Assignment 03
MLA handbook for writers of research papers Summary of the chapters
Chapter 1: Research and Writing
Generally when a research paper has to be written, two things come up. Primary research and Secondary research. Primary research involves personal investigation such as analysis, conducting surveys and experimentation. Secondary research involves looking at what other people are upto in that respective topic. The actual purpose of writing a research paper is not to make a duplicate of a person’s work but to actually understand it and project his/her own views. A research paper should be a source which speaks to the readers, clearly, what your point is.
The freedom of choice part explains that when the choice is limited to a set, it’s better to discuss the probabilities with the fellow students and the instructor. While researching, the choices taken can be refined by checking the reference databases, online catalogs and also through tools available in the internet.
The Central Information System containing catalog possessions, bibliographic databases and other resources can be useful to refer before actually writing a research paper.
Along with those, Microfilms, Media Center also play an important part in the secondary research. All the resources which are being used are to be recorded and maintained separately (if possible in a computer file). As we approach to finishing the paper, the working bibliography also changes drastically. We add resources throughout the research phase and take out some that don’t prove useful. Sometimes, the resources that we study from can be incorrect or outdated. Proper evaluation should be done before writing a paper. Before publication, an expert’s advice (commonly known as a peer review) would help to a greater extent.
Outlining is a process of preparing a list of tentative subtopics for a main topic so that the instructor can validate the working tree (if the student is in the right path of his research). Also, it could be helpful to track all the progress. Creating a new version every single time is helpful. It helps in a way that, when the student is not satisfied with the current version (outline), he can immediately switch to the next older version he was working on.
The writer should keep in mind of two factors which makes the thesis presentable. They are ‘Purpose’ (what’s the idea behind the paper) and audience (whom the paper is intended for). Deleting irrelevant matter is as important as adding new content. The structure of the paper is also to be maintained neatly (chronology, processes, logics etc)
Writing through a series of drafts will lead to a successful paper. Usage of a word processor is better than writing on a sheet of paper. The paper should not only appear neat, but also should be grammatically sound. Usage of punctuations, structuring the sentences must be dealt with attention.
Chapter 2: Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
Plagiarism comes from a latin name ‘plagiarius’ which means kidnapper. So the act of plagiarism means to steal someone’s resources and try to present it as your own. It can be done in two ways. When one tries to steal others information without actually acknowledging them, it is called as an ‘intellectual theft’. When one steals others information to get a better grade or points, it is called ‘fraud’.
Responsible authors make a note of others as references used in the paper. This kind of an approach is useful in two ways. It not only recognises the effort of the authors but also helps in minimizing the scope of an error. Students should learn from professional writers how they document sources whether they get it by paper or electronically. The main goal of a research project is to make the students understand, get familiarised with the topics and then present their views about it.
Some students assume that when they buy a research paper online, they have complete rights on them which is a false belief. If we own a book, it doesn’t mean that we own the rights. The actual rights to the content resides with the publisher. To avoid ‘Unintentional plagiarism’ one should always keep a note of three different materials. They are: one’s own ideas, summaries obtained from other authors and paraphrases used in the paper.
Two types of plagiarism can occur- word-to-word plagiarism, where one copies the exact sentences from another author word by word (upto 6 words). This can be eliminated by using quotation marks and referencing the author and source after it. Paraphrasing, when one tries to exactly replicate what the author was explaining even though the context is changed.
When trying to work on a research paper that was already worked on before by the same person, it is better to contact the instructor get his permission. When doing a collaborative study, plagiarism can be avoided by giving proper credit to people who have done their part.
Chapter 3: The Mechanics of Writing
In this chapter, the author would like to guide us through the process of writing. The first rule of writing is to be consistent and include original spellings and text in quotes for the information that is taken from other resource. He suggests turning off automatic hyphenation and not to use words divided by hyphens between lines. Consulting a dictionary is always a plus. Adding an s to a word makes it the plural while there are exceptions like formulae which is the plural of formula. Foreign material should always be put in quotation marks so we do not mess up the accent. Speaking of this, using the right punctuation by the author helps the reader, add meaning to the sentence and helps the reader better understand the text. For example, using a comma before conjunction words like and, but is a good practice. This can be omitted if the sentence is quite short. If a line already has commas, use a semicolon to separate multiple words/phrases. A colon is used to introduce a list or to elaborate a quote/poem. For a much sharper pause than a comma, use a dash. Use a parenthesis also to make it sound more sharp and distinguishable. When compound words
are the to be used, separate them with a hyphen, an example of one such is hard-disk. Contradictions like can’t, won’t, wouldn’t need an apostrophe. After a concluding word in a sentence, always use a space before you print the text from the next line. Italics can be used in a research paper if you use a font style where the regular and italic font styles are highly distinguishable. In conditions where the word processor doesn’t have italicize option like in notepad, place the text to be italicized between underscores and it will automatically be italicized when placed in word.
