Writing guidelines

Music Recording Technology
Writing Guidelines

Paper Guide

All papers turned in must follow A.P.A. (American Psychological Association) guidelines for writing research papers.
Papers that do not follow the APA guidelines will be returned for correction.
Papers that do not follow the APA format will be returned with a failing grade.

A.P.A. style can be found in books in the library as well as on the Internet.

The basics and more information are stated below.

 

Helpful Resources for APA and other issues

• Typing Instructions and Using APA Style
• Writing and Study Guide for Students – How To Write A Research Article
• Writing and Study Guide for Students – Technical Writing Tips
• APA style for referencing online documents
• More writing resources

 

Guidelines

I. Cover Page

Include the following information on the cover page, centered with each item on a separate line, non-bulleted:

• Title of the submission
• TWO LINE BREAKS
• Your name
• FOUR LINE BREAKS
• Course # and name
• Instructor name (Dr. Hill)
• Date submitted

Use the same font used in the body of the paper.

Use 12 point type size.

II. Margins and Spacing

A. The entire paper should be double-spaced

exceptions:

lengthy quotations
bibliography
footnote
B. Margins should be set:

1 inch from the top, bottom, left, and right.
do notjustify right margin when using monospaced type faces.
(suggestion: create a template so that you do not have to set these requirements for each new paper.)
indent paragraphs at 1 3/4 inches from the left (5 spaces).

III. Typing/Printing

Use word processing software. There are computer workstations in Lynch and the library.

Papers should be turned in stapled. Do not use covers or binders (except for the final paper).

Use bold only when making a point.

Page numbers should be flush to the upper right margin.

IV. Fonts/Typefaces

Choose a simple, serif font.
12 point type (the height of the type).
10 pitch (10 characters per inch).
Acceptable fonts (shown at 12 point):

Courier (monospaced)
Times Roman (proportional)—[preferred font]
Unacceptable

Helvetica (sans serif)
Script ( decorative)
Arial

V. Sections

Each paper should contain:

Cover page.
Body.
Bibliography.
(optional) Appendix.
The length of the paper will be given at the time of the assignments.

VI. Style

Use impersonal report language using the third person. Do not refer to yourself as ‘I’ . You may refer to yourself as the ‘writer’ or ‘the researcher’.
Academic standards of English use, spelling, sentence structure, tense, punctuation, and capitalization are expected.
Plagiarism will result in a failing grade and will be reported to the Dean.
Be clear and concise.
The use of large quotations to meet the word number requirement will result in penalty.

VII. Professional Type for Word Processors

Use only one space after periods, colons, exclamation points, question marks, and any punctuation that separates sentences.
Use real quotation marks (option + [ and option + shift + [ on a Mac) and opening single quotes (option + ] and option + shift + ] on a Mac, also known as ’smart quotes’.
Never use the inch and foot marks ” and ‘ (unless you mean inches or feet), also known as straight quotes.
Hyphen -
Use for hyphenating words or line breaks.
En dash (option + -)
Use between words indicating duration. EX. October – December, 7:30 – 9:45, 3 – 5 years.
Also used when you have a compound adjective and one of the elements is made of two words. EX. New York – Chicago flight pre-Vietnam war period
Em dash (shift + option + -)
Indicates abrupt change in thought, or used like colon or parentheses, or where a period is too strong and a comma is too weak.
There are no spaces before or after the em dash.
Don’t underline for emphasize; use italics or bold type.
Use real apostrophes, (shift + option + 0) [#0]
Never hang punctuation.
Use the spell checker – but remember it cannot tell you if you’ve used the wrong word.

VIII. Bibliography

Refer to A.P.A. Web sites and manuals for proper citation.

See page vii of text for an example.

Examples:

Smith, Mike M. (1999). Frogs and Worms. Annville, PA. Bug Publishing.

Smith, M. & Jones, A. (1998). Principles of Worm Relationships. Annville, PA. Bug Publishing.

Smith, M. (1999). My Life With Worms. Bug Magazine, p. 22.

Go to APA Style Electronic Citations, http://www.lvc.edu/www.root/documents/library/apa.html , for citations of Web pages, e-mail, etc.

VIV. Citation in the Body of the Text

All of the text should be supported by references. Do not cite page numbers unless you have used an exact quote.

EX. It has been found that worms can grow faster than alligators (Smith, 1999). [Note- period comes after ) ]