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ABC Amber HLP Converter Trial version, http://www.processtext.com/abchlp.html The Writer’s Guide to Sociology is a quick reference for drafting papers in the style of the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the American Sociological Review. Revised November 2004 [version]. To check for a newer version go online and click http://www.docstyles.com/asaguide.htm. Guide Topics The Writer’s Guide merges the format specified in ASA Style Guide with that of papers published in the American Sociological Review. The result is a style especially adapted for class papers. Guide Links. These are the links to all the free guides at docstyles.com. About ASA Style? | Contents | Guide FAQ | Guide Links | Sources | Exit Freew are! The Writer’s Guide to Sociology may be freely used and distributed, but may not be modified or sold. Page 1 ABC Amber HLP Converter Trial version, http://www.processtext.com/abchlp.html The Writer’s Guide to Sociology is a quick reference for drafting papers in the style of the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the American Sociological Review. Revised November 2004 [version]. To check for a newer version go online and click http://www.docstyles.com/asaguide.htm. Guide Topics The Writer’s Guide merges the format specified in ASA Style Guide with that of papers published in the American Sociological Review. The result is a style especially adapted for class papers. Guide Links. These are the links to all the free guides at docstyles.com. About ASA Style? | Contents | Guide FAQ | Guide Links | Sources | Exit Freew are! The Writer’s Guide to Sociology may be freely used and distributed, but may not be modified or sold. Page 2 ABC Amber HLP Converter Trial version, http://www.processtext.com/abchlp.html Writer’s Guide to Research Style and Format © 2004 by Dr. Abel Scribe PhD The Writer’s Guide was compiled by the Microsoft Help Compiler Workshop 4.03 for Windows® 32 bit systems. The installation program for the Guide is Inno Setup 4.2.X © Copyright 1998-2004 by Jordan Russell. Find the Latest Version of the Writer’s Guide at: <www.docstyles.com> Page 3 ABC Amber HLP Converter Trial version, http://www.processtext.com/abchlp.html American Sociological Association. 1997. The ASA Style Guide. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. 40 pp. More a pamphlet than a book, the ASA Guide still manages to cover the basic features of ASA style. Widely followed in sociology, some features of this style (as documented below) are also widely ignored. This little book spends an inordinate amount of space on wordy phrases to avoid in research writing, but to some effect. Papers published in the American Sociological Review reflect a crisp style among the best in research writing. Amazon.com sells the ASA Guide for about $10. It is also available at the ASA website < www.asanet.org> at discount prices. The Preface to the ASA Guide notes, “the Style Guide is based on what editors, managing editors, and copy editors for ASA journals have observed to be the most common style and format problems in manuscripts accepted for publication [italics added]” (ASA 1997:iii). Nowhere does the ASA Guide address formatting issues specific to student papers, theses, and dissertations. The ASA Guide is focused on preparing “copy” manuscripts formatted to aid the process of editing and typesetting. The APA Publication Manual observes of copy manuscripts: Their life span is short; they are normally read by editors, review ers, and compositors only and are no longer usable after they have been typeset. Copy manuscripts must conform to the format and other policies of the journal to w hich they are submitted. Final manuscripts, how ever, reach their audiences in the exact form in w hich they are prepared. A number of variations from the requirements described in the Manual are not only permissible but also desirable in the preparation of final manuscripts (APA 1994:331-332). Students need a guide to preparing class papers. The Writer’s Guide draws heavily upon the ASA Guide, but also looks to editorial practices of the American Sociological Review to determine how a final manuscript should look in ASA style. Readers familiar with ASA publications will find this style eminently correct when used to format most papers. What’s Different? Copy manuscripts submitted for publication have several requirements that differ from final manuscripts, class papers. All text in copy manuscripts is double spaced. Presentation drafts single space the abstract, block quotes, references, tables, and footnotes (but double space between references, and between paragraphs in block quotes or footnotes). Tables and graphics are placed at the end of copy manuscripts; presentation drafts embed them in the text. The title page and abstract, which