The Research Journey
Any serious journey begins with a particular destination in mind. The traveler has considered where he (or she) is traveling to, the states and roads through which he must navigate, where he will be stopping for refueling, dining, and resting in his journey, and so on. This is evident in his itinerary (a planned course of travel). Once he has arrived at the destination, he can then engage in all the anticipated activities (and possibly stumble into some unexpected ones), making key observations about his surroundings, interactions, and experiences.
After returning home from the excursion, the sojourner might share the highlights of the trip (including any complications that occurred along the way) with friends and family (the memoir). He might even post pics on Instagram or an adventure synopsis on Facebook, detailing his journey with any who are interested. This offers to readers/viewers a summation of his expedition, carefully presenting objective data along with his own learned (though often subjective) opinions of the odyssey.
Such a journey is analogous to what all researchers and writers experience when they undertake a research project. Once investigators narrow down their topic to a reasonable, completable choice—a.k.a., the research problem, they can then start writing a purpose statement regarding what they believe and what they intend to prove (the itinerary). This can be general to begin with, but after students seriously begin their research and writing, they will hone their topic and scientific opinion in accordance with their findings, which will be argued, eventually, in their thesis (the memoir), as is explained in other chapters to follow.
The Research Problem
Any respectable scholarly project begins with an overarching discussion of the rationale and arrangement for the study itself—the research problem, which is the importance or prevalence of the topic, a facet of the issue that is problematic or needing clarity, a logical justification of investigation, and so on. Moreover, the student must take care to not have too broad nor too narrow of a focus in his or her specific investigation. The research problem investigation needs to be deep enough to show the roots of the matter but not so stygian (deep or lofty) as to be inaccessible or inapplicable. After all, the main goal of all scholarly study is to enlighten others regarding newfound knowledge—not to blindly obstruct them with too shallow or too obscure of data.
With that in mind, all introductory discourse must conclude with a succinct purpose statement on what, why, and how the writer will research the topic. As Kornuta affirms, “The purpose statement is a clear, precise statement that encapsulates what you intend to do in your study. The purpose statement is like a ‘rudder’ that guides everything you write in your study.”[1]
For instance, in my (Knox’s) original 2003 PhD proposal, I wrote:
With this in mind, the aim of this study will be threefold. First, it will seek to examine and analyze the specific efforts of the religious and civil authorities in England to extinguish/control the Nonconformists and Dissenters in England during this period of history. Second, it will examine and analyze the Nonconformists’ response (both personally and corporately) to English suppression. Last, it will examine and analyze the sociological effects of oppression and dissent looking to the historical patterns of the Church of England and the Nonconformists.
Although my PhD supervisor liked the general gist of my potential investigation, he thought it was just that—too general—and asked me to revise it, with more specific objectives and goals for enrolling in an international program of study. Like all earnest writers, I was initially devastated by his critique but quickly set aside my emotions as I came to agree with his kind-yet-honest assessment of my initial draft. My original proposal was nice but also meh; it had no bite, no zing; it was unexceptional in its scope. Thus, I determined to rework my proposal to align with his astute recommendations and revised my proposal statement as follows:
With this in mind, the aim of this study will be threefold. First, it will examine the religious environment surrounding the Church of England and its efforts to maintain its dominance and relevance in England throughout the nineteenth century to the present. Second, it will examine the mixed religious environment in Oregon and its evolution from its inclusion into the Union to its present-day liberalism. Last, it will examine and analyze the sociological effects of church autonomy looking to the historical patterns of the Anglican Church and other pivotal denominations—both in England and in Oregon.
Much to both of our satisfactions, he liked and approved of my changes. Perhaps more importantly, the PhD review board deemed my proposed study “PhD-worthy” in the end. I had explained its value sufficiently, I had spelled out its feasibility, and I had justified (or even guaranteed) the probability of its completion at the university. My proposal began with an informative, clear title—“An Investigation of the Decline of Religious Belief and Affiliation Relative to Church Autonomy in the State of Oregon and England from the Nineteenth Century to the Present.” Then, I provided a provocative overview of my doctoral project, I briefly introduced the specific methodological and theoretical approaches of my future research, and finally, I touched upon the end goals and expectations for my study.
I wanted to write more, but at this stage of my research project, it would not have been appropriate to expand any further since this was just the proposal and not the study itself—that would come later. At this stage, I had not undertaken a systematic literature review, and I did not have any substantial scientific data to dispense. I had no great scholarly conclusions nor any arguments to share.
