily follow your research. Try to give yourself enough time to tackle this paper one section at a time, so that you can make each section an example of your best writing!

Let’s break this down a little more. When you’re summarizing your experiments and research into a report, try to answer the questions below. Use these to narrow your focus a bit and give yourself a clear plan of attack for your APA research report.

Here are some questions your research report should answer and where you’ll answer them:

• Why is your topic important? (Introduction)
• What is the problem you’re attempting to solve? (Introduction)
• What did you do to try to solve the problem? (Method)
• What did you find? (Results)
• What do your findings mean? (Discussion)

APA Style Title Page

Title pages are required for all APA papers, unless your professor tells you otherwise, so it’s essential that your title page is formatted correctly. Think carefully about the title of your essay—it needs to give your reader a good idea of what they’re about to read, especially if you don’t have an abstract accompanying your paper.

The title page for your APA paper needs to include the following elements:

• Title of the Paper
• Author’s Name
• University/Institution Affiliated with Each Author
• Course Name and Number
• Instructor’s Name
• Assignment Due Date: Month, Date, Year
• Page Number (Upper Right Corner)

APA Style Abstract

Writing an abstract in an APA paper isn’t too tricky, but there are some necessary steps. An abstract is just a summary—usually no more than 250 words—of your research that prepares readers for what’s ahead in your document.

Your abstract should start on a new page after your title page, and it should begin with the label “Abstract” centered above the rest of your text. Typically, an abstract will consist only of a single paragraph, and the first line will not be indented. It’s a good idea to give a brief description of your objective, research/experiment method(s), results, and conclusions.

Summary

When you’re first starting, APA papers can seem confusing and overwhelming, but it’s important to remember that taking things one step at a time is always the best plan for success. Just follow this guide and our other APA guides to help you write a fantastic essay!

The post An Easy Overview of APA Style appeared first on Writer's Hive Media.

Let’s take a look at the various types of adjectives you might find, and how to identify them out in the wild.

What is an example of an adjective?

An adjective’s semantic role is to modify the information given by the noun. Adjectives include colors, nationalities, categories of all types, and many other descriptive words.

Example: The big dog barks at the squirrel.

Here, the adjective big modifies the noun dog.

Example: The squirrel scurries up the tall tree.

Here, the adjective tall modifies the noun tree.

Example: The loud dog chases the squirrel to the tree.

Here, the adjective loud modifies the noun dog.

Understanding the Stacking Adjectives

You can stack adjectives, using virtually as many as you want to describe a single noun. Just remember to always separate them with commas.

Example: The small, furry, yellow cat followed me home from school.

Here, the adjectives small, furry, and yellow all modify the noun cat.

Example: She climbed the tall, scary, dark tower to defeat the king.

Here, the adjectives tall, scary, and dark all modify the noun tower.

Example: Angela brought a massive, round, orange pumpkin to the fair last year.

Here, the adjectives massive, round, and orange all modify the noun pumpkin.

While it’s always a good idea to add details in your writing, remember that not all details are necessary. If the reader doesn’t need to know the color of someone’s eyes and hair, you might want to consider removing some of those adjectives. Avoid using superfluous adjectives in writing just to fill the page. Focus on writing what’s important to say and adding the appropriate adjectives when it’s relevant to the reader’s experience.

What Are Proper Adjectives?

Proper adjectives are descriptor words made from proper nouns. Proper nouns are names of people, places, organizations, and things. Both proper adjectives and proper nouns are easy to pick out because they always start with capital letters.

Example: I moved to Canada, and I became Canadian.

Here, Canada is the proper noun, and Canadian is the proper adjective.

Example: I am from America, but my favorite foods are Spanish and Thai.

Here, America is the proper noun, and Spanish and Thai are the proper adjectives.

Example: Julia doesn’t read many articles about Shakespeare, but she loves Shakespearean plays.

Here, Shakespeare is the proper noun, and Shakespearean is the proper adjective.

What are comparative and superlative adjectives?

Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things. Superlative adjectives are used to compare three or more things.

Example: My driveway is long. Tim’s driveway is longer. Karen’s driveway is the longest.

Here, long is simply an adjective. Longer is a comparative adjective, as it is comparing two things (my driveway vs. Tim’s driveway). Longest is a superlative adjective, as it is comparing three or more things (my driveway vs. Tim’s driveway vs. Karen’s driveway).

Here are more examples of adjectives and their comparative and superlative forms:

With most adjectives, you can follow the –er and –est rules to find their comparative and superlative forms, but that isn’t true for all adjectives.

