2 Tips on Academic Writing Formatted according to an acceptable style: •Modern Language Association (MLA) •American Psychological Association (APA) •Chicago •Kate Turabian There are others. The paper itself has to follow margin, spacing, and font rules. •Spacing: double •Font: legible, preferably Times New Roman •Type: 12 point •Present or past •Margins- 1 inch on all sides The writing adheres to academic style, preferably third person, because the audience is a scholarly one. Dates are written in the foreign way with the day first: 15 August 2016. Research papers originate from a statement that we want to prove through authenticated evidence. The internal references (or intext citations) show the reader we can back up what we are saying and the bibliography or works cited page lists all the sources we used to find that evidence. Unless the teacher requests it, there is no dedicated cover page (like the one on this handbook). Name, Course Name, Teacher’s Name, and Date are in block form on the top left of the first page. Page numeration is surname followed by page number on the top right of each page. The order of the pages is the following: Body, Endnotes (if required), Works Cited.
“Giraffe: Giraffa Camelopardalis.” National Geographic. 2016, . Accessed 15 August 2016, Website Go to search engine, GOOGLE. Type in “cats.” How many hits did you get? Look for a significant article about cats from an authoritative source. (Wikipedia is not allowed.) How many pages did you scroll through before finding a suitable article? Does the site have an author? When was it updated? Is it biased? Does it serve your purpose? Is the information accurate? Database Go to Destiny, library catalog. on Power Library. Select Middle Search Main Edition. Select Advanced Search. Type in “cats.” Look for a significant article about cats from an authoritative source. How many pages did you scroll through before finding a suitable article? Does the site have an author? When was it updated? Is it biased? Does it your purpose? Is the information accurate? Online Databases 13 Information about databases: •Databases are authoritative sources. •A database is a large collection of data organized for rapid search and retrieval. Databases are electronic storage systems for information that exists somewhere in print. •Database is a collection of magazines, newspapers, journals, encyclopedia articles, pamphlets and more! • Articles are organized and indexed according to subject headings, so they are easy to access. •Many colleges and universities require the inclusion of database articles in academic papers. •Many materials contained on databases exist somewhere in print form. •A database is an electronic resource, but it is not a website! Access points from school subscriptions Edline Masterman School Library website and Destiny Catalog for links. Log on directly using the web address, then username and password. Check at the school library for this information. Access points from FLP: FIND – databases; SELECT- database; LOG IN--FLP library card; PIN for non-Power Library databases.
Full text—articles required in their original form must be searched by checking Full Text. Boolean search terms-AND, OR, NOT, act as filters in searching for information. Subscription-payment made for a prescribed length of time for a service to the database. Digital Object Identifier or DOI- usually attached to a database article that allows the researcher to connect to the article; can be used in place of the URL because it is more reliable. 16 Times to Cite Quotations •match the source word for word; •are usually a brief segment of a text; •appear between quotation •must be attributed to the original source. Paraphrasing •does not the source word for word; •involves putting a passage from a source into your own words; •changes the words or phrasing of a passage, but keeps exactly the original meaning.