Some years later, I found myself in another situation necessitating a proposal statement for a research grant. Remembering what I had learned for my first PhD proposal, I provided the following to the grant board:
With this in mind, this two-year research project will investigate the relationship between student spiritual formation and athletic excellence and leadership. It will examine the collegiate athletic experience to determine how much involvement in spiritual formation/activities cultivates healthier individual and community environments in the collegiate sports world. It will explore whether activities that develop the inner, spiritual workings of student athletes protects them against the vices and corrupting forces too often prevalent in student athleticism—i.e., drug and alcohol abuse, poor academic performance, bad sportsmanship, academic and athletic withdrawal, personally-destructive behaviors, lack of focus and commitment, lack of personal integrity, narcissism, etc.
As with my previous PhD proposal, the final version of my dissertation would be a balanced tome of information and interpretations, woven carefully together to show connection, weaknesses, meaning, and purpose. Yet, that would not come until after I determined the order for my argument(s) and expressed my ideas in a clear, working postulation—beginning with the ultimate research question.
The Research Question
Speaking of which, there are few things in formal writing more important than one’s starting point. The research question —normally one to a few sentences in length—provides readers with a clear and concise declaration of what they can expect to be investigated in the formal writing to follow. It is not vague. It is not inferential. It is not informal. It should be, however, exceedingly evident and transparent. As Owusu and Adade-Yeboah assert, “It is a statement that answers the question one wants to raise; it does so by presenting a topic, the writer’s precise opinion on the topic, and a reasoning blueprint that sketches out the organization for the rest of the paper.”[2]
The research question is a long-standing convention employed in writing all formal papers. In a blog or popular piece, writers can be more laid-back, but not so in formal, scientific papers. In fact, with all six of my degrees (Knox), I was instructed by my undergrad, grad, and post-grad professors to provide clear research statements in all my work. The reader must know what topic is being objectively addressed in the thesis, its specific premises and conclusions, and what they are based upon, evidentially.
For example, here is the introduction paragraph for my last senior paper for my (Knox’s) bachelor’s degree in History at Oregon State University:
Many myths and falsehoods concerning the Egyptian practice of mummification have been simplistically promoted to the public in movies, television shows, and documentaries. While these offerings are entertaining and fascinating to watch, the purposes and details regarding the ancient preparation of the dead were quite complex—technically and culturally. To gain a full understanding of mummification, the various cultural, religious, anatomical, and pragmatic aspects are examined in this paper.
Here is the introduction paragraph for my (Knox’s) master’s thesis in Church History at George Fox University:
Therefore, the chief goal of this exposition will be to analyze Arminius’ defense of himself and his theology in his Declaration of Sentiments against a high Calvinist understanding of theology. Drawing upon remarks like these, excerpts from various primary sources of Arminius’ contemporaries and from secondary sources of modern scholarship, and by investigating the cultural milieu and characters surrounding Arminius, an attempt is made to show how Arminius defended himself in the Declaration against numerous Supralapsarian criticisms.
Here is the opening paragraph of my (Knox’s) PhD dissertation in the Sociology of Religion at the University of Birmingham (UK):
Focusing on the city of McMinnville, Oregon, and comparing evidence compiled there with quantitative and qualitative data gathered from Kendal, England, this thesis tests the “Spiritual Revolution Theory” in the U.S.A., using Oregon as a case study. It compares recent accounts of the nature of religious life in the West with data directly collected from Oregonians in several churches, denominations, and in spiritual and everyday settings. This thesis investigates the relationship between participation in religious practices and belief, and the emergence of a new, radical, individualized expression of faith and argues that “Sacro-Egoism” is the single most important feature of religious commitment in McMinnville.
After teaching at the university-level for nearly twenty-five years, I can assure you that a clear research statement has been/still is the norm in academia (but casualness has too often been incorrectly promoted recently in postmodernity). As one of our students complained, “Regarding your statement, I understand the effort to be clear in the thesis; however, I was taught phrases like ‘this paper will demonstrate’ or ‘I will show such and such in this speech’ were considered uncharacteristic of graduate level writing/speaking.”