appear on separate pages in copy manuscripts, are combined in presentation drafts of short papers. These pages look better when they emulate features found in papers published in the American Sociological Review rather than the bland text shown in the ASA Style Guide. Common sense? All other features presented in the Writer’s Guide are unchanged from those set in the ASA Guide. When the ASA Guide is silent on a feature, the Writer’s Guide draws on similar features explained in the ASA Guide, or draws on other sources such as the Chicago Manual of Style and the APA Publication Manual (see accuracy). The Writer’s Guide focuses on problems most commonly encountered when drafting class papers. But you will need to check the ASA Style Guide for those features not covered. For example, graphics, photographs, and illustrations are rare in student papers, and not covered in the Writer’s Guide. The ASA Style Guide discourages graphics, but does offer some instructions for their preparation. You are invited to use and share the Writer’s Guide to ASA Sociology. Comments, corrections, and suggestions are welcome, email [email protected]. Bibliographic entry: Dr. Abel Scribe PhD. 2004. The Writer’s Guide to ASA Sociology 2.0. Boulder, CO: Dr. Abel Scribe PhD. Retrieved November 15, 2004 (www.docstyles.com). Page 4 ABC Amber HLP Converter Trial version, http://www.processtext.com/abchlp.html The Writer’s Guide to Sociology is a quick reference for drafting papers in the style of the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the American Sociological Review. Basic features of the style are covered in the following sections. Revised November 2004. Latest version at www.docstyles.com. Guide Topics The Writer’s Guide merges the format specified in ASA Style Guide with that of papers published in the American Sociological Review. The result is a style especially adapted for class papers, a style that emulates the research articles published by the lead journal in sociology. Freeware! This electronic document may be freely used and distributed by any means. The Writer’s Guide is subject to revision and enhancement. Find the latest version at: www.docstyles.com Copyright. By law all published works remain the intellectual property of their creator, for up to 90 years in some cases. Readers, listeners, viewers, or users (of computer programs) are granted fair use rights. This allows you to quote limited passages, usually no more a few hundred words in any one quote. Any use beyond this limit constitutes intellectual piracy or plagiarism. Registration and Notification. These are not required to secure a copyright. Any published work, and especially things like images on the Internet, are assumed to be protected by copyright. Publication is required. However, the intent to publish a work has been held to be sufficient to protect that work, even if few people actually read the work. A notice, which includes the © symbol or word copyright followed by the date and the name of the person claiming authorship confirms the intent to protect the work, but is not required. Works can also be registered with the U.S. government. Personal Communications. Be careful! Personal messages, even when posted on the Internet, are still personal, unless the person knows in advance that a list or posting is intended for publication. Even then, you should assume a personal communication was intended as such. If you quote or cite it, you should get written permission from the author to do so. Journal editors may require this before even reviewing a paper. Freeware is not Free! The Writer’s Guide is freeware, but the copyright is retained by the author. This means you are free to use it and pass it on. You are not free to sell or otherwise profit from it. That would be a violation of the copyright law, a theft of intellectual property. No Copyright for a Style! By law (17 U.S.C. 102(b)) "the original and creative word sequences in [a text] are protected by copyright, but a writing style itself is in the public domain, no matter how original it is" (Fishman 1996, 6, 13). You cannot copyright a reference (or any) style, nor can you copyright a language, even a programming language. They belong to everyone. This is true of all styles, including the style covered in this Writer’s Guide. Page 5 ABC Amber HLP Converter Trial version, http://www.processtext.com/abchlp.html Style Notes cover details commonly encountered when drafting a research paper. These are also the details knowledgeable readers are likely to note when you get them wrong. You may elect to apply your own best judgment on the more esoteric features, as long as you are consistent through your paper. American Sociological Association. 1997. ASA Style Guide. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. Chicago Manual of Style. The ASA guide is only 40 pages long.