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Citing Sources

Check with your instructor to find out if a specific citation format is required.

MLA Format (commonly used for English and other humanities papers):

Important: Significant revisions in 2009 MLA format
Key examples: No more underlining--use italics for book and periodical titles; include publication medium (usually "Print" or Web")

APA Format (commonly used for psychology and other social science papers):

Chicago Style (commonly used for history papers):

CSE Style (commonly used for science papers):

Automated Bibliography Formatting

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography

How to Cite a Work within the Text of Your Paper (Parenthetical Citations)

Research Tutorial: Citing Your Sources (from Eastern Washington University)

 

Why Cite Sources?

Once you have located and read an adequate number of sources, incorporated ideas from your reading with your own understanding of the topic, and presented your analysis of your topic in a research paper, it is essential to cite the sources and you must use the proper bibliographic format to do so.

The main reason for citing your sources is to give credit to those authors whose ideas you used in your research. Even when you do not quote directly from another work, if reading that source contributed to the ideas presented in your paper, you must give the authors proper credit by including their work in your bibliography. Citing your sources allows readers of your work to easily find the sources to which you've referred.

If you do not cite the sources upon which your research is based, you will be guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism is using the ideas and writings of others and representing them as your own. Even if you do not copy another source word-for-word, but rather rephrase the source without attributing it to the original author by including a footnote, you are guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic standards and is punishable with a failing grade, possible expulsion from the institution, and may subject you to ostracism by your peers. The increasing availability of electronic information has unfortunately made it easy to copy another author's works.

 


Bibliography or "Works Cited" List

The most common way to cite sources is to use a bibliography or "Works Cited" list at the end of your research paper. The Works Cited list includes a citation for each of the sources you used to write your paper. The citations are formatted in a consistent style according to one of several standard citation formats. Two of the most common formats used for undergraduate research papers are the MLA (Modern Language Association) format and the APA (American Psychological Association) format. Some instructors specify which format they prefer; others leave it up to the students as long as they maintain one consistent format.

The list of all citations is commonly organized in a single alphabetical list. Each different type of source--book, magazine article, journal article, newspaper article, article from a reference book, World Wide Web page--has a precise format that is specified by the given format (MLA, APA or other).

See: Works Cited List example

Citing Database Information for Full Text Sources Accessed from Online Databases

With the increasing availability of full-text articles from online periodical databases (online, CD-ROM and other electronic formats), students have questions about how to cite documents that have been accessed electronically. If the full text of an article or other document is accessed from an electronic database (even if the document was originally published in a traditional print publication), the name of the database, the database service or publisher and the date the information was accessed must be included in addition to the information for the originally published document. But, if an electronic database was used just to find a reference (a citation and/or abstract) to a document, and the full text of the document was accessed from the original print publication, the database information should not be included in the bibliographic citation. (See examples below in the "Citation Format for Articles from Periodicals" for either MLA or APA format.)

Below are examples of how to cite most of the common types of sources according to the:


Automated Bibliography Formatting

If your sources are relatively standard types, you can try using an automated bibliography formatting website, in which you enter the information for each of your sources and the website formats citations for you. If you want try using one of these sites, we recommend: Noodle Bib Express

If you use an automated site, you should double check your results to be sure that the formatting was done correctly.
Other automated bibliography formatting websites include:
Citation Machine and EasyBib.com.

 


MLA CITATION FORMAT

For more detailed explanations of how to use the MLA format, you should consult one of the following:

  • The official MLA style manuals: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (REF/LB2369.G53 2003) & MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (REF PN 147 G444 1998) (Ask a librarian to show you these guide books.)
  • The official MLA webpage: Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style
  • Darling, Charles. "Guide to Writing Research Papers Based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation." Arthur C. Banks Jr. Library. 12 June 2002. Capital Community College. 1 Dec. 2003. <http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml>.
  • Hacker, Diane. Research and Documentation Online. 2002. Bedford / St. Martin's. 1 Dec. 2003. <http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/>.
  • Harnack Andrew and Eugene Kleppinger. "Citation Styles." Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources. 2003. Bedford / St. Martin's. 1 Dec. 2003. <http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html>.

