What Is ASA Format? - A Complete Guide For Students

ASA stands for American Sociological Association. This particular citation style is used by many sociologists and across all ASA journals. It is undeniably one of the renowned and most widely accepted citation formats for writing Sociology research papers based on university standards. But that’s not all.

There’s more to it than what you have known so far.

Here you go!

 

ASA Format – To Begin With

Getting the hang of the ASA citation format is certainly no child’s play. Well, it’s not a rocket science either. There are several aspects, key elements and ground rules that need to be followed and implemented.

Here’s everything you need to know.

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Going about the Manuscript format

First things first, let’s delve into the nitty-gritty essentials of the ground rules and guidelines to be followed while going about the Manuscript format of the ASA citation style.

1. All text including footnotes, endnotes, and references should be double spaced.
2. The text should be in the form of 12-point Times New Roman.
3. You may keep block quotes in a single-spaced format.
4. The margins should be at least 1.25 inches across all the four sides.
5. Take note, there should be a separate title page comprising the title of the paper author(s), institution(s) of author(s).
6. If needed, you can provide a short abstract of 150-200 words on a separate page headed with the title.
7. Also, you should consider beginning the text of the paper on a separate page headed along with the paper title.

Simply pay heed to each of the guidelines and suggestions mentioned above and never miss out of adding academic perfection to your next set of Sociology assignments. Now that you are aware of how to go about the Manuscript format , it’s time to dig further.

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Citing in ASA within the text

In-text citations tend to play a crucial role and encompasses a huge realm of to-do-essentialities. Unless you would acquire the right information and know how to go about this area of criticality, things wont fall into places in the way it supposed to be.

Here’s all you need to know.

1. You need to include the last of the author(s), and the year of publication.
2. Also, you are required to include page numbers if you quote directly from the original work or in case you would refer to specific passages.
3. If you include the author’s name in your text, then follow the same with the publication year in parenthesis.

For example: Wells (1981) elaborates on the dire strait of the people in Amazon.

• In case, you would refer to a particular idea or theory but choose not to cite the author in text, then you should enclose the last name and year in parentheses.

For example: The world is in need for love, not war (Cooper 1888)

• Take a look at the example below in order to cite two or more works composed by the same author.

Example: According to David. M. Miller (1988, 1991) our society is highly infested by the odds of racism and child labor

• Follow this example in order to cite works by several authors.

Example: A mass movement has the power to change the system and have their voices heard across the globe, as claimed by scholars such as Wills (1966), Brooke (1968), and Bond (1970)

• You need to give all last names in the first citation within the text in case there are three or more authors. Afterwards, you can use the first name followed by et al.

For example: (Moore, Wells, Miller, and Cooper 1993) thereafter (Moore et al. 1999)

Or

Moore, Wells, Miller, and Cooper (1993) stated...   thereafter Moore et al. (1999) refer to…

• Take note, the concept of Pagination in the ASA writing format encompasses the year of publication after the inclusion of a colon, with no space between the page numbers and colon.

Example: Moore (1988:91) 91 is the page number. 

Keep referring to more such examples, pay heed to the suggestions as mentioned above and never miss out on getting the hang of how to cite within a text in accordance with the ASA style guide. After all, at the end of the day, all it takes is the right determination and diligence to ace the citation game like a champ.

Going about the essentials of quotations

Now that you are aware of the basics of ASA format citation and how to go about citation within pages, it’s time for you to explore and learn about how to go about the essentials of ASA citation format for quotations.

Here’s everything you need to know. Take a look, acquire each detail carefully, enrich your knowledge bank and aim to ace your next paper based on the ASA format like a boss.

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Citing quotations in text

Here’s what you need to follow and implement while citing quotations in text.

1. You should always use quotation marks in order to begin with and end a quotation.
2. Ideally, you should use the name of the author, include the date and page numbers here in this context.
3. These aforementioned elements should follow the end quote and precede the period.

Here is an example for your reference, clarity and insights:

Smith and Brown (1984) found that the “The life of a middle-class sole income earner is often confined within the walls of never-ending responsibilities and future plannings” (p.341)

Or

A study suggests, “The life of a middle-class sole income earner is often confined within the walls of never-ending responsibilities and future plannings” (Smith and Brown 1984:341)

Here, in this particular example, we can see that one can include the name of the authors, year and page numbers altogether at the end of the quotation.

Well, the format or the style of citating a quotation will always vary and depend on the text you would come up with, or the quotation style you would wish to follow down the road.

No matter how tricky or complex the task of citing quotations may appear to be, you should always refer to such ideas and key elemental nitty-gritty as mentioned above in order to go about the ASA format flawlessly.

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How Do you Begin an ASA Format Paper?

Question of the hour – this is perhaps the most searched query on the internet in the present day. To elaborate on this context, it is to be mentioned there are primarily four key components encompassing the task of starting an ASA format paper.

Having said that, merely going through the list of the components mentioned in the blocks won’t help if you fail to get the hang of each of these elements from scratch. Here’s everything you need to know.

A Running Head: A running head is basically a shortened title mentioned at the top of each page of a chapter or a book or an article for the matter of fact. It has to be short, catchy and relevant in all aspects.

The Full Title of the Work: As the name suggests, it is the full title of the book, article, journal or essay. Make sure the title is completely relevant and accurate in every sense and meaning.

