Yet…there may be something better than this…  With today’s increased connection to the internet and technology, it is not suprising that there are now web-based citation generators offering to do the job for you.  I feel a bit behind the times, as my students now, instead of consulting a book, go straight to one of these citation generators and type in the information they are asked for; their citations appear at the click of a button.  When I ask them to use the good old paperback, groans ensue. 

My question is whether these citation generators should be used, replacing the traditional handbooks and manuals of old.  For one well-acquainted with memorization and flipping through pages, this seems too easy, too cookie-cutter, so I decided to test the accuracy of several citation generators.  An old-school girl like me needs proof that this method really works.  My observations are as follows:   

NoodleBib Express :  This tool allows one to generate a few citations, but one needs to subscribe ($4-8 for an individual subscription) for greater access to the NoodleBib resources.  With this fee, one gains access to expert support for tricky citations in addition to the citation generator and notetaking/note card resources.  This is a positive combination, and (if one has the money) it is a useful resource.  However, with college students always short on pocket change, I’ll offer the following free source links and tell you which one converted me from a strict handbook devotee.

EasyBib :  This tool is user-friendly and free for MLA citations only.  Beware the AutoCite option, which fills in the data for you by “searching” the web.  You’ll need to make sure your i’s are dotted and t’s crossed with this application, it seems.  Although MLA format is free, APA and Chicago/Turabian formats require a subscription and some cash. 

Son of Citation :  Despite its lack of visual appeal, this is a good citation generator in terms of access (all free).  In-text citation format is suggested as an added bonus.

BibMe : This one is very user friendly and offers a citation guide and the option of a free personal account for saving bibliographies.  One chooses the type of source from a variety of colored tabs, and chooses to enter the information manually or to search in “Autofill” mode.  After testing several of my own sources in this tool, I am more than pleased.  You can even download the citations into Microsoft Word, with the formatting taken care of.

So, in the end, I am a surprised convert, and plan to use BibMe for my own graduate school papers. I still will hang on to the Handbook and Manual for additional reference, but it is nice to know I can now save time and be accurate with an online tool.

• American Psychological Association

What are the Basic Formatting Guidelines?

• APA format requires a title page
• An abstract should come after the title page.  Center the word “Abstract” one inch from the top of the page; double-space the abstract as would do for the body of the paper.
• An abstract is a 100-200 word paragraph that provides readers with a quick overview of your essay.  It should express your main idea and your key points; it also may briefly suggest any implications or applications of the research you will discuss in your paper.  In short, an abstract is a preface of sorts, a summary and brief analysis of your conclusions.
• 1″ margins, double-spaced text, single-spaced footnotes
• The page heading appears on all pages, even the title page
• In APA format, for references listed on the references page, the author’s last name comes first, followed by his/her initials.  The year follows the name, instead of showing up at the end of the entry.  The reason for this difference:  When asked to use APA format, it is usually in those disciplines most concerned with the question of when your reference was published.  Currency matters because information may become outdated and useless as new studies are conducted and new information is discovered. By contrast, MLA format usually appears in English class, a discipline that is more concerned with ideas than how important they are. 
• APA in-text citations require the author or authors’ names and the year published (separated by a comma), instead of the author’s last name and page number (without a comma).
  • Example APA in-text citation:  (Marick, 1990) or (Marick & Nield, 1978)
  • Example MLA in-text citation:  (Marick 90)
• For subsequent in-text citations for the same source written by more than one author, replace the additional authors with “et al.”
  • Example repeat APA multiple-author, in-text citation:  (Marick et al., 1978)
• It is common for APA-style papers to be subdivided, with different sections of the paper under different headings.  Major headings are centered, with all words capitalized except short articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions.
• Quotes longer than 40 words are indented ½ inch from the left margin;  quotation marks are not needed if the quote has been indented as a whole. 
• Footnotes are common (for content notes and copyright permission notes), indicated by using a superscript number in consecutive order.  At the end of the paper, create a footnote page for content and copyright permission footnotes, numbered according to the order in which they appear in the paper. Because APA is a format often requiring original research or statistical tables, pages for each of the tables should appear after the footnotes page(s) at the end of the paper.  Only one table should be on a page. 
• After the footnotes and tables page(s), create a Figure Captions page and a Figures page.  Captions should not be on the same page as the figures themselves.  The figures should have vertical titles appended to their sides which correlate with the captions. 
• All references cited in text must appear on the reference list at the end of the document, and the author must ensure that both the in-text citation and reference list entry are formatted in the same way (same spelling, same year, same information). 