Here are some examples of exceptions to these rules:

Understanding predicate adjectives

Predicate adjectives are adjectives that follow a linking verb to modify the subject of the sentence. Linking verbs can be complicated if you deep dive into them, but they are basically just verbs that link the subject of the sentence (typically a noun) to the adjective modifying that subject/noun.

Example: Maggie feels sad today.

Here, the predicate adjective sad modifies the subject Maggie through the linking verb feels.

Example: The bear has been hungry since last winter.

Here, the predicate adjective hungry modifies the subject the bear through the linking verb has been.

Here are more examples broken down into their parts:

Adjectives vs. Adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs are very closely related, but they are different forms of speech. Put simply, all adverbs are adjectives, but not all adjectives are adverbs—kind of like how all thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs.

Remember, adjectives are descriptor words that modify nouns. Adverbs are descriptor words that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

[Learn more about adverbs here]

Example: My orange cat runs faster than my black cat.

Here, the adjectives orange and black modify their respective nouns (cat). The adverb faster modifies the verb runs.

Example: The round cake tastes sweeter than the rectangular cake.

Here, the adjectives round and rectangular modify their respective nouns (cake). The adverb sweeter modifies the verb tastes.

In Summary

Adjectives are descriptor words that modify nouns. It’s always a great idea to add detail to your writing, and adjectives help you do just that. Just remember that a little goes a long way when it comes to adding detail about your nouns, so make sure that each adjective adds true value to what you’re trying to say.

This is everything you need to know about adjectives and all the forms they can take. If you’d like to learn more about grammar and writing, check out our YouTube channel.

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In-text citations are crucial to APA style papers because they allow your reader to see what information you’re citing and how that supports your argument. As with most common citation styles, APA in-text citations should always correspond with the reference list at the end of your paper.

Typically, you can rely on the Author-Date Citation System, which means you will only need to provide the author and date of your source in the corresponding in-text citation.

Reference List:

Smith, P.A. (2015). Psychology in the Context of Religion. Journal of Psychology, 115(3), 188–207.

Parenthetical Citation:

(Smith, 2015)

Narrative Citation:

Smith (2015)

As you can see, APA in-text citations have two formats: parenthetical and narrative. Which format you use will depend on the context of your citation. Let’s break that down a little further.

APA Style Parenthetical Citations

Parenthetical citations are more common than narrative citations, and that is because they are used when the text surrounding them does not already include the source author’s name. In a parenthetical citation, the author and date are separated by a comma. They can come at the end of a sentence or within the middle, but when the in-text citation appears at the end of the sentence, the period or other ending punctuation must fall after the closing parentheses.

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (Smith, 2015).

APA Style Narrative Citations

Narrative citations are necessary when the author’s name is already part of the sentence. It’s perfectly acceptable to use as many of these as you want in your APA style essay, especially if it helps the overall flow of your sentence structure.

Here’s an example:

Smith (2015) noted that the links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history.

The author’s name and the source’s date may both appear within the text of the sentence. When that happens, no parenthetical citation is required, as the sentence itself acts as an in-text reference.

Note that if the same narrative citation appears multiple times in one paragraph, you can omit the source’s publication year after the first use.

Citing Multiple Works in APA Style

Citing multiple sources in one in-text citation in an APA paper should be done by ordering the sources alphabetically within the parentheses and separating them with a semicolon.

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (Holiday, 2017; Smith 2015).

If both sources are from the same author, order them by the year of publication.

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (Smith, 2015a, 2015b, 2018).

If you would like to emphasize one particular source from one sentence, even though multiple sources were used in that sentence, you will start the parenthetical citation with that source. Follow it with a semicolon and a phrase such as “see also,” then continue with the less critical sources.

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (Smith, 2015; see also Holiday, 2017; Smith, 2018).

Finally, if multiple sources are cited within the text of the sentence using narrative citations, they may come in any order. Just do whatever sounds the best to your ear!

Here’s an example:

Smith (2015) and Holiday (2017) both noted that the links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history.

Citing Specific Parts of a Source in APA Format

If you want to cite a specific part of a source, follow the Author-Date Citation System, then add a comma and follow up with the particular part of the source you want to emphasize.