 

In-text documentation: How to Cite a Work within the Text of Your Paper (Parenthetical Citations)

 

Remember that you need to give credit to authors whose words or ideas you are using in your paper. The citations you will provide within the text of your paper will help your reader a) to know who said the words you quoted or paraphrased, and b) to locate the full information about that source on your Works Cited page in case the reader wishes to consult the sources you've used.

In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what's known as parenthetical citation. Immediately following a quotation from a source or a paraphrase of a source's ideas, you place the author's name followed by a space and the relevant page number(s).

For example:

Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).

  • Note: There is no punctuation after the author's name or before the page number. Do not use commas, p., pgs., or any other such notation in the citation.
  • When a source has no page number, just include the author's name in parentheses.
  • When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work, or italicize or underline it if it's a longer work.

Your in-text citation will correspond with an entry in your Works Cited page, which, for the Burke citation above, will look like this:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966. Print.


When no author is given for a source, include the title of the article, web page or book instead of the author. An article or web page title should be in quotes; a book title should be underlined or italicized. If the title is long, you can shorten it in the parenthetical documentation.

When you are citing online sources (from a webpage or an online database such as PowerSearch or Proquest), you run into a special problem: electronic sources don't have page numbers. In these cases, you will need to cite the author's name as usual, but don't include page numbers, e.g.

  • According to C.A. Mitchie, "Folate deficiency in women of childbearing age increases their risk of having a pregnancy affected by a neural-tube defect."
  • Research shows that "supplementing a woman's diet early in pregnancy with folic acid can prevent up to 70% of neural tube defects" (Moore).

Note: If you happen to be using a source which numbers its paragraphs or has section divisions, headings or numbers, you can use this information in place of page numbers. For example:

    • Research shows that "supplementing a woman's diet early in pregnancy with folic acid can prevent up to 70% of neural tube defects" (Moore, par. 20).
    • "Negroponte's uncomplicated, personal tone fools the reader into a sense that his theses are simplistic" (Herrington "Introduction")

      Do not use the page numbers from your paper printout.

When a writer's or a speaker's quoted words appear in a source written by someone else, begin the parenthetical citation with the abbreviation "qtd. in."

    • According to Richard Retting, "As the comforts of home and the efficiency of the office creep into the automobile, it is becoming increasingly attractive as a work space" (qtd. in Johnson 23)

 

 

General Information

  • In a bibliography or "Works Cited" list, all citations are listed in alphabetical order, according to the last name of the author. If no author is listed, alphabetize by the first word in the title (ignoring "A", "An" or "The" at the beginning of a title).
  • In all cases, the citation begins with the author's name (last name first) whenever the author's name is listed. If the author's name is not given, then the citation begins with the title of the work (book, article or other document). If there are two or three authors, the second and third authors' names are listed first name first as shown in the book example below.
  • Book, magazine, journal and newspaper titles are always italicized.
  • Article titles are always put in "quotations".
  • Subtitles are designated by a colon (:).
  • All words in any titles (of books, articles or other documents) are capitalized, except the following parts of speech (when they are not the first word in a title or subtitle):
    • Articles (a, an, the)
    • Prepositions (e.g., in, of , to, against, between)
    • Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet)
    • the to in infinitives (as in How to Play Chess)

Citation Format for Books

Books with a single author:

Citation description:
Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Medium of Publication.

Citation example:

Gamson, Joshua. R. Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press,1994. Print.

Books with two, three or more authors: 

Citation description:

First author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any), and Second author's First name Middle initial (if any) Last name. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Medium of Publication.
Note
: For a book with three authors, list all three author's names. Only the first author's name should be listed last name first. For a book with more than 3 authors, list only the first author's name followed by a comma and the words et al.

Citation examples:

Stewart, David W., and David H. Furse. Effective Television Advertising: A Study of 1000 Commercials. Lexington: Lexington Books, 1986. Print.

Jonson, Albert, Thomas Gray, and Jessie Muncy. Information Access. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Print.

Baker, Nellie, et al. Book Publishing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Print.


Books with editor(s) rather than author(s):

Citation description:
Editor's last name, First name Middle initial (if any), ed. Title. Place of publication: Year of publication. Medium of Publication.

Citation example:

Baughman, Cynthia, ed. Women on Ice: Feminist Essays on the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan Spectacle. New York: Routledge, 1995. Print.


