Citing Sources

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Download Help Sheet on Citing Sources  [PDF].
Download Help Sheet on  Avoiding Plagiarism [PDF].
Download Help Sheet with samples of APA and MLA citations [PDFs]

Citing Sources and Ethics:  References help a reader when gathering and evaluating resources; in addition, references, or citations, are also important for incorporating research into your work in an ethical manner.

What to Cite
References point to the resources that helped shape your work - the words, ideas, pictures, opinions, data and even methodologies of others. To incorporate sources properly, one needs to keep track of the facts and expert opinions gathered during the research process, and then use both in-text-citations and bibliographic citations to alert readers where they can find the resource for themselves.

In-Text Citation
Below we have a paraphrased a source and an example of the in-text citation:

Mayor Giuliani's work on immigrant rights-to-services ultimately had an impact at the National level, because the National Conference of Mayors adopted the strategies that came out of the 1997 immigration conference that Giuliani hosted in New York City (Shaw 19).

Bibliography & Works Cited
The in-text citation above would alert the reader that you got this information from someone named Shaw. To find out more about Giuliani's role in policies for services to immigrants -- or at least Shaw's "take" on Giuliani's role – the reader can look in the Bibliography or Works Cited under "Shaw" and find enough information to be able to locate Shaw’s work for themselves. In our example, the reader would find a bibliographic entry like this one (which is in APA format):

Shaw, K. (1998). Citizenship services in New York City. Migration World Magazine, 26(4), 19-22. Retrieved August 1, 2006, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 32822183).

When not to Cite: As a general rule, you do not need to cite what is called “common knowledge,” that is, information that can be found in numerous places and is likely to be known by many people.

COMMON Knowledge
1) The statue of Liberty is in NY harbor
2) New York is a multicultural City
3) Rudolph Giuliani was mayor of New York City for two terms

NOT COMMON Knowledge
1) The Statue of Liberty’s index finger is 8 feet long
2) 6.3% of Brooklyn’s population is Asian
3) James Duane was the first Mayor of the City of New York (1784-1789) after its evacuation by British forces.

The bottom list would need citations. If you’re not sure whether information you want to include is common knowledge, find a source for the information and cite that, for example, look in an almanac, encyclopedia or some other general reference source.

Different Resources and Styles
There are many types of research-quality resources that you may want to incorporate into your work: Books, articles, web-sites, e-mails, lectures, letters, diaries, music and artwork. Each of these have to be cited, and they are cited in slightly different ways, but the central goals remain the same: crediting the source (author/creator), and giving the audience enough information (title, publisher, city) so that they can find the source.

APA and MLA are two of the most popular citation styles, but styles of citing information can vary according to the field of study. Check with your professor to see whether he/she has a preferred citation style. When in doubt, your professor, a reference librarian and RefWorks software can all help you in your effort to cite sources properly.

The Citation Machine - is an interactive web tool designed to assist in producing reference citations. 

Summary Guides for citing Electronic/Computer sources

APA (American Psychological Association) Style Guide
  • From the University of Toronto – Excellent source it presents a paragraph of text illustrating the documentation followed by the Reference list for the illustrated paragraph.
  • Summary Site – From Duke University – Examples of the most popular documentation styles side-by-side for comparison: APA; Chicago; MLA; Turabian.
  • Official APA Style for WWW sites – This is the official APA style for citing World Wide Web sites.
  • APA Citation Guide – From St. Mary's University, San Antonio, TX. Included here because it includes instructions for citing law cases.
  • From BYU
MLA (Modern Language Association) Style Guide
Political Science Style Guide
Turabian Style Guide
  • From the University of Toronto – Excellent source. It presents 1) a paragraph of text illustrating the documentation; 2) the footnotes for the illustrated paragraph; and, 3) the bibliography.
  • Summary Site – From Duke University – Examples of the most popular documentation styles side-by-side for comparison: APA; Chicago; MLA; Turabian.
  • From Ithaca College Library
  • Samples footnotes and bibliography – from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts
  • Tip Sheet – This guide is intended as a tip sheet for some of the common citations used in bibliographies. If your source does not appear on this sheet, consult the Turabian guide available on Reserve or at the Information Services desk.
Other Style Guides
  • American Political Science Association – A copy of the "Style Manual for Political Science," is kept at the Reference Desk at: Ref JA 86.A52 1993.
  • Harvard system of citation – From the webpage, "The Harvard system of citation is the most straightforward, because initially all you need to do is mention the author and date of publication in the text of your work.
  • Citation Guides for Electronic Documents – A listing of guides and resources on the Internet, including formats for citing electronic information, prepared by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA).
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