RESEARCH PAPER STYLE SHEET ELMWOOD JR/SR HIGH SCHOOL

I. WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY

The working bibliography is a list of all the information sources—books, magazine articles, Internet sites, videos, etc—that you looked at during your research. You would include here any general encyclopedias you read for background information. One method for organizing your bibliography is to write each source on an index card (one title per card), which is then attached to any notes taken from that source.  Your teacher may prefer to see the sources listed alphabetically on a single sheet of paper.  Whatever method you use, it is important to revise your bibliography frequently as you discover new sources.

II. WORKS CITED

A. The Works Cited page is a list of all the information sources that you actually used in preparing your paper. This list appears at the end of your paper, and each entry is arranged alphabetically, according to the first word in the citation (usually the author’s last name, but it may be the first (other than a, an, or the) word in the title.  Do not number the entries.

B. Book or pamphlet form

Author's last name, author's first name. Full title (including subtitle) City of publication: publisher, year of publication.

example:   Tartar, Maria. Off with Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton:  Princeton UP, 1992.

example, two authors:           Jakobson, Roman, and Linda R. Waugh.  The Sound Shape of                                                                  Language.  Bloomington:  Indiana UP, 1979.

NOTE:  If there are more than three authors, you may name only the first and add et al. (and others), or you may give all names in full in the order in which they appear on the title page.

C. Encyclopedias or other reference books form

1.      Familiar reference books (those that have frequent new editions)

Author's last name, author's first name. (If available, it usually appears at the end of the article; if signed with initials, look for the author’s identity elsewhere in the work.) "Title of article."  Title of reference work.  Edition [if available].  Year of publication.

 

example:              Ginsburg, Ruth Bader.  Who’s Who in America.  48th ed.  1994.

 

example, no author:            "Mandarin."  The Encyclopedia Americana.  1993 ed.

 

                 2.  Less familiar reference books (those that have appeared in only one or two editions)

Author’s last name, author’s first name.  “Title of article.”  Title of reference work.  Editors. Number of vols.  City of publication:  Publisher, copyright date.

 

Example:       Brakeley, Theresa C.  “Mourning Songs.”  Funk and Wagnalls Standard  Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend.  Ed.  Maria Leach and  Jerome Fried.  2 vols.  New York:  Crowell, 1950.

 

D. Periodical (magazine or newspaper) form

Author's last name, author's first name. "Title of article." Title of magazine/newspaper.  Date of publication:  pages.

example:    Marano, Hara Estroff. "Domestic Violence."  Psychology Today.  Nov.-Dec. 1993: 180-184+.

 

E. Internet form

Author's last name (if known), author's first name. "Title of document." Title of complete work (if applicable). Date of publication or last revision (if available). <full http address (URL)> (date of visit).

example:    Harnack, Andrew and Gene Kleppinger. "Beyond the MLA Handbook: Documenting Sources on the Internet.” http://www.csc.iku.edu/honors/ beyond-mla> (17 February 1998).

example, corporate author:    National Public Radio.  “Continental Cuts Flights and Staff.”                                                                   http://npr.org/news_feature.html (17 September 2001).

example, no author:    “98 Early Assessment.”  http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/ncsa/98Early                                                  Assessment.html  (14 September 2001).

NOTE:  Web addresses will often appear at the bottom of the screen if you hover over the web link in the document.  Generally, the last element in an address is the document title. 

           

            F. CD-ROM form

Author's last name, author's first name (if given). "Title of article." Title of the product. Edition, release, or version (if relevant). Publication medium (CD-ROM). City of publication:Publisher, year of publication.

example: Silverman, David Peter.  “Ptolemaic Dynasty.”  Encarta 97 Encyclopedia.  Deluxe  edition.  CD-ROM  Redmond, WA:  Microsoft Corp., 1993-96.

example, no author:  "Bronte, Emily." Discovering Authors. Vers. 1.0. CD-ROM.  Detroit: Gale, 1992.

            G. Video form            

Title of film. Director. Distributor, year.

example: It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. RKO, 1946.

H. Interview form

Interviewee's last name, first name. Kind of Interview (personal or telephone). Date.

example: McCoy, Marc Anthony, telephone interview. 20 Feb. 2001.

 

For additional help, consult the MLA Handbook or one of the following websites:

http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/writecenter/web/mla.html

http://www.powa.org/

http://www.ifla.org/I/training/citation/citing.htm

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html

 

 

Rev. BHip 2,8/98; 1/02, some examples from Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers . 4th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.

I.  CITING SOURCES

When you borrow information from a source, whether you are quoting directly or restating in your own words, you must document the use of that information with a citation. To document your sources you will provide a parenthetical notation immediately following the quoted or paraphrased material that includes the exact page number from which the documented material was taken and, if necessary, the first important word of the citation.  The first time you use a source, introduce it to your reader with a lead-in phrase establishing the author’s authority.  This practice helps to advance the credibility of your argument.

 

            A.  Quotations

            Quotations must be copied accurately, and they must be enclosed in quotation marks.  Occasionally, you will want to delete unnecessary material from a quotation.  Show   these omissions with ellipsis dots, three for a phrase; four for a sentence.

 

example:  According to Eugene Linden, author of Silent Partners:  The Legacy of the Ape Language Experiments, some psychologists have adopted the oddly unscientific attitude that “the idea of the language capacity of apes is so preposterous that it should not be investigated at all” (11).

 

example, with an ellipsis:     According to Eugene Linden, author of Silent Partners:  The Legacy of the Ape Language Experiments, some psychologists have adopted the oddly unscientific attitude that “the idea of the language capacity of apes…should not be investigated at all” (11).

 

            B.  Summaries, paraphrases, and facts or ideas that are not common knowledge

                        A summary condenses information, shortening it to the principal points of an author’s argument; a paraphrase is a restatement of the author’s ideas in your own words.  Because the words of a summary or paraphrase are yours, they do not have to       be enclosed in quotation marks.  But because the ideas belong to someone else, you do need to document the passage with a parenthetical reference and, if using it for the first time, cite the source in your text.

                       

Original source from Eckholm, “Pygmy,” p. B7:  Public and scientific interest in the question of apes’ ability to use language first soared some 15 years ago when Washoe, a chimpanzee raised like a human child by R. Allen Gardner and Beatrice Gardner of the University of Nevada, learned to make hand signs for many words and even seemed to be making short sentences.           

 

Summary: Interest in the ability of apes to use language was sparked in the early seventies, when R. Allen and Beatrice Gardner taught sign language to a chimpanzee named Washoe (Eckholm B7).

 

Paraphrase: Eckholm establishes that interest in the ability of apes to learn language mounted in the early seventies, with reports that Washoe, a chimpanzee raised and trained by professors R. Allan Gardner and Beatrice Gardner, had learned words in sign language and may even have created short sentences (B7).

 

            C.  Plagiarism

            Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s writing without giving proper credit—or perhaps without giving any credit at all—to the writer of the original.  Whether intentional or unintentional, it is a serious offense that can be easily avoided by             adhering scrupulously to the following advice.  You should document your sources whenever you

Use a direct quote.

                        Copy a table, chart, or other diagram.

                        Construct a table from data provided by others.

                        Summarize or paraphrase a passage in your own words.

                        Present specific examples, figures, or factual information that are taken from a specific source and used to explain or support your judgments.           

 

II.   FORMATTING

A. Double space throughout.

B. Use a plain font, like Courier or Times New Roman, and no larger than 12-point type.

C. There is no cover page; your name, your instructor’s name, the class title, and the date are typed on the first page of text in the upper left corner in block style. 

D. Use a header with your last name and the page number in the upper right corner.

E. Follow indenting and margin guidelines

Examples and text taken from the following sources:

 

Gibaldi, Joseph.  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 4th ed.  New York:  Modern             Language Association, 1995.

Hacker, Diana.  A Writer’s Reference 2nd ed.  Boston:  St. Martin’s Press, 1992.

Lester, James D.  Writing Research Papers:  A Complete Guide 6th ed.  New York:  HarperCollins, 1990.

Trimmer, Joseph F.  Writing with a Purpose 10th ed.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 1992.  

BHip Rev. 9/01; 1/02