When you are on your way to write an exceptional assignment, you might have to face several challenges. It can range from getting assignment understanding, doing thorough research for new and relevant information, and much more. Although, there is one problem that most of you will have to navigate past. If not, then most of your project will have plagiarism. Hence, to format your task in the best way possible, you must master famous APA, MLA, and Harvard Referencing.
APA (American Psychological Association) Style
General Format
Font & Size: The body of your work must be in 12-point Times New Roman according to APA guidelines. This is to guarantee readability and clarity.
Margins: For a clean, consistent look, set all margins to 1 inch on right, left, bottom, and top.
Spacing: Double spacing is required by APA formatting for the abstract, title page, and reference list, among other parts of the work.
Title Page: The following should be on the page of the title:
- The name of the assignment (bold and centred).
- Name of those who have written it (located in the middle beneath the title).
- The name of your organization (below your name).
- A running head, or page header, with a condensed title (less than 50 characters) in the upper left corner. The webpage number ought to appear in the header on the right side of the page.
Citations
In-text citations:
For paraphrasing: You can go for (Smith, 2020).
Direct Quotes: (Smith, 2020, p. 45). Quotes that are longer than 40 words should be claimed and formatted as block quotes without quotation marks.
Citations: All of your references should be listed at the end of your work in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name. A book’s typical format is:
A. A. Author (Year). Apply the title of the work: Capital letters also for subtitles. Publisher.
Key Points: If there is no author listed for a source, begin the citation with the work’s title.
For scholarly articles, use DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) rather than URLs when they are available. Thus, following such citation styles for university assignments is crucial.
MLA (Modern Language Association) Style
General Format
Font & Size: MLA utilises Times New Roman twelve points for the text’s body, just like APA.
Margins: All margins should be set to 1 inch on either side.
Spacing: The Works Cited page and the rest of the paper should be double-spaced.
Title Page: This writing style doesn’t call for any separate title folio, in contrast to APA. Rather, the first page’s upper-left corner should display the following:
- Your name.
- Name of the instructor.
- Name of the course.
- Submission date (day, month, year).
Header: Put your family name and the folio number in the header in the upper right corner. For example, Smith 1.
Citations
In-text citations:
- For both quotes and paraphrases, include the page number and last name of the author. For instance:
- In other words: (Smith 23).
- Straight from the source: Smith 23.
Citations: Every source used is listed on the Works Cited page and must be organised using the author’s family name in alphabetical order. Moreover, you need to do academic writing formatting for the same. Hence, the general format is:
Author’s Family Name, Initial Name. Title of the book. The one who is publishing, Publication’s Year.
Key Points: If there isn’t a page number, either provide a paragraph number (for example, “(Smith, par. 4)”) or leave the page number blank.
Moreover, all entries on the Works Cited page must have hanging cut according to MLA.
Harvard Style
General Format
Font & Size: For uniformity, 12-point Times New Roman is usually used.
Margins: All sides have 1-inch margins.
Spacing: The entire paper, including the reference list, must be double-spaced. Many students do miss this crucial referencing guideline. So, keep this in check.
Title Page: Generally speaking, Harvard style does not call for a title page, however, this can differ from school to school. If one is necessary, it usually contains the following:
- Paper title.
- Name of the writer.
- Your organisation’s name.
- Date of submission.
- Details on the instructor and the course.
Header: The family name of the author and the publication’s year are often included within the header of a Harvard paper, though this may differ depending on the requirements of the professor or university.
Citations
In-text citations:
The author-date citation style is used by Harvard:
- This is a paraphrase of Smith (2020).
- For exact quotations, see Smith (2020), p. 45.
- Use “&” for two writers or “et al.” for more than two if there are more authors. An illustration for several authors is (Smith & Johnson, 2020).
Citations: All of the used sources in your assignment have to be listed here, arranged alphabetically by the author’s family name.
The format says:
Author(s) Name of The Family, Initial(s). (Year) Book of The Title. Location Where The Publication Took Place: The One Who Published It.
Key Points: The location (city) of the publisher is usually necessary in Harvard style.
Provide the URL and the date of access for any online sources. Hence, you have to keep on checking for citation mistakes to avoid them.
However, this is not it. You can take the help of the below mentions that highlight general tips.
General Tips By Experts For All Writing Style Types
Be Consistent
Throughout the entire paper, make sure you follow the selected style. This means using the same formatting, punctuation, and citation formats throughout.
Apply Citation Tools
Although manually creating citations can be challenging, programs such as Zotero, EndNote, and others can automatically create and format your citations. Therefore, errors will decline in number.
Proofread Well
Double-checking your citations and references is crucial. Minor formatting or grammar errors might have a significant impact on your rating.
Follow Your Institution’s Guidelines
Always read the instructions for your work to be sure you’re following the right format, as certain teachers or universities may have their own unique citation style requirements.
The Final Word
To make your assignment a success, you somehow need to have a better understanding of APA, MLA, and Harvard Referencing. These do include a whole lot of factors that can be pivotal and influence your writing style. While each style is distinct and has various rules of format, reference presentation, and others, they all follow similar norms. This includes utilising the same font sizes and types, double-spacing, and making sure the margins are set correctly. Moreover, attention to detail is important for correct citation and academic integrity, regardless of whether you are using Harvard’s author-date citation style, MLA’s inclusion of page numbers for both quotes and paraphrases or APA’s emphasis on the author-date citation technique. Hence, if you feel the need for expert assistance in navigating through the complexity, then Online Assignment Help should be your go-to service.
