Citing Sources

Plagiarism - see this related page

General Citation Guides

• Citation Machine - the Landmark Project - MLA and APA format for a variety of print and online sources
• Citation and Research (Diana Hacker) - samples of citation style for MLA, APA, Chicago, and CBE.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) - includes brief advice on using the latest MLA, APA, and other styles
• Citing Sources, guide to library research - from Duke University. An excellent guide that covers many types of common sources.
• General guidelines for citing government publications
• Referencing Sources - from Curtin Univ. of Technology
• Sources: their use and acknowledgement - a guide to various formats and styles for citing a range of types of sources. (from Dartmouth College)
• How to cite references in a bibliography - covers APA and MLA styles, from Queens Univ. Ontario.
• Cite right: a quick guide to citation styles -- MLA, APA, Chicago, the sciences, professions, and more. On the "Style Guides" shelf in Crumb. A concise aid to formating in-text citations and reference lists, for many types of print and online documents.
• Look at how reference notes and bibliographies are done in recent issues of journals that use the style you have chosen; e.g. APA journals, or MLA journals.

Crumb Reference "Style Guides" Shelf

All major style manuals are shelved together at the end of Ref. Z - on a shelf directly across from the Reference Desk in Crumb.

These include

• Keys for Writers
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research papers. 7th ed. 2009
• MLA Style Manual and Guide for Scholarly Publishing. 3rd ed. 2008
• Publication Manual of the APA (American Psychological Association) 6th ed. 2010
• The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. 2003
• A Manual for Writers (Turabian). 7th ed. 2007.
• The ACS Style Guide (chemistry)
• Scientific Style and Format
• The Redbook: a manual on legal style
• The Bluebook: a uniform system of citation (for law)
• Cite Right: a quick guide to citation styles -- MLA, APA, Chicago, the sciences, professions, and more. A concise aid to formating in-text citations and reference lists, for many types of print and online documents.

Style Guides by Subject

• Anthropology
  • AAA Style Guide - American Anthropological Association. (.pdf format);
  • AAA Documentation Style - a good explanation from Indiana Univ.
  • Biological Anthropology uses CBE Style: Council of Biology Editors.
    
    
• Archaeology
  • Society for American Archaeology: Journal Style Guide
    
    
• Biology
  • CBE Style: Council of Biology Editors
    
    
• Chemistry
  • American Chemical Society - Reference Style Guidelines - For complete style see the ACS Style Guide - on the "Style Guides" shelf.
  • ACS Style Guidelines - "quick guide" from UC Berkeley
    
    
• History
  • Citation Style - History Dept. at SUNY Potsdam
    
    
• Law
  • Basic Legal Citation
    
    
• Literature / Language
  • MLA7 Style - Quick Reference Guide, (.pdf) from EasyBib
  • MLA Style - "Frequently Asked Questions about MLA style". The complete MLA Style Manual and Guide for Scholarly Publishing is on the "Style Guides" shelf. MLA Style from Purdue University - covers the main points
    
    
• Psychology
  • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (in print on the "Style Guides" shelf in Crumb). A general guide to APA Style from Purdue Univ. ; APA for citing electronic publications
    
    
• Socology
  • American Sociological Association (ASA) guide to citing style - a brief summary of their style manual prepared by the library at Cal State L.A.
    
    
• Interdisciplinary Style Manuals
  • Chicago Manual of Style - some guidelines and examples of Chicago style. See the complete style manual on the "Style Guides" shelf.
  • Citing Your Sources - Harvard Style
  • MLA Style - "Frequently Asked Questions about MLA style". The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is on the "Style Guides" shelf. MLA Style from Purdue University - covers the main points

Citing Electronic Information Sources

• APA for citing electronic publications
• MLA7: Web Sources - from EasyBib
• Citation Styles - guidance in citing online sources using MLA, APA, Chicago, CBE, and other styles. Very good.
• Columbia Guide to Online Style
• How to cite electronic sources - by the Library of Congress. From entire web sites to items such as cartoons, maps, newspapers, sound recordings, etc. found in digital form.
• How to cite articles from Project MUSE (.pdf)
• Citing Electronic Information in History Papers (Univ. of Memphis)
• National Library of Medicine Recommended Formats for Bibliographic Citation - guide to citing electronic resources (.pdf)

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.

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.

-- Parenthetical references in the text of your paper include:

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)

-- The reference list at the end of the paper is arranged alphabetically by author names.

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).

• Writing about music : a style sheet (CRANE - Ref ML 63 .W68 1988)