Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) is perhaps the best free online resource for providing insight into academic formats. As you’ll rapidly come to know when writing an academic paper, research essay, or thesis, you have to adhere to specific academic formats based on institutional requirements, with two of the most common formats being APA and MLA. However, there are several other styles, including the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), American Sociological Association (ASA) style, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) style.
Purdue OWL provides fairly comprehensive discussions of, and guides to, each of these formats. Formats can be complex enough to justify entire books, but, for most students, it’s sufficient to be familiar with the kinds of basics that Purdue OWL covers. The essence of most academic formats is referencing, both in-text and bibliographic, and Purdue OWL is comprehensive in describing how to carry out such referencing in various academic formats. In addition, Purdue OWL’s discussion of academic writing formats includes guides to cover pages, page numbering, headings and subheadings, seriation, tables, figures, and the other stylistic elements unique to each format.
Purdue OWL is updated fairly rapidly when a format changes (for example, when APA 6 was superseded by APA 7). However, if you’re in any doubt about the most recent characteristics of an academic writing format, you’ll probably want to go to the most authoritative source—such as to the APA’s book or website on APA format—for confirmation.
