Unconventional Academic Writing Styles: ASA

Handling papers with unconventional writing styles may prove difficult. Most academic writers are so used to the typical APA, MLA, and Harvard requirements. Hence, it comes as a surprise when clients want options. Towards that end, let us discuss the American Sociological Association (ASA) style.

Types of Work

The ASA style will usually feature in sociological jobs. Notably, these are tasks that covering disciplines such as sociology, social work, criminology, and the like. Clients may require complete essays or lengthy projects. On the other hand, they could be requests for brief submissions. Hence, anticipate this writing style when you have tasks in these areas.

Formatting Requirements

The ASA style is unique in various facets. Fundamentally, it requires that the cover page includes the title, name, institution, and word count. Ultimately, you have to include the title at the beginning of your first content page. Normal margins apply for this formatting style, as does conventional spacing and font size. Do not bold or underline your paper topic or the “references” title.

In-Text Citations

ASA closely resembles the APA style in its in-text citations. The approach utilizes the author-date format, but without the typical comma (Smith 1992). More than one author inherently requires modifications. Notably, the correct in-text citation for this situation is (Smith and Grace 1992), not (Smith & Grace 1992). For more than two authors, adhere to conventions requiring the initial statement of the three during the first mention and the consequent usage of et al. However, more than 5 authors permit the overall application of this contraction.

Reference List

The reference list differs according to the source type and its authors. The basic requirements include the use of the full author names, akin to Chicago and MLA. The date follows the names and is not in brackets. Besides, all the titles are capitalized, be they of journal articles, websites, or books. Italics are for the book and report titles, Websites, journal names. On the other hand, article titles, web publication topics, and the names of poems are in inverted quotations. All references use the hanging indentation. Hence:

Smith, Bernard, Linda Ackles, and Maryland Home. 2021. This Book is Mine. New York: Beauty Publishers.

Smith, Bernard, Linda Ackles, and Maryland Home. 2021. “No Way I Am Doing This.” Journal of This Book is Mine: 0(0): 99-110.