UNIVERSITY HOMEPAGE
Department of Language, Literature and Culture
Department of Language, Literature and Culture
Section for English
Style Guide for Research Papers and Dissertations
Available in
4.7 Differences in British and American English punctuation of quotations
4.8 Quoting non-English sources
5.1 Linguistics topics: Chicago author-date
5.2 Literature or history topics: MLA
5.3 Multiple quotations from a single source
5.4 Documenting anonymous sources
6 Documentation: Reference list (Chicago)/works cited (MLA)
7.2 Main features of the Chicago author-date system
7.3 Reference list entry template
8.2 Main features of the MLA system
9.1 Guides for research papers and dissertations written in English
9.2 Guides for dissertations written in Danish
10 Length of research papers and dissertations
10.1 Declaration page for research papers/dissertations
10.2 Elements not included in character count
10.3 Diagrams, tables, and other visual materials
11.2 Titles in English: italics or quotation marks?
1 Layout
1.1 Page setup
Set a 3-cm margin on the left of the page (to allow for binding) and 2-cm margins for the top, right and bottom.
Indent the first line of each paragraph 1 cm. The first paragraph of each chapter or section, however, should not be indented.
Set page numbers to print on the top right-hand corner of the page. A page number is not required on the first page of the main text. For the pagination of master’s dissertations ( specialer ), see Section 3.2 below.
Font: Use Palatino or Times New Roman. Select 11-point (Palatino) or 12-point (Times New Roman) type size.
Set line spacing to 1.5.
Set paragraph alignment to ‘justified’.
Finally, set hyphenation to ‘off’ and set widow/orphan protection to ‘on’ (the latter prevents single lines from the beginning or end of a longer paragraph being printed at the top or bottom of a page).
Conforming to these guidelines will help ensure that your paper meets the specifications for standard pages on which the required lengths for research papers and dissertations are based (see Section 10).
1.2 Headings
Section headings, if used, should be flush left. They should be numbered using the format ‘1, 1.1, 1.2 … 2, 2.1’, and so on. Section headings should be in bold type. Multiple section levels may be appropriate in linguistics research papers but should be applied sparingly in literary and historical research papers.
For dissertations, see Sections 3.2.9 and 3.2.10 below.
2 Language
2.1 Choice of language
Research papers are written in English. If your text is in English, it may be either British or American English. Remember to set the language for spelling and grammar on your word processor accordingly.
For dissertations, see Section 3.2.1 below.
3 Contents
3.1 Research papers
The contents of a research paper are as follows, and appear in the following sequence.
3.1.1 Declaration page for research papers/Dissertations
All research papers submitted for examination at the Department of English must have the Department’s Declaration Page for Research Papers/Dissertations attached to the front. This page, signed by the student, states the length of the paper in standard pages and declares that the essay contains no material taken from elsewhere without the source being given. To ensure that your paper has the proper length, follow the guidelines in Section 10.
3.1.2 Title page
There should be a separate title page with the research paper. Provide
• your name and student identification number ( årskortnummer )
• the title of the research paper in the centre of the page
• the title of the course for which the research paper is submitted
• the name of the teacher
• the submission date
The title page should not be numbered.
3.1.3 Summary (obligatory for the bachelor project)
The bachelor project research paper requires the inclusion of a summary written in Danish. The summary must be ½-1 page in length. The summary is marked together with the rest of the bachelor project research paper.
3.1.4 Table of contents (optional)
A table of contents listing the sections of the research paper is not compulsory but if desired may be included on a separate page. This page should not be numbered. The list of sections should indicate page numbers.
Note that word processors include a function for generating a table of contents. It lists chapter and section titles exactly as they appear in your text and automatically puts the correct page numbers into the table of contents.
3.1.5 Main text
The main text should begin on a new page. There should not be a page number on the first page of the main text.
3.1.6 Appendices (optional)
Appendices appear after the main text and are comparatively rare in research papers. They are mainly found in dissertations. See Section 3.2.11 for further details on appendices.
3.1.7 Annotated notes (optional)
Notes may be used for additional commentary but not citations. They should be kept to an absolute minimum. Notes may be either endnotes or footnotes and should be numbered consecutively throughout the research paper. Endnotes appear after the main text.
3.1.8 Reference list (Chicago)/Works cited (MLA) (obligatory)
Documentation with a list of sources, usually called Reference List in the Chicago author-date system and Works Cited in the MLA (Modern Language Association) system, is obligatory. See Sections 7 and 8 for further details on Reference List (Chicago)/Works Cited (MLA), respectively.