Here are some examples:

(Smith, 2015, p. 22)

(Smith, 2015, Table 1)

(Smith, 2015, Part III)

(Smith, 2015, Slide 7)

(Smith, 2015, pp. 19–25)

(Smith, 2015, paras. 5–6)

(Smith, 2015, Chapter 10)

Citing Sources with Unknown or Anonymous Authors in APA

If a source has no author, you can replace the author’s name with the source title in the in-text citation. If the title is italicized in the reference list, it needs to be italicized in the in-text citation as well. If it is not italicized in the reference list, it needs to be enclosed in double quotations within the in-text citation.

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (“Psychology in the Context of Religion,” 2015).

If an anonymous author writes the source—and that author is marked explicitly as anonymous, you can simply replace the author’s name with “Anonymous.”

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (Anonymous, 2015).

Citing Sources with More Than One Author in APA Style

If you’re using a source with just one or two authors, each author’s name should appear in every in-text citation. Include an ampersand between each author’s name.

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (Smith & Holiday, 2015).

However, if you’re using a source with three or more authors, you should only include the first author’s name, followed by “et al.”

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (Smith et al., 2015).

If you have multiple sources with authors of the same surname, you can include the author’s first initial(s) before their last name in the in-text citation.

Here’s an example:

The links between human psychology and religion run deep within every civilization in history (C. Smith, 2015). Still, there are several key differences between the specific civilizations we are studying (A. L. Smith, 2015).

Summary

Do in-text citations in APA format seem a bit simpler now? We hope so! There are many particular details to pay attention to, but hopefully, this guide helps you out. Take your time and good luck with your APA style essay!

The post How to Do In-Text Citations in APA Style appeared first on Writer's Hive Media.

Unlike most other academic format styles, APA has very particular rules for headings and seriations, because they are prevalent in APA papers. Headings and seriations help organize APA papers in a way that makes them easy to navigate. Luckily, the rules aren’t too complicated, so this breakdown should be all you need to get going on a great essay!

APA Style Headings

Headings are incredibly crucial in APA Style essays, because they separate each element of the paper, breaking information up so that it’s easier to digest. 

Here are five levels of headings in APA style:

Here is an example of what each of these headings will look like when used in an APA Style Essay:

Note that you will never have to use a heading for your introductory paragraph. You should always start with a level 1 heading and then move your way down the list, going as far as the organization and separation of your paper require.

APA Style Seriations

Seriations are very helpful in APA papers, because they allow you to list critical points in whichever format works best for that information. Lists can make it easier for your readers to consume the information you’re presenting in your essay, which is a big relief for papers that include tons of data and detailed information.

For lists that need to be presented in a specific order, you can use Arabic numerals that are immediately followed by a period:

1. First point on the list.
2. Second point on the list.
3. Third point on the list.

For lists that have no particular order, you can use bullet points to organize your information:

• First point on the list.
• Second point on the list.
• Third point on the list.

Stick to a simple circle or square bullet point for these lists. Avoid stars, spades, or any other shapes or symbols.

You can also list your points in paragraph form:

This can be useful for information that appears all in one sentence such as (a) the first point on the list; (b) the second point on the list; (c) the third point on the list; (d) the fourth point on the list; (e) the fifth point on the list.

Summary

Headings and seriations are super handy for APA papers, so knowing how to format their different types will make writing your essay easier! Just remember to start with level 1 headings, then work your way down, and take advantage of seriations when it benefits your essay organization and layout!

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Tables and figures are immensely helpful for easily sharing large amounts of information in an APA style essay without having to take up multiple paragraphs of space. Tables use rows and columns to organize information, while figures include any illustration that doesn’t.

Remember only to use tables and figures in APA papers when necessary, not just to take up space or break up the text of your essay. They can be convenient, but overusing them makes an essay look jumbled. Please refer to each table and figure you use in the text of your paper as well. Information presented in tables and figures needs to be expanded upon in the text to make sense of why you chose the table or figure you did.

Finally, remember to number tables (Table 1, Table 2, Table 3) and figures (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3) with Arabic numerals in ascending order throughout your APA style essay.

APA Style Tables

Tables in an APA paper require a title, which should be italicized and should fall one line below the table number and one line above the table itself. Each column in the table must have a heading, and each heading should be short and concise. Headings used in tables shouldn’t be longer than the data presented in the table if you can help it.

There are four types of headings for tables in APA format. The stub heading describes the left-hand column. Column headings describe the information below them, so they only account for one column. Column spanners are above column headings, and they represent the information found in two or more columns. Table spanners cover the entire width of the table.

In your table’s body—the cells of the table—everything should be centered unless it’s easier to read as left-aligned text. If you’re using text in the body, you should use regular sentence case, not title case. And finally, if a cell doesn’t contain anything, place a dash inside it and use a note under the table to explain the dash.

