Writing Centers

APA 7th Edition

APA stands for “American Psychological Association.” Outside the field of psychology, “APA” is shorthand for the writing style manual published by the APA, The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Saint Mary’s University has adopted the APA as the official style manual for its Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs. Use of the APA ensures that Saint Mary’s students have a solid stylistic foundation for their academic and professional writing.

Introduction to APA 7th Edition

To help you use the APA Manual, the SGPP Writing Center has developed an introductory guide called Introduction to the APA and Other Writing Tips. This booklet is available in the Twin Cities campus bookstore and is available as a download from the Writing Center’s website. It is not a replacement for the APA manual, but it will help you get started, and it also provides some useful information about using Microsoft Word® for APA formatting.

The booklet contains an index at the end to facilitate online viewing without printing.

DOWNLOAD Introduction to the APA 7th Edition Web Version

Other APA 7th Edition Information

The APA provides excellent resources on its APA Style Website, which you can access by clicking on the title. Among its best features is the APA Style Blog, where APA staff answer readers’ questions. The Blog features a search box for locating answers of interest to you.

APA FAQs In-text Citations

APA FAQs Reference List

Citing Webpages

Legal Citations

Introduction to MLA

The Writing Centers at Saint Mary’s offers a free Introduction to MLA to assist students. The document is searchable and the text is linked. Just click on what you need. 

Intro to MLA 

Other Helpful Tips

MLA FAQs In-text Citations

MLA FAQs Works Cited

Headings:

MLA does not require a cover page but insists that specific information be included at the upper left-hand corner of your first page: your name, your professor’s name, the course name, and the paper’s due date. Information should be on a separate line and double-spaced. Include a header at the right-hand corner that includes your last name and page number.

Example:

Carolyn Klaesges                                      Klaesges 1
Dr. Ayers
E120
14 February 2018

Check out Purdue Owl for more details.

In-text citations:

Books: Cite the author’s last name and the page number at the end of your sentence.

Ex. Sancho realizes that while this act is unreasonable, the act of facing the lions is incredibly brave and he replies, “He’s not crazy … just reckless” (Cervantes 444).

NOTE: If you introduce the author’s name in the context of your paper, only include the page number at the end of the sentence: Ex. Michael argues how The French Lieutenant’s Woman, by John Fowles, was written with the intention for feminism to be at the “foreground” of the novel (225).

Online and article sources: cite the author’s last name (if available) and the title of the article in quotations at the end of a sentence.

Find detailed rules of MLA in-text citations on Purdue Owl.

Works Cited Page:

All sources should be listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name and double spaced with no additional spaces between citations. The second line (and all following lines) of the reference should be indented (this is called a hanging indent).

Ex: Lorde, Audre. Zami, A New Spelling of My Name. Trumansburg, NY: Crossing, 1982.
Print.

TIP: To indent the second line on Word, place your cursor at the beginning of your second line and right click. Then select paragraph from the pop-up menu. Under indentation, use the special menu to select hanging. Select 0.5″.

Books: Follow the exact order and punctuation shown below. If you are missing certain information, omit it as necessary.
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Find more details on Works Cited for books on Purdue Owl

Electronic Sources: Must have exact order and punctuation but only the items available from your source.
Author. Title. Title of Source (ex. Wall Street Journal for an article), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). Date of Access.

Ex: Michael, Magali Cornier. “‘Who Is Sarah’: A Critique of The French Lieutenant’s
Woman’s Feminism.” N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.

Find more details on Works Cited for Electronic Sources on Purdue Owl.

Because the AP Style Guide is intended for journalistic inquiries as opposed to academic inquiry built on published peer reviewed sources, AP style does not cover many of the standard academic guidelines available in other styles. It does not have guidelines for cover pages, citations, references…. However, AP style does offer boarder guidelines that help to ensure accuracy and quality in writing.

For a brief summary of some of these guidelines, consider using the Purdue Owl’s synopsis page. 

Chicago Style citations are generally used for published papers, but are often requested by professors to help students practice its use. If you need more information than what is located in this source, the best reference is Purdue Owl.

Headings:

Check with your professor regarding title pages. Chicago Style allows both: your paper can include a title page, or your paper can simply include the title as the headline of the first page. Remember to include your last name and the page number at the top right hand corner of every page except the cover page.

Go to Purdue Owl for more details and to see a title page example.

In Text Citations:

Instead of typical in-text citations, Chicago Style uses footnotes. When a citation is needed in your paper, add a superscript that will correspond to a footnote.

TIP: To create a superscript, select the content and press Crtl, Shift, and +

Footnote Ex:
Bradford Burns and Julie A. Charlip, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 9th ed., (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011), 65.

The footnote should begin with the same superscript number used to reference the source in the text of your paper. It should be contained in the footer section of the page and is often separated from the paper with a line. You should NOT have a hanging indentation for your footnotes. However, you do need the page number of the reference (if available) included in the footnote. In the above example, the page number is 65.

See more details on Purdue Owl.

Works Cited Page:

All sources should be listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name and double spaced with no additional spaces between citations. The second line (and all following lines) of the reference should be indented (this is called a hanging indent).

TIP: To indent the second line on Word, place your cursor at the beginning of your second line and right click. Then select paragraph from the pop-up menu. Under indentation, use the special menu to select hanging. Select 0.5″.

Ex. Burns, E. Bradford, and Julie A. Charlip. Latin America: An Interpretive History. 9th
ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011.

Learn more about Works Cited pages on Purdue Owl.