3.2 Dissertations
3.2.1 Language of dissertation
Dissertations may be written in either English or Danish. The obligatory summary for dissertations must be in English.
The contents of a dissertation are as follows, and appear in the following sequence.
3.2.2 Declaration page for research papers/Dissertations
Dissertations must have the Department’s Declaration Page for Research Papers/Dissertations attached to the front. For further information see Section 3.1.1.
3.2.3 Title page (obligatory)
There should be a separate title page with the dissertation. Write
• your name and student identification number ( årskortnummer )
• the title of your dissertation exactly as it was submitted to the Secretariat in the centre of the page
• ‘Dissertation’ (or ‘ Speciale ’ for dissertations written in Danish)
• the name of your dissertation supervisor
• the name of the Department and
• the submission date
The title page should not be numbered.
3.2.4 Table of contents (obligatory)
Chapters should be listed; sections may be listed as well. See Section 3.1.4 for using your word processor to generate a table of contents.
Any of the following items that are included in the dissertation should also appear in the table of contents.
3.2.5 Summary in English (obligatory)
The summary must be in English (regardless of whether the dissertation is in English or Danish) and is maximum 3 pages in length. The summary is marked together with the rest of the dissertation.
Start page numbering at this point with the Roman numeral ‘i’.
3.2.6 Acknowledgements (optional)
Used to express thanks for help with preparing the dissertation, for permission to reproduce material, and so on.
3.2.7 Preface (optional)
Used for personal comments on the dissertation, e.g. reasons for carrying out the work, but take care not to include material that is properly part of the main text itself.
3.2.8 Main text
Start page numbering from 1. There should not be a page number on the first page of the main text. Pagination for the main text and end matter is in Arabic numerals.
3.2.9 Chapter headings (obligatory)
Chapter headings should be centred. They should be identified Chapter 1 and so on. They should be in bold type of a slightly larger font size than the main text.
3.2.10 Section headings (optional)
Section headings use the same format and take the chapter number as the highest level. Thus, all section headings in Chapter 2 will begin with ‘2’: ‘2.1, 2.1.1 … 2.2’, and so on. Leave additional white space above section headings. It is not necessary to begin a new page for each section.
3.2.11 Appendices (optional)
Appendices are used for materials to which the reader may need to refer, but which do not form a part of the dissertation proper. Page numbering should continue through the appendices.
3.2.12 Annotated notes (optional)
Notes should be used for additional commentary but not citations. They should be kept to a minimum. Notes may be in endnote or footnote, form and should be numbered consecutively throughout the dissertation. Endnotes appear after the main text.
3.2.13 Reference list (Chicago)/works cited (MLA) (obligatory)
For details about how to list sources, see Sections 7 (Reference list (Chicago)) and 8 (works cited (MLA)).
4 Quotations
4.1 Acknowledging sources
Words, information or ideas taken from any source must be acknowledged as such by precise documentation of the source.
Failure to acknowledge sources opens you to accusations of plagiarism . The Oxford English Dictionary defines plagiarize as “to take and use as one’s own (the thoughts, writings, or inventions of another person); to copy (literary work or ideas) improperly or without acknowledgement; to pass off as one’s own the thoughts or work of (another)”.
Plagiarism is regarded as a form of cheating, and is dealt with as such. For information on how to avoid plagiarizing, please consult Beyond the Loan Word: Plagiarism in Academic Writing by Dale Carter.
4.2 Formatting quotations
There are only 2 ways to mark quotations: by either quotation marks or indentation. See 4.4 for guidelines for when you should use quotation marks and when you should indent.
Do not mark quotations by both quotation marks and indentation.
Do not use italics, bold or a different font or font size to indicate quotations, unless any of these are present in the original (or, in the case of italics, they are added for emphasis).
4.3 Incorporating quotations
Quotations (direct or indirect) should be incorporated into your prose rather than introduced as separate independent sentences. They can appear at the beginning, middle or end of your sentence.
4.4 Marking direct quotations
Material that is quoted directly from other sources must be marked as a quotation and properly integrated into your text. Depending on its length, the quotation can be either run into the body of the text and punctuated with quotation marks or indented without quotation marks.
The source of each quotation should be cited parenthetically at the end of the sentence in which the quoted material is used (see Section 5 ) and the source should be included in the reference list (Chicago)/ works cited (MLA) (see Sections 5.4-9).
