Research Paper Formats

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, when creating a written work, a writer often turns to other sources for information and confirmation of their ideas, which need to be given credit for their content. The formatting of these citations and references and the general formatting of the paper itself are specified by several organizations. The author points out that APA, MLA and Harvard, the three of the most common formatting styles used today, have many similarities including the inclusion of the author's surname or an abbreviated title when an author is not available for in text citations; however, the inclusion of the year of publication and/or the page number differs according to the style. The paper relates that, the reference list of the works cited also differs in style, yet typically contains similar information, giving the reader the ability to investigate the cited work.

Table of Contents
Introduction
APA Format
MLA Format
Harvard Format
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The first step is to identify the author of the electronic source. This is sometimes not identified. In those instance, the page title is substituted for the author's surname in the in text citation, surrounded by parentheses. Date of publication must also be determined, as well as the URL of the electronic source. The full URL should be provided to direct the reader exactly to the source, and not just the main page of the material. With direct quotes, where page numbers are normally applied in the Harvard style, these are omitted, as they typically don't exist in electronic source materials."

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APA Citation:

MLA Citation: