Faculty colleagues,
I have this week received for review the newest edition (the 11th) of
Carole Slade's Form & Style (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000). For
what my opinion may be worth, the Slade is (in my opinion) an
excellent research paper style guide for undergraduate as well as
graduate students.
I have used for a number of years earlier editions of Form & Style as
a supplemental text in my courses that require research papers.
Whether true or not, many of my students tell me that before their
upper division communication courses (COMM320, "Mass Media
Perspectives," COMM420, "Senior Seminar in Mass Communication," and
COMM451, "Law and Ethics of Mass Communication") they've never been
required to develop and to present a formal academic research
project. I'm not too trusting of those that make such claims, but the
claims are made nonetheless.
The value of Slade's Form & Style is that it contains--with clear,
full-sized examples--the basic information necessary to develop a
research project, report, paper, thesis, or dissertation. The
explanations and examples range from choosing a topic to using the
more popular forms of citation and bibliography (MLA, Chicago, APA,
etc.).
As I say, I am reviewing the latest edition of the Slade for the
publisher, and I am impressed with Slade's changes and additions. I
believe that the handbook represents a valuable resource for faculty
and for students struggling with the basic development of a research
project as well as with the basics of standard form and style. The
Slade also serves as an appropriate supplement to the UT graduate
program's style guide for theses and dissertations.
If you have students who tell you that they have never undertaken a
major research paper, my suggestion is to point them to the Slade.
It contains just about all of the basic information a researcher
needs for organizing, developing, and presenting a formal research
project.
--kit
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