COMMUNICATIONS STYLE GUIDE

MARINE CORPS UNIVERSITY Academic Year 2012

COMMUNICATIONS STYLE GUIDE

Fifth Edition

A PUBLICATION OF THE LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION SKILLS CENTER

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Marine Corps University Communications Style Guide

Marine Corps University Quantico, VA

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Table of Contents

Foreword

xii

Preface

xiii

Leadership Communication Skills Center

xv

Operating Procedures

xv

Acknowledgements

xvii

Chapter 1: Communication--A Leadership Skill

1

Communication and Leadership

1

Oral Communication versus Written Communication

1

Taking Your Writing Beyond the Classroom

1

Writing: More than an Academic Exercise

2

So What?

3

Introduction to the Writing Process

4

Chapter 2: Preparing to Write

5

Deciding on and Planning Your Purpose

5

Analyzing Your Audience

6

Audience Analysis Worksheet

7

Approaching Assignments

8

Identify the Key Words

8

Determine the Scope of the Assignment

10

Critical Reading

11

Critical Reading Worksheet

15

Chapter 3: Preparing to Write a Research Paper

17

What is a Research Paper?

17

Report Paper vs. Research Paper

18

What is Research?

18

Approaching Research Systematically

19

Taking a Second Look: Revisiting Your Thesis

20

Chapter 4: Choosing a Topic and

22

Developing a Research Question

22

Strategies for Choosing a Topic

22

I Have a Topic, Now What?

23

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Developing a Research Question

23

Reviewing the Literature on Your Topic

23

Evaluating Your Sources

25

Assessing the credibility of an argument:

27

Begin to Formulate Your Working Thesis Statement

28

Chapter 5: Narrowing the Focus

29

What is a Thesis Statement?

29

The Importance of Argument

29

Make it Fresh

30

How do I Begin Constructing my Working Thesis Statement?

31

Using Research Questions to Formulate Thesis Statements

31

Common Problems in Argumentative Thesis Writing

33

Chapter 6: Research Methodology and Data Collection

36

Choosing a Research Design (Methodology) for your Paper

36

Quantitative versus Qualitative Research

36

Qualitative Research Designs

38

Historical Research

39

Using Primary and Secondary Sources in Academic Writing

40

Primary Sources

40

Evaluating the Veracity (Truthfulness) of Texts

41

Secondary Sources

42

Varying your Sources

43

Constructing Interview and Survey Questions

44

Open-ended versus Close-ended Questions

46

Mistakes to Avoid When Constructing Interview and Survey Questions

46

Conducting Surveys

47

Conducting Interviews: Basic Guidelines

47

Note-taking/Organizing Your Data

48

Analyzing Data

51

Additional Resources

51

Chapter 7: Using Citations to Avoid Plagiarism

53

When Do You Need to Use a Citation?

53

What is Plagiarism?

54

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Three Main Types of Plagiarism

54

Avoiding Plagiarism

55

Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism

55

Using Direct Quotations

56

Paraphrase

57

Summary

58

Using Your Sources Effectively

58

Paraphrasing and Quoting: Frequently Asked Questions

59

Editing Quotations and Integrating Quotes into your text

60

Citing a Source Quoted in Another Source:

63

Books

65

Book with One Author

65

Book with Two Authors

66

Book with Three Authors

66

Book with Four to Ten Authors

66

Book with a Corporate Author

67

Book with an Editor(s)

67

Book with an Author and Editor and/or Translator

67

Non- English Language Source

68

Book with Edition

68

Article in an Edited Book

69

Book with Multiple Volumes

69

Reprint

69

Contribution to a Multi-author Book

70

One Volume of a Multi-volume Work with Different Authors

70

One Volume of a Multi-volume Work with Multiple Parts

71

Books Available Online

71

Publisher`s Imprint

72

Letter in a Published Collection

72

Pamphlets and Reports

72

E-book

73

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

74

Print

74

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CRS Reports Retrieved from Electronic Databases such as EBSCO or STINET

74

CRS Reports Available Online

74

Government Publications

75

Congressional Hearings in Print

75

Executive Department Documents (Reports, Bulletins, Circulars)

75

Committee Prints

76

Commission Reports

76

Government Documents Available in Electronic Databases such as STINET or LexisNexis

77

Presidential Documents

77

Government Documents Available Online

78

Laws and Statutes

78

Interviews

79

Unpublished Interviews and Personal Communications

79

Published or Broadcast Interviews

79

Published or Broadcast Interviews Retrieved from Electronic Databases

79

Published or Broadcast Interview Available Online

80

Unattributed Interviews

81

Audio and Visual Sources

82

DVD or Video

82

Lecture or Presentation

82

Journal Articles

83

Journal Articles in Print

83

Journal Articles from Electronic Databases such as ProQuest, JSTOR, and EBSCO

83

Journal Articles from an Online Journal

84

Foreign Language Articles and Journals

84

Translated Article

85

Magazine Articles

86

Magazine Articles in Print

86

Magazine Articles from Electronic Databases such as ProQuest, EBSCO, and LexisNexis

86

Magazine Articles from an Online Magazine

87

Military Publications

88

Doctrinal Publications

88

Directives

88

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Instructions

88

Orders

89

Marine Corps Bulletins (MCBuls)

89

Student Thesis

90

Student Thesis in Print

90

Student Thesis Retrieved from Electronic Databases

90

Unpublished Paper

91

Working Papers and Drafts

91

MCU Handouts

91

Reference Materials (Dictionaries and Encyclopedias)

92

Print

92

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Available Online

92

Newspaper Articles

93

Newspaper Articles in Print

93

Newspaper Articles from Electronic Databases such as ProQuest, EBSCO, and LexisNexis

94

Newspaper Articles from an Online Newspaper AND News Sites

95

Archives and Special Collections

96

Correspondence

96

Reports

96

Photographs

97

Oral Histories

97

Films

98

Maps

98

Sound Recording

99

Web Sites and Postings

100

Online Posting

100

Web Site

100

Electronic Mailing Lists

100

Chapter 8: Prewriting

101

Brainstorming/Overcoming Writer`s Block

101

Strategies to get started

101

Concept Mapping

107

Formulating an Outline

108

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