Essay and thesis writing style guides

Here are some general style guides and essay and report writing handbooks held in the University of Adelaide Library, as well as links to Internet sites which provide this information. Check the subject-specific guide too.

There is also a listing of some guides specifically on writing higher degree theses (dissertations)

If you don't find what you need here, browse the shelves at the number 808 (in both the Reference and Main collections), or search the Library catalogue with combinations of the following keywords plus your subject (e.g.: medicine, architecture, politics). The "?" truncation means plurals will be retrieved:

report?
style?
handbook?
manual?
guide?
writing
research
authoring

General guides in the library

The Chicago manual of style 15th ed. (2003)

Style manual for authors, editors and printers. 6th ed. (2002).
Includes Harvard referencing style (author-date system)

Form and style : research papers, reports, theses. 11th ed. 2000
This is excellent, covering writing style to layout and bibliographic styles.
There are chapters on Chicago, MLA and APA style.

The essentials of MLA style : a guide to the system of documentation...

MLA handbook for writers of research papers. 6th ed. 2003.

MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishing. 2nd ed. 1998

A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations. 7th ed. 2007

Essay writing for students : a practical guide. 3rd ed. 1997.

Internet sites on essay writing.

Research papers (Online Writing Lab)
A comprehensive set of helpsheets on everything from researching your essay to correct punctuation.

Nuts and bolts of college writing
A good online guide to clear and effective writing from Washington College.

Resources for writers (University Writing Center, George Mason University)
Writing guides include grammar and style (referencing) guides; specialized guides (e.g. Writing lab reports); avoiding plagiarism; virtual reference library.

Amherst College: online resources for writers
Helpful academic writing guides for specific facets of essay writing (Thesis and argument; Introductions and conclusions; Paragraph unity and coherence etc.)

Sources: their use and acknowledgement
This web site was prepared for the instruction and use of Dartmouth University undergraduate students. It is arranged so that it can be used as a handbook to consult when writing papers.

English usage, style and composition
"Classic" texts including Fowler's The King's English and Strunks' The Elements of Style.

How to prepare an annotated bibliography (Cornell University)

Criticially analyzing your information sources (Cornell University)
Checking how useful, how credible your information sources are: what are the author's credentials? When was the information published? Is this an academic or a popular source? (See also Distinguishing scholarly journals from popular sources and How to evaluate information on web sites.)

Jennifer Osborn (15/10/08)