There are three kinds of notes for tables in APA style papers: general, specific, and probability. They should appear in that order under the corresponding table. General notes explain the information presented in the table and provide further context if needed. They are delineated by placing the word note before it begins. Specific notes explain the information presented within a particular column, row, or cell. They are delineated by superscript lowercase letters. Probability notes share the statistical significance of quantities in the table when that is necessary. They are delineated by an asterisk or asterisks preceding the probability value (*p, **p, ***p).

Here’s an example of a table in an APA paper:

APA Style Figures

Figures include all illustrations that are not tables—charts, graphs, drawings, images, maps, etc. Don’t use anything too flashy or get too caught up in the special effects you can apply to figures because you don’t want to use anything that distracts your readers from the information of the table and text.

Each figure should be numbered and titled, and these labels should appear above the figure. Not all figures will require a legend, but you can include one if it’s needed. Legends should be in title case, and they should appear within or under the figure. Like tables, figures can sometimes require notes. General notes, specific notes, and probability notes can be used, and they follow the same formatting as table notes.

Here’s an example of a figure in an APA paper:

Summary

Don’t be afraid to use a table or figure in your APA paper, especially if it helps you convey information that doesn’t quite make sense without a visual. Tables and figures are super useful, and they’re not too tricky to format correctly, as long as you follow the simple rules laid out in this guide!

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Understanding how to format footnotes and endnotes is crucial to any Chicago essay you write because it’s the primary way to cite sources within your text. Luckily, most word processing applications already include a footnote and endnote option that makes formatting super easy. However, it’s still crucial that you understand the basic formatting rules for footnotes and endnotes in Chicago style essays, because your word processing app may not always default to the correct settings.

First, let’s talk about the difference between footnotes and endnotes. The only thing that separates these two in-text citations is the fact that footnotes exist at the bottom of the page that the source was cited, while endnotes are found at the end of the essay, no matter what page the source was mentioned. Be sure to check with your professor to find out which note type they prefer.

Formatting Footnotes and Endnotes in Chicago Style

All footnotes and endnotes should use superscript Arabic numerals to help your readers match the note with the text’s right part. Place the superscript numerals either at the end of the sentence or the end of the clause containing the referenced information.

Here is an example of an in-text citation with its corresponding footnote/endnote:

This example represents the first use of the source in an essay. However, if you reference a source more than once in an essay, you can shorten the remaining footnotes or endnotes that reference that source. Footnotes and endnotes that reference a source for the second, third, etc. time in one paper can include the author’s last name, the source’s title, and the page number from where the information was derived.

Here is an example of an in-text citation with its corresponding shortened footnote or endnote:

Notice that you can shorten the source’s title if it’s too long. Most academic books tend to have longer, hyper-specific titles. In general, a good rule to follow is that if the title contains a colon (:), then the shortened title is what comes before the colon.

Formatting the Bibliography in Chicago Style

To format your Chicago style essay’s bibliography page, you’ll place the title “Bibliography,” centered at the top of the page. It doesn’t need to be bolded or italicized and should be Times New Roman size 12.

Some professors may ask that you title this page something else, but it’s not the norm. 

Finally, list all sources alphabetically with a space between each source. The first line should be left-aligned, while all lines after that source are indented.

Summary

These are the basic rules for formatting footnotes/endnotes and the bibliography page correctly. Not too bad, right? Now that you’ve got the formatting down for citations, it’s time to focus on writing a remarkable Chicago Style essay!

The post How to do Footnotes and Endnotes in Chicago Style appeared first on Writer's Hive Media.

The current APA style guide discourages the use of footnotes in APA essays—and omits endnotes altogether—so it’s a good idea to resort to footnotes only when it’s absolutely necessary for explaining or citing a piece of information in your paper. In other words, if you can put the footnoted information in the paper’s text instead, that is always the better option.

However, there will be times when a footnote or two becomes necessary to maintain the integrity of your paper, so let’s take a look at what to do in that situation. There are two footnote types in APA: content footnotes and copyright attribution footnotes.

APA Style Content Footnotes

Content footnotes do precisely what they sound like they do—provide a little extra content to strengthen the argument of what lies within the actual text. They can pull your reader’s attention away from the essay, though, so don’t rely too much on them. Content footnotes in APA shouldn’t contain more than a couple of sentences of absolutely crucial information. If their contents aren’t entirely necessary to the core of the essay, don’t include them.

