HUM 101k: Landscapes in Time

Your professors will ask you to follow certain style guides that will direct how you format your papers, projects, and presentations.  

BUT WHY?  Following a style guide isn't easy and if you don't follow it correctly, points might be taken away from your grade.  So, it's pretty important to learn to do it properly.

Think of it this way.  When you are driving down the road, you follow certain rules, right?  You drive on the right, you don't cross double yellow lines, you stop at stop signs.  The rules of the road keep you and your fellow travelers safe.  You can usually predict another driver's behavior and other drivers can predict your behavior with a fair amount of accuracy thanks to these rules.  Everyone who drives knows what to expect.  

In academic and professional writing, we follow certain rules for similar reasons.  Your readers expect to see certain rules followed.  The way you quote, the way you cite, where your page numbers are located-- all of these details and more help your reader understand that you are writing in the context of your discipline.  And every discipline has their own style guide.  You might be asked to use APA in your psychology and sociology classes.  You'll probably use MLA in your English classes.  For science, though, it's all about CSE.

Luckily, there's a website you can use to follow examples on how to format your citations.