The Author(s) Full Name & Name of the Institution: Here, you need to come up with the full name of the author(s), and mention the name of the institution as well. Put the names of separate lines if there are more than one author to be mentioned in the work. 

The Word Count: You must mention the word count clearly for the purpose of citation and keeping a record for the same.

 

The Key Essentials of a Reference Page for ASA Citation

No citation format is ever complete without a reference page. And your ASA writing format is certainly no exception. You are going to lose a lot of marks and might end up having the paper rejected if you miss out in including a proper reference page.

The reference page should begin on its own page

The references should essentially be the title of the page

Take note, the reference list should be in double-spaced format

References need to be listed alphabetically by the last name of the first author

The first line of each citation needs to be flushed with the margin – all consecutive lines should be indented

 

Your job is to keep referring to the points mentioned above, pay heed to the elaborations and key essentials of an ideal reference page before working on a paper based on the ASA writing format. No matter how tricky or easy the paper may look like, you simply cannot afford to miss out on including the right elements while structuring a reference page.

Because, at the end of the day, in addition to asa citations, the format of the academic paper is equally significant on all levels.

The Perfect Ingredients for an ASA Format

Many a time, students tend to backseat on the grounds of confusion in terms of including the right elements and abiding by the right guidelines for perfecting papers according to the ASA format. Take a look below to know more.

1. You need to follow the double-spacing format throughout the ASA citation work.
2. Make sure to set your MS Word font in 12 Point size.
3. Take note, it should be the Times New Roman font.
4. The margins on all the four sides should be of 1.25”.
5. And the page number should be included in the lower right corner.

Simply refer to these suggestions, abide by the ground rules and never miss out on coming up with the perfectly flawless and well-cited academic papers based on the ASA format. 

ASA Format – Footnotes and Endnotes

Now that you are aware of what it takes to land the perfect academic paper according to the ASA format, you must be wondering how to go about the footnotes and endnotes.

Take a look below for a vivid elaboration on the same.

1. Footnotes should appear on the same page where the prime material or the main context of the discussion is being underlined or elaborated on.
2. They need to be numbered according to the same order they appear and most importantly, you need to use Arabic numerals here.
3. Endnotes are meant to be listed at the end of the academic paper, right after the “References” section.
4. Take note, both Footnotes and Endnotes are said to be numbered for the ASA citation format.
5. So, there should be a fine balance and parity in terms of how these elements are used across the paper.

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The idea is to incorporate each of the aspects and key essential points as mentioned above and bring the right tricks into play while framing the final draft. So, you need to focus on the nitty-gritty elements of ASA style citation, jot down each point of concern and the major highlighting components for future references and get going.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.1. What Does ASA Stand For?

ASA stands for American Sociological Association. The ASA style follows the author-date format – the one that is used by the Chicago manual of style for in-text citations.

Q.2. How To Write Date in Essay?

As per the global standard, you are supposed to write date in an essay in the following manner.

YYYY-MM-DD. This denotes Year, Month and Date. For example, 1990-04-12.

Q.3. What is an ASA Citation Style?

Here’s everything you need to know about the ASA Citation style.

1. The ASA format follows the author-date style used by The Chicago Manual of Style for in-text citations.
2. This formatting style is a widely accepted format for writing university research papers across all Sociology-based subject matters.
3. The format further elaborates on the structuring, order and punctuation of bibliographies and footnotes.

Q.4. What is an ASA for Geometry examples?

The ASA Congruence rule denotes Angle-Side-Angle (ASA) in Geometry. It means two angles and the side between the same are congruent. Also, two angles and a non-included side are congruent.

Q.5. How to cite in ASA generator?

Follow these simple steps to cite by leveraging the fullest potential of an ASA generator.

1. Copy and paste the text or the excerpt you wish to cite.
2. Crosscheck the same thoroughly.
3. Now, click on the “Generate” button.
4. Voila! You are good to go now.
5. Simply wait for the software to generate the desired result in no time.

Q.6. How To Make a Title Page in ASA Format?

Here’s how to make a Title Page in ASA format.

1. It should begin with a running head which is basically a “shortened title”.
2. It should include the title of the article or the journal as well.
3. Take note, you need to include the full name of the author(s) and the institution too.
4. Lastly, one needs to include the word count.

Q.7. Are APA and ASA Format the Same?

No, not really. It is said that the ASA (American Sociological Association) format is closely related in functionality and appearance to the APA (American Psychological Association) format.

Q.8. How ASA Format Look Like?

Here’s how an ASA format looks like.

1. It should comprise a double-spacing format.
2. You should follow the 12-point font size for the ASA format.
3. Also, there should be the usage of the Times New Roman font style across the text.
4. Include a 1.25” margins format on all four sides.
5. Last but certainly not least, the page number should be in the lower right corner of the page.

Q.9. How Do You Write an Abstract For ASA?

Here’s how to write an abstract for ASA.

1. State the problem clearly.
2. Present your key findings instead of fillers or other irrelevant data.
3. Now, talk about the overall significance of conducting the research in the first place.
4. Come up with a strong background data and historical inclusions as and when needed.
5. Remember, you need to make your writings clearly understandable so that your readers can comprehend the same easily.

Q.10. How to format an ASA paper example?

Here’s how you should ideally format an ASA paper while creating examples.

1. Begin by using headings right after the introduction.
2. Take note, second-level headings are supposed to be italicized and left-justified.
3. Also, third-level headings are supposed to be idented, italicized and the fact that they should end with a period.