How do we Cite Sources?

Gathering Information

Gather your information about each source. First you need to find out what kind of information you'll need from each type of source. If you're using a strict format that requires the copyright year of each book you refer to, it can be a pain to go through all of your research without knowing this, then have to go back, find all the books at the library, and determine the copyright date. Generally, it's better to record more information than less, just in case.

2. Books. Collect the full names of all authors, title of the book, city of publication, publisher's name, and the year of publication. If the book is published by an organization and the individual authors aren't listed, write down the full name of the organization. For electronic books, also record the URL and date of access.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries - Also get the full name of the author who wrote the entry (if it is given), the entry title, the number of volumes in the set, and the edition. Write down the volume you're using and the page numbers, unless the content is organized alphabetically.

Anthologies and collections - Note the author and the title of individual work you're citing (poem, play, short story, etc.), the full names of any editors and compilers, and the page number(s). If the work was previously published in another book, record the information for the original source as described above.

3. Journal articles. Collect the journal title, article title, author name(s), volume and issue number of the journal, date of publication, and page numbers of the article. If it is an online journal, also record the page or paragraph numbers (if applicable), URL, and the date you accessed the site. If you are accessing the article through a database, also record the database name.

4. Magazine articles. Collect the author(s) names, title of the article, title of the magazine, volume number (if applicable), date of publication, and page numbers. For online magazines, get the date of access and URL as well. If you access the magazine through a database, find the vendor/supplier of database, database name, accession number of article (if applicable), and the date of access.

5. Newspaper articles. Collect the name of the author of the article, title of the article, name of the newspaper, date of publication, and the section, page and column location of the article. If the newspaper is online, get the URL and date of access, too. If you found the newspaper article in a database, write down the URL, date of access, database, and library through which article was accessed (name, city, and state).

6. Websites. Get the author's name (if given), title of work, group responsible for the site (if applicable), date site was last updated, date of access, and URL. If you have trouble finding everything except the last two items, you might want to reconsider the validity of this source. For postings, also get the title of posting, post number (if numbered), date of posting, URL the post was made to, and URL of message archives.

7. Government documents. If published by the US government, get the issuing agency, title of the document, number of the Congress, session number of Congress, place of publication, date of publication, document number (if given), and SuDoc number.

8. Letters and interviews. Collect the names of the author and recipient (or interviewer and interviewee), date written/conducted, name of collection, name of depository, and the depository's location.

Placing Your References In-Text

1. Place a reference next to each statement that you've cited. When you're writing your final paper, be sure to keep track of which source each cited statement came from. How you do so depends on which format you're using.

2. Place an MLA reference. Write author (last name) and page number in parentheses. If the author is already mentioned in the statement, just put the page number in parentheses. If there are two authors, name them both with "and" in the middle. Use commas if there are more than two authors. Place the citation before a punctuation mark.

E.g. Leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15% in 10 years (Alison 45).

3. Use Turabian footnotes. Add a superscript number at the end of the statement to denote which source it is referring to. Even if you refer to the same source multiple times, it gets a new superscript number every time. Start the superscript numbers from 1 every time you start a new page.

E.g. Leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15% in 10 years.1

4. Place an APA reference. Write the author (last name or organization name) and year in parentheses. Use commas. Add "p." and a space before the page number if the statement is a direct quote. If the author is already mentioned in the statement, put the year in parentheses next to the name (and put the page number in parentheses at the end of the statement, if applicable). Place the citation before a punctuation mark. If there are two or three authors in parentheses, use "&" instead of "and".

E.g. Leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15% in 10 years (Alison, 1987).

E.g. Allison (1987) asserted that "leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15% in 10 years" (p. 45).

5. Use the CSE Citation-Sequence. Add a superscript number at the end of the statement to denote which source it is referring to. Unlike with the Turabian footnotes, there's only one superscript number for each source. It's possible to have superscript numbers on one page that are out of order if a source was cited on a previous page. You can also cite multiple sources at once by specifying a range, or using a comma. The citation can go in the sentence or at the end, after punctuation.

E.g. Leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15% in 10 years.3 As discussed earlier in this paper, the root system of the sod aerates the soil.1 Multiple studies suggest that this is a phenomenon observed in every soil type.8-12

6. Use CSE Name-Year. Write the author last name and publication year in parentheses. If the author is already mentioned in the statement, just put the year in parentheses. If there are two authors, name them both with "and" in the middle. Use commas only if there are more than two authors. Place the citation before a punctuation mark.

