Citing Your Research
About Citations
Citations show what you have derived from your reference sources and exactly where you found your information. They give credit to the people whose ideas you are using. Citations generally appear in two places in your essay
- in the body of your writing (and so, are called "in-text citations")
- in a separate "Works Cited" page
There are many styles of organizing citation information currently in use. One of the more popular styles is the one promoted by the Modern Language Assocation. The "MLA Style," as it is called, is briefly demonstrated below.
In-Text Citations
In-text or parenthetical (because they appear within parenthesis, like this) citations usually contain the author's name and/or page numbers of where the indicated information came from in the original source. These are sufficient to point to a more complete citation on the works cited page. Some considerations:
Name of author and page number for citation inserted in parenthesis in the text.
Example: . . . blah blah blah (Barber 102).
If you cite information from two or more works by the same author, include the publication date of the source you are citing in parenthesis following the author's name.
Example: John Barber (1996) says, . . . blah blah blah (110).
If the author's name appears along with the citation, only the page reference in parenthesis is necessary.
Example: In his article on computer literacy theory, John Barber says that "blah blah blah" (110).
Works Cited
A list of works cited should appear at the end of your paper, at the top of a new page. Begin each entry flush with the left margin, and if it runs longer than one line, indent each subsequent line five spaces from the left margin. Double space the entire list, both within and between entries. Some considerations:
Book citations should include the following information:
- Author last name, author first name
- Book title (underlined or italicized)
- Place of publication (followed by a colon)
- Publisher
- Publication date
Periodical or journal citations should include the following information:
- Author last name, author first name
- Article title (in quotation marks)
- Title of periodical or journal (underlined or italicized)
- Publication date (followed by a colon)
- Issue number if paginated by issue
- Page number(s)
Example: Barber, John. "Cyberspace and The Mythform of Reality." PRETEXT 16.1-2 (1995): 10-23.
Online journal citations should include the following information if available:
- Author's last name, first name
- Title of article or document (in quotation marks)
- Title of journal, newsletter, or conference (underlined or italicized)
- Volume, issue, or other identifying number
- Date of publication
- Date of access
- Internet address (tells where the information can be accessed)
Example: Barber, John. "Cybernetic Engines." Kairos: A Journal For Teachers of Writing in Webbed Environments 4.1. Fall 1999. Dec. 20, 1999. <http:// english. ttu. edu/ kairos/1.1/ index.html>.
Online scholarly project or reference database citations should include the following information if available:
- Author's last name, first name
- Title of the part of the work, if relevant (in quotation marks)
- Title of publication (underlined or italicized)
- Edition, release, or version (if relevant)
- Date of original print publication (if relevant)
- Title of scholarly project or reference database
- Editor's first name and last name (if available)
- Date of publication
- Name of publisher
- Date of access
- Internet address (tells where the information can be accessed)
Example: Dickinson, Emily. "Hope." Poems by Emily Dickinson. 3rd. ser. Boston, 1896. Project Bartleby Archive. Ed. Steven van Leeuwen. 15 Dec. 1995. Columbia University. 11 June 1999 <http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/dickinson/dickinson1.html#3>.
CD-ROM or other portable media citations should include the following information if available:
- Author's last name, first name
- Title of the part of the work, if relevant (in quotation marks)
- Title of the publication (underlined or italicized)
- Date of publication
- Edition, release, or version, if relevant
- Publication medium (CD-ROM/Diskette/Magnetic Tape/Other)
- Name of publisher
- Date of publication
Example: Lanham, Richard. The Electronic Word: Democracy Technology and the Arts. Diskette. University of Illinois Press, 1993.