In academic writing, it is important to cite your references - in other words, to acknowledge and document the authors' works which you have consulted and used in your own work.
There are a number of different options for formatting citations.
Certain bibliographic styles correspond to certain disciplines, and you often may have a specific style assigned to you for a project.
However, the most important thing to remember is that your citation style must be consistent throughout a single paper.
3. Examples of Bibliographical Citations
**Please note that bibliographies generally use a hanging indent format.
Also, titles of books and titles of journals are always underlined.
The following examples are limited by the constraints of the web browser.
The following examples use the MLA Bibliography format.
Consult the previous list of guides for other specific styles.
Books
Author Lastname, Firstname.
Title of Book.
Publication City: Publisher, Year.
one author
Coren, Stanley.
Sleep Thieves: An Eye-Opening Exploration into the Science and Mysteries of Sleep.
New York: Free Press, 1996.
two or three authors
Pascualy, Ralph A. and Sally Warren Soest.
Snoring and Sleep Apnea: Personal and Family Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment.
New York: Raven Press, 1994.
more than three authors
Reite, Martin, et al.
Concise Guide to Evaluation and Management of Sleep Disorders.
Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1990.
editors
Pressman, Mark R. and William C. Orr, eds.
Understanding Sleep: The Evaluation and Treatment of Sleep Disorders.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1997.
institutional author
European Congress on Sleep Research.
The Sleep 1982: Physiology, Pharmacology, Sleep Factors, Memory, Sleep Factors, Memory, Sleep Deprivation, Hypnotics.
Basel; New York: Karger, 1983.
Essays and Book Chapters
Author Lastname, Firstname.
"Essay or Chapter Title."
Title of Book.
Editor of Book Firstname Lastname.
Publication City: Publisher, Year.
Page numbers of essay or chapter.
in a book or anthology
Rechtschaffen, Allan.
"The Single-Mindedness and Isolation of Dreams."
The Mythomanias: The Nature of Deception and Self-Deception.
Ed. Michael S. Mysobodsky.
Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997.
135-157.
Articles
Article Author Lastname, Firstname.
"Article Title."
Source Name.
Volume.
Issue Date: pages.
scholarly journal
Martensen, Robert L.
"The Somnolence of Sleep Research."
JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association
274.20
(1995): 16-43.
popular journal
Boiter, Cynthia.
"Terrors in the Night."
Parenting
Dec.
1995: 215.
newspaper
Hamlin, Suzanne.
"Sleepy? Maybe it's the Turkey."
New York Times
23 Nov.
1994, late ed.: C4.
encyclopedia
"Dreams."
Encyclopedia of Psychology.
New York: Wiley, 1984.
Full-Text Articles in Databases
Article Author Lastname, Firstname.
"Article Title."
Source Name
Volume.
Issue Date: page(s).
Database.
Subscription Service.
Library where accessed, City, State.
Date of Access.
<Database URL>.
*
If the article is in PDF format, you can cite it as you would an article found in a print journal--
the above citation directions are for articles found in full-text through a database, in HTML format.
scholarly journal
Williamson, Alan.
"The Poet-Critic."
The American Poetry Review
24
(January/February 1995): 37-40.
WilsonOmni.
Wilson Web.
NYU's Bobst Lib., New York, NY.
5 Jan. 2003.
<http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww>.
popular journal
Kuchment, Anna.
"DNA, Five Decades On."
Newsweek
24 Feb. 2003: 58.
Periodical Abstracts.
ProQuest.
NYU's Bobst Lib., New York, NY.
10 March 2003.
<http://proquest.umi.com/>.
newspaper
Lacey, Mark.
"Kenya's Ruling Party is Defeated After 39 Years."
New York Times
30 Dec. 2002, late ed.: A1.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe.
Lexis-Nexis.
NYU's Bobst Lib., New York, NY.
6 Feb. 2003.
<http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/>.
Electronic Citations
Author Lastname, Firstname.
Document Title.
Source Title,
Volume.
Issue (if appropriate).
Date of Internet Publication.
Name of Institution or Organization Sponsoring the Website (if appropriate).
Date of Access.
<URL>.
professional web site
Weinstein, Philip.
The William Faulkner Society Home Page.
4 April 2002.
William Faulkner Society.
4 Nov. 2002.
<http://www.acad.swarthmore.edu/faulkner/>.
scholarly project
Center for Reformation and Renaissance Studies.
Ed. Michael Ullyot.
4 Nov. 2002.
U of Toronto.
5 Nov. 2002.
<http://crrs.utoronto.ca/>.
Government Documents
Government Department or Commission, Office.
Title of Report.
Editor of Report.
Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.
gpo
United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Aviation Medicine.
Sleep in Air Traffic Controllers.
Washington, D.C: GPO, 1977.
4. Citing Within the Paper
**Please note that when using footnotes or parenthetical citations, you still need to include a "bibliography" or a "works cited" section at the end of your paper.
Check with your instructor or editor to determine whether footnotes or parenthetical citations are required.
Parenthetical Citation
Some style guides (MLA, APA) recommend parenthetical citation instead of footnotes (although footnotes may be used with MLA).
Insert a parenthesis with the author's last name and the page number at the end of a sentence.
Example: (Coren 142).
Footnotes
Just as for a bibliography, different style guides require footnotes to be formatted in different ways.
You should consult the most recent guide for your discipline for details.
Example: Using the MLA style to cite a reference with a footnote, insert a number at the place where you want to acknowledge another author's words, facts, or ideas.
Then, at the bottom of the page, repeat the number and follow it with the citation information. For example.1 (see below).
Footnote numbers should start with 1, and follow sequentially.
If you cite a source a second time, you do not need to include the full citation, just the author's name and page number.
2 (see below).
The footnote style is basically the same as for bibliographies, except that:
- The author's name is not inverted
- Include the page number you are citing
- Book Publication information is in parentheses
- Footnotes do not use a hanging indent - indent the first line only.
1Stanley Coren. Sleep Thieves: An Eye-Opening Exploration Into the Science and Mysteries of Sleep. (New York: Free Press, 1996) 142.
2Coren 143.
