Does anyone actually KNOW the proper way to cite references and put footnotes on quotes, or does everyone just muddle along, make up their own and hope they have it right like me?
I’ve looked at the various .edu sites, each one have a different set of rules for the same style, be it apa or mla or whatever, I have yet to find one that explains it in a straightforward manner or provies examples that match my needs. I’ve looked at papers written by other people, which are supposedly formatted properly, with completely different formats for footnotes and references even though they claim to use the same style. I’ve even tried computer programs that supposedly do the formatting for you, and have no success, since the forms they give me are useless.
So, do writers have a certain amount of leeway when using footnotes and making up bibliographies? Or are the apa and mla styles hard and fast rules, and if so, where the hell do i find them?
Suppose i want to use a quote from this article here
http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min96_e/labstand.htm
How, then, would i format the footnote that goes with the quote APA style? How would i make reference to it in the bibliography? I am sick of pretentious academia deciding the validity of my formatting at their own whim!
http://www.apastyle.org might be of help, considering it’s the homepage for the APA style handbook. Part of the problem with Citing stuff in papers like that is that they keep chanign the rules. My Psych instructor was just complaining about it the other day. Assuming this is for a fairly basic class , most instructors will be fairly understanding about stuff like that as long as you’re not waayyyyy off. You might also try just going to a psych instructor to check over your work if you have access to one.
http://www.apastyle.org/electext.html tells specifically how to cite electronic sources.
Hope that’s of some help.
Styles are not part of English grammar; they are just conventions for the way to organize the formatting of the language on paper.
Each style guide is a thing unto itself. It does not have to match any other style guide.
If you are writing a formal paper, or if you are doing it for a particular professor, publication, or book, you ask the person at the other end what style guide to follow. Then you follow it.
I see that costumegoddess has already posted the proper link to APA style.
If you’re doing APA format, all your questions will be answered in the APA Manual. They have citation formats for everything under the friggin’ sun.
The Rule No1 I’ve heard is be consistent. Nobody really cares much which style you use as long as you stick to it.
Are you writing a publication, a thesis or an undergraduate paper? What subject area? The styles are different for different subject areas, thats why some papers have footnotes, some have in-text referencing etc. Psychology uses APA format.