Citation Resources

Formatting Citations

• Rather than memorizing citation formats or buying expensive books explaining those formats, you can usually find the answer to “How do I cite this?” online.

• Note: Online citation generators on the regular Internet that you find via Google vary widely, both in quality and in currency. That said, give Zotero Bib a try.

  • The generated citation might need a bit of tweaking, but it has a fair chance of being mostly correct.

  • Use the generator to capture the tedious stuff, then double-check the citation against the examples linked below and tweak as needed.

Despite WRIT 2302 being an English course and thus part of an MLA-using discipline, I will require you to choose the citation style that is most relevant to you (typically, by your major) to practice. It makes little sense to require everyone to use MLA if not everyone is likely to use it again, so take this chance to practice the style most relevant to you.

MLA (Modern Language Association) Style

In-text citations

• Basics of in-text citations (Purdue OWL)

• Quotations (Purdue OWL)

Works Cited

• Works Cited: Periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers, etc.) (Purdue OWL)

• Works Cited: Electronic sources (webpages, websites, tweets, YouTube, etc.) (Purdue OWL)

• Works Cited: Books (Purdue OWL)

FAQs

• Frequently Asked Questions (Ask the MLA)

APA (American Psychological Association) Style

In-text citations

• Basics of in-text citations (Purdue OWL)

• In-text citations: author/authors (Purdue OWL)

• Sample paper with in-text citations (APA)

• Avoiding over- and under-citation (APA)

Reference List

• Basics of reference list (Purdue OWL)

• Author/authors in reference list (Purdue OWL)

• Periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers, etc.) in reference list (Purdue OWL)

• Books in reference list (Purdue OWL)

• Electronic Sources (Purdue OWL)

• Common reference examples (APA)

• Sample reference list (APA)

American Chemical Society Style

• ACS Style Quick Guide (from the ACS; for reference lists)

• ACS in-text citations (USC Libraries)

Chicago Style(s)

• Purdue OWL resources on Chicago style. Keep in mind that there are two “Chicago styles”: notes-bibliography and author-date. Which one are you using?

• Chicago Manual of Style Online Q&A

AMA (American Medical Association) Style

• The American Medical Association Style may be required in Nursing classes. If you are a Nursing major or have to use AMA style in some other context, you can learn about it on the Purdue OWL website and use it when an assignment requires formal citation.

• The library at the University of Illinois, Chicago has a one-page guide to common AMA style situations.

• Yes, you must use quotation marks around verbatim text borrowed from a source. Use page numbers if the source has them. See this information from the Wolfgram Memorial Library at Widener University.

CSE (Council of Science Editors) Style

• The Council of Science Editors has created three styles: use the style that is commonly used in your discipline. If you don’t know which to choose, ask a professor in your major.

• Penn State University’s library has published a useful guide to CSE Style

• If you are signed into your St. Edward’s account, you can also search the entire official CSE Manual.

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Style

• The Purdue OWL has a good resource on IEEE style, including in-text citations and reference lists.

Citation Tracing and Webs of Citations

As part of your development as a researcher, you will be asked to understand who has said what about the facets of your research question and how others’ contributions can help you to answer your own question. One reason why researchers cite sources is to establish a trail that others can follow–that trail leads backward to earlier sources, and forwards to later sources.

• Citation Tracing (YouTube video explaining basics of backward and forward citation tracing)

• Connected Papers (tool for visualizing webs of citations and for accessing citation trails in other places, e.g., Google Scholar.