We at the Communication Center of the Alpha Quadrant University of the Humanoid Arts—Lunar Campus know that frequent changes to the IMLA style guide can be deeply frustrating to students and faculty alike. For that reason, we have developed this handy “Shorter IMLA,” which will save communicators the effort of searching through the IMLA’s current index of 329,291,481 citation forms.
Note on author names: IMLA style maintains the Federation Standard indexing order of Last name (Family Name, Patronymic, Matronymic, House Name, etc.), First name. Be sure to check the specific rules for each species. If the author is human, then the name should be ordered Last, First (e.g., Smith, John); however, Bajorans list the family name first. Vulcan family names are not used offworld, and should not be included in the citation. If the author is Andorian, then be sure to attach the gender prefix to the family name (e.g., zh’Lhrowyuwna, Rwyaniann). For species with names that cannot be transliterated into Standard, append a sound file.
BOOK, SINGLE AUTHOR
Author name + of Planet. Title. City, [Continent,] Planet: Distribution Network Service, Stardate.
Spock of Vulcan. Yes, Really, I Am Spock. New Los Angeles, North America, Terra: Star by Star P, 2392.6.
CHAPTER IN AN EDITED COLLECTION
Author name + of Planet. “Title.” Book title. Ed. Editor name[s] + of Planet. City, [Continent,] Planet: Distribution Network Service, Stardate. Paragraph numbers.
Waldron, Christopher of Rigel XII. “‘What is this thing called “love”?’: A History of Xenoeroticism in the Harlequin Romance from First Contact to the Present.” Kiss Me with Those Red Tentacles: Love, Lust, and Longing in the Age of Intergalactic Empire. Ed. Jennifer Rhodes of Terra and Styuq of Gornar. Vulcana Regar, Vulcan: Foundation for the Study of Emotional Beings, 2375.8. 234-392.
ARTICLE IN A PERIODICAL
Author name + of Planet. “Title.” Periodical Title Volume.Issue.Timestamp (Stardate): Paragraph numbers.
K’Mekh of Qon’oS. “Gagging on Gagh: An Experiment in Klingon-Human Culinary Exchange.” Qapla! The Klingon Interstellar Journal of Cultural Studies 39321.12.13:42:02 (2398.1): 4890-5367.
PRINTED BOOKS, OLD STYLE
Author name + of Planet. Title. Material. Production method. Format. City, [Continent,] Planet: Publisher, Date.
Burstein, Miriam Elizabeth of Terra. True Confessions of an Academic Blogger. Paper. Electronic print-on-demand. Hardcopy. New York, North America, Terra: Nonexistent Academic Press, 2012.
MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PUBLICATIONS
Author name + of Planet. Title. Number of dimensions. Quadrant. [Location of rupture in space-time continuum.] Stardate. Accession date.
ch’Liyarahnnnaia, Thwimianieal of Andor. A Study of Tellarite Clothing in Six Universes: A Multisensory Approach. Four dimensions. Beta Quadrant. Five lightyears from Gornar. 2384.1. 2396.4.
PUBLICATION FROM AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE
Author name + of Planet + of Universe. Title. City, [Continent,] Planet: Distribution Network Service, Original Stardate. Prime Universe Stardate.
T’Par of Vulcan of Delta Universe. Vulcan Musical Comedy: The One Hundred Best Shows. ShiKahr, Vulcan: Funnybones Press, 2408.5. 2409.3.
TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION
Sender name + of Planet to Recepient name + of Planet. “First sentence of communication.” Telepathic communication. Duration. Stardate.
Jergen Thoyrin of Betazed to Michael Walsh of Terra. “Don’t look now, but that Medusan has its eye on you.” Telepathic communication. Twelve minutes. 2390.12.
COMMUNICATION FROM OMNIPOTENT ENERGY BEING
Omnipotent energy being name to Recipient name + of Planet. “First sentence of communication.” Mode of communication. Duration. Stardate.
Q to Jean-Luc Picard of Terra. “I know you’re getting married right now, Jean-Luc, but this will be just the most wonderful surprise.” Morse code delivered via radiation from pulsar. 18 minutes. 2380.7.
(Note: I refreshed my Star Trek trivia knowledge with the aid of the Star Trek wikis.)
Delurking to say THANK YOU.
Posted by: Pat Larash | May 20, 2011 at 10:56 PM
At risk of my committing the gaucherie of self-promotion: you might enjoy these.
Posted by: Robert Seddon | May 21, 2011 at 08:31 AM
Thank you for this timely bit of wit!
Posted by: Stacey | May 21, 2011 at 11:47 AM
I think the truth is stranger than fiction. The Reinvigorated Programmer (reprog.blogspot.com) earns his living writing code to map one library database to another. It turns out that there is no mapping between MARC and the Dublin Core, two popular models, for a work's author. This may be the start of the new galactic standard, and your notes on the how to cite an author problem may turn out to be moot.
Posted by: Kaleberg | May 23, 2011 at 11:53 PM
very amusing
Posted by: markd | May 24, 2011 at 09:29 AM