Though footnotes are allowed in all essay types in APA format, try not to depend on them multiple times in one essay, especially with content footnotes. Even if the information is important, several footnotes in one essay become a distraction.

APA Style Copyright Attribution Footnotes

Copyright attribution footnotes are necessary for lengthy quotes and test or scale items that appear in your APA style essay; therefore, having more than one isn’t as big a deal as having multiple content footnotes.

Note that if you use a table or figure in your paper, the copyright attribution goes into the table or figure note, not in a separate footnote.

The copyright attribution should contain all of the following elements:

• “From” if your material was reprinted, and “Adapted from” if your material was adapted
• Source title, author, year of publication, and source of the material
• Either the source copyright year and the name of the copyright holder, a statement that tells the reader that the material is licensed in the Creative Commons, or a statement that tells the reader that the content is in the public domain
• Permission statement from the copyright holder if permission was asked for and received

APA Style Footnote Format

Like MLA and Chicago, APA footnotes use superscript Arabic numerals, which are available in all commonly used word processing apps. The footnote numbers should be in numerical order throughout your essay if you have more than one. The superscript number will appear immediately after all forms of punctuation except a dash, which requires the superscript number to come before.

Summary

Like we talked about above, footnotes aren’t super common in APA papers, but it’s still possible that you may need to use them at some point. Be aware of their aesthetic effects on your essay as a whole, and remember not to use too many content footnotes when they aren’t absolutely necessary! But when you have to use a footnote or two in your APA essay, you’ll know exactly how to format it correctly!

The post How to Do Footnotes and Endnotes in APA Style appeared first on Writer's Hive Media.

Depending on how many MLA style essays you’ve written, you may or may not know that you can use endnotes and footnotes instead of solely using parenthetical in-text citations. Some professors or publishers may require that you use only endnotes and footnotes because it often cleans up your essay, making it easier for the reader to focus on the argument. Unlike typical in-text citations that tend to muddy up your body paragraphs, endnotes and footnotes in MLA style happen underneath all the text, keeping things looking clean and simple.

Luckily, if you’ve already got a good hold on parenthetical citations, these shouldn’t be too difficult to understand!

One quick thing before we get going: The MLA style guide recommends limited use of lengthy, over-descriptive footnotes and endnotes, so it’s best to steer clear of vast explanations in your notes.

Using Footnotes and Endnotes for Recommendations and Context

You may see academic writers—especially in history books—use endnotes and footnotes to recommend further reading that pertains to the topic. These kinds of notations are fine to do in your MLA essay, though it shouldn’t happen often. More often, you might notice a footnote or endnote that gives a bit more context to a piece of information in the main text. This is more common, but it’s still not something you should repeatedly do in one MLA essay.

Here are examples for both of these types of footnotes and endnotes:

1. Many other polls have drawn this same conclusion. See Smith 66-78.
2. For a different take on a soldier’s life during the Revolutionary War, see Lancaster chapters 13 and 14.

1. In her memoir published later that year, Carrie revealed the struggles she had always kept hidden (Fisher 99).
2. When asked directly in a televised interview, he had no answer (Scottsdale 86).

How to Number Footnotes and Endnotes

Footnotes and endnotes in an MLA essay should always be indicated by superscript numbers that immediately follow the sentence or clause containing referenced information. These numbers will always come after the punctuation, except when you’re using an em-dash (—) to separate clauses.

Never use asterisks, stars, or any other symbols to delineate footnotes or endnotes in an MLA style essay. Only use superscript numbers.

Here are some examples of how to number footnotes and endnotes:

Sociologists have long debated the level of importance that religion held in ancient societies.⁷

King states that the crime happened at fifteen minutes past midnight,³ but many witnesses have disputed this claim.

The fact remains that the flowers grew better in the bigger pot⁵—meaning Sarah’s flowers will most likely flourish.

How to Format Footnotes and Endnotes

When using endnotes, you should have a page titled “Notes” at the end of your MLA essay but before your Works Cited Page. Using corresponding numbers, list your endnotes and give the bibliographic or context information of each source/note. These notes should be double-spaced. Along the left margin, type the endnote number and a period and add five spaces before starting your actual note.

The eighth edition of the MLA style guide does not specify how to format footnotes, but the most commonly used word processing apps (Microsoft Word, Pages, Google Docs, etc.) have a built-in function for adding footnotes that can help you format correctly!

Summary

You may not write many MLA essays that require footnotes and endnotes, but if you ever need to rely on them instead of parenthetical citations, this guide should lead you through each step! 

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