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Introduction to Software Tools for Writing
There are two broad
categories of software for use with APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian
writing styles:
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Document Preparation
Programs are the right choice for almost all undergraduate
students, most graduate students, and some professional researchers.
They are designed to help you write papers, theses, and
dissertations. They typically create properly formatted documents,
and provide menu choices that simplify inserting and editing
reference entries and citations, headings, and content into those
documents.
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Bibliography Database
Programs focus on the task of retrieving reference entry
information from online databases, in addition to providing menu
choices for creating and editing reference entries and citations.
Most of these programs provide at least rudimentary document
formatting and editing capabilities. They are the right choice for
most professional researchers, who need to maintain an re-use a
large number of reference sources. |
If you're a student who needs
to write papers in APA, MLA, or Chicago/Turabian style, there's good
news. There are programs that can handle all of the important tasks of
creating and editing your documents, and these programs can be used
throughout your academic career. So for a small investment (typically
$25 to $50), you can purchase a tool that makes your life a lot easier
and saves you a lot of time.
Just make sure that the
software you buy meets your needs and takes care of all of the tasks
involved in document preparation:
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Formatting the document
layout, including the title page, running heads, and margins.
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Adding and deleting
important document sections like appendixes, new chapters,
abstracts, lists of figures, etc.
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Handling all forms of
bibliography and in-text citation formatting, and assuring that the
entries are complete.
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Reusing citations in any
document you write, without requiring retyping of information.
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Properly sorting
(alphabetizing) your bibliography, according to the (sometimes very
complicated) rules of the style.
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Adding tables and figures.
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Numbering your pages
correctly.
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Updating all page
numbering, tables of contents and figures in preparation for
printing |
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