Citing Your Sources

1
Citing Your Sources

• LIB 120
• Amanda Izenstark

2
Whats a Citation?

• A citation is a note that contains further
  information about a source.
• It tells a reader where he or she can find more
  information about a topic.

3
Why Use Citations?

• Citing sources adds credibility to your research.
• Citing sources shows accountability for ideas.
• Citing sources gives an author or creator of a
  work credit for what he or she has done.

4
Why Use Citations?

• Citing sources lets readers follow the evolution
  of an idea -- from your source, to your sources
  source, and so on.
• Citing sources shows academic honesty and
  protects the writer from being accused of
  plagiarism!

5
When to Use Citations

• If youve quoted, summarized, or even paraphrased
  anyone elses work in your paper, you need to
  cite the original work.
• Not sure whether you need to cite? When in
  doubt, cite the source!

6
Citation Formats

• Each discipline has its own particular format
• English MLA
• History Chicago / Turabian
• Psychology APA
• Sociology ASA
• Biology CBE
• And so on

7
Citation Formats

• Your professors will usually specify which format
  you should use for their class.
• For this class, your citations should be in MLA
  format.

8
Whats in a Citation?

• For a book, you need the following information
• Author (if there is one)
• Editor (if there is one)
• Title
• Publisher
• Publishers location
• Date of publication

9
Whats in a Citation?

• For a magazine or journal article
• Author (if there is one)
• Article title
• Publication title
• Date published
• Volume
• Issue
• Pages

10
Online Sources

• For articles from databases and Web sites, you
  also need to include
• The URL (address) of the site
• The organization or company hosting the site
• The date you accessed the information

11
Format Differences

• The main differences between the formats are
• The order of the information
• Capitalization
• Whether you need to use in-text citations,
  footnotes, or endnotes
• Whether you need a Bibliography, Works Cited,
  or References list

12
Where to learn more

• The preferred place to look for citation
  information is in the specific handbook or
  manual.
• The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
  is kept at the Reference Desk.
• We also have manuals for other styles -- ask at
  the Reference Desk for more information.

13
Citation Management Software

• You may also want to try software that does the
  job for you
• RefWorks Provided by a database vendor
• EndNote Outside software you have to buy
• EBSCO/other databases sometimes accurate
• Citation Machine Free, web-based, but sometimes
  wrong ?
• Always check your citations to make sure the
  output matches reality!