When instructors ask you to write in a particular "style," they usually do not mean writing style. They are referring to the standardized editorial style researchers in your discipline have adopted to present written material in the field. This editorial style consists of rules or guidelines that a researcher observes to ensure clear and consistent presentation of written material. The field of English Literature commonly uses either Chicago style or MLA format citations. Instructors will usually indicate which citation style they would like followed for a given paper or assignment. If your instructor has not specified a particular style, be sure to ask which one to use.
Understanding what copyright is, which information is covered by copyright, and how you can fairly use copyrighted information, is an essential skill when doing and publishing research. To help you out, here are a few handy tools:
Citation managers are tools that help you keep track of your research sources. Many have related features like tagging, notes, and citation and bibliography creation. You might have to try different citation managers to see which one works best for you.
The Citation Managers guide gives a brief introduction to Zotero, Mendeley, and Endnote, as well as provides resources to find more information. These citation managers consist of a desktop library, an online library (which maintains information on a cloud until syncing to your desktop), and a browser plug-in that can detect sources and compile citation information.