Essay, article, story or chapter in a book with an editor (if the book is an anthology of works by multiple writers):

Citation description:
Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of Chapter or Essay." Title of Book. Ed. Editor's first and last name. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Page numbers for the chapter. Medium of Publication.

Citation example:

Fox, Aaron A. "Split Subjectivity in Country Music and Honky-Tonk Discourse." All That Glitters: Country Music in America. Ed. George H. Lewis. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1993. 131-139. Print.
 


Citation Format for Articles from Periodicals (Magazines, Journals & Newspapers)

Magazine article (the following information is for paper copies of articles, see below for additional information required for articles from databases):

Citation description:
Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of Article." Title of Magazine Day (if given) Month (abbreviated except May, June, and July) Year: Page numbers of article (if the article is not printed on consecutive pages, give the first page followed by a +). Medium of publication.

Citation examples:

Bazell, Robert. "Science and Society: Growth Industry." New Republic 15 Mar. 1993: 13-14. Print.

Frank, Michael. "The Wild, Wild West." Architectural Digest June 1993: 180+. Print.

Journal article (the following information is for paper copies of articles, see below for additional information required for articles from databases):

Citation description:
Author's Last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of article." Journal title Volume number. Issue number (if each issue number begins on page 1) (Date of publication): page numbers. Medium of publication.

Citation example:

Babrow, Austin S. "Student Motives for Watching Soap Operas." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 31.3 (Summer 1997): 309-321. Print.

Newspaper article (the following information is for paper copies of articles, see below for additional information required for articles from databases):

Citation description:
Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Article Title." Title of Newspaper Day Month (abbreviated except May, June, and July) Year: Section and page number(s) (if the article is not printed on consecutive pages, just give the first page followed by +). Medium of publication.

Citation example:

MacKenzie, Bill. "Packin' the Heat." San Francisco Chronicle 4 Nov. 1993: A16+. Print.

Book review article (the following information is for paper copies of articles, see below for additional information required for articles from databases):

Citation description:
Reviewer's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Article Title." (if more than "Book Review" and/or title of the book) Rev. of Title of Book, by Book author's first name Middle initial (if any) Last name. Title of the Periodical Volume and/or date and page information for the appropriate type of periodical as shown above. If the full text of the article is accessed from an electronic database, include database information and access date as shown below. Medium of publication.

Citation examples:

Hendrickson, Donald. Rev. of The Case Against Immigration: The Moral, Economic Social and Environmental Reasons for Reducing United States Immigration Back to Traditional Levels, by Roy Howard Beck. Foreign Affairs 75.4 (July-August 1996): 146. Print.

Fukuyama, Francis. "No Vacancy." Rev. of The Case Against Immigration: The Moral, Economic Social and Environmental Reasons for Reducing United States Immigration Back to Traditional Levels, by Roy Howard Beck. New York Times Book Review 1 Sept. 1996:18. Print.


Article accessed from an online library subscription periodical database (such as Gale, or Proquest web-based databases):

Citation description:
Article information as shown above for magazine, journal or newspaper; then add:
Title of Database. Name of database service or publisher. Name of the library through which the database was accessed. Medium of publication. Date of researcher's access. <URL (electronic address)> (because the length of the URL may sometimes be excessively long, the cited URL may be either the complete address for the web page of the full-text article or the basic address for accessing the database).

Citation examples:

a. Popular magazine article from PowerSearch databases (click here to see actual article from the database):

Adler, Jonathan H. "A Child's Garden of Misinformation."  Consumers' Research Magazine Sept. 1993: 11+. General OneFile. Gale. Skyline College Library. Web. 8 May 2008. <http://find.galegroup.com>.

b1. Academic journal article from Proquest Psychology database (click here to see actual article from the database):

Dodge, Brian, et. al.. "Sexual Compulsivity Among Heterosexual College Students." The Journal of Sex Research 41.4 (Nov 2004): 343+. ProQuest Psychology Journals. Proquest. Skyline College Library. Web. 21 Nov. 2006.. <http://proquest.umi.com/>.

b2. Academic journal article from History Resource Center database (click here to see actual article from the database):

Hoganson, Kristin. " ‘As Badly Off As The Filipinos’: U.S. Women's Suffragists and the Imperial Issue at the Turn of the Twentieth Century." Journal of Women's History13.2 (Summer 2001): 9+. History Resource Center: U.S.. Gale. Skyline College Library. Web. 21 Nov. 2006. <http://galenet.galegroup.com>.