• I am studying health and wellness.
• Because I want to find out how…health education is taught in schools and what sort of effort is really put into helping young children understand its importance.
• In order to understand what…this means for the future of America and the amount of obesity compared to healthy individuals in our society.
• In order to explain to you why…there is still hope for change in the health of American society.

Feedback:  What is your overall question? By “health education” do you mean nutrition education?  Will you focus on elementary school, middle school, or high school when you say “young children”?  Will you focus on childhood obesity?  I like that you’ve just focused on school education and its influence on young children.  What if, for example, you find that schools are teaching what they need to teach…where will you go from there?  Will you examine complications that come with following the nutrition education received in school (busy society and pre-made food, family habits, school cafeteria offering poor choices, tv, etc?)

This student then ended up changing topics and focusing on Autism, wanting to discover if vaccines were, indeed, linked to the onset of this disorder.  After a week of research, she had become overwhelmed by a topic that was legitimately in stasis, not knowing how to make sense of a large body of information with many opposing viewpoints. 

She also had become overwhelmed by the research itself, not knowing where to look for information and becoming discouraged that other possible causes of autism were not being discussed.  Contrary to what this student thought, however, the information was there but unaccessed.  Sometimes, it’s all in the re-search:  going back and looking again, expanding search resources, using new key words, and/or refining the original idea or research question. 

We brainstormed other possible key words:  pervasive developmental disorder, genetics and autism, gluten-free, possible causes of autism, autism spectrum disorders, etc.

We accessed databases offered by the school.  If you are lucky enough to have access, SIRS Researcher, Infotrac, and Ebsco are wonderful for their ability to categorize according to source type.  After 15 minutes, we were able to find 10 additional scholarly sources, newspaper articles, media files, and magazine articles. 

Ahh, the sweet success of re-search.

1. Encyclopedias
2. Dictionaries 
3. Handbooks
4. Online Scholarly Databases
5. Book Catalog
6. Periodical, Newspaper, Citation Indexes
7. Essay and General Literature Index
8. Biographical and Book-Review Indexes
9. Concordances and Books of Quotations
10. Statistical Sources and Government Documents

Tip:  Be sure to consult the bibliographies at the end of the scholarly articles and books you find – there is a wealth of information there which can add depth to your research.

After you have become an expert at determining which areas will best meet your research needs, and have experience in working your way through the entire sequence, you will develop a sense for knowing which steps in this sequence might be useful for a particular subject.

In consulting these categories of reference sources, you will, in most cases, accumulate a wealth of information on the subject you are researching.  Eventually, you will have to make selections from the mound of information you have found, evaluating the information for its relevance, accuracy, and credibility.  To assess the reliability of information, you could consult reviews of the books from which you have gotten the information or you could check the reliability of the newspapers or magazines in which you found the information by researching the reputation and ideology they are known for.  In the end, you should have a variety of sources – A good rule of thumb is to have at least as many sources as the number of pages in your research paper.

An issue is said to be “in stasis” if opposing sides have agreed to disagree.  By finding the point at which your issue is in stasis, you are able to find the point at whih your issue becomes debatable, researchable, and current.

Four Levels of Questions:  You should start at the first level, moving toward the fourth level, stopping when there is not a clear “yes” or “no” answer to the question.  All questions after your found point of disagreement are open for debate. 

1. Questions at the level of conjecture:  Does the issue or topic exist?  What are the causes or origins?
2. Questions at the level of definition:  What is it?  What are its parts and how are they related?
3. Questions at the level of quality:  Is it good or bad?  Is it bettr or worse than __________?
4. Questions at the level of policy:  What should be done about it?

The difference between you staring down an empty screen while piling up empty junk food wrappers and you researching and writing with purpose lies in that first step:  your focus.  Sure, anyone can find a topic to research, but turning that topic into academic discourse is another task, indeed. 

Consider the following:

• Research is a problem worth solving.  Once you discover an area of interest, you need to find in that interest a question that you think is worth asking. 
• A narrowed topic will allow you to more easily recognize gaps and inconsistencies which can lead to a solid research question.  Your topic is probably too broad to sustain focused research if you can state it in fewer than 5 words.  To fix this, add modifying words/phrases, consider different categories of information.  For example, do you want to focus on all areas of advertising or just on television commercials aimed at children under the age of 5?

Most people stop with a narrowed topic, but keep reading if you want your research to matter…

• You should do more than just inform – you should question and answer.  The starting point for good research is what you do not know or understand but feel like you must.  This saves you from the regurgitated, informational paper that doesn’t really say anything. 
• After you have your research question, you should motivate it.  Ask “so what”?  What is the larger problem that your research question attepts to solve?  If you can answer this, you have transformed your project into one that will interest others.