WS 101: Introduction to Womens Studies: Cite Your Sources
What is a Citation?
A citation gives credit to the original author(s) of a work. Citations also allow people who are reading your work to be able to find the original sources of information.
Basic citations for a book, for example, include the name(s) of author(s) or editor(s), the title of the book, the publisher's name, the place of publication, and the most recent copyright year.
There are a number of styles that can be used to construct citations. Each style specifies the information to be included in the citation, the order of the information,the format, and the punctuation.
Your instructor may require a particular style. If there is not an assigned style, then choose a style and be consistent with that style throughout your work.
Citation Guidance on the Web
The following are good web resources to help you learn citation formatting and to view citation examples.
- Purdue's Online Writing LabDetailed guide to APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles.
- Citing Government DocumentsA resource for citing government documents (includes links).
- Chicago Manual of Style Online
This link opens in a new window
Provides recommendations on editorial style and publishing practices for the digital age. Funded by donors to the Dean's Fund for Excellence in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
- Basic Legal CitationGuide from Cornell University School of Law. Updated in 2011, this guide includes a "how to cite" page including directions on citing constitutions, statutes, rules, and more
Citation Management Tool: Zotero
Zotero is a citation management application that allows you to collect book and article citations from the library catalog and other databases. Zotero also connects with your word processor (MS Word, Google Docs, Libre Office) to insert in text citations and generate a reference list in your selected citation style.
See the library guide, Manage Citations with Zotero, on how to use this tool. The Library provides workshops and support for Zotero.
- ZoteroZotero is a free open source citation management tool
How to Read a Citation
A bibliographic citation, the convention normally used to acknowledge a work quoted in a paper, contains basic information needed to locate an item. There are different formats for citing books, journal articles, chapters in books, dissertations, pamphlets, and other formats.
BOOKS
In general, the publication information, including place of publication, publisher and year, identifies a book. Here is a screenshot of a book citation.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
In general, the publication information, including volume number, date and page numbers, identifies a journal article. Here is a screenshot of a journal article citation.
BOOK CHAPTER
Chapters of books can be identified by the presence of two titles, the title of the chapter and the title of the book. Two names may be listed as well -- the author of the chapter and the editor. The same publication information that appears in a book citation will also appear here; place of publication,publisher, and year. Here is a screenshot of a book chapter citation.
