Citing Sources

"You cite sources for two reasons. One is to show readers where you obtained your material. The other is to offer readers a list of references should they want to read more about the subject."

The sentence above is a direct quote from a book on writing term papers. As it is quoted directly, it is necessary to acknowledge the source used. In this case it is: William C. Paxson, The Mentor Guide to Writing Term Papers and Reports (New York, N.Y. : New American Library, 1988), p. 165.

There are two main ways to cite information in a paper, Footnotes or Endnotes and Parenthetical References. Your teacher will tell you which method to use. The APA Style, MLA Style and Turabian Style are different formats used in writing a paper. Your teacher will tell you which to use. Whatever method and style you use, you are accomplishing the important task of acknowledging and documenting the sources of your information. You cite your source:

  • to give the origin of facts or opinions
  • when using a direct quote
  • when paraphrasing someone else's work
  • when stating a fact that is not commonly known
  • when stating controversial facts or opinions

Footnotes

  • The footnote number (1) is placed at the end of a sentence or quote.
  • The footnote number corresponds to the numbered citation at the bottom of the page.
  • Footnotes are numbered consecutively from the beginning of a paper.
  • Footnotes are listed on the bottom of each page under a solid line.
An example of a footnote is:
    A footnote is a note of reference, explanation or comment that is placed below printed text. It may also be a table or a chart.1 It shows where the information came from.

    The citation on the bottom of the page looks like this:


    1. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, (1986) s.v. "footnote."

Sample Footnotes

The following sample footnotes are in the Turabian Style from A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th edition by Kate L. Turabian.

Citing an Encyclopedia or Dictionary
     1. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, (1986) s.v. "footnote."

Citing a Book
     2. Turabian, Kate L.,  A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations 6th ed., (The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1996) pp. 120.

Citing a Web Site
Punctuation and capitalization, especially in the URL or "electronic address" of the resource, should appear just as it is used in the web page or database.

     3. The History Guide. June 19, 2002. <http://www.historyguide.org/guide/ffotnotes.html>.

     4. britannica.com. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. April 17,2002.
<http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=21077&tocid=0&query=cat>.

Citing a Magazine Article (Journals)
     5. Kollus, Brad, "A Place for Wild Cats," Cats Magazine, vol. 57 issue 5,
May 2001: 22.

 Citing a Music Recording
     6. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Szell conducts Mozart [compact sound disk].
George Szell. Cleveland Orchestra. New York : Columbia/Odyssey, 1978.

    7. Bob Marley and the Wailers. Buffalo Soldier on  Legend [compact sound disk].
[New York] : Distributed by Island, [1986], p1984.

Citing a Movie
     8. Saving Private Ryan.  dir. Steven Spielberg, Dreamworks and Paramount
Pictures presents an Amblin Entertainment production. Universal City, CA :
Dreamworks, 1999, c1998, video recording.

Citing a CD-Rom Map, Table or Illustration
     9. Seuss, Dr. Green Eggs and Ham. CD-ROM. Novato, California:
Living Books, 1996.

Endnotes

Endnotes are in the same style as footnotes. There is no difference in the contents of footnotes and endnotes. The simple difference between the two is that footnotes appear at the end of the page where the footnote number appears while endnotes are placed at the end of your paper.

Parenthetical Citation

These are brief citations, enclosed by parentheses, within the text of the paper.

  •  They are also called Parenthetical References.
  • The two systems are: Author/Date and Author/Page. Your teacher will tell you which system to use.
  • The same system must be used throughout the entire paper.
  • Complete bibliographic information for each source is listed in a “Works Cited” or "Reference List" portion at the end of the paper.

Examples of the Authur/Date and Author/Page systems are:
    • Author/Date:

      • State the last name of the author and the publication date of the work cited (Turabian 1996).
       
    • Author/Page:

      • State the last name of the author and the page number of the information cited (Turabian 175).

 

Works Cited

A Works Cited citation looks like this:

Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. 6th ed.
     Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Additional information on the use of parenthetical references:

Author/Date System
- APA Style

- Turabian Style

Author/Page Number System
- MLA Style

Book sources:

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th Ed by The American Psychological Association (LPL Call Number 808.06615 Publication, RREF 808.06615 Publication)

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, 6th ed. by Kate Turabian (Call Number 808.02 Turabian, RREF 808.02 Turabian)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th Ed. by Joseph Gibaldi, ed. (LPL Call Number 808.02 Gibaldi, RREF 808.02 Gibaldi )

 

 

 


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