This student was mostly wrong in his assumptions (although I do not doubt that he had been taught that in high school or at undergraduate college). Being clever is never a valid substitute for being clear in scientific writing. Here are some examples from two randomly selected scholarly articles for even more proof:
Wood writes, “I maintain, on the contrary, that there is a darker, more complex Chesterton whose coruscating confidence about Christian things is persuasive because he confronts the horrors that threaten to cancel them. Hence the aim of this essay: to investigate the three works that most fully embody Chesterton’s darkly comedic apologetics for our darkened time—Orthodoxy, The Ball and the Cross, and The Man Who Was Thursday.”[3]
In a more detailed fashion, McCashen explains:
“This study offers a new reading of 1 Apol. 33.6 and a fresh evaluation of Justin's broader pneumatology in light of it. Taking 1 Apol. 33.6 as a test case, it argues that Justin's pneumatology is best understood as driven by apologetic logic operating within a triadic theological framework.”[4]
Just to confirm, for the two previous examples, “Apologetics” was merely typed into the Jerry Falwell Library Search box and these articles were listed at #3 and #4 in the results page. They provide unmistakable, precise descriptions of what can be expected to be found in their authors’ following papers. Additionally, one can find similar approaches in most other professional academic books. For instance, check out the following purpose statements from John Lennox, Jordan Peterson, and Stephen Meyer:
In his preface, Lennox writes,
This book represents an attempt to address questions of where humanity is going in terms of technological enhancement, bioengineering, and in particular artificial intelligence. Will we be able to construct artificial life and superintelligence? Will humans so modify themselves that they become something else entirely, and if so, what implications do advances in AI have on our worldviews in general and on the God question in particular?[5]
In his preface, Peterson explains:
Unlike my previous book, Beyond Order explores as its overarching theme how the dangers of too much security and control might be profitably avoided. Because what we understand is insufficient (as we discover when things we are striving to control nonetheless go wrong around us), we need to keep one foot within order while stretching the other tentatively into the beyond.[6]
In his prologue, Meyer offers:
Thus, Signature in the Cell does not just make an argument; it also tells a story, a mystery story and the story of my engagement with it. It tells about the mystery that has surrounded the discovery of the digital code in DNA and how that discovery has confounded repeated attempts to explain the origin of the first life on earth. Throughout the book, I will call this mystery, “the DNA enigma.”[7]
Again, from these thesis statements, the reader can know exactly what to expect in these books. The authors are all basically saying, “This [book] will discuss [this research problem] based on [this evidence].” Scientific writing is not a place for literary gimmicks (no matter how clever or creative); rather, it must be concise, clear, and epexegetical (clarifying).
Different Formatting Styles in Different Fields
In all formal papers, instructions should be provided regarding which formatting style is to be followed in the assignment, depending upon one’s field of study. This is not just to be neat and tidy; it maintains careful scientific notation following pre-set standards and language. Without following a particular style, references can be so arbitrary that they obscure the nature of the references or to prevent their verification, negating their scientific value. With the following rationale in mind, the following formatting styles will be considered in turn: APA, MLA (Modern Language Association), or Turabian/Chicago.
APA
First published in the Psychological Bulletin in 1929,[8] APA style was created by a team of anthropologists, businessmen, and psychologists to facilitate and marshal the literary procedures (or formatting) required in their scientific fields of study. The 7th Edition Manual states, “APA Style provides a foundation for effective scholarly communication because it helps writers present their ideas in a clear, precise, and inclusive manner.”[9]
In APA, unless instructed otherwise, all papers should include a cover page, an abstract, the body of the essay, a conclusion, and a reference (or references) page, depending upon how many books are used. Generally speaking, most pages of the formal paper should include a reference or two (or more), pulling quotations and references from scholarly books or academic journal articles, where appropriate. Websites can be used; however, they are often considered to be more informational than scholarly in academia. Regardless, all websites need to be properly and consistently cited according to formatting style directions.
With APA formatting of papers, every page needs a running head (with an abbreviated title in lower case or all capitalized, depending on the collegiate level) as well as page numbers in the top right corner of every page. The cover page itself should include the full title of the paper assignment, the author’s name, and the university attended.
For the abstract, authors need to summarize the overall contents shared in the paper in 150–250 words. The Abstract offers a general sense of the paper to follow. Students are allowed to pull material from the paper itself to help explain the contents of the paper, including the thesis statement, general topic introduction, literature highlights, findings and analyses, and the study’s conclusions.