E.g. Leaving the ground in sod increases the organic matter of the soil by 15% in 10 years (Alison 1987).

7. Cite in Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago style usually lists author and then date. This style is recommended for natural and social sciences, as well as the other humanities.

Similar to MLA as described above.

8. Use Legal/Blue Book format for citations in legal documents. Depending on the type of work, may use in-line citations or footnotes/endnotes. The general format follows the form of case name or author and article name, followed by a comma, then [Volume Number] Authority Name [Page number of start of case/article or section number of statute], followed by the date in parenthesis.

For example, Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803) (a case named Marbury v. Madison, found in the fifth volume of the reports of the U.S. Supreme Court, starting at page 137), 12 U.S.C. §3401 et seq. (a statute beginning at section 3401 of the 12th volume of the United States Code) and Warren and Brandeis,The Right to Privacy, 4 Harvard L.R. 193 (1890) (a journal article from the fourth volume of the Harvard Law Review).

Writing Your Bibliography

1, Assemble the list of works cited or references. This is what the reader will refer to when they see a citation and want to find out where you got the information. It usually goes at the end of the work (except when you use Turabian footnotes) and is sometimes referred to as a bibliography (when it includes sources that were not directly cited). The following links contain guidelines and examples for commonly used styles: APA, Turabian, MLA, Chicago Manual of Style

2. Don't forget to put your sources in order! For most formats, you will need to put your sources in alphabetical order.[2] Don't forget!

3. Make sure to include all of your sources in your bibliography. You do not want to be accused of plagiarism, especially if you are in college as this can get you kicked out.

http://www.wikihow.com/Cite-Sources

What details do you need to write a reference?

Details such as the author or editor, title, and date of publication are required in a reference for all types of publications. However the format of the publication you are referencing will determine the other details required in the reference. For example, compare the following references for a book, a magazine article, and an article from the world wide web. Note: differences between the books and journal/magazine articles are in orange.

Book: Author's surname, Author's first name or initial. (year of publication), Title of book, edition [if not first edition], Publisher's name, Place of publication

Blatner, D., Fleishman, G. and Roth, S. (1998), Real world scanning and halftones, 2nd ed., Peachpit Press, New York.

Journal or magazine article: Author's surname, Author's first name or initial. (year of publication), "Title of article," Title of Journal, vol. volume number, no. issue number, date/month of publication,pp. page numbers of article.

Stone, M.D. (1999), "Speeds and feeds: how to choose a scanner", PC Magazine, vol.18, no. 15, September, pp.216-218.

Article from the world wide web: If you can find the name of the author or editor - Author/editor's surname, author/editor's first name or initial. (eds) [if appropriate] (last update or copyright date), "Title of page," ( Title of site), Available: URL (Accessed: access date).

Jantz, R. (2000, May 5), "Epson scanner for the pros", ( Australian PC World), Available: http://pcworld.idg.com.au (Accessed: 2000, May 30).

If you cannot find the name of the author or editor of a website, commence your reference with the title of the page - "Title of page," (last update or copyright date), ( Title of site), Available: URL (Accessed: access date)

"Scanner tips", (2000, February 20), ( Scan Soft), Available: http://www.scannercentral.com/scanners/tips/tips1.asp (Accessed: 2000, May 6)

Writing a reference from a web page can be difficult because some web pages do not contain all of these details. If you have difficulty finding the details listed above write down as much information as you can find.

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/information-technology/sources/2.6.xml

Basic Rules

All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.

Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work for up to and including seven authors. If the work has more than seven authors, list the first six authors and then use ellipses after the sixth author's name. After the ellipses, list the last author's name of the work.

Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work. For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in

chronological order, from earliest to most recent. Present the journal title in full. Maintain the punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title.

o For example: ReCALL not RECALL or Knowledge Management Research & Practicenot Knowledge Management Research and Practice. 

Capitalize all major words in journal titles. When referring to books, chapters, articles, or Web pages, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of

a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. Do not capitalize the first letter of the second word in a hyphenated compound word.

Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals. Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or

essays in edited collections. Please note: While the APA manual provides many examples of how to cite common types of sources, it

does not provide rules on how to cite all types of sources. Therefore, if you have a source that APA does not include, APA suggests that you find the example that is most similar to your source and use that format. For more information, see page 193 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed., 2nd printing).

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/