Citing Sources

Not only is it important to be able to create citations in your own work, it can also help you to be able to understand what a citation is referring to when you come across one. 

For example, say your professor says you need this item: 

Grendler, Paul F. The Universities of the Italian Renaissance. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002

Would you look for it in the catalog, with books? Or in the databases with journal articles? In this case, based on the information that is included, this citation has told us that this is a book: Journal articles don't have a publisher (in this case, the publisher is John Hopkins University Press)

Maybe, while doing research, you come across this citation in another article's Works Cited list:

Davies, Jonathan. “Violence and Italian Universities during the Renaissance.” Renaissance Studies, vol. 27, no. 4, Sept. 2013, pp. 504–516. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/rest.12027

If you are familiar with citations, this you can recognize as journal article: Books usually don't have volume and issue numbers (vol 27, no 4). The "Article," in quotes, is published in the Journal, which will always have its title italicized

If this sounds confusing at first, that's ok--the more you cite, the easier it becomes.

Used to using MLA, but now you need to use APA? Taking a history class for the first time, and now your professor is using Chicago? This page has side by side comparisons of how to cite different resources in each style

 

In-Text Citation

APA (Author, Year, p. #)

Two Authors: (Lastname & Lastname, Year, p. #)

Three or More Authors: (Lastname et al., Year, p. #)

No Author: ("Title of Work," Year, P#)

Organizational Author: (American Psychological Association, Year, P#)

MLA (Author #)

Two Authors: (Lastname and Lastname #)

Three or More Authors: (Lastname et al #)

No Author: (Title of Work #)

Organizational Author: (Modern Langauge Association #)

Chicago [footnote]: Author, Title, # 

 

Physical Books

APA: Lastname, A. (Copyright Year). Book title (Nth ed). Publishing Company                      

MLA: Lastname, Firstname. Book Title. Publishing Company, Copyright Year.

Chicago: Lastname, Firstname. Book Title. Publisher City, Publishing Company, Year.

 

Journal Articles (Retrieved Online)

APA: Author, A. (Year) Article title. Journal Title, volume number(issue number), pages, http:/doi.org/XXX.        

MLA: Author, Firstname. “Article Title.” Journal Title, vol #, issue #, #-#, Year. Database Name, DOI.

Chicago: Author, Firstname. “Article Title.” Journal Title Volume number, issue number, (Month Year): Pages.

 

Webpage:

APA: Author, A. (Date). Page title. Site Name. URL

If the Website's Organization is the Author: Organization. (Date). Page title. URL.

MLA: Author, Firstname. “Page Title.” Website Name, Date. URL

Chicago: Author, Firstname. “Page Title.” Website Name, Date, URL.

 

Webpage (where some  information isn’t available or doesn’t exist)

APA: Page title. (n.d.) Site Name. Retrieved M/D/Year, from URL

MLA: “Page Title.” Website Name, URL. Accessed on Day Month Year.

Chicago: “Page Title.” Website Name. Accessed Month Day, Year.

 

Author and Authors

APA: 

Two Authors: Lastname, A. & Lastname, B. 

Three to Twenty Authors: Lastname, A., Lastname, B., & Lastname, C.

More than Twenty Authors: Lastname, A., Lastname, B., Lastname, C., Lastname, D., Lastname, E., Lastname, F., Lastname, G., Lastname, H., Lastname, I., Lastname, J., Lastname, K., Lastname, L., Lastname, M., Lastname, N., Lastname, O., Lastname, P., Lastname, Q., Lastname, R., Lastname, S., ... Lastname, Z.

Unknown Author: Omit author and move (year) to after the title: Title. (Year). Location: Publisher.

MLA

Two Authors: Lastname, Firstname1 & Firstname2 Lastname.

More than Two Authors: Lastname, Firstname1 et al

Chicago

Two or More Authors: Lastname, Firstname1 & Firstname2 Lastname.