Test 2 Review

References and Works Cited Pages

• References and works cited pages are both bibliographies, are both listed in alphabetical order, and are each used in a style guide for a different discipline (APA used references; Turabian uses works cited).

• If you only cite 1 source in your paper, be sure to label your bibliography page accordingly (i.e., reference or work cited instead of references or works cited).

• You must only include the sources that you actually cited in your references or works cited page. If you read other materials while writing your paper, but you did not actually cite them, you may want to include them on a separate page; since they are not actually cited, they must not appear on the works cited or reference page.

• You must list all sources that you cited in your paper, including dictionary and encyclopedia entries.

• Attention to detail in a works cited or references page is important because it can help you to avoid plagiarism, it demonstrates academic integrity, and it helps your reader to find and use the same sources that you did.

• Regardless of whether you use a references or works cited page, your entries must be listed in alphabetical order based on the first word of the entry (usually the author’s last name, but sometimes a piece may not have an author, so you will have to use a different piece of information. Check the Prentice Hall Reference Guide for more information.

Summaries, Paraphrases, and Quotes

• Signal phrases must be written and punctuated properly.

o If your signal phrase ends with the word that, you do not need to include a comma.

For instance: Otis said that “this house is too small.”

o If your signal phrase ends with a word like said or reported, you must include a comma.

For instance: Otis reported, “This house is too small.”

o If your signal phrase is a complete sentence, you must use a colon, not a comma, at the end.

For instance: Otis is quoted: “This house is too small.”

• A paraphrase contains more detail than a summary, and it is usually presented in the same logical order as the original source.

• Quotations that are longer than 4 lines in an APA paper or are longer than 5 lines in a Turabian paper are called block quotations.

• Certain aspects of block quotations, such as spacing, are dependent upon which style of writing you use; however, regardless of whether you write in current APA or current Turabian format, you must not include quotation marks with a block quotation, and it ought to be indented an extra ½ inch from the left margin.

• When quoting a complete sentence, you must capitalize the first letter of the quotation.

• When writing a quotation within a quotation, you must use double quotation marks around the main quote and single quotation marks around the interior quote.

For example: Debbie said, “Steve said, ‘That’s all I need.’”

• When writing a dialogue or conversation, each speaker must get a separate paragraph.

For instance:

Debbie said, “Steve and I were talking the other day.”

“About what?” asked Greta.

“Whether or not we should get a dog,” Debbie replied.

• When you write a word for irony or as an expression instead of its actual meaning, you must write it in quotation marks.

For instance: Debbie is what I would call a “fair-weather friend.”

• You must cite sources that you summarize and paraphrase, not just sources that you directly quote.

• When writing a paraphrase or summary, you must not include any personal interpretation.

• A summary includes only the main ideas from a source, and it does not necessarily have to follow the organizational pattern of the original source.

Avoiding Plagiarism

• Plagiarism is the dreaded “P” word in college.

• Plagiarism occurs when you: borrow ideas, examples, or the structure of a source without acknowledging the original author; take, buy, or receive a paper written by someone else and present it as if it were your own work; fail to acknowledge the source of any information in your paper; and/or fail to provide in-text citations for quotations, paraphrases, and summaries.

• In this course, as long as it is clear that you are making an effort to document your sources properly, you are free to make an honest mistake without penalty.

Writing Your Papers

• A thesis statement helps to restrict the focus of your paper by presenting the main idea to your reader and letting them know what to expect in the paper. Your thesis statement must focus on 1 main topic, not several.

• It is a good idea to write multiple drafts of your paper; this is part of the writing process.

• Writers’ handbooks like the Prentice Hall Reference Guide contain the answers to fundamental questions related to writing college essays.

Formatting Your Papers

• No matter which discipline you write your paper in (current APA or current Turabian), your margins must be 1 inch all the way around.

• Only APA formatted papers in this course will require a title page. Turabian papers will just list the author information on the first page.

• When the title is written on the first body page of the paper, it must be written in regular title case with no italics or underlining.

• Only Turabian format uses footnotes. APA papers typically do not.

• Use the Header and Footer tool to insert the appropriate header for your discipline in your paper.

• While you will merely focus on current APA and current Turabian in this course, your Prentice Hall Reference Guide contains information on several styles of writing, including MLA.

• APA formatted papers in this course require an abstract; Turabian papers do not.

• Only religion students need to use Turabian formatting. All other degree programs offered by Liberty University Online should use APA.