4.4.1 Quotations of 4 lines or less
Quotations of 4 lines or less should be placed within quotation marks. See Section 4.7 for the differences between British and American punctuation of quotations. The parenthetical reference, whether in Chicago or MLA format, should be followed, not preceded, by a final full stop.
4.4.2 Quotations of more than 4 lines
Quotations that are more than 4 lines in length should be indented 2 cm.
Do not place quotation marks around indented quotes.
Do not change the font size, the line spacing, or any other aspect of the text’s formatting.
4.4.3 Quoting verse
Verse quotations of 3 or more than lines should be indented 2 cm. Do not use quotation marks, italics, bold or a different font or font size in indented quotations (unless in the original or, in the case of italics, they are added for emphasis).
4.5 Ellipsis
Ellipsis (material omitted) in quotations must be indicated. This should be done by means of 3 ellipsis points: ‘The term black hole … was coined in 1969’.
Ellipsis must not be used to change the meaning of the original source.
You can insert a single word or phrase to make a quotation grammatical or to restore the sense after material has been cut. Place square brackets around inserted material to indicate that you are not quoting directly: ‘the mushrooms are … [then] harvested’. Square brackets should also be placed around a capital or lower-case letter where the case has been changed from the original to fit into the text. Place square brackets around the ellipsis points to show ellipsis if quoting from a text that itself includes ellipsis points.
Ellipsis is not usually necessary at the beginning or end of a quotation where it is obvious that only a portion of the original source is being quoted.
4.6 Indirect quotations
You must indicate the sources of information or ideas that come from other writers, even if you do not quote their exact words. For example, you may wish to summarise or paraphrase the argument of a writer in your own words.
In this case, do not mark the passage with quotation marks or indent it. The source of each quotation should be cited parenthetically at the end of the sentence where the material is used, and you must document the source in the same way as for direct quotations.
4.7 Differences in British and American English punctuation of quotations
An important difference between British and American English concerns the punctuation of quotations marked by quotation marks.
British English uses single quotation marks, and American English double.
In both British and American English, when a quotation occurs within a quotation, the other type of quotation mark is used for the embedded quotation.
In British English, quotations take any concluding punctuation after the quotation marks are closed, except in the case of question marks and exclamation marks that form part of the quotation.
In American English, commas and full stops (periods) that follow a quotation come before the quotation marks are closed, even if the punctuation belongs to the surrounding text and not the quotation. Other punctuation marks come before the quotation marks if they were in the original, or after if they form part of the surrounding text.
The following examples demonstrate the main differences:
Hawking states that ‘up to about twenty years ago, it was thought that protons and neutrons were “elementary” particles’. But what does Hawking mean by ‘elementary’?
Hawking states that “up to about twenty years ago, it was thought that protons and neutrons were ‘elementary’ particles.” But what does Hawking mean by “elementary”?
Note that elsewhere in this style guide, examples are given in British English only.
In both British and American English, sentences that include quotations and end with a parenthetical reference (see Section 5 ) take the full stop after the final parenthesis. In other words, do not put an additional full stop before the parenthesis.
4.8 Quoting non-English sources
Quotations should normally be given in their original language. Discuss whether a translation is necessary with your teacher.
5 Documentation
The choice of method of documentation will depend on whether your research paper or dissertation is on linguistics, literature or history paper. These categories are somewhat flexible and may overlap. Consult your teacher to determine into which category your research paper or dissertation topic falls.
For linguistics papers, documentation is based on the Chicago author-date system.
For literature or history papers, documentation is based on the MLA author-date system.
Both systems make use of parenthetical references in the paper that refer to works in the list of sources, (usually called Reference list in the Chicago author-date system and Works Cited in the MLA system) rather than using a note-based system of documentation.
The 2 systems have been chosen as the basis for the Department style guide because they reflect widespread practice in the study of linguistics, literature and history.
5.1 Linguistics topics: Chicago author-date
The Chicago author-date system requires parenthetical references in the text consisting of the author’s surname, the year of publication and the page number. The reference can be parenthetical either in part or completely, depending on how much reference information is incorporated into the surrounding text.
The components are (Surname Year, page):
Author surname(s) incorporated into the surrounding text
Jones argues that this is a good system, and states, ‘I always use The Chicago Manual of Style when documenting my sources’ (1986, 234).
Author surname(s) and date of publication in your sentence
In 1986, Jones argued that this was a good system, stating, ‘I always use The Chicago Manual of Style when documenting my sources’ (234).
Neither author surname(s) nor date of publication in your sentence
One famous linguist remarked that he ‘always use[d] The Chicago Manual of Style when documenting [his] sources’ (Jones 1986, 234).