Names of person are always written in full the first time, Thereafter, the person can be mentioned using his/her last names only. Simplified names of famous authors can be used. In countries like China, Korea surnames are written first followed by the given name. In such cases follow MLA guidelines while writing your paper. When a series of persons are to be mentioned, use capital roman letters. Smaller roman characters are used for page numbers. Numbers are spelt out in full if the article is purely unrelated to STEM fields, otherwise frequent use of numerical is encouraged with commas between 3 and 4 and between 6 and 7 digits.
Capitalization and punctuations rules are very strict. Always capitalize nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjective and adverb in a title and do not capitalize articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions. To separate title from sub-title, use a colon. Use quotations very selectively, to highlight vivid, unusual sources.
When it comes to referring to a prose or writing one, put it in quotes with the text if it is not more than four lines. If not, place the prose in a newline and indent the entire prose by 1 inch. If more than one paragraph must be displayed, indent just the first lines a little more than one inch to distinguish paragraphs. For poetry, if it just one line, quote it and include in text, if it is more than a line and less than three, you can still add it in the text but use slash as a delimiter between lines. A verse more than three lines should be included in a new line, indent each line one inch from the left, a line that is too long to fit within the right margin, should be continued the next line and the continuation indentation should be a little more than one inch. To quote dialogues in drama, do not use quotes. Character names are written in caps followed by their dialogues. Separate the dialogue from the character name with a colon.
Quoted text from other resources should be listed as is. Use ellipses to remove elements from the quoted text if required. Ellipses are three periods with space after the third period in parenthesis.
Capitalization and personal names in languages other than English is quite different. In French, first name or the tite is mostly preceded by “de” and a hyphen is frequently used between given names and initials while in Spanish “de” is just not used before the last names. The first word is usually capitalized in the title and subtitle and all proper nouns in them. Like “de’ in French, “von” is used in German in personal names. German names have a mark over the vowel which is called umlaut. So, one has to consider this while writing German names and citing text in their paper. Names of Italians who lived before or during the Renaissance are alphabetized by first name. De, da, del dello are also capitalized in
modern names as D’. Capitalization of Italian names is same as English only difference is Italian centuries and other large divisions of times are capitalized. Roman male citizens have three names usually – given name, clan name and last name while women have only two names – clan name in feminine form and a family name derived from Father. These rules have to be kept in mind while writing the author’s names in their language or while citing the text written in those languages from other resources.
Chapter 4: The Format of the Research Paper
If your instructor provides guidelines on how the research paper must be formatted, follow it. If not, write the paper on a US size paper with 1-inch margins on all sides. If a normal paper is not available, use the one close to the size of a regular US size paper and do not print text more than what you would on a regular sheet. Choose an easily readable font style like Times New Roman where the regular type is quite distinct from the italic and set the size to at least 12 points, the standard size. A title page is not required unless the instructor asks for it. Type your name, the instructor’s name, course number and the date on separate lines followed by the title in the center. Italicization and using of period in the tile isn’t necessary.
Indent the first word of a paragraph from the left margin. Turn off hyphenation and double-space the entire paper. Always leave one space after a period or any concluding punctuation mark. Use automatic page numbering to save time, should be added to the top-right of each paper. It should’ve the last name followed by the number and should not start with p.
Tables should be placed close to the parts of the text they relate. Photos, map, line drawing should be listed as Figures and musical notes are usually listed as Examples and abbreviated as Ex.
The paper should be proof-read thoroughly and all corrections must have made before printing. Enable spell-check and become familiar with softwares that can used to draw pictures, tables etc. If a mistake exists after printing the paper, use caret (^) to make necessary changes. If there are too many corrections, do not write in the margins, revise your file, save and print the corrected pages. Most instructors ask to print the paper on one side only while some suggest printing on both sides, to save paper. Save the e-copy in two different locations for safety and submit the hard copy to the instructor. Use binder clips or staples which can be easily removed, to bind all papers together. If the instructor prefers electronic submission, please ask him/her for the mode of submission (by email or on a Website) and send it accordingly.
Chapter 5: Documentation: Preparing the list of Works Cited
When trying to obtain some information about a paper, either in the form of facts or opinions or quotations, it has to be properly documented to give proper credit to the predecessors. The MLA Documentation style deals with parenthetical citations which help us to know information regarding the author, publication title, page number etc. The MLA style is used by most of the people because of its simplicity. The common property it share with the rest of the styles is its central feature, the parenthetical citations.
The differences between American Psychological Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) styles are, In APA styling, the first name of the author is an initial whereas in MLA styling its abbreviated. Also, in APA, the only the first letter of the title is capitalised whereas in MLA all the words in the title are capitalised. The indentation is common for both the styles (first line starts from the left and all the remaining lines are indented).
Even though the list of citations appear at the ending of the paper, it’s always better to store them safe either on a paper or electronically. If two authors cited in the paper have a same last name, their first name initials have to be abbreviated. The list of citations have to be started on a separate page at the end of the paper and every page has to be numbered half an inch from the top at the right. The title ‘Works Cited’ has to be center and placed at one inch from the top. The first line of a citation has to start from left with a margin of an inch. The second line has to have an indentation of an inch and half from the left. There should be double spacing for title name and also the entries. Different ways of citing authors is explained (coauthors having same last names, two or more works from the same author, Cross referencing etc)
● The possible entries for a periodical print publication would be Author’s name, Title of the article, Name of the periodical, Series number, Volume number, Issue number, Date of publication, Inclusive page numbers, Medium of publication, Supplementary information.