In APA formatting, in-text citations are used for all references with the essay portion of the paper. These in-text citations should include (in the first reference) the last name (or names) of the author(s), and the year of publication. In-text references for up to three authors utilize an ampersand (&); in-text references over three authors include the primary author’s last name followed by et al (meaning “among others). The page number (or page numbers) of the reference is only included if a quotation is provided. Thus, in-text citations should appear as follows.
Reference but no quotation: (McCrady, 2014)
Reference with a quotation: (McCrady, 2014, p. 538) or (Barlow, 2014, pp. 159–160)
Reference for up to four authors but no quotation: (Mandalis, Kinsella, & Ong, 2007)
Reference for over four authors but no quotation: (Higgins et al., 2014)
In the reference (or references) page, all scholarly books and academic journal articles should be listed in alphabetical order. For books and academic journal articles, the author’s last name should be listed first, then his or her first name’s initial (capitalized), followed by its year of publication. Although the journal’s name should be italicized, the title of the article is not italicized, nor does it need quotation marks at the beginning and the end of the title. Capitalization is also limited to the first word of the article and/or any personal pronouns or nouns such as a last name. For articles, be sure to include the volume, number or issue number, and the full pages of the article.
Thus, Reference page book and academic journal article citations should appear as follows:
Paine, A. B. (1935). Mark Twain’s notebook. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Webb, W. B. (1985). A further analysis of age and sleep deprivation effects. Psychophysiology, 22(2): 156–161.
For scholarly books, the full title needs to be italicized in every word, but only the first letter in the first word of the title and subtitle should be capitalized. Do not forget to include the location of the publisher (the city) before the publisher’s name. Always remember,
Above all, APA underscores the importance of clarity in academic writing. Clear writing involves not only adherence to grammatical norms and stylistic recommendations but also the organization of ideas in a manner that is accessible to readers.[10]
MLA
Along with APA and Turabian, MLA is a very common citation formatting style. It is used mostly in the fields of English literature, foreign languages, philosophy, and journalism. MLA was created in 1951 by the Modern Language Association. Regarding its use, the MLA Handbook (2022) states, “The following guidelines have been widely adopted by instructors and educational institutions to standardize manuscript formatting, making it easier for instructors to evaluate papers and theses and for writers to focus on making decisions about their research, ideas, and prose.”[11]
As with the other formats, in MLA, all margins should be set to 1-inch on each side (top, bottom, left side, right side). Throughout the paper, writers need to use 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and include page numbers in the header with their last name in front of it.
Typically, on the title page, in the left top corner, student writers will provide their name, the professor’s name, the class title, and the date—all in descending order and double spaced. Beneath the identifying material, students will provide the title of their paper and then their essay to follow. All paper titles should be centered and should begin with a capital letter. They are not to be put in all caps, italicized, bolded, quotation marks, or underlined. The date in the introductory material needs to be in this order: day of month, [space] full month name, and [space] its year written. No punctuation should be at all in the date
Rather than a references page or bibliography, MLA uses a “Works Cited” page at the end of the paper. It should be on its own page and continue page numbering from the last page of the essay. It should be in alphabetical order, should be double spaced, and should use a hanging indent like the other formats. In MLA, the names of larger works such as books, academic journals, music titles, and so on, should be italicized. The names of writings within larger works should be placed within quotation marks. This includes articles, chapters, essays, poems, songs, and so on. Block quotes, when quotations are over four lines in length, should be 1-inch from the margin but still double spaced.
When citing sources within the essay, writers should include the author’s name in the text with the page number in parentheses at the end with punctuation after the last parentheses. Students can also include the authors name in an (in-text) reference with pagination, separating the author’s last name and the page number. Again, there should be a period after the last parentheses. student writers should always include a reference to the author and the page number in parentheses or other (in-text) citations.
Ultimately, “Even considering many other options to choose from, APA and MLA are still the standard for most educational institutions and publishers (along with Chicago and Turabian). Since this is the case, despite their many drawbacks or unnecessary periods and parentheses, many people will cite this ‘monopoly on styling guides’ as the biggest disadvantage for both formats.”[12]
Turabian
Turabian style formatting, which is also called the Chicago Manal Style, was initially established in 1906, having gone through various updates over the years. In 1937, Kate L. Turabian composed a guideline for her students at the University of Chicago. Her style provided literary rules for publication in fields of studies such as the social sciences, natural and physical sciences, but predominantly in the humanities—the arts, history, literature, and so on.
