Welcome students!

This guide to library resources will help you find everything you need for your study and research as an MHA student. Explore the tabs at the top for information on writing, citations, database searching, and where to get help!

Writing Tips

Writing resources available through the University

Business writing books in the library

Watch out for these common writing mistakes!

• When referring to the University of Saint Francis, be sure to use the official name. Saint is always spelled out. Use St. when referring to the man. It is important to get the name of our university correct!
• Use “and” in the text when citing references and the ampersand (&) when the citation is in parentheses.
• Number rule: look up when to use numbers and when to use words.
• The first time you cite a reference in paper, you should list all authors unless there are six or more:
  • see APA rules for in-text citations for author/authors.
  • The second time, you list the first author, et al., (year).
• Do not use contractions in the paper.

Spelling and grammar

• Affect/Effect: Affect is a verb: effect is a noun—It affected him; The effect was startling.
• A Lot: A lot is two words not one.
• Between You and I: Between you and me is the correct phrase.
• Complement/compliment: Things that work well together complement each other while compliments are a form of praise.
• Farther/Further: Farther refers to physical distance while further is for metaphorical distance.
• Lay/Lie: Subjects lie down while objects are laid down. He should lie down…lay the reports there.

Quotations

• Direct quotes require a page number.
• Quotes over 40 words need a block quote—these should be very limited especially in your short 2-3 page papers. It’s best to paraphrase and use very few quotes as your paper loses your “voice” when many quotes are used.
• Review the rules for reference list such as italicization of book titles, volume numbers, how to cite web pages. If you are using some type of citation program or copying an APA citation, you still need to check the formatting because often the citations often contain errors and are not correctly formatted in APA style.

Correct formatting

• The font in your paper should all be the same size and type. Title page included.
• Margins are 1 inch all around
• Double space all of paper including the reference page
• Running head -- not Running Head or RUNNING HEAD. The abbreviated title after the Running head is in all caps.
• The words Running head only appear on the first page. On subsequent pages you just list the abbreviated title flush left (all caps again) and the page numbers on the right as usual.
• The title page is all double spaced and centered.
• Paginate to the next page when there is just one line a paragraph or the heading only.
• Two features in Word you may have to change before writing your paper are the margins (make sure they are 1 inches all around) and under the Paragraph (when in the “Home” view) feature checking the box that disables the adding a space in-between paragraphs.