This document provides information about properly formatting and citing sources in a research paper. It discusses including a title page, introduction, and references section with citations in the proper style guide format. The key reasons for citing sources are to give credit to other researchers, demonstrate that assigned reading was completed, and allow professors to check that sources were understood correctly. Different academic disciplines typically use specific style guides like MLA, APA, Chicago, and SBL. Assistance with citations is available through the library and online resources like the Purdue OWL.

1. Formatting Your Research Paper

2. Writing for the Academic World
When writing a research paper for your class
you will need to know:
• How the title page is formatted.
• How an introduction is composed.
• The proper format for the manuscript.
• The proper style for citations.
• How to avoid plagiarism.

3. Why cite the sources you use for your
papers?
Your professors expect you to read
the research of others and to bring
together their ideas in such a way
that makes sense to you and will
make sense to your readers.
Let’s talk about the reasons for
doing so.

4. Credit Where Credit Is Due
All academic research is built upon
verifiable evidence. As a student your
research paper must be built upon the
work of scholars.
Properly citing your resources
acknowledges that your opinion is
based upon the verifiable research
conducted by those who are experts in
their field.

5. Warning!
In college you must give credit to those
who have done the original research and
written the article or book. Remember
that writing books and research articles is
hard work. When you use information
from someone’s research you should give
him or her credit for his or her work.
There are penalties for not giving credit to
the resources you use.
We’ll talk about this more in the final
lesson.

6. Professor’s Expectations
Citing your sources demonstrates that you've
completed the assignment.
Citations (along with the references cited or
bibliography) show that you have consulted a
variety of resources as the assignment
required.
Citations allow the your readers (professors)
to look at the cited works to see if you
properly understood the materials.

7. Format
In the academic world there are
expectations for the presentation of
research papers.
University courses use different style
guides to cite resources in your paper.
The different guides represent the
scholarly needs of that academic
discipline.

8. Styles
Examples of the style guides used in various
academic disciplines at Eastern University
include:
• MLA (Modern Language Association)
style for the arts and humanities
• APA (American Psychological Association)
styles for education, the social sciences,
and the sciences
• Chicago/Turabian style is generally used
for business and the fine arts
• SBL (Society of Biblical Literature) for
Biblical, religious and theological studies.

9. APA Style
• The Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association
(APA) is recognized as the standard for
papers written in the sciences.
• The manual is found in the library.
• It can be found in the campus
bookstore and through most book
retailers.

10. MLA Style
• The publication manual of the Modern
Language Association (MLA) is
recognized as the standard for papers
written in the arts, humanities and
language.
• The MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers is found in the library.
• It can be found in the campus
bookstore and through most book
retailers.

11. SBL Style
• The publication manual of the
SBL(Society of Biblical Literature ) is
recognized as the standard for papers
written in the religion, theology and
Biblical studies.
• The SBL Handbook of Style is found in
your college library.
• It can be found in the campus
bookstore and through many book
retailers.

12. The Chicago Manual of Style
• The Chicago Manual of Style is
recognized as the standard for
papers written in many
academic disciplines including
business, law and the fine arts.
• The Chicago Manual of Style is
found in your college library.
• It can be found in the campus
bookstore and through most
book retailers.

13. Need Help?
We can’t review all the styles that
you will encounter in college.
However there is assistance for you
in the library.
Eastern University students can
access the Citation Guides site at
http://libguides.eastern.edu/citation
guides

14. Tools to Assist You
Eastern University students also have
access citation management tools.
There is a website dedicated to
instructing you how to use RefWorks.
This can be found at
http://libguides.eastern.edu/refwork
s

15. Great Online Help!
Purdue University’s Online
Writing Lab (OWL) is a great
resource that can help you
format your paper.
The site offers sample papers
using the major format style that
will help you step-by-step as you
write.
Check out the site at
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/

16. In our last lesson we discuss importance of academic honesty.
Do the student activity for this lesson.
After that proceed to the next lesson.
Revised Thursday, February 5, 15.