There are other styles of documentation. If you prefer to use one of these (or your professor prefers that you do), be sure to be familiar with the style. A good source of information on these styles is A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) by Kate L. Turabian.

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, often referred to as “Turabian,” presents a different method of documentation. Turabian uses footnotes to cite works, sometimes placing the complete bibliographical information inside the footnote as well as occasional annotations (both of these are discussed below). These footnotes may provide the citation information for sequential references at once.

Turabian also occasionally prescribes a “notes” page at the end of the main text for endnotes containing tangential but relevant information.

Finally, Turabian's method of listing the bibliographical information differs from the MLA style. Papers written in Turabian style may have several works on the bibliography page that were not directly cited, and the format for the same information is different. The book cited above would look like the following in Turabian.

Nyberg, Amy Kiste. 1998. Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Most fields, including biology, chemistry, geology, linguistics, mathematics, medicine, physics, and psychology, have preferred documentation methods. To have a full understanding of their requirements, you should refer to a handbook published by organizations in the appropriate field. You don't want to get your documentation wrong!

Refer to Appendix A for information on additional commonly used style guides.