Citing References
About
Any reference source used for research, including all websites, must be cited using an approved citation format. The purpose of citing references is to credit the original source, and to give the reader enough information to find the original source. The most common writing and research guides are:
| Style Manual | Discipline |
| MLA (Modern Language Association) | Humanities |
| APA (American Psychological Association) | Social Sciences |
| CBE (Council of Biology Editors) | Science |
| Chemistry Style Manual | Chemistry |
| Turabian & Chicago Manual of Style | Social Sciences, Humanities |
Some disciplines use their own citation formats. Find out which format your instructor prefers.
MLA (Modern Language Association)
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003. [SFSU Library Reference section & Reserve Book Room: LB 2369 .G53 2003]
Amato, Carol J. The world's easiest guide to using the MLA: a user-friendly manual for formatting research papers according to the Modern Language Association style guide. Westminster, CA: Stargazer Publishing Co., 1999. [SFSU Library Reference section: LB 2369 .A488 1999]
APA (American Psychological Association)
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2001. [SFSU Library Reference section, Main Collection & Reserve Book Room: BF 76.7 P83 2001]
APA Electronic Style (http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html) Official website of the American Psychological Association.
CBE (Council of Biology Editors)
Scientific style and format: the CBE manual for authors, editors, and publishers / Style Manual Committee, Council of Biology editors. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. [SFSU Library Reference section & Reserve Book Room: QH 304 .C33 1994]
Chemistry Style Manual
This online manual is a style guide to scientific publication that can be used for any science subject.
Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2003. [SFSU Library Reference section: Z253 .U69 2003]
Turabian
A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations / Kate L. Turabian Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. [SFSU Library Reference section, Govt. Collection & Reserve Book Room: LB 2369 .T8 1996]
Online Examples / Web sources
Citation Style for Research Papers (http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citation.htm) Long Island University Libraries' guide to APA, Turabian, MLA