How do I write a citation?
Answer
Bibliographic Citations
Bibliographic citations are strings of data that identify a publication. There are numerous styles for formatting your citations. Check with your instructor as to which one you should use. You will probably be required to assemble a list of citations into a bibliography. This bibliography enables the reader of your paper to locate your source materials.
The main components of a bibliographic citation are the author's full name (usually last name first), the title of the work and the publication information which includes the place of publication, the publisher's name, and the date of publication. Below are some links to some quick guides to making the most common types of citations for the two most common styles:
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Cal State Northridge – MLA Style Guide - Quick & Easy
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Purdue OWL - MLA Sample Cited Works Page (Sample bibliography)
- Baker College - APA Citation Style Examples
If you need more information, need to find a format for an unusual item (such as public documents, legal documents, dissertations, unpublished sources, additional electronic sources), or should your instructor require another format, see the style manuals below or their online help sites.
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Univ of Canterbury Univ of Melbourne |
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Murdoch Uniy |
[Chicago Style]The Chicago Manual of Style. 16thed. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2010 Ready Ref Z 253 U69 2010. [ Where's this? ] |
Bedford/St_Martins Murdoch Univ Chicago_Quick_Guide |
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Multiple styles website: |
[IEEE Style]IEEE Editorial Style Manual |
Murdoc Univ |
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[Turabian]
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Other sites to help you organize and cite bibliographic information:
| Duke University: Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper | (APA, MLA Chicago, Turabian, CSE) |
| http://citationmachine.net/ | (APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian) |
| http://www.easybib.com/librarians | (APA, MLA, Chicago) |
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This site http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/ can act as “starter” page where you can read and compare the different styles if you have not yet decided, with your adviser, which style guide to use.
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Some of our database products will format a citation for you - once you have performed a search, look around for a link that says "cite" or "cite this". You can then copy and paste a formatted citation from your choice of formats. More
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Microsoft Word You may also refer to Microsoft Word for help in citing references: On the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group, choose your Style (MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.) and click on Insert Citation. More
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[ASCE Style]
Form and Style, Research Papers, Reports, Theses
[MLA Style]
[APA Style]
[CSE Style; Older versions are called CBE style] 