Academic writing conventions

Academic writing conventions according to the American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing: A paper analysis

Academic papers should fulfill certain requirements as regards “formal elements such us proficiency in language use, style, register and genre” (Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.9). In order to reach academic standards, the different text formats should follow specific and detailed conventions dictated by distinct referencing systems. Those systems enable authors to avoid plagiarism (the use of sources without acknowledging them) and “allow the reader to consult the original source” (Nielsen, 2007, p.5). American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and Chicago Manual Style are some of the referencing system manuals which authors may follow, depending on the field of study they belong to. The present analysis seeks to examine Myles’ (2002) research paper on second language writing, adopting for that purpose the APA style of referencing.
According to Purdue Owl (2010), authors can use quotations, paraphrases or summaries to cite sources. Furthermore, different types of citing “add credibility to academic papers, (. . .) give examples of several points of view on a subject, [and] distance the author from the original [work] by quoting it to cue readers that the words are not [his] own” (Purdue Owl, 2010). Myles’ (2002) employs direct quotations, paraphrased in text-citations, and block quotations to soundly support her research.
Myles’ (2002) most frequent type of quotation is paraphrasing, adding at the end of every indirect quotation the author’s name and the year of publication between parenthesis following APA conventions: “Perhaps it is best viewed as a continuum of activities that range from the more mechanical or formal aspects of writing down on the one end, to the more complex act of composing on the other end” (Omaggio Hadley, 1993). When Myles (2002) includes a quotation by two authors, she adds the ampersand signal between their names: “(. . .) (Kutz, Groden & Zamel, 1993, p.30)”, as suggested by APA. The frequent use of paraphrase format of quotations may
reveal the writer’s fruitful attempt to support her position in the topic discussed in her paper.
In addition to the inclusion of indirect quotations, Myles (2002) presents evidence for her research directly transcribing the authors’ words. The reader may contact Myles’ (2002) sources through the exact words without mediators, between Myles and the reader; thus, keeping the meaning of the whole phrase without altering it and correctly applying APA rules: "writing ability is more closely linked to fluency in and familiarity with the conventions of expository discourse" (Kogen 1986, p. 25). Another type of referencing that Myles (2002) employs in three parts of her work is block quotations. Purdue Owl (2010) refers to block quotations as direct statements which are longer than forty words, they should stand in a free block, omitting quotation marks, placing page numbers at the end, and indenting five spaces from the established margins. Although Myles (2002), does not indent the block quotation, she follows APA guidelines as regards the first three requirements mentioned above, for instance: “As Yau (1991) points out:
[A]lthough we should not cripple our students' interest in writing through undue stress or grammatical correctness, the influence of second language factors on writing performance is something we have to reckon with and not pretend that concentrating on the process would automatically resolve the difficulty caused by these factors. (p. 268)”
As shown above in the previous example, Myles (2002) asserts in including block quotations sparingly in her research, just to illustrate the source’s idea, and at the end of her paper to present a satisfactory conclusion.
Applying APA guidelines for omissions, Myles (2002) inserts them in certain direct quotation where she considers that the original source material is not relevant to her investigation: “students' strategic knowledge and the ability of students to transform information . . . to meet rhetorically constrained purposes" (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996, p. 116).” It must be noted that the use of ellipsis without parenthesis shows that a paragraph was taken out of the quotation. As regards insertions, which are marked by square brackets, they are mostly placed at the beginning of block quotation to indicate the change of a low case letter to an upper case one: “McLaughlin, transfer errors can occur because:
[L]earners lack the necessary information in the second language or the attentional capacity to activate the appropriate second-language routine. But such an account says little about why certain linguistic forms transfer and others do not. (1988, p. 50)”

Reporting verbs and introductory phrases are essential elements which are regulated by APA. The varied use of reporting verbs attempt to reflect the different positions an author may hold, Myles (2002), uses a wide range of verbs: argue, state, support, differentiate, criticize, observe, focus, analyze, propose, stress, advocate, point out, conclude and mention. Introductory phrases are correctly structured in Myles’ (2002) paper:
“Schumann (1998) argues that…”,
“Silva (1993) observes that..”
“The Flower and Hayes (1980, 1981) model focuses on…” (as cited in Myles,2002,p.3)
Finally, in the reference section, Myles (2002) does not follow APA conventions accurately, for instance, the title is placed on the left margin and it should be written in the middle. Furthermore, in Myles’ reference list, the internet journal resource is not correctly structured, as can be illustrated in the following example:
“Plata, M. (1995). Success of Hispanic college students on a writing examination. Journal of Educational Issue of Language Minority Students [on-line serial], 15. Available: http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/miscpubs/jeilms/vol15/success.htm”
(as cited in Myles,2002, p.20)
As observed in the reference above, the phrase in square brackets, the word available, and the underlined linked internet resource do not correspond to APA convention style of referencing.
In the present analysis, Myles’ (2002) use of direct and indirect quotations, block quotations, omissions, reporting verbs and structure of the reference section have been explored. The details and examples generated, based on Myles’ (2002)

research paper on second language writing, show that her study follows APA requirements quite closely. Furthermore, it should be noted that the author possesses a remarkable handling of direct scientific sources, she is able to make connections between current theoretical perspectives on the topic she proposes and her academic view.


References

Myles, J. (2002). Second language writing and research: the writing process and error analysis in student texts. TESL-EJ, 6 (2). Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej22/a1.html
Nielsen, L. (2007). Setting out references. How to reference using the American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing 5th edition. Auckland: Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. Retrieved September 24, 2010, from Philson Library: http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/med/pdfs/apa-guide.pdf
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010a). Unit 2: Personal narratives in teaching. Retrieved September, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010b). Unit 3: Academic writing. Retrieved September, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7392
Purdue OWL. (2010a). In – text citations: the basics. Retrieved September, 2010, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/
Purdue OWL. (2010b). Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Retrieved September, 2010, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/