Documentation styles

1. Documentation Styles
Information taken in part from OWL, The Purdue Online Writing Lab

2. MLA – Modern Language Association
To provide cues that refer to sources and borrowed
information
• English Studies - Language and Literature
• Foreign Languages and Literatures
• Literary Criticism
• Comparative Literature
• Cultural Studies

3. MLA
The elements should be listed in the following order:
• Author.
• Title of source.
• Title of container,
• Other contributors,
• Version,
• Number,
• Publisher,
• Publication date,
• Location.

4. MLA
• Begin the entry with the author’s last name, followed by a
comma and the rest of the name, as presented in the work. End
this element with a period.
Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. Knopf, 1994.
Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol
to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention." Emerging
Infectious Diseases, vol. 6, no. 6, 2000, pp. 595-
600, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-
0607_article. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.

5. MLA
When a book has two authors, order the authors in the same way they are
presented in the book. The first given name appears in last name, first name
format; subsequent author names appear in normal order (first name last
name format).
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer
Tutoring. Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
If there are three or more authors, list only the first author followed by the
phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors'
names. (Note that there is a period after “al” in “et al.” Also note that there is
never a period after the “et” in “et al.”).
Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for
Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Utah State UP, 2004.

6. CITING IMAGES IN A TEXT
• All visuals/illustrations that are not tables or musical score examples (e.g. maps,
diagrams, charts, videos, podcasts, etc.) are labeled Figure or Fig.
• Refer to the figure in-text and provide an Arabic numeral that corresponds to the
figure. Do not capitalize figure or fig.
• MLA does not specify alignment requirements for figures; thus, these images may
be embedded as the reader sees fit. However, continue to follow basic MLA Style
formatting (e.g. one-inch margins).
• Below the figure, provide a label name and its corresponding arabic numeral (no
bold or italics), followed by a period (e.g. Fig. 1.). Here, Figure and Fig. are
capitalized.
• Beginning with the same line as the label and number, provide a title and/or
caption as well as relevant source information in note form (see instructions and
examples above). If you provide source information with your illustrations, you do
not need to provide this information on the Works Cited page.

7. CITING IMAGES - EXAMPLES
In-text reference:
• Some readers found Harry’s final battle with Voldemort a
disappointment, and recently, the podcast, MuggleCast debated
the subject (see fig. 2).
Figure caption (below an embedded podcast file for a document
to be viewed electronically):
• Fig. 2. Harry Potter and Voldemort final battle debate from
Andrew Sims et al.; “Show 166”; MuggleCast; MuggleNet.com,
19 Dec. 2008, www.mugglenet.com/2015/11/the-snape-
debate-rowling-speaks-out.

8. Many financially successful performers donate time and money to important charities and causes. Eddie Vedder,
lead singer and guitarist with Pearl Jam, is one of the most philanthropic performers in the United States (see fig. 1).
He is an example of an individual who donates both time and money.
Fig. 1. Humanitarian Eddie Vedder; Aberto E. Rodriquez; “Musician Eddie Vedder performs at the 2nd Annual
Sean Penn and Friends Help Haiti Home Gala on January 12, 2013 in Los Angeles, California”; 2nd Annual Sean
Penn And Friends Help Haiti Home Gala Benefiting J/P HRO Presented by Giorgio
Armani; Zimbio Entertainment; Livingly Media, Inc., 2015; Web; 4 March 2015,
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/ii4fyjJC96c/2nd+Annual+Sean+Penn+Friends+Help+Haiti+Home/bFrlOOz4jdN/
Eddie+Vedder.

9. Citing images or videos discussed in a text
McGonigal, Jane. “Gaming and Productivity.” YouTube,
uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.

10. APA – American Psychological Association
To cite sources within the social sciences.
• Social Sciences, such as Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, and
Criminology
• Business
• Nursing
To provide cues they can use to follow your ideas more efficiently and to
locate information of interest to them.
• the organization of content
• writing style
• citing references
• and how to prepare a manuscript for publication in certain disciplines.

11. APA
Focuses upon:
• point of view, clarity/conciseness, and word choice
• Explains how poetic language and devices should be avoided
in APA reviews and reports
• Identifies the risk of bias in language concerning gender, race,
disability, and sexuality when writing up research in APA fields
• Provides links to APA's official guidelines on avoiding bias
• Offers suggestions on finding alternatives to gendered
pronouns and using different descriptors when identifying
people in your research

12. APA• Single Author
Last name first, followed by author initials.
Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 7-10.
• Two Authors
List by their last names and initials. Use the ampersand instead of "and."
Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (1994). Mood management across affective states: The hedonic contingency
hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 1034-1048.
• Three to Seven Authors
List by last names and initials; commas separate author names, while the last author name is preceded again by
ampersand.
Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., Harlow, T., & Bach, J. S. (1993). There's more to self-esteem than whether
it is high or low: The importance of stability of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65,
1190-1204.
• More Than Seven Authors
List by last names and initials; commas separate author names. After the sixth author's name, use an ellipsis in place of the
author names. Then provide the final author name. There should be no more than seven names.
Miller, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas, S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2009). Web site usability
for the blind and low-vision user. Technical Communication, 57, 323-335.

13. DOIs
• A DOI, or digital object identifier, is a series of digits and letters that
leads to the location of an online source. Articles in journals are often
assigned DOIs to ensure that the source is locatable, even if the URL
changes. If your source is listed with a DOI, use that instead of a URL.
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species
of Freshwater Invertebrates." Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21,
no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi:
10.1002/tox.20155.
• Typically located on the first page of the electronic journal article, near
the copyright notice. The DOI can also be found on the database
landing page for the article.

14. OTHERS
• AMA – American Medical Association
• CBE – Council of Biology Editors
• ASC – American Chemical Society
• CHICAGO – Chicago Manual of Style
• CSE – Council of Science Editors
• AP – Associated Press
• IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers