Guide to Citing Sources

Choose a citation style:  
  APA  
  MLA  
 Geneological 
  Legal
  Scientific  
  Columbia Guide to Online Style 
  IEEE Society Style & Chicago Manual of Style

This page provides links to style sheets for citation styles.

Use the citation style recommended by your professor. If no style is recommended, choose one style and stick to it. Consistency is key, so don't mix styles in a bibliography.

For information on "why to cite" and "why a specific style", see Why Cite.

The following sources provide assistance and examples of the MLA style.  See Some Examples below for referencing material obtained by searching an aggregated database (such as Infotrac, Proquest, OCLC Firstsearch).

Best STARTING POINT on the Web for citation examples:
Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format, by Purdue University Online Writing Lab.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html
Provides examples for citing print, electronic and other types of sources, based on the most recent (7th edition) of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

 

MLA Guides (in print in library):
1.  Gibaldi, Joseph.  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers , 7th ed. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2009. 
In  Mundt Library with call number: REFERENCE LB2369 .G53
               This handbook is for high school and undergraduate students.
2.  Gibaldi, Joseph.  MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishing , 3rd ed. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2008. 
In Mundt Library with call number: REFERENCE PN147 .G444
               This manual is for graduate students, scholars, and professional writers.

Additional citation examples on the web, if needed:

1. Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism: Documentation Guidelines, Duke University Libraries. http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/citing.htm
Excellent source of documentation guidelines for APA (and also MLA, Chicago, and Turabian styles).

2. MLA Style Guide, by the Library, University of Southern Mississippi.
http://www.lib.usm.edu/research/guides/mla.html
Examples for many types of documents, including citing legislation and bills.

3. Citing Government Information Sources Using MLA Style, by University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.
http://www.knowledgecenter.unr.edu/subjects/guides/government/cite.html
Examples show how to cite laws and government documents.

These tools will create a citation for you in MLA style after you fill in a form.

easybib.com    http://www.easybib.com 
Provides automated forms to create citations for various types of items. Be sure to check the results against your MLA style sources to be sure the citations are correctly formatted.  
EasyBib: the bibliography maker.

SOME EXAMPLES for referencing material obtained by searching an aggregated database (such as Infotrac, Proquest, OCLC Firstsearch)...

The Modern Language Association, in How do I document sources from the World Wide Web in my works-cited list?,  gives the following example of a "work from a subscription service."

Koretz, Gene. "Economic Trends: Uh-Oh, Warm Water." Business Week 21 July 1997:22. Electric Lib. Sam Barlow High School Lib., Gresham, OR. 1 Oct. 1997 <http://www.elibrary.com/>.

In the example above, Electric Library is the name of the subscription service.  Note that in addition to the article citation elements, the citation includes the name of the subscription service, the library through which it was accessed, the library's location, the date of access, and the URL for the subscription service.  

The proper name for a database from Infotrac or Proquest would include the subscription service name (for example, EBSCOhost) and the database name (for example, Academic Search Premier).  The citation for a journal article found in the Research Library database of Proquest would include the statement: Research Library. Proquest. Karl E. Mundt Lib., Madison, SD. date viewed <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb>.  For example:

Dervaux, A. "Olanzapine for Violent Schizophrenia and Klinefelter Syndrome." The American Journal of Psychiatry 159.3 (2002): 493+.  Research Library. Proquest.  Karl E. Mundt Lib., Madison, SD. 21 Mar. 2002 <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb>.

The URL is given for the subscription service itself, not the article, because individual permanent URLs linking directly to articles are not often provided by the subscription services. For Proquest, use: http://proquest.umi.com/pdqweb.  For Infotrac, use: http://infotrac.galegroup.com.

The sources listed below provide assistance and examples of the APA style.  [In addition, see Some Examples below for referencing material obtained by searching an aggregated database (such as Infotrac, Proquest, OCLC Firstsearch) and see examples from Winthrop University for citing ERIC documents.]

Best STARTING POINT on the Web for citation examples:
Using APA Format (by Purdue University's Writing Lab).
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html
Includes both textual and electronic examples.

 

APA Guide (in print in the Library):
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed.  Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2010.    
In print in Mundt Library, location is -- REFERENCE : BF76.7 .P83

APA Website:
APA Style Help, by APA. http://www.apastyle.org/apa-style-help.aspx
APA provides provides a free tutorial "The Basics of APA Style" and an FAQ.

Additional citation examples if needed:

1. APA Documentation Style, University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center. http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html 
Excellent source of documentation guidelines for APA.  Link to "Reference List" for the stylesheet that will help you create your bibliography or to "Parenthetical citations" to see how to cite within the body of your paper.

2. APA Style Essentials (by Douglas Degelman, Ph.D., and Martin Lorenzo Harris, Ph.D.
Vanguard University of Southern California).
http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.aspx?doc_id=796
Provides quick view of document formatting using APA style.

3. APA (Style) Lite for College Papers, by Dr. Abel Scribe. http://www.docstyles.com/library/apalite.pdf
The "author" is a pseudonym for a group of graduates students who, in the 1990s authored citation software called aScribe and whose products evolved into the citation guides of docstyles.com. APA Lite is based on the Crib Sheet originally written by Russ Dewey (emeritus professor at Georgia Southern University, and revised and updated by Bill Scott of the College of Wooster and Doc Scribe).

4. Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism: Documentation Guidelines, Duke University Libraries. http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/citing.htm
Excellent source of documentation guidelines for APA (and also MLA, Chicago, and Turabian styles).