5.1.1 Documenting more than one publication by the same author(s)
If you cite more than one work by the same author(s) with the same year of publication, refer to these in the main text and in the reference list by year of publication and ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, and so on. For example, 1998a, 1998b and 1998c.
5.2 Literature or history topics: MLA
In contrast to the Chicago author-date system, the MLA system does not require date of publication in the parenthetical reference. The MLA reference in the text usually consists of only the author’s surname and the page number separated only by a space. (For the most common exception to this rule, see Section 5.2.1).
The reference may be parenthetical either in part or completely, depending on how much of it is incorporated into the surrounding text:
Author surname(s) incorporated into the surrounding text
Smith argues that this is a good system, and states, ‘I always use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers when documenting my sources’ (234).
Author surname(s) not incorporated into the surrounding text
One famous linguist remarked that she ‘always use[d] the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers when documenting [her] sources’ (Smith 234).
5.2.1 Documenting more than one publication by the same author(s)
If you cite more than one work by the same author(s), the title of the cited work can be either mentioned directly or given in the parenthetical reference. Unless the title is brief, shorten it for the parenthetical reference.
Direct mention of title
In Documentation Forever: The Art of Proper References , Smith argues that this is a good system, and states, ‘I always use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers when documenting my sources’ (234). This assertion supports her earlier cogently argued position, stated in ‘My Life with Endnotes’ (28).
Parenthetical reference to title
Smith argues that this is a good system, and states, ‘I always use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers when documenting my sources’ ( Documentation Forever 234). This assertion supports her earlier cogently argued position (‘My Life’ 28).
5.2.2 Exceptions made for verse drama, poetry, religious works, and so on
It should be noted that the above system of parenthetical references does not usually apply to verse drama, long poems, religious works and some historical documents. For these types of source, the page number is replaced by a different form of numerical reference.
Hamlet, hesitating to kill his uncle, says,
Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I’ll do’t: and so he goes to heaven:
And so am I revenged. That would be scann’d:
A villain kills my father; and, for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send
To heaven. (3.5.74-79)
In Paradise Lost , Milton opens with an allusion to the Fall:
Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of EDEN … (1.1–4)
The Book of Genesis opens with a description of the beginning of time:
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (1.1–3)
5.3 Multiple quotations from a single source
Occasionally, you may draw on a single source more than once in a single paragraph. In such cases, it is often sufficient to give a single parenthetical reference or note at the end of the paragraph. Indicate the page numbers or range of page numbers as appropriate. This option is possible regardless of whether you are using Chicago or MLA.
Examples
In Documentation Forever: The Art of Proper References , Smith argues that this is a good system, and states, ‘I always use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers when documenting my sources’. Oddly, on the next page, she argues that the MLA system is ‘quite useless’ (234–35).
In her review of Documentation Forever: The Art of Proper References , Muriel K. Jones berates Smith for her inconsistency, noting that at different times Smith ‘switches illogically between the Chicago and the MLA system’, going on to point out that this merely enrages readers (144, 146).
5.4 Documenting anonymous sources
Anonymous sources, especially websites, create an anomaly for the Chicago and MLA. If you cite an anonymous source, place the title of the work (book, scholarly journal article or website) first, followed by the date, in your parenthetical reference. Unless the title is brief, shorten it for the parenthetical reference.
6 Documentation: Reference list (Chicago)/works cited (MLA)
Both the Chicago author-date and the MLA systems of documentation require a detailed list that includes only the sources referenced in the paper. Titles for the list of the sources vary, but the recommended are ‘Reference list’ for Chicago and ‘Works Cited’ for MLA.
The entries in the list of sources are arranged in alphabetical order by author surname.
Entries should be formatted with a hanging indent of 0.5 cm. Use the word processer’s hanging indention function rather than the tab key to format entries.
7 Reference lists (Chicago)
7.1 Placement
The reference list should be placed at the end of the paper. It should begin on a new page. Place the title (Reference List) centred at the top of the page.
7.2 Main features of the Chicago author-date system
• The references are listed alphabetically by the last name of the authors. The Chicago Manual of Style prefers that an author’s or authors’ given name(s) be included but also allows for authors to be listed with the initial(s) to their given name(s) rather than writing out the full name.
• Use sentence style capitalisation for book titles but capitalise all principal words in journal titles.
• The titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, films, plays, and other works are italicised.
• The titles of journal articles or chapters of books are not placed in quotation marks and use sentence style capitalisation.