The most common subtype style in Turabian is notes-bibliography, which uses footnotes, typically. Turabian also requires a bibliography page at the end of the paper with a composite reference list, in similar formatting style of the footnotes but slightly different. A 150–250 word Abstract may be required in some papers.
Turabian requires a title page at the start of all papers, laid out with the title of the paper centered down the first third of the page. The title should all be in caps but if there is a subtitle, put a colon after the end of the main title, and start the subtitle one more line down, but not double spaced. Beneath the title, provide the student’s name (or names); on the next line down, provide the course number and the title of the course. Finally, on the next line down, provide the month, day, and year.
In the essay body, the page number should be the top right corner. All paragraphs need .5–inch indents but be sure to break up larger paragraphs for readability. Avoid first person (I, we, me), contractions (don’t, can’t), or the passive voice (the object becomes the subject). All essays need to be in one-inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. The whole essay should be double spaced except for block quotes, which are single spaced. Footnotes are entered at the bottom of the page showing references and adjacent relevant material. End notes can be used but are rare, so double check with the professor before you assume they are allowed.
For the footnotes, the order of reference should be as follows: first name, last name, book title in italics, inside parentheses provide where the book was published: who published it, and the year published, ending with a page number. There is always a period at the end of the footnote. Note placement of punctuation.
Justo Gonzalez, Church History: An Essential Guide (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996), 11.
For academic journal articles, footnotes should be formed formatted as such: first name, last name, inside quotations marks providing the article’s title, the journal title in italics, the volume number, the number or issue, the year of publication in parentheses and a colon, and the specific page(s) of the article. Note placement of punctuation.
Jill Stevenson, “Eschatology,” Ecumenica 7, no. 1–2 (January 2014): 13.
All footnotes should be sequential and be in smaller type-face than the regular essay prose (10 point vs. 12 point). After the first full citation, all book and article references can either be in shortened format or use Ibid in its place. Here are examples of both:
Bettenson and Maunder, Documents of the Christian Church, 1–2.
Ibid., 1–2.
For the bibliography page, the word, “Bibliography,” should be at the top, bolded. Two lines down from the heading, the references begin in alphabetical order and should be formatted as follows: last name, first name, book title in italics, where published: who published it, when published. For academic journal article articles, the bibliography format should look as follows: last name, first name, quotation marks around the article’s title, the academic journal title in italics, volume number, the number or issue, the year of publication in parentheses and a colon, and then all the pages of the article. Note placement of punctuation.
Buss, Martin. “The Psalms of Asaph and Korah.” Journal of Biblical Literature 82, no. 4 (December 1963): 382–392.
Carson, D.A. Collected Writings on Scripture. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.
Conclusion
The wisest carpenters know that laying down the first board straight and true will guarantee that all future boards will line up well in the end. Likewise, hopefully wise readers can see how important it is to begin one’s scholarly research as scientifically sound and clearly stated as possible. When it comes to writing your future research problems and their investigations, there are some important things to keep in mind:
First, when you set forth to proclaim your intentions or conclusions in your writing, do not fear what others will think about it. It is a foregone conclusion that some will love what you have written; a few will hate it; others will not give a hoot at all. All that truly matters is that you care about your topic and think it worthy to share with others. As Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited as declaring,
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage which a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.[13]
Therefore, be big and bold in your writing (because your topic matters).
Second, be purposeful as you consider your research problem and compose your proposals. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote to his daughter, “All good writing is swimming underwater and holding your breath”[14]—i.e., it takes planning, effort, and skill to majestically weave together cogent, clear proposals and theses statements. Furthermore, as Fitzgerald also concluded, “Nothing any good isn’t hard.”[15] Therefore, because writing like this makes demands of you, it shows that it is worthy of your time and focus.
Third, do your best to be unbiased and fair. Although it is permissible (so C. S. Lewis) to “write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else,”[16] the best proposals and theses’ statements are presented in straightforward fashion and backed up with sound evidence, not prejudice. As Ernest Hemingway admonished, “The hardest thing in the world to do is to write straight honest prose on human beings.”[17] Thus, considering the precise nature of essay writings, it is quintessential to filter out one’s own emotions and personal agendas while writing.