c. Article from a book from the Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center database (click here to see actual article from the database):

Lunneborg, Patricia. "An Unwanted Pregnancy Justifies an Abortion." Opposing Viewpoints: Abortion. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Skyline College Library. Web. 21 Nov. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com>.

d. Book review article from an academic journal from PowerSearch databases:

Carlsen, Andrea B. and Joseph V. Penn.  Rev. of  Kids Who Commit Adult Crimes: Serious Criminality by Juvenile Offenders, by R. Barri Flowers.  Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics 26.5 (Oct 2005): 390+. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale.  Skyline College Library. Web. 21 Nov. 2006.  <http://find.galegroup.com>.

Article for which only the abstract (summary) of the article is accessed from an online periodical database on the World Wide Web (such as InfoTrac databases or the Medline database on PubMed):

Citation description:
Article information as shown above for magazine, journal or newspaper. Abstract. Title of Database. Name of database service or publisher. Medium of publication. Date of researcher's access. <URL (electronic address)> (because the length of the URL may sometimes be excessively long, the cited URL may be either the complete address for the web page of the full-text article or the basic address for accessing the database).

Citation example:

LeGrand, E. K. "Potential Risk of Enhancing Survival of Infected Cells." Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association 213.12 (15 Dec. 1998): 1698. Abstract. Medline. PubMed. Web. 18 Feb. 2006. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=9861953&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b>.

 


Citation Format for Articles from Encyclopedias or Other Reference Sources, including Online Reference Sources

Article from a Major Print Encyclopedia

Citation description:
Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source. Year of Publication ed. Medium of publication.

Citation example:

Naisbitt, John, Thea K. Flaum and Oscar Handlin. "United States: Immigration." Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 1998 ed. Print.

Article from a Non-Major Print Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source

Citation description:
Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source. Ed. Encyclopedia Editor's name (if any). Edition (if not first edition). Number of volumes. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Medium of publication.

Citation example:

Helweg, Arthur W. "Immigration." Encyclopedia of Social Issues. Ed. John K. Roth. 6 vols. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1997. Print.

Article from an Online Encyclopedia or Other Online Reference Database

Citation description:
Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source. Date of Publication or Latest Update. Publisher, Sponsoring Organization or Website name. Medium of publication. Day Month Year of researcher's visit. <URL (web address) of the page>.

Citation example:

Berthoff, Roland. "United States of America: The People: Colonial and National Immigration." Encyclopedia Americana. 2004. Grolier Online. Web. 29 Mar. 2007. <http://www.go.grolier.com/gol>.

"Charles Dickens." Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 23. Gale Research, 1998. Biography Resource Center. 2004. Thomson Gale Company. Web. 26 Mar. 2007. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC>.

 


Citation Format for World Wide Web Pages

NOTE: The MLA format for online publications is not completely standardized. Various websites provide specific information on how to cite information from the Web according to their current interpretations of official citation formats.

General web page format:

Citation description:

•  Author or editor's last name (if an author is given), first name, middle initial (if any).
•  “Title of the Page.” (in quotation marks)
•  Title of the Overall Website (in italics)
•  Version or edition used
•  Publisher or sponsor of the site (if not given, use n.p.)
•  Date of publication (day, month, and year, as available). If not given, use n.d.
•  Medium of publication (Web)
•  Date of access (day, month, and year)
•  URL (optional – provide if it helps your reader locate the source or if your instructor requires it). Enclose the URL in angle brackets and end with a period.

NOTE : If you cannot locate any of the above components, leave it out.

NOTE : Each of the above sections of your citation is followed by a period, except the publisher or sponsor, which is followed by a comma
.

Citation example (basic web page):

Brenner, Eric. "Citing Sources." Skyline College Library. Skyline College, 28 May 2008. Web. 21 March 2009.
xxxxx <http://www.skylinecollege.edu/library/citing.html>.


Citation examples for specific types of Web sources:

Web page:

Barnes-Young, Christian. "Violent Media and Aggression." What They Play: The Family Guide to Video Games. What They Like, Inc., 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. <http://www.whattheyplay.com/features/violent-media-and-aggression/>.