• Multiple entries by the same author(s) are arranged chronologically by date of publication, following the system given in Section 5.1.1. The author’s name should be replaced by a 3-em dash (———) or 3 hyphens (---) for the second and any subsequent entries.
• The date follows the author’s name.
• URLs are included in works cited.
7.3 Reference list entry template
7.3.1 A book
Author.Year. Book title. Edition [if not the first]. Place of publication: Publisher.
7.3.2 A scholarly journal article
Author.Year.Article title. Journal Title Volume (Issue): Pages.
7.3.3 A scholarly journal article (only issue number)
Author.Year.Article title. Journal Title Issue: Pages.
7.3.4 A chapter of an edited book
Author.Chapter title.In Book title , ed. Editor, Pages. Place of publication: Publisher, Year.
7.3.5 An online source: general website
Author [if known]. Title. Site title , URL (access date).
7.3.6 An online source: scholarly journal article
Author.Year.Article title. Journal Title Volume:Pages. Site title .URL (access date).
7.4 Examples
7.4.1 A book
Hymes, Dell H., and John G. Fought. 1981. American structuralism . The Hague: Mouton.
7.4.2 A scholarly journal article
Chang, Yuh-Fang. 2009. How to say no: an analysis of cross-cultural difference and pragmatic transfer. Language Sciences . 31 (4): 477-493.
7.4.3 A scholarly journal article (only issue number)
Asher, James J. 1993. Imagination in second language acquisition. Journal of the Imagination in Language Learning 1:20-23.
7.4.4 A chapter of an edited book
Zobl, Helmut. 1998. Representational changes: From listed representations to independent representations of verbal affixes. In Morphology and its interfaces in second language knowledge , ed. Maria-Luise Beck, 339-71. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
7.4.5 An online source: general website
International Research Foundation for English Language Education, The Impact of English and Plurilingualism in Global Corporations. TIRFwww.tirfonline.org/TIRF_Plurilingualism_full.pdf (August 12, 2009)
7.4.6 An online source: scholarly journal article
Valian, Virginia, and Andrea Levitt. 1996. Prosody and adults’ learning of syntactic structure. Journal of Memory and Language 35:497-516. extra.idealibrary.com (May 12, 2008)
8 Works Cited (MLA)
8.1 Placement
The list of works cited should be placed at the end of the paper. It should begin on a new page. Place the title (Works Cited) centred at the top of the page.
8.2 Main features of the MLA system
• Capitalise the first, last and all principal words in titles.
• The titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, films, plays, and other works are italicised.
• The titles of journal articles and chapters of books are placed in quotation marks.
• Multiple entries by the same author(s) are arranged alphabetically by title. The author’s name should be replaced by 3 hyphens (---) for the second and any subsequent entries.
• URLs are not included in works cited.
8.3 Work cited entry template
8.3.1 A book
Author. Book Title .Edition [if not the first]. Place of publication: Publisher, Year.
8.3.2 A scholarly journal article
Author.‘Article Title’. Journal Title Volume number. Issue number (Year): Pages.
8.3.3 A scholarly journal article (only issue number)
Author.‘Article Title’. Journal Title Issue number (Year): Pages.
8.3.4 A chapter of an edited book
Author.‘Chapter Title’. Book Title . Ed. Editor(s). Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Pages.
8.3.5 An online source: general website
Author [if known]. ‘Title’ [if applicable]. Site Title .Access date.
8.3.6 An online source: scholarly journal article
Author.‘Article Title’. Journal Title Volume. Issue (Year): Pages. Database Title .Access date.
8.4 Examples
8.4.1 A book
Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays . Princeton: Princeton UP, 1957.
8.4.2 A scholarly journal article
Smith, Paul. ‘Hemingway’s Early Manuscripts: The Theory and Practice of Omission’. Journal of Modern Literature 10.2 (1983): 268-88.
8.4.3 A scholarly journal article (only issue number)
Smith, Paul. ‘Hemingway’s Early Manuscripts: The Theory and Practice of Omission’. Journal of Modern Literature 2 (1983): 268-88.
8.4.4 A chapter of an edited book
Ellickson, Robert C. ‘Controlling Chronic Misconduct in City Spaces: Of Panhandlers, Skid Rows, and Public-Space Zoning’. 1997 Zoning and Planning Law Handbook .Ed. Christine A. Carpenter. New York: Clark, 1997. 369-486.
8.4.5 An online source: general website
Heaney, Seamus. ‘The Tollund Man’. Internet Poetry Archive. 12 August 2009.
