Academics > Library > Citing Sources

Why Cite Information Sources?

Correctly citing sources is an important part of the research process.  Whenever you use someone else’s intellectual property you need to provide a proper citation for your sources. This gives proper credit to the author and enables the reader to locate your information sources if desired.  Citing sources acknowledges the origin of your information, which gives credibility to your work because it shows evidence of your research. Failure to properly cite sources is plagiarism (taking someone else’s words or ideas and using them as your own).

Langenheim Memorial Library has the latest editions of major style manuals available for 2 hour checkout at the circulation desk.  These include:

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. (APA)
• APA Style Guide to Electronic References
• Concise Rules of APA Style
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed.
• The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. 
• A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed. (Turabian) 
• Harbrace College Handbook, 13th ed. (includes MLA & APA styles)

Below is a list of links to reputable websites to help you correctly cite information you have found. 

APA Style

American Psychological Association: APA Style

http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx

APA Formatting & Style Guide: Purdue University Online Writing Lab

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

APA Style Citations: University of California Berkeley Library

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/guides/apastyle.pdf

MLA Style

Frequently Asked Questions: Modern Language Association

http://www.mla.org/handbook_faq

MLA: Purdue University Online Writing Lab

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

MLA Citation Guide: The Ohio State University Libraries

http://library.osu.edu/help/research-strategies/cite-references/mla/

MLA Citation Style: Cornell University Library

http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/mla

Chicago Style

Chicago Manual of Style Online

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

Chicago/Turabian Documentation: University of Wisconsin Writing Center

http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/DocChiWorksCited.html

Chicago Manual of Style Sample Citations: Ursinus College

http://myrin.ursinus.edu/help/resrch_guides/cit_style_chicago.htm

Turabian

Turabian Quick Guide: University of Chicago Press

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html

Turabian Style: University of Georgia Libraries

http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/turabian.html

CSE (Council of Science Editors) formerly known as CBE Style

Council of Science Editors Style: Ohio State University

http://library.osu.edu/sites/guides/csegd.php

Introduction-Council of Science Editors Style: Juniata College

http://ia.juniata.edu/citation/cse/

ASA (American Sociological Association)

ASA Style: SUNY Buffalo

http://www.buffalostate.edu/library/docs/asa.pdf

Formatting in ASA Style: Purdue University Online Writing Lab

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/03/

ACS (American Chemical Society)

ACS (American Chemical Society) Style Guidelines Quick Guide: UC Berkeley Library

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/CHEM/acsstyle.html

ACS Style Guide: Williams College Libraries

http://library.williams.edu/citing/styles/acs.php

General

Duke University Libraries: Citing Sources

http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/workscited/index.html