“Thai Idioms.” Thai-language.com. Internet Resource for the Thai Language. n.p. n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. <http://www.thai-language.com/id/589868>.

"William Faulkner." William Faulkner on the Web. University of Mississippi , 6 Feb. 2003. Web. 20 Sept. 2007. <http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/faulkner/ faulkner.html>.

 

 

Entire website or website homepage:

NAIC Online. National Association of Inventors Corporation,. 9 Sept. 2008. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://www.better-investing.org/>.

U. S. Department of Education. US Dept. of Education, 21 Apr. 2007. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://www.ed.gov/index.html>.

The William Faulkner Society. William Faulkner Society, 5 Oct. 2003. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://www.english.ufl.edu/faulkner/>.

 

Blog:

“SWC Teachers Suspended after Rally Participation.” Save Our Southwestern College . 23 Oct. 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. <http://saveourswc.blogspot.com/2009/10/swc-teachers-suspended-after-rally.html>.

 

Wikipedia page:

"Skyline College ." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia . 7 Nov 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Skyline_College&oldid=324537976>.


Personal web page:

Bell, Rosemary. Home page. Fall 2003. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://www.smccd.net/accounts/bellro/>.

 

Online book:

An online book may be the electronic text of part or all of a printed book, or a book-length document available only on the Internet (e.g., a work of hyperfiction).

Bird, Isabella L. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1881. Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Indiana Univerity, 20 Apr. 1998. Web. 4 Oct. 2007. <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/bird/rocky.html>.

Online book chapter:

Bryant, Peter J. "The Age of Mammals." Biodiversity and Conservation. University of California, Irvine, 2002. Web. 4 Oct. 2007. <http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/bio65/lec02/b65lec02.htm>.

 

Article in an online journal:

Wysocki, Anne Frances. "Monitoring Order: Visual Desire, the Organization of Web Pages, and Teach the Rules of Design." Kairos: A Journal for Teachers of Writing in Webbed Environments 3.2 (Fall 1998). English Dept., Texas Tech University, Web. 21 Oct. 2007. <http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/3.2/features/wysocki/mOrder0.html>.


Article in an online magazine:

Fording, Laura. "Globalization and its Discontents." Newsweek MSNBC News, 1 Dec. 2003. Web. 1 Dec. 2007. <http://www.msnbc.com/news/999004.asp?0cv=KB20&cp1=1>.

 

Newspaper article from a newspaper website:

Lattin, Don. "Religions Have Complicated Role in Globalization." San Francisco Chronicle 23 February 2003. SF Gate, Web. 13 Nov. 2007. <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/23/LV133895.DTL>.

Bilmes, Linda J. and Joseph E. Stiglitz.  "The Iraq War will Cost Us $3 Trillion, and Much More."  Washington Post, 9 March 2008. washingtonpost.com. Web. 27 May 2008. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html>.

 

Poem or short story from a website:

Nesbit, Edith. "Marching Song." Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism. London, 1908. Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Indiana University, May 2000. Web. 26 June 2007. <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/nesbit/ballsoc.html#p9>.

 

Citation Format for Audio/Video/Media

Film or Video Recording

Citation description:
Title. Dir. Director’s First Name Last Name. Optionally you may add narr. (narrated by), perf. (performers), prod. (produced by), writ. (written by). Original release date, if relevant. Distributor, Year of current release. Medium.

Citation examples:

Bioterror. Dir. Kirk Wolfinger. Prod. and Writer, Matthew Collins. WGBH Education Foundation, 2002. Videocassette.

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media. Dir. and Prod. Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick. 1992. Zeitgeist Films, 2002. DVD.

The Tuxedo. Dir. Kevin Donovan. Prod. John H. Williams, and Adam Schroeder. Perf. Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt. DreamWorks, 2002. Film.

Television or Radio Program

Citation description:
Title of specific program. Author, Director or Narrator. Title of Series. Producing company. Network. Broadcasting station (if from local station rather than directly from a network). Date of broadcast. Medium of reception (e.g., Radio , Television ).

Citation example:

"Cuba and Cocaine." Narr. Bill Moyers. Frontline. Documentary Consortium. PBS. WTVS, Miami. 18 Jan. 2002. Television.

Sound Recording

Citation description:
Artist, performer, composer, or conductor depending on which person is most responsible for the production or who you wish to emphasize. "Title of song" (if specifying.) Title of the recording (or the titles of the works included). Artist or artists (when distinct from a first-listed person or group). Manufacturer, year of issue (if the year is unknown, write n.d. ). Medium.

Citation examples:

song from a compact disc:

Coltrane, John. "Giant Steps." The Last Giant: The John Coltrane Anthology. Rhino, 1993. CD.

No composer shown:

Lewiston, David. Fiestas of Peru: Music of the High Andes. LP. Nonesuch Records, 1972. Audiocassette.

Composer and performer different:

Guthrie, Woody. Pete Seeger Sings Woody Guthrie. Perf. Pete Seeger. Audiocassette. Folkways, 1968. LP.

Online Video Clip, e.g. YouTube video

Citation description:
Filmmaker's name, if available. Title. Date of the video itself. Title of Web site. Date the video was posted on the site. Medium of publication. Date of viewing. <URL.>

Citation example:

Sherman Alexie Speaks. 3 Nov. 2007. YouTube. 9 Nov. 2007. Web. 23 Apr. 2008. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwiQb8OQ6dY>.

 


Citation Format for Interviews

Important: Always begin your citation with the name of the person interviewed.

Interview you saw on television or heard on the radio

Citation examples:

Blackmun, Harry. Interview with Ted Koppel and Nina Totenberg. Nightline. ABC. WABC, New York. 5 Apr. 1994. Television.

Nader, Ralph. Interview with Ray Suarez. Talk of the Nation. Natl. Public Radio. KQED, San Francisco, 16 Apr. 1998. Television.


Interview you read in a magazine or newspaper

Citation examples:

Lansbury, Angela. "The Grand Woman of Mystery Reveals Her Own Mysteries." People 15 June 2002: 52-55. Print.

Gordimer, Nadine. "Novelist Speaks of Life, Love, Travels." New York Times 10 Oct. 1991, late ed. : C25. Print.


Interview that you conducted

1) Name of the person interviewed
2) The kind of interview (personal interview, telephone interview)
3) Date you conducted the interview

Citation examples:

Smith, Will. Personal interview. 22 July 2003.

Spears, Britney. Telephone Interview. 10 Dec. 2002.

 

Performance or Lecture

Citation description:
Speaker. “Title” or description. Sponsoring event or course name. Location. Performance date. Type of performance (Address, Lecture, Keynote speech, Reading)

Citation example:

Westfall, Jeff.  Lecture on homelessness. English 100. Skyline College. 7 Mar. 2007. Lecture.

 

Unpublished Document, Including Class Handout

Unpublished document

Citation description:
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Document." Description of document (e.g. flyer, leaflet, memo or handout). Organization associated with document. City of production/distribution. Date of document. (If no date listed, enter: n.d.) Medium.
Note: If any of the above information is not given, leave the information out.

 

Citation example:

Jackson, Boris. "Security Policy." Memo to college faculty. Brookfield State College. Brookfield, MN. n.d. Print.

Class handout quoting another source

Citation description:
Author of quoted source. "Title of work from a published collection. (e.g. poem or article)." Title of Publication. (book or periodical). "Title of Handout." Handout. Title of course. (Name of instructor.) Name of school. Date of handout.
Note: If any of the above information is not given, leave the information out.

 

Citation example:

Aldiss, Brian. "Flight 063." Icarus Poems: A Selective Arachniography.
Handout. Composition, Literature and Critical Thinking: English 110.
(Professor Jeff Westfall.) Skyline College. Feb. 2006.
Print.

 



Putting Together the Works Cited List

The Works Cited list simply lists all the citations for all of the cited sources in alphabetical order at the end of the paper on a separate page (or pages, if necesary).

Put the title, "Works Cited" at the beginning of the list.

Alphabetize by the words at the beginning of the citation, whether the citation starts with an author's name or a title. Do not organize the citations by the type of source.

The first line of each citation is not indented, but each line of each citation after the first line is indented (the opposite of a typical paragraph).

Skip a line between each citation.

Example:

Works Cited

Anderson, Craig A. "Effects of Violent Movies and Trait Hostility on Hostile Feelings and Aggressive Thoughts." Aggressive Behavior 23.3 (May-June 1997): 161+. Print.

