Citing Information: Introduction

Tutorial Sections

The tutorial includes five main sections:

• Why We Cite

  • This section explains the role of citation in scholarly work, provides guidelines for deciding when you need to cite, and gives a definition of plagiarism.

• APA

  • APA style refers to the citation format established by the American Psychological Association. APA is the style preferred by most of the disciplines in the social sciences.
  • This section provides examples using APA style for various information sources. For more information, you can consult the print version of the sixth edition of Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association located behind the reference desk in UL and Davis Reference (BF76.7.P83 2010)

• MLA

  • MLA style refers to the citation format established by the Modern Language Association. MLA is used by many disciplines in the humanities, including English and other language studies, art, and philosophy. Because of this, MLA style provides citation formats for such things as works of art, correspondence, and archived manuscripts.
  • This section provides a handful of examples of how to cite resources using the MLA citation style. For more citation examples and advice, consult the seventh edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, located at the Davis & UL reference desks (LB2369 .G53 2009), The MLA Handbook is more authoritative and more current, and will have more up-to-date examples of citing a wide variety of online sources.

• Chicago

  • Chicago style refers to the citation format established by the University of Chicago Press. A slightly modified version of Chicago Style, intended for writers of research papers, is known as Turabian style. Differences between the two styles are minor, so they are presented together. Chicago/Turabian style supports two citation systems: the Notes and Bibliography system is traditionally used in the arts and humanities, and the Author-Date system is recommended for the natural sciences and social sciences.
  • This section provides examples of how to cite information resources using both systems within the Chicago style. For more information, consult the sixteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, (Z253 .U69), or the seventh edition of A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian (LB2369 .T8), both located at the Davis and UL reference desks.

• CSE/CBE

  • CSE style, formerly called CBE style, refers to the citation style established by the Council of Science Editors. CSE is the format preferred by writers in many disciplines in the natural sciences, including biology, geology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. CSE style provides two different citation systems: the Name-Year system and the Citation-Sequence system (sometimes called the Superscript system). These systems differ in their presentation of in-text citations and in the way works cited are listed.
  • This section provides examples of how to cite resources using both systems. For more information consult the seventh edition of the Scientific Style and Format: the CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, (T11 .S386 2006), available at the Davis and UL reference desks, or visit the Council of Science Editors website.