SOME EXAMPLES for referencing material obtained from Infotrac, Proquest, OCLC Firstsearch, etc. (that is, by searching a library database)...

According to "Electronic References," APA Online, http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html, "When referencing material obtained by searching an aggregated database, follow the format appropriate to the work retrieved and add a retrieval statement that gives the date of retrieval and the proper name of the database."  The APA site provides this example from the 5th edition of its Publication Manual:

Borman, W. C., Hanson, M. A., Oppler, S. H., Pulakos, E. D., & White, L. A. (1993). Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 443-449. Retrieved October 23, 2000, from PsycARTICLES database. 

The proper name for a database from Infotrac or Proquest would include the aggregator name (for example, EBSCOhost) and the database name (for example, Academic Search Premier).  No URL is needed.  Therefore, the citation for a journal article found in the Research Library (the database) of Proquest (the aggregator) would include the statement: Retrieved date, from Proquest Research Library database. For example:

Dervaux, A. (2002). Olanzapine for violent schizophrenia and klinefelter syndrome. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 493-495. Retrieved March 21, 2002, from Proquest Research Library database.

Web sites which provide assistance and examples of legal citation:

1. Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (1997-98 ed.), by Peter W. Martin (Cornell Law School)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/citation.table.html
is an introduction to legal citation that includes examples for citing Cases, Constitutions and Statutes, Regulations, Other Administrative Agency Material, Arbitrations, Rules of Evidence or Procedure, Books Written By Individual Authors, Works or Services Prepared by Publishers or Institutions, Articles and Other Law Journal Writing , and Documents From Earlier Stages of a Case.

2. For help interpreting legal citations, see
Parts of a Legal Citation
http://www2.wku.edu/www/library/dlps/leglcite.htm
and
Reading Legal Citations
http://www.photo.net/philg/litigation/reading-cites.html

3. Uncle Sam - Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications
(by Government Publications Department, Regional Depository Library, The University of Memphis)
http://www.lib.memphis.edu/gpo/citeweb.htm
Provides examples "based on the Chicago/Turabian standard bibliographic style and not reference-list form. You may need to modify the citation to conform to the manual/form you are required to use."

4. MLA Style Guide, by the Library, University of Southern Mississippi.
http://www.lib.usm.edu/research/guides/mla.html
Examples for many types of documents, including citing legislation and bills.

5. Citing Government Information Sources Using MLA Style, by University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.
http://www.knowledgecenter.unr.edu/subjects/guides/government/cite.html
Examples show how to cite laws and government documents.

 

Biology: CBE/CSE

The documentation style common in biology has been that of the CBE, the Council of Biology Editors.   However, the Council of Biology Editors is now known as the Council of Science Editors (CSE). See the following sources for information about the CSE style.

1. Council of Science Editors. 2006. Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 7th ed. Location in Library: Reference T 11 .S386 2006
     Very little style information is provided on the web by CSE. Some help in citing online material was provided in preview material for 7th edition of Scientific Style and Format.

The link below provides sample citations to help you with the CSE style (7th edition). 

2. CSE Citation Style Examples, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University
http://www.departments.dsu.edu/library/sctc303/cse.htm

Chemistry: ACS

Chemists typically use the documentation style of the American Chemical Society (ACS).  The following sources provide help and examples.

1. Coghill AM & Garson. LR The ACS style guide: A manual for authors and editors, 3rd ed.  Washington, D.C.:  American Chemical Society, 2006. 
    Location in Library:  Reference QD8.5 .A25

2. ACS Style Guide, Williams College Libraries
http://library.williams.edu/citing/styles/acs.php
Brief guide.

3. A Quick Guide to Citing Using the ACS Style Guide, 3rd edition. Penn State University Libraries
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/temp/pams/Quick%20Guide%20ACS.pdf
Brief guide.

Physics: AIP

The AIP (American Institute of Physics) documentation style is commonly used in physics.  The following sources will help you use this style.

1. American Institute of Physics.  AIP Style Manual, 4th ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1990.
http://www.aip.org/pubservs/style.html

Columbia Guide to Online Style, by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
(Columbia UP, 1998).
Read web page called "Basic CGOS Style."  The book "presents a guide to locating, translating, and using the elements of citation for both a humanities style (i.e., MLA and Chicago) and a scientific style (APA and CBE) for electronically-accessed sources."  From the Introduction: "Working as an interdisciplinary template that can be applied to a variety of already established style guides such as APA, Chicago, and MLA, it offers advice that can be adapted to whichever style a particular discipline, instructor, colleague, journal, editor, or publisher has selected" (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/index.html). 

IEEE Society Style Guide.  "This revised (November 2007) edition of the IEEE Computer Society Style Guide is intended as a complement to the primary reference guides [Chicago Manual of Style as general style guide; The Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences as math style guide].... This style guide defines and explains unique IEEE Computer Society usages, particularly where they differ from other usages." 
(IEEE also has a separate style guide specifically for writing Standards documents: IEEE Standards Style Guide)

The Chicago Manual of Style.  15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Available on first floor of Library: REFERENCE Z253 .U69 2003

Web site that provides assistance and examples for citing genealogical sources:

ProGenealogists Common Internet and Electronic Citations - cut and paste stylesheets for census images and indexes and other genealogical material in Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Ancestral File online database, International Genealogical Index, Ellis Island Passenger List database, etc.