Andrews, Sam. "Videos Not Blamed for Violence." Billboard 24 Jan. 1998: 82+. Print.

Bok, Sissela. Mayhem: Violence as Public Entertainment. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley,1998. Print.

Brenner, Eric. "Ethical Issues: Citing Sources." Skyline College Library. 30 Mar. 2003. Skyline College. Web. 10 Apr. 2003. <http://www.skylinecollege.edu/library/citing.html>

Cesarone, Bernard. "Television Violence and Children." Childhood Education 75.1 (Fall 1998): 56+. InfoTrac OneFile. Gale Group. Web. 18 Oct. 2002. <http://infotrac.galegroup.com>.

 Doi, David. "Media and Juvenile Violence: The Connecting Threads." Nieman Reports (Winter 1998): 35. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. Web. 9 July 1999. <http://search.epnet.com>.

 Fording, Laura. "Violent Media and its Discontents." Newsweek 1 Dec. 2003. MSNBC News. Web. 1 Dec. 2003. <http://www.msnbc.com/news/999004.asp?0cv=KB20&cp1=1>.

Gibeaut, John. "Deadly Inspiration." ABA Journal June 1997: 62+. Print.

Goldstein, Jeffrey, ed. Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.

Hough, Kirstin J., and Philip G. Erwin. "Children's Attitudes Toward Violence on Television." Journal of Psychology 131.4 (July 1997): 411+. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. Web. 9 July 1999. <http://search.epnet.com>.

Kellerman, Jonathan. "Violence Doesn't Begin in the Theater." Wall Street Journal 9 June 1999, eastern ed.: A26. ProQuest Newspapers. ProQuest. Web. 9 July 1999. <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb>.

Knowlton, Steven R. "Images of Violence: Ratchet Up? Or Ratchet Down?" News Photographer July 1999: S3. InfoTrac OneFile. Gale Group. Web. 8 Apr. 2001. <http://infotrac.galegroup.com>.

Lazar, Bonnie A. "The Lull of Tradition: A Grounded Theory Study of Television Violence, Children and Social Work." Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 15.2 (April 1998): 117+. Print.

---. "Old Battles, New Frontiers: A Study of Television Violence and Social Work with Children." Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 13.6 (Dec. 1996): 527+. Print.

Levine, Madeline. Viewing Violence: How Media Violence Affects Your Child's and Adolescent's Development. New York: Doubleday, 1996. Print.

Males, Mike. "Who Us? Stop Blaming Kids and TV." Progressive Oct. 1997: 25+. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. Web. 9 July 1999. <http://search.epnet.com>.

Mifflin, Lawrie. "Many Researchers Say Link is Already Clear on Media and Youth Violence." New York Times 9 May 1999, late ed., sec. 1: 23. Print.

Murray, John P., Eli A. Rubinstein, and George A. Comstock, eds. Television and Social Behavior, Reports and Papers: A Technical Report to the Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health, 1972. Print.

Sampson, John. Weather Makers. New York : Atlantis Press, 1999. Print.

Strasburger, Victor C. Adolescents and the Media: Medical and Psychological Impact. Developmental Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, 33. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1995. Print.

Tribe, Laurence. "The Internet vs. the First Amendment." Editorial. New York Times 28 Apr. 1999, late ed.: A29. Print.

"TV Violence." Center for Media Education. 9 Oct. 1997. Web. 9 July 1999. <http://www.cme.org/ctatool/violence.html>.

Wekesser, Carol, ed. Violence in the Media. Current Controversies. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1995. Print.

 


APA FORMAT

For more detailed explanations of how to use the APA format, you should consult the official APA style manual:

  • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (REF BF 76.7 P83 1994)

Ask a librarian to show you this guide book.


Citation Format for Books

Books with a single author:

Citation description:
Author's last name, First initial. Middle initial (if any). (Year of publication). Title
. Place of publication: Publisher.

Citation example:

 

Gamson, J. R. (1994). Claims to fame: Celebrity in contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Books with two, three or more authors: 

Citation description:

First author's last name, First initial. Middle initial (if any), Second author's last name, First initial., Middle initial (if any), & Last author's last name, First initial. Middle initial (if any), (Year of publication). Title
. Place of publication: Publisher.
Note
: Invert all authors' names; give last names and initials for all authors, regardless of the number of authors.

