Several people have asked me by email if they can use a system for paper formatting different from the one explained in the handout in the course Briefcase, "Writing a Research Paper." I have no particular objections to people using alternative formatting systems, but in order to help everyone be consistent here is some general advice.
If, for some reason, you want to format your paper differently, then follow the guidelines used by the Canadian Journal of Communication which I have pasted below. These are the normal guidelines for authors in Communication Studies in Canada, so it is a good idea to follow this model as you prepare to become an accomplished Communication scholar yourself. The important thing is always to be consistent in whatever method you use.
Layout - The text should be double-spaced.
- Start each paragraph at the margin (no tabs to indent first line). Place an extra blank line between paragraphs to separate.
- Dashes should be keyed in as double-hyphens with no space at either end. For example: word--word
Heading Styles
- First level headings: (Boldface, first word capitalized, justified at left margin, on a separate line)
- Second level headings: (Plain type, first word capitalized, justified at left margin, on a separate line)
- Third level headings: (Italic type, first word capitalized, justified at left margin, on a separate line)
Citations in the Text
- If the work has more than one author, give all the names the first time the work is referred to, then et al. thereafter.
- When titles of journals or books are mentioned, they should be italicized, not underlined.
- If
the citation follows a quotation, place the parentheses after the
quotation marks but before the end punctuation. For example: ''for the
future of telecommunications'' (Smith, 1987, p. 42).
References
- Following the Notes, list only those works actually cited in the text.
- The heading for the references should be bold and left-justified, as References.
- Double space all entries.
- Begin each entry at the margin and indent the subsequent lines by 1/2 inch; i.e., hanging indent.
- Separate
the main items in each entry by periods (i.e., name of author, title of
book, etc.) Leave one space between a period and next part of the
entry.
- Publication date should be in parentheses following
author name. Title of book should be in italics and only the first word
and first word after a colon should be capitalized.
- For
articles, the title should be in plain text, with only the first word
capitalized; the title of the periodical or edited book should be in
italics.
- For journals the volume number of the periodical
volume is in italics, with the issue number in plain text and
parentheses. Page numbers are given at the end of the reference but
without the requirement for 'page'' or 'p.' See examples below.
- The formats must be strictly adhered to in terms of punctuation and order of the items within each entry:
Book: Klein, Naomi. (2000). No logo: Taking aim at the brand bullies. New York, NY: Picador.
Article in a book: Garnham, Nicholas. (2004). The information society theory as ideology. In F. Webster (Ed.), The Information Society Reader (pp. 165-183). London, UK: Routledge.
Article in a journal: Aronczyk, Melissa. (2009). How to do things with brands: Uses of national identity. Canadian Journal of Communication, 34(2), 291-296.
Government document: Royal Commission on newspapers. (1981). Report. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada.
Website: Gurstein, Michael. (2000). Effective use: A community informatics strategy beyond the digitial divide. First Monday, 8(12). URL: http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue8_12/ gurstein/index.html [March 4, 2005].
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Gary McCarron
Associate Professor
School of Communication
Simon Fraser University
gmccarro@sfu.ca
778.782.3860