Citing Sources
The purpose of a citation is to identify a source, thereby acknowledging the original author's or creator's contribution, while also providing your reader with additional sources for further study. Failure to properly cite the sources you consult in developing your research project constitutes plagiarism.
General Guidelines
A variety of citation styles are used in different fields of research. Generally, the MLA (Modern Language Association) style is predominant in the humanities, the APA (American Psychological Association) style is common in the social sciences, and a variety of formats (often much briefer or abbreviated forms) developed by professional organizations, such as the American Chemical Society or the National Library of Medicine, are used in the natural and physical sciences.
In general, any citation will include the author(s) name, the complete title of the work, publication information, and the date of publication. Different types of sources will dictate the inclusion of different elements in the citations.
Examples
Books
Author(s) name. Title of book. Place of Publication [city]: Publishing company, Year.
Author(s) name. (Year) Title of book. Place of Publication [city]: Publishing company.
Articles
Author(s) name. "Title of article." Journal / magazine / newspaper title, Volume / Issue number Date of publication: Page numbers.
Author(s) name. (Date of publication) "Title of article." Journal / magazine / newspaper title, Volume / Issue number, Page numbers.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is an excellent resource for learning how to cite sources within a paper or presentation as well as for formatting a bibliography.