Finally, be scientific at the beginning, the middle, and at the end of your research projects. Following proper formatting standards will help safeguard this goal. Otherwise, your work may be unreliable or unverifiable.
With the aforementioned in mind, we recommend doing likewise with all your writing projects from now on. Remember, the best of journeys are well-planned, well-begun, and well-explained. A shallow shortcut in academia may seem tempting, but that normally just ends in a scholarly mire for everyone involved.
Bibliography
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Andrew Turnbull, Ed. New York: Scribner, 1963.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Ralph Waldo Emerson: On Love, Beauty and the Purpose of Life.” Excellence Reporter(February 2019). https://excellencereporter.com/2019/02/18/ralph-waldo-emerson-on-love-beauty-and-the-purpose-of-life/.
Kornuta, Halyna M., and Ron W. Germaine. A Concise Guide to Writing a Thesis or Dissertation: Educational Research and Beyond (2nd ed.). Routledge, 2019. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429056888
Lennox, John. 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020.
McCashen, Grayden. “Justin’s Apologetic Pneumatology.” Nova et Vetera 22, no. 4 (Fall 2024): 1135–1160.
Meyer, Stephen A. Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. New York: HarperCollins, 2009.
Owusu, Edward, and Asuamah Adade-Yeboah. “Thesis Statement: A Vital Element in Expository Essays.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 5, no. 1 (January 2014): 56–62.
Peterson, Jordan. Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life. New York: Portfolio, 2021.
Phillips, Larry W. Ernest Hemingway on Writing. New York: Scribner, 2024. Kindle Edition
Wood, Ralph C. “G. K. Chesterton’s Darkly Comedic Apologetics.” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 27, no. 1 (Winter 2024): 57–81.
[1] Halyna M. Kornutaand and Ron W. Germaine, A Concise Guide to Writing a Thesis or Dissertation: Educational Research and Beyond (2nd ed.) (New York: Routledge, 2019), preface. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429056888
[2] Edward Owusu and Asuamah Adade-Yeboah, “Thesis Statement: A Vital Element in Expository Essays,” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 5, no. 1 (January 2014): 57.
[3] Ralph C. Wood, “G. K. Chesterton’s Darkly Comedic Apologetics,” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 27, no. 1 (Winter 2024): 57.
[4] Grayden McCashen, “Justin’s Apologetic Pneumatology,” Nova et Vetera 22, no. 4 (Fall 2024): 1137–1138.
[5] John Lennox, 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020), 9.
[6] Jordan Peterson, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life (New York: Portfolio, 2021), xxv–xxvi.
[7] Stephen A. Meyer, Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design (New York: HarperCollins, 2009), 22.
[8] Bentley, M., Peerenboom, C. A., Hodge, F. W., Passano, E. B., Warren, H. C., & Washburn, M. F. (1929). Instructions in Regard to Preparation of Manuscript,” Psychological Bulletin 26 (1929): 57–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0071487
[9] https://apastyle.apa.org/about-apa-style
[10] Serra, F. A. R., Scafuto, I. C., da Costa, P. R., Nassif, V., & Pigola, A. (2024). Adapting to the 7th Edition of APA - Beyond Reference Formatting. [Adaptando-se à 7a Edição da APA - Além da Formatação de Referências Adaptándose a la 7a Edición de la APA - Más allá de la Formatación de Referencia] International Journal of Innovation 12, no. 1 (2024): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.5585/2024.26454
[11] MLA Handbook, 9th Ed. (The Modern Language Association of America, 2022), chapter one. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1632/SNGR8997
[12] “APA 7 MLA Formatting: For and Against,” https://www.bestcustomwriting.com/blog/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-apa-and-mla-style.
[13] Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Ralph Waldo Emerson: On Love, Beauty and the Purpose of Life,” Excellence Reporter (February 2019). https://excellencereporter.com/2019/02/18/ralph-waldo-emerson-on-love-beauty-and-the-purpose-of-life/.
[14] F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Andrew Turnbull, Ed. (New York: Scribner, 1963), 119.
[15] Fitzgerald, The Letters, 24.
[16] From a letter written to a girl named Thomasine (December 14, 1959). C. S. Lewis, Letters of C.S. Lewis (2017), 50. https://bookreadfree.com/251293/6202183.
[17] Larry W. Phillips, Ernest Hemingway on Writing (New York: Scribner, 2024), 38. Kindle Edition.
(Copyright by John S. Knox, 2026)