8.4.6 An online source: scholarly journal article
Tucker, Edward L. ‘James and Charles Dickens’. The Henry James Review 17.2 (1996): 208-09. Project Muse . 16 Nov. 2008.
9 Documentation guides
If you have any questions about the manner in which you should format your references or the entries in your list of sources, unanswered by the information provided in this style guide, consult one of the following guides.
9.1 Guides for research papers and dissertations written in English
Chicago
The Chicago Manual of Style . 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
The Chicago Manual of Style is available online via the State Library.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers . 7th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
MLA
Gibaldi, Joseph, and Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers . 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2009.
Those doing linguistics or media papers should consult The Chicago Manual of Style . Those doing a history or literature paper should consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers . Both of these works are available in the Language Departments’ Common Library and in the State Library Reference Room.
Your teacher or dissertation supervisor may give you additional guidelines.
9.2 Guides for dissertations written in Danish
If you write your dissertation in Danish, you should consult a Danish style manual for guidance on how to format your references and the entries in your list of sources; for example:
Jacobsen, Henrik Galberg, and Peter Stray Jørgensen. Håndbog i Nudansk . 5. udg. København: Politiken, 2005.
Jørgensen, Peter Stray. Formalia i opgaver på videregående uddannelser: Serviceafsnit, Layout og Typografi . 2. udg. København: Samfundslitteratur, 2003.
Otherwise, the information provided in this style guide can, for the most part, be used in formatting your dissertation. If Danish and English conventions differ, apply the Danish ones.
10 Length of research papers and dissertations
The study regulations for examinations stipulate the required lengths for research papers and dissertations in standard pages , which are defined as containing 2,400 characters, including spaces. The settings given above in Section 1 should produce a page of text with approximately 2,400 characters.
10.1Declaration page for research papers/dissertations
Please consult the study regulations for the exam to determine the range of pages for the paper you are writing. You should check that your research paper or dissertation falls within the allowed page range required for the exam by getting a character count from your word processor. Provide the character count on the Declaration Page for Research Papers/Dissertations .
10.2Elements not included in character count
The following elements should not be included in the character count:
Research papers
Title page, table of contents, acknowledgements, appendices, summary (bachelor project), and list of sources.
Master’s dissertations
Title page, table of contents, summary, acknowledgements, preface, appendices and list of sources.
10.3Diagrams, tables, and other visual materials
Some factors may lead to a difference in the actual number of characters per page (for example, the use of headings or non-textual material). Pages in the main text that include diagrams, tables or other visual material should be counted, but pages that consist of purely decorative illustrations should not be included in the page count. If your research paper or dissertation contains a substantial amount of non-textual material, consult your teacher or dissertation supervisor.
10.4Annotated notes
Annotated footnotes or endnotes should be included in your word count.
11 Usage guide
11.1Academic style
Academic papers should be written in an appropriately academic style . Normally this will be a style that is compatible with an objective approach. For example, use of the first person will be relatively infrequent, direct address to the reader will rarely be used, and the passive form may be used more frequently than in non-academic writing.
An important element of academic English is the absence of bias in the language. The Chicago Manual of Style discusses gender and other forms of language bias and provides alternative formulations to help you write bias-free English .
It is recognised, however, that some variation in style may be regarded as appropriate. Consequently, this style guide does not provide more detailed recommendations. Consult your advisor /course teacher for further guidance.
11.2Titles in English: italics or quotation marks?
In the body of your paper, the title of a separately published work should be presented in italics, whereas the title of a subsection of such a work should be presented in quotation marks and without italics. Thus, the titles of books, scholarly journals, plays, epic poems, websites, newspapers, paintings and films, for example, should be italicised.
The titles of chapters of books, scholarly journal articles, short stories, poems (unless published as separate works) and newspaper articles, for example, should be in quotation marks.
Do not use bold or a different font or font size to indicate titles.
11.3Apostrophes
English uses an apostrophe to designate possession (with the exception of possessive pronouns— his , hers , theirs , its , ours , yours ). Most forms of the possessive are straightforward, but note the following:
<TBODY><TBODY>|
Joan’s |
Jones’s |
the Joneses’ |
|
|
with the meaning: |
of Joan |
of Jones |
Of the Joneses |
Do not put an apostrophe in decades when written as numerals. Instead, they should be written as follows: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and so on.
Remember the difference between the possessive pronoun its and the contraction of it is , which is written it’s . For example:
What has Joan’s dog got in its mouth? It’s the Joneses’ style guide!