DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES

BA Theses – Formatting and Style Guidelines

- Our standard is the latest (7th) edition of the MLA, Modern Language Association

Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, the “style Bible for most college students,”

available at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/ ,

http://www.mlahandbook.org/

Format:

- Times New Roman Font 12 pt (for all parts of the paper), 11 pt for long quotes.

- Line spacing 1.5. throughout (all of main text, including appendices, works cited and

bibliography list, and all other material).

- Except the opening paragraph, all paragraphs must be indented.

- All Tabs: 1.27 cm / 0.5 inch.

- Text: justified.

- Emphasis: only Italics are accepted.

- Page numbering: consecutive, centred at foot; use roman numbers format i, ii, iii for

Introduction and 1, 2, 3 number format throughout (including works cited and

bibliography list, and all appendices).

Citation and Documentation of Sources:

- In academic writing, all citation of ideas and work by one’s peers, whether direct

or indirect, needs to be acknowledged and documented accurately and in full. For

the documenting of sources, MLA recommends the use of parenthetical references

accompanied by an alphabetically arranged list of Works Cited. The source information

required in a parenthetical citation depends: (1) upon the source medium (e.g. Print, Web,

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electronic, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited (bibliography)

page.

- The list of Works Cited must feature ALL the works cited in the paper, both directly

and indirectly.

- A list of Bibliography should accompany the list of Works Cited. This must be arranged

alphabetically, according to Primary Readings and Reference Works, including the

electronic sources, as the case may be.

- Any source information that you provide in brackets in-text must correspond to the

source information on the Works Cited page.

- Quotations longer than four lines of prose or two lines of verse must be indented by

1.27 cm, on the left side only, and separated from the main body of the text.

Keep the parenthetical references brief and minimal e.g. author’s surname (when not

given in or following from the body text), year (when several works by the same author

figure on the Works Cited list) and page no. Lists of general bibliography alone are

unacceptable.

Direct Citation:

Following is a series of main cases of citation. For further specifics, see the MLA

Handbook:

(1) Short, in-text quotation (for elliptical or short quotations under 3 lines):

In his discussion of “The Pathology of Language” in Consciousness and the

Acquisition of Language, Merleau-Ponty canvasses the depersonalisation of “the

subject who no longer has the impression that he coincides with his own speech.” He

writes that “this is the germ of the illusion of a speech which is foreign to him” (1979:

67).

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Works Cited entry:

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Consciousness and the Acquisition of Language. Trans. Hugh J.

Silverman. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1979.

(2) Long quotation, name of author(s) given in body text:

Discussing the overlappings and dissimilarities between the critical theory of the

Frankfurt School, and postmodern theory, Best and Kellner remark that:

The polemics have often obscured some interesting similarities, in addition to important

differences. Both critical theory and much postmodern theory agree in important ways in

their critiques of traditional philosophy and social theory. Both attack the academic

division of labour which establishes fixed boundaries between regions of social reality, and

both utilize supradisciplinary discourses. (1991: 215)

Works Cited entry:

Kellner, D. and Steven Best. Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. New York:

Guilford Press, 1991.

(3) Long quotation, name of author(s) not given in the body text:

The infelicitous condition of postmodern theory and practice, of both embodying

and representing ’the desert of reality,’ the ’always already’ of the present moment, is

what makes for Postmodernism’s entry into its own obsolescence:

This act of self-reflection is unstable, as all autobiographies must be which try to

understand a life in the very process of living, it must be unstable --and this is the essence

of the second difficulty I mentioned here. Put still another way: postmodernism has

changed, zig-zagged, in the very process of revealing itself, as we have changed in the

process of living our lives. (Hassan 2000: 12-13)

Works Cited entry:

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Hassan, Ihab. “What Was Postmodernism and What Will It Become?” in 20th Century

American Literature after Midcentury, International Conference Proceedings (Kyiv,

25-27 May, 1999). Kyiv: Publishing «Dovira», 2000.

(4) Citing an article in a journal:

Wilcox, Rhonda V. "Shifting Roles and Synthetic Women in Star Trek: The Next

Generation." Studies in Popular Culture 13.2 (1991): 53-65.

