read a reference source citation

Citing REFERENCE

BOOKSHow to Read a

REFERENCE Source Citation

Once you’ve identified your article as a

REFERENCE SOURCE, where do you go from there?

Citing a source is like putting together

a jigsaw puzzle – each piece has to come together just so in order for the

puzzle to make the big picture.

Locate your citation information at the end of your article. Look for “MLA” or “Works Cited” or “How to Cite.”

Example Article

Example Article

Some articles will have MLA citation only, APA citation only, or BOTH for you to look at as you

are adding your information to your bibliography chart or NoodleTools. It can also

be helpful to look at the beginning of the article for more details.

Now let’s put the pieces together …

AUTHOR(S) OF ARTICLE(hint – it is okay if you do

not have an author)

TITLE OF ARTICLE(hint – this title often appears

in “quotation marks” )

TITLE OF REFERENCE BOOK(hint – this title is usually italicized)

EDITOR(S) INFORMATION(hint – it is okay if you do

not have an editor)

EDITION INFORMATION(hint – it is okay if you do

not have an edition)

VOLUME INFORMATION(hint – it is okay if you do

not have a volume)

PUBLICATION YEAR(hint – this is the year the book was published, NOT the day you

went online)

PAGE NUMBERS(hint – this is the page # as it

appeared in the actual book – it is okay if you do not have page #s)

RETRIEVAL INFORMATION(pick ONLY the ONE that applies to your article)

1. DOI - http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.76.4.482

OR

2. DATABASE NAME + ACCESSION/DOCUMENT #

OR

3. URL to the .COM

Now you’re ready to create your works cited entry in your working bibliography in

NoodleTools.

See the Library for Help.

All Images Provided byBy S. Penttila, The John Cooper SchoolMS Librarian