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Documentation Formats--Some Examples

Some people take formats for bibliographies and footnotes too seriously--so it's worth pointing out that these formats are arbitrary systems that only make sense because certain groups of people choose to agree to follow certain conventions. There are, of course, be good reasons why science formats put dates up at the very front--and it makes sense to put titles up early--but there aren't many good reasons for particular choices of punctuation or abbreviation (do we use commas or colons? Do we put things in italics or not? Do we abbreviate "press" with a "P" or not?)--and if professors fuss about such things too much, then they're wasting their time.

Here are a few examples of the same text done in several different documentation forms. Some of the examples at the end are probably out of date by now, but still can illustrate my point: 

American Psychological Association (APA):

Blackburn, J., Dill, P., & Piper, R. (1954).  A simplification 
        of swimming strokes, Swimming Quarterly, 
        14, 21-54.            

Old APA Style:

Blackburn, J., Dill, P., & Piper, R. A simplification of
        swimming strokes, Swimming Quarterly, 1954,
        14, 21-54.          
                                           
Modern Language Association (MLA):                       
                                                   
Blackburn, John, Paula Dill, and Roger Piper. "A 
        Simplification of Swimming Strokes.  Swimming
        Quarterly, 14 (1954): 21-54.            

Old MLA Style:

Blackburn, John, Paula Dill, and Roger Piper. "A simplification
        of Swimming Strokes." Swimming Quarterly, XIV (1954),
        21-54. 

Chicago Style:                                                        
                               
Blackburn, John, Paula Dill, and Roger Piper, "A 
        Simplification of Swimming Strokes." Swimming
        Quarterly, 14 (1954): 21-54.                                         

Old Chicago Style:

Blackburn, John; Dill, Paula; and Piper, Roger. "A Simplification
        of Swimming Strokes."  Swimming Quarterly, 14 (1954),
        21-54. 


Geological Mag.:

Blackburn, J., P. Dill, and R. Piper, 1954.  A simplification
        of swimming strokes.  Swimm. Quarterly, 14: 21-54.       

Am. Math. Soc.:

        1. J. Blackburn, P. Dill, and R. Piper, 1954.  A simplfication
of swimming strokes.  Swimm. Quart. 14 (1954), 21-54.                     
  
J. of Indust.Engineering

(1)     BLACKBURN, J., DILL, P., AND PIPER, R., 
        "A Simplification of Swimming Strokes," Swimming
        Quarterly, 1954, Volume 14, p. 21-54. 

College Math. Journal

1.      J. Blackburn, P. Dill, & R. Piper, "A simplification of
        Swimming Strokes," Swim. Quart. 14 (1954) 21-54.                  

Committe on Support of Research in the Mathematical
Sciences:

J. Blackburn, P. Dill, and R. Piper, "A Simplfication of Swimming
        Strokes," Swimm. Quart., 14, 21-54, 1954.


















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