(5) Sample Citation Electronic Material:

SALMAN RUSHDIE: I think I relied mostly on memory. I spent a long time just kind of

excavating my memory and the memories of other people. And when there were errors in the

remembering, I found I quite liked that, because I didn't want to write something that had

journalistic truth but rather some- thing that had a kind of remembered truth. And of course

memory does plan those tricks. For instance -- this is something that Indian readers catch at

once -- at one point Ganesh is described as having sat at the feet of Valmiki and taking down

the Ramayana, which of course he didn't. There are a lot at mistakes like that: they are

consciously introduced mistakes. The texture of the narrative is such that it almost depends

upon being an error about history; otherwise it wouldn't be an accurate piece of memory,

because that's what narrative is, it's something remembered. (Rushdie 2006, online interview)

Works Cited entry:

Chaudhuri, Una. “Imaginative Maps: Excerpts from a Conversation with Salman

Rushdie.” Turnstile Press. Vol. II, No. 1 (1990). N.p. 21 Feb. 2006.

<http://www.subir.com/rushdie/uc_maps.html>

The analogy between the terms "global" and "universal" is misleading. Universalization has

to do with human rights, liberty, culture, and democracy. By contrast, globalization is about

technology, the market, tourism, and information. Globalization appears to be irreversible

whereas universalization is likely to be on its way out. At least, it appears to be retreating as

a value system which developed in the context of Western modernity and was unmatched

by any other culture. Any culture that becomes universal loses its singularity and dies.

That's what happened to all those cultures we destroyed by forcefully assimilating them.

But it is also true of our own culture, despite its claim of being universally valid. The only

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difference is that other cultures died because of their singularity, which is a beautiful death.

We are dying because we are losing our own singularity and exterminating all our values.

(Baudrillard 2003, online article)

Works Cited entry:

Baudrillard, Jean. “The Violence of the Global.” Trans. François Debrix. CTheory. (20

May 2003). 21 Feb. 2006. <http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=385>

Use automatically inserted Endnotes as explanatory, content notes, i.e. for supplementary

information.

(5) Cross-References:

To avoid unnecessary repetition in citing two or more works from the same collection,

create a complete entry for the collection and cross-reference individual works to the

entry. In a cross-reference, state the author, the title of the piece, the last name of the

editor of the collection, and the inclusive page numbers. If the piece is a translation, add

the name of the translator after the title:

Hamill, Pete. Introduction. Sexton and Powers xi-xiv.

Mayakovsky, Vladimir. “Brooklyn Bridge.” Trans. Max Hayward and George Reavey.

Sexton and Powers 136-41. MCCullers, Carson. Brooklyn Is My Neighbourhood.”

Sexton and Powers 143-47.

Sexton, Andrea Wyatt, and Alice Leccese Powers, eds. The Brooklyn Reader: Thirty

Writers Celebrate America’s Favourite Borough. New York: Harmony, 1994.

(6) Citing unpublished material:

To cite unpublished material, enclose the title of the material in quotation marks (e.g.

dissertation etc) or italicise if a full-length manuscript (e.g. monograph) (do not

underline it). Add a descriptive label identifying the type of material, e.g. Diss., and,

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where applicable, the name of the degree-granting university, followed by a comma

and the year:

Boyle, Anthony T. “The Epistemological Evolution of Renaissance utopian

Literature, 1516-1657.” Diss. New York University, 1983.

(7) Citing the published proceedings of a conference:

Freed, Barbara F., ed. Foreign Language Acquisition Research and the Classroom.

Proc. Of Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning Conference, Oct. 1989, U

of Pennsylvania. Lexington: Heath, 1991.

(8) Citing a multivolume work:

If you are using two or more volumes of a multivolume work, cite the total number of

volumes in the work (“5 vols.”) after the title, or after the name of the editor or

identification of edition:

Bianco, Richard L., ed. The American Revolution 1775-1783: An Encyclopedia. 2

vols. Hamden: Garland, 1993.

(9) Citing a translation:

To cite a translation, state the author’s name first if you refer primarily to the work

itself; give the translator’s name, preceded by Trans. (“Translated by”), after the title.

If the book has an editor as well as a translator, give the names, with appropriate

abbreviations, in the order in which they appear on the title page:

Dostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Jessie Coulson. Ed. George

Gibian. New York: Norton, 1964.

(10) Citing two or more books by the same author:

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To cite two or more books by the same author(s), give the name(s) in the first entry

only. Thereafter, in place of the name(s), type hyphens, followed by a period and the

title. The three hyphens stand for exactly the same names) as in the preceding entry:

Durant, Will and Ariel Durant. The Age of Voltaire. New York: Simon, 1965.

- - -. A Dual Autobiography. New York: Simon, 1977.

(11) Citing a book by a corporate author:

A book can be authored by a commission, an association, a committee, or any other

group whose individual members are not identified on the title page (applies to

government publications). Cite the book by the corporate author, even if the corporate

author is the publisher:

American Medical Association. The American Medical Association Enclycopedia of

Medicine. New York: Random, 1989.