Citation example:

Stewart, D. W., & Furse, D. H. (1986). Effective television advertising: A study of 1000 commercials. Lexington: Lexington Books.

Books with editor(s) rather than author(s):

Citation description:
Editor's last name, First initial. Middle initial (if any). (Ed. ). (Year of publication). Title. Place of publication: Publisher.

Citation example:

Baughman, C., (Ed. ). (1995). Women on ice: Feminist essays on the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan spectacle. New York: Routledge. 

Chapter in a book with an editor:

Citation description:
Author's last name, First initial. Middle initial (if any). (Year of publication). "Title of Chapter or Essay." In Editor's first initial. Middle initial (if any). Last name. (Ed.), Title of book
. (pp. Page numbers for the chapter.). Publisher. Place of publication.

Citation example:

Fox, A. A. (1993). Split subjectivity in country music and honky-tonk discourse." In G. H. Lewis (Ed.), All that glitters: Country music in America, (pp.131-139). Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. 
 


Citation Format for Articles from Periodicals (Magazines, Journals & Newspapers)

Magazine article:

Citation description:
Author's last name, First initial. Middle initial (if any). (Year, Month Day (if given)). Title of article. Title of Magazine, volume number,
Page numbers of article.

Citation examples:

Bazell, R. (1993, March 15) Science and society: Growth industry. New Republic, 208, 13-14.

Frank, M. (1993, June) The wild, wild west. Architectural Digest, 50, 180-186, 199.

Journal article:

Citation description:
Author's last name, First initial. Middle initial (if any). (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number (issue number, if each number of journal begins on page 1),
Page numbers of article.

Citation example:

Babrow, A. S. (1997) Student motives for watching soap operas. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 31(3), 309-321.

Newspaper article:

Citation description:
Author's last name, First initial. Middle initial (if any). (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper,
pp. section and page number(s).

Citation example:

MacKenzie, B. (1993, November 4). Packin' the Heat. San Francisco Chronicle, pp. A16, A18.

Electronic copy of a journal article retrieved from a database:

 

Citation description:
When referencing material obtained by searching an aggregated database (such as InfoTrac or Proquest  databases), 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.

 

Citation example:

Ayalon, L & Young, M. A. (2005). Racial Group Differences in Help-Seeking Behaviors. Journal of Social Psychology 145, 443-449. Retrieved July 17, 2005, from Proquest Psychology Journals database.

Article based on a print source for which the full text is accessed from the Internet:

Citation description:
Article information as shown above for magazine, journal or newspaper, with the addition of [Electronic version] after the article title.

Citation example:

Jacobson, J. W., Mulick, J. A., & Schwartz, A. A. (1999). A history of facilitated
communication: Science, pseudoscience, and antiscience: Science working group on facilitated communication [Electronic version]. American Psychologist, 50
, 750-765.

Article from an Internet-only journal (for which there is no print version)

Citation description:
Article information as shown above for magazine, journal or newspaper, with the addition of:  Retrieved Month Day, Year from URL (web address).


Citation example:

Gmytrasiewicz, P. J. & Doshi, P. (2005)  A Framework for Sequential Planning in Multi-Agent Settings.  Journal of Artifical Intelligence Research 24, 49-79. Retrieved July 27, 2005, from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/project/jair/pub/volume24/gmytrasiewicz05a.pdf

 


World Wide Web pages

Note: The APA official website, listed below, provides some information on citing electronic documents, but the format information provided by this site is somewhat limited.

 

Citation description:
If a document is contained within a large and complex Web site (such as that for a university or a government agency), identify the host organization and the relevant program or department before giving the URL for the document itself. Precede the URL with a colon.

Citation example:

 

Chou, L., McClintock, R., Moretti, F., Nix, D. H. (1993). Technology and

education: New wine in new bottles: Choosing pasts and imagining educational futures. Retrieved August 24, 2000, from Columbia University, Institute for Learning Technologies Web site: http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/papers/newwine1.html

 

 

 

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last revised: 10-18-09
by Eric Brenner, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA
These materials may be used for educational purposes if you inform and credit the author and cite the source as:
Skyline College Library
.
All commercial rights are reserved.
To contact the author, or send comments or suggestions, email: Eric Brenner at brenner@smccd.edu