Guide to Writing Styles

Format a manuscript or research paper with one of several commonly accepted styles.

American Psychological Association (APA)

For a comprehensive guide, see APA Formatting and Style Guide provided by Purdue University.
The latest print edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is available in most of the University Libraries reference collections (call number: BF 76.7.P83)

The latest print edition of The Chicago Manual of Style is available in most of the WMU University Libraries reference collections (call number: Z253 .C57)
The Chicago Manual of Style Online site also has a Quick Guide
For a printable guide containing "notes and bibliography" format examples reprinted, with permission, from the University of Chicago Library’s Citing Resources Chicago Style. Chicago Style

WMU Quick Guide to MLA
The latest print edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is available in most of the University Libraries reference collections (call number: LB 2369.G53)
For a comprehensive guide, see MLA Formatting and Style Guide provided by Purdue University

The Turabian manual is a condensed version of the Chicago Manual of Style. The latest print edition of Kate Turabian's A Manual of Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is available in most of the libraries (call number: LB 2369 .T8). Turabian: A Brief Guide

AAA Style Guide. Produced by the American Anthropological Association.
ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors. The American Chemical Society's authorized guide. The latest edition is available in Waldo Library Science Reference (call number: QD 8.5 .A25).
Style Manual for Political Science. Produced by the American Political Science Association. The latest edition is available in Waldo Library Reference Desk Coll. (call number: JA86.A52x).
American Sociological Association Style Guide (ASA). The ASA Style Guide is designed to aid authors in preparing manuscripts for all ASA journals and publications. The latest edition is available in Waldo Library Reference (call number: HM73.A54x).

RefWorks is a citation management software that allows WMU students and faculty to import citations directly from select databases and create and manage your own bibliographies. Use with Microsoft Word to cite and format references in a variety of writing styles. You'll have to sign up for an account the first time you use RefWorks. An excellent tutorial is available in RefWorks under Help.
Citation Machine is a free Web site that provides software allowing you to create MLA or APA citations for books, journal articles, and a variety of other references. You provide details about titles, author, publisher or journal name, volume, and page numbers. The site then provides a formatted citation for use in your reference lists. You should double-check the citations the system generates since it occasionally makes a mistake.
Quick Citation Formatting in Databases. Many databases allow you to format citations into various writing styles. When available, look for the wording “cite” or “cite now,” or see if it is an option after clicking on “save, print, email.”