Definitions
Abstract--A Paragraph-length description of a publication under consideration as a source for a research paper. The abstract focuses on the thesis the publication argues, the methodology used to argue it, and the implications for scholar's understanding of the topic, but, unlike a summary, does not necessarily present results of experiments or conclusions.
Annotated Bibliography--An alphabetical list of publications under consideration as sources for a research paper, each entry on the list accompanied by a short paragraph identifying the publication's thesis and assessing its usefulness for the research paper being planned.
APA--American Psychological Association, a scholarly associations of mental heath professionals whose standards for writing research papers have become the norms for publishing research in the hard sciences and also many of the social sciences.
Bibliography--An alphabetical list of publications consulted in the preparation of a research paper, usually organized according to the standards of a particular citation "style."
Chicago Manual of Style--originally written to assist doctoral students and would-be authors prepare manuscripts for submission to committes or the university press, it has become the standard for formatting citations for historians, and for other disciplines in the liberal arts and social sciences.
Citation--A reference to the source of a fact mentioned in a research paper, usually "formatted" according to one or another "styles."
Format--As a noun, a synonym for style, as "to put the citations in APA format." As a verb, to draft references to published information in a research paper according to a "style" set by an academic organization, as "to format the works cited page in MLA."
In-Text Citation--A shortened form of the full reference to the published source for facts in a research paper. In Chicago style, the in-text citation appears as a small number above the line of text, with more information at the bottom of the page below the text. In MLA and APA formats, the in-text citations appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence containing the fact.
Literature Review--An essay identifying the significant publications in the field the student is planning to research, summarizing them, relating them to each other, and identifying points of controversy or gaps in the literature.
MLA--The Modern Language Association, the professional association for scholars of literature, sets the standards for formatting citations and research papers for most literature and liberal arts courses.
Plagiarism--Representing someone else's work as one's own. For more on this topic see MMC's Academic Honesty Policy.
Style (noun)-- Synonym for Format (noun).
Summary--A piece of writing of no more than a few paragraphs identifying the thesis of a publication, the method being used to argue that thesis, the results of the research, the conclusions reached, and the implications of the findings for scholarship and for future research.
Works Cited--an alphabetical list of publications quoted, paraphrased, summarized, alluded to, or otherwise referred to in the text. APA and MLA formats call for researchers to list the works cited in researcher. Chicago calls for researchers to append bibliographies of all works consulted; those actually quoted have the sources fully described in the footnote.