● The possible entries for a non-periodical print publication would be Authors name, Title of the work, Edition used, Number of Volumes, City of publication, Name and year of publication, Medium of publication, Supplementary information.
● The possible entries for a Web publication are Title, Edition number, Date of publication, Compilers name, Sponsor of site.
● The possible entries for a Television or Radio broadcast are Title of the episode, Title of the program, Name of the network, City of local station, Broadcasting date, Medium, Supplementary information.
It also mentions the fields for a sound recording, a film recording, a performance, visual art, an interview, a map, cartoon, advertisement etc.
Chapter 6: Documentation: Citing Sources in the Text
It is very important to cite the sources from where you’ve extracted the information and mentioned in the research paper. It is considered as plagiarism if the article referred is not cited in your research paper. Just citing the references is not enough, but the information derived from the paper should also be mentioned along with it. Given the last name of the author in text in parenthesis, one can find the title of the reference at the end of the research article which are sorted alphabetically based on author names.
The parenthetical reference should be brief and clarity is very essential. It is good to not confuse the readers by saving space. Sometimes, you can include the author names in the text and not in the parenthesis if there are too many parenthesis to be included in the text or if you are describing the same reference in the entire paragraph in your research article. They can be added to the end of the sentence where a pause occurs to avoid clumsiness. If a reference must be cited multiple times, use the author name in the first parenthesis only followed by the page number from where the information is extracted. Just use author’s last name in the parenthesis if there is just one author. If there are three or less authors in that citation, provide all three last names in the parenthesis. When the author count is more than three, list the first author’s last name followed by et.al. If a corporate author must be listed, use the full or shortened name.
It is always better to provide the page number from the book/article you are referring. If the book doesn’t have page numbers, list the chapter/volume number at least for the readers to easily access the reference. Do not use the words “volume” and “pages”. Instead print the volume number and page number with colon as the delimiter. Paragraph number could also be used with par. pars. abbreviation along with chapter number. This is useful to quote something from religious books. To quote another common literature use qtd. in (“”) and fill in the text in the quotes.
Chapter 7: Abbreviations
Abbreviations are mostly used in tables, figures and citations. The full form of the abbreviation is provided in the text of research paper. Sometimes it is good to use abbreviations to save some space and reduce the word count but they shouldn’t confuse the readers. Abbreviating months, days and other measurements of time is commonly done while writing papers. The only three months that cannot be abbreviated in the list of works cited are May, June and July. The rest can be listed in short forms, Ex. Jan. for January, Sept. for September. Sometimes we use only short forms in the text like a.m., p.m., AD, BC. Same is the case with geographic names such as states, provinces and territories. They are spelt in full in the text while abbreviated in the documentation. Only USSR is always abbreviated, be it in the text or in the documentation. Geographic names can either not have a space and period (TX for Texas) or can be cut short and listed (Venez. for Venezuela and Mex. for Mexico)
Typically, abbreviations do not have a period after the letter and spaces between letters but there are few exceptions. Month February is noted as Feb. with a period at the end of the word. Initials used in personal names have a period followed by a space. Ex., A. Nagulapalli.
Lower case letters are followed by period. One such example is assn. for association and Mex. for Mexico. A period is placed between lower case letters. For example, i.e. for that is, e.g. and a.m. Exceptions to this rule are mph (miles per hour), rpm (rotations per minute) etc.
Words commonly used in humanities research studies in English are alternative but not recommended abbreviations. Abbr. is used for abbreviation, adj. for adjective, DVD for Digital Video Disc. If we want to get the plural of noun abbreviations not ending in s and longer than one letter, we can add an s to the end of the abbreviation. For example, to mention more than one DVD, we denote it with DVDs, more than one figure is denoted as figs.
We can shorten the publisher names in the list of works cited. Few ways to do that is by removing articles (a, an, the), abbreviating the business (Ltd. for limited, Corp. for Corporation), and using common abbreviations (Acad., Assn.). If the publishing association’s name is too long, and it is likely that the readers can figure out the publisher if abbreviated, just list the initials, all in caps like MLA or Mod. Lang. Assn. Only when we’ve to cite a University Press, we always add UP, for example Ohio State UP as university press can publish independently. Author names can also be shortened. Cite just the surnames of the publishers in the list of works cited section.
While proof-reading, in-order to note the corrections, symbols and abbreviations are used. Adv for improper use of adjective and awk for awkward expression. Publisher needs to make all the suggested corrections before publishing. An abbreviation can be introduced in parenthesis while mentioning the full title of the text. An example where the title is abbreviated is – “In All’s Well That Ends Well (AWW)”. Once this is done, if the author would like to quote this title again, he could use the abbreviation he just introduced to his readers.