Systems
Author-Date System
- Typically used for physical, natural, and social sciences
- In text citations follow (author name, year of publication) format
Notes-Bibliography System
- Typically used for the humanities
- Numbered footnotes direct the reader to shortened citations at the bottom of the page
Authors
One Author: Last Name, First Name.
Two or three authors: Last Name, First Name and First Name Last Name.
Four or more authors:
- Bibliography: Last Name, First Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, and First Name Last Name.
- In-Text (including Footnotes): (Last Name et al.)
Formatting the Paper
- Double space the entire paper
- Use Times New Roman (or similar, easy to read font)
- Use 12 point font (no smaller than 10 point)
- All margins should be at least one inch
- Page number begins on the first page of text (top right corner)
Title Page
- Title should be centered, one third of the way down the page
- Name, class information, and date should be several lines below
- Double space the title page
Main Body
- Titles mentioned in text should follow "headline style" capitalization
- First words of titles, subtitles, and important words should be capitalized
- Books, periodicals, and plays should be italicized
- Articles and chapters should be in quotation marks
Works Cited
- "References" - Author-Date System
- "Bibliography" - Notes-Bibliography System
- There should be two spaces between "References/Bibliography" and the first entry
- There should be one space between each entry
- Always write "and" instead of "&"
- Provide DOI and URL whenever possible
- Write the Publishers name out completely
- Citations should be in alphabetical order
- If there is no identifiable author, start with the Title of the work
- If there is no date on a printed work cited, use "n.d"