(12) Citing a book by two or more authors:

(a) To cite a book by two or three authors, give the names in the same order as on the

title page (not necessarily in alphabetical order). Reverse only the name of the first

author, add a comma, and give the other name or names in regular form (Wellek,

René, and Austin Warren). Place a period after the last name:

Jakobson, Roman, and Linda R. Waugh. The Sound Shape of Language.

Bloomington: Indian UP, 1979.

(b) If there are more than three authors, you may name only the first and add et al.

(”and others”), or you may give all names in full in the order in which they appear on

the title page:

Gilman, Sander, et al. Hysteria beyond Freud. Berkeley: U of California P, 1993.

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Indirect Citation:

When direct sources are not available and someone else’s published account of another

person’s words are used, introduce “qtd in” (“quoted in”) before the indirect source the

abbreviation.

Punctuation with Titles and Citation:

- Titles of full-length volumes, books etc should be in italics, as well as words singled out

for emphasis, single foreign words not naturalised in English and foreign phrases.

- No other form of emphasis (capitals, bold, large print, etc.) should be used, and

careful, sparing use of inverted commas is recommended.

- Do not underline, italicise or use inverted commas or block capitals in main title and

chapter titles. Use inverted commas or italics only to mark titles within titles.

- Do not use a period after titles or after any headings in the paper.

- Quotations within the main body of the text should be in double inverted commas.

- Words or phrases used in an unusual way, upon first appearance in that acceptation,

should be in single inverted commas.

- Quotations within quotations should be in single inverted commas.

- Omissions within quotations should be indicated by means of ellipsis (three points

within square brackets, each point separated by a space).

- Changes, or additions within quotations, are marked by square brackets, but not

elisions. Changes and comments at the end of the quote should be in round brackets.

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- Spelling may follow either British or American conventions, but should be consistent

throughout the paper.

- Quotations in languages other than English: all quotations in languages other than

English will be given in original with a translation provided as a Footnote.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a serious offence that can be described as “theft of intellectual

property.” It is considered the most severe infringement of academic integrity and

consists of presenting another person’s ideas, concepts, wording, phrasing,

drawings, graphs, etc. as one’s own without acknowledging

the source of the information. Rephrasing, adapting or restating the original

writer’s ideas by changing the original word order without acknowledging the

source does not exempt one from the responsibility of documenting the source.

To avoid committing plagiarism, credit must always be given to someone else's

ideas, opinions, theories, facts, statistics, graphs and drawings which are not

considered common knowledge.

Common knowledge is information found in numerous places and known by many

people. E. g. English is a Germanic language.

Plagiarism is a felony and therefore grounds for expulsion from the Higher

Education institution.

PLEASE OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING:

Do not indent the opening paragraph;

Italicise titles of full books/ volumes/collections of

essays/anthologies/novels/plays/long poems published as

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books/pamphlets/periodicals/films/compact disks/ballets/operas/instrumental music

compositions;

Use quotation marks for the titles of works published within larger works

(articles/essays/short poems/short stories/chapters of books);

Note that punctuation with quotation marks (regular and single) is:

.” and ,” or .’ and ,’

Use regular quotation marks for quoted syntagms etc. and single quotation marks for

syntagms, phrases, etc. employed ironically or in a figurative meaning;

For mottos use suggested format for long quotes (Font 11, centred etc.);

Do not include “p” for page number in Notes entries.

When documenting articles in journals, remember to give the inclusive page numbers

of the article, e.g. 11-32.

When citing/quoting from titles of articles, indicate length of article (e.g. 5-14)/length

plus appropriate page number documenting quotation (e.g. 5-14, 9).

Use “ibid.”, “idem”, and “op. cit.” to enter a quote from/reference to a book whose

title is entered above.

Use abbreviations and foreign language items whenever it is necessary (e.g.

Use endnotes instead of footnotes and keep them to a minimum.

Use “I” for the author and “we” when you refer to the author and the reader or to

several authors.

Incorporate pictures, graphs, questionnaires, text samples and longer material in the

appendices/annexes section.

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SAMPLE TITLE PAGE ROMANIAN

Header:

UNIVERSITATEA BABEŞ-BOLYAI, CLUJ-NAPOCA

FACULTATEA DE LITERE

CATEDRA DE LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

Lucrare de licenţă

Title of paper in Romanian

ABSOLVENT

COORDONATOR

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SESIUNEA IULIE 2010

SAMPLE TITLE PAGE ENGLISH

HEADER:

BABEŞ-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY, CLUJ-NAPOCA

FACULTY OF LETTERS

DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED MODERN LANGUAGES

GRADUATION THESIS

Thesis Title in English

GRADUATE

THESIS ADVISER

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CLUJ-NAPOCA JULY 2010

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