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Citing Sources


General Citation Guides
Citing Electronic Information
Particular Citation Styles

General Advice
Citing Other Kinds of Materials
MLA and APA Styles
Internet Sources (MLA style)

Plagiarism - see this related page

General Citation Guides

Particular Citation Styles

Citing Electronic Information Sources

General Advice

Some general advice, summarized from Michael A. Arnzen, "Cyber Citation", Internet World; Sept. 1996, p.72-74.

  • Save and/or print all documents you intend to cite.
  • Choose signed documents over anonymous ones.
  • Refer to a corresponding printed document, if one exists.
  • Ask your professor what style he/she wants used for your papers.

Citing styles for other kinds of sources

There are many different styles for acknowledging what you have borrowed from other writers. You should determine which method is preferred by your instructor. For more complete information, including how to handle different kinds of sources, see:

1) these style manuals - at the Reserve Desk in Crumb Library:

or

  • Cite right: a quick guide to citation styles -- MLA, APA, Chicago, the sciences, professions, and more. (PN 171.F56 2006) A concise aid to formating in-text citations and reference lists, for many types of print and online documents.
  • The Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (BF 76.7.P83)
  • MLA handbook for writers of research papers (LB 2369.G53)
  • Keys for writers: a brief handbook (PE 1408.R16)
  • Chicago manual of style (Ref Z 253.U69)
  • (Turabian) - A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations : Chicago style for students and researchers (LB2369 .T8)
2) look at how bibliographies are done in recent issues of journals using the style you have chosen. You will find several journals using MLA style in the PE section of the current periodicals area, and several APA journals in the BF section.

MLA and APA Styles - a very brief guide

Both MLA and APA use a parenthetical reference within the body of the paper, keyed to an alphabetical reference list at the end. The major contrasting style (an example being the Chicago manual of style) employs superscript numerals at the end of quoted material in the body of the paper, with a reference list arranged numerically at the end. The complete guides are only available in paper. See:

  • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. (in print at the Reserve Desk in Crumb at Ref BF 76.7.P83)
  • MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. 6th ed. (in print at the Reserve Desk in Crumb at Ref LB 2369.G53)

This brief guide covers only commonly used sources cited according to APA and MLA styles.

MLA style: last name of author(s) and page(s). ex. (Forte 158)

APA style: last name of author(s), year of publ., page(s). ex. (Forte, 1978, p. 158)

MLA style:
Forte, Allan. The Harmonic Organization of "The Rite of Spring." New
     Haven: Yale University Press, 1978.

APA style:
     Forte, A. (1978). The harmonic organization of "The rite of spring."
New Haven. Yale University Press.

As you can see, the rules for capitalization, punctuation, and sequence of elements in the reference differ. You will need to consult the appropriate manual to correctly reference other types of publications. Some other types of publications as they are handled in MLA style:

An edited work:
Sica, Alan, ed. What is Social Theory? Malden, MA:
     Blackwell, 1998.

A government publication:
New York State. Dept. of Environmental Conservation.
     High Peaks Wilderness Complex Unit Management
     Plan. Albany: State of New York, 1999.

An article in a periodical:
Martin, Paul S. and David A. Burney. "Bring Back the
     Elephants." Whole Earth 100 (2000): 70-74.

An anonymous article:
"Dubious Venture." Time 3 Jan. 1994: 64-65.

An ERIC (microfiche) document:
Robson, Barbara. Tanzania: Country Status Report.
     Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics,
     Language / Area Reference Center. ERIC microfiche,
     ED 248 700.

Resources on the internet: (MLA style)

The first date indicates the date of publication of the electronic source, or the date of the latest apparent update to the site; the second date is the date of access, i.e. the date you saw the item.

An article on a web subscription service (such as InfoTrac):
Lowe, Marcia D. "Pushing Pedalers: Bicycles May Be the
     Key to Unlocking Our Traffic Woes." Utne Reader 32
     (Mar.-Apr. 1989) 90. InfoTrac ExpandedAcademic
     ASAP. SUNY Potsdam Libraries. 5 Apr. 2000.
     <http://web66.infotrac.galegroup.com/>.

A scholarly project web site:
Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett.
     Apr. 1997. Indiana U. A. 26 Apr. 1997.
     <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/>.

A document within a scholarly project or professional web site:
Forrest, Michael R. "Slow Earthquakes." Southern
     California Earthquake Center. n.d. Southern California
     Earthquake Center. 5 Apr. 2000. <http://www.scec.org/>.

An online reference work:
"Fresco." Britannica Online. Vers. 97.1.1. Mar. 1997.
     Encyclopaedia Britannica. 29 Mar. 1997. <http://www.eb.com:180>.

The most complete guide to citing electronic sources according to both APA and MLA styles is Electronic styles: a handbook for citing electronic information. 2nd ed. (at the Information Desk in Crumb Library).


Other style manuals (Crumb or Crane, as noted);
  • Council of Biology Editors [CBE ] Style manual . (Ref T 11.S386 1994).
  • The ACS style guide : a manual for authors and editors. American Chemical Society. (Ref QD 8.5 .A25 2006)
  • Writing about music : a style sheet (CRANE - Ref ML 63 .W68 1988)

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