The Seattle School Library

Writing Resources

Resources to promote outstanding writing for academic, professional, and creative work.

Paper Formatting

Papers are to be formatted in accordance with standards of APA or Chicago discourse style unless otherwise designated by the professor, except where these discourse styles conflict with The Seattle School’s format.

  • Use 8 1/2 x 11 inch white paper
  • Papers are to be typed
  • Use 12 point type and a serif font; examples include Times New Roman, Palatino, and Cambria
  • Margins should be at least one inch and should not exceed 1.25 inches
  • Text should be double spaced
  • Do not include a title page
  • On the top of the first page, type the course number, date, title of the paper, and your name.

Download the Writing Rubric
Download the Writing Genre Guidelines

APA Discourse Style

Counseling classes require APA discourse style for all written assignments. APA cites references parenthetically within the body of the paper and lists them on a separate References page. Refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association for complete style guidelines. Please note that The Seattle School Formatting Guidelines supersede APA discourse style where the two disagree (e.g., neither a title page nor an abstract are required).

Download APA Citation Guide
Download APA Style Sample Paper>

Other APA Resources

  • APA Style Website outlines frequently asked questions, updates electronic citations, and provides links to purchase the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
  • KnightCite, provided by Calvin College, is a tool that formats publication information into APA discourse style citations
  • Purdue’s Online Writing Lab gives an overview of Using APA Format 
  • The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison provides an online guide to APA Documentation and a printable handout summarizing APA style.

Chicago Discourse Style

Theology and Biblical courses require Chicago discourse style for all written assignments. Chicago discourse style cites references by utilizing footnotes and lists them separately on a Bibliography page. Refer to Kate Turabian’s A Manual for Writers as a primary guideline and The Chicago Manual of Style as a secondary reference text. Please note that The Seattle School Formatting Guidelines supersede Chicago discourse style where the two disagree.

Download Chicago Citation Guide
Download Chicago Style Sample Paper

Other Chicago Resources

  • Chicago/Turabian Documentation, provided by The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • KnightCite, provided by Calvin College, is a tool that formats publication information into Chicago discourse style citations
  • Ohio State University’s page on Chicago Manual of Style Citation Guide (Notes-Bibliography System) is a handout that gives examples of frequently used citations.

Other Writing Resources

Citation Assistance

  • EasyBib is a free, automatic citation maker
  • Knight Cite is a free online citation generator provided by Calvin College’s Library. Registered users can save citations and bibliographies
  • Son of Citation Machine helps students and professional researchers to properly credit the information they use
  • CrossRef’s free DOI lookup is a helpful tool for locating the DOI of digital (online) materials

Grammar

Plagiarism

  • Purdue’s Online Writing Lab resource on Avoiding Plagiarism defines plagiarism and provides tips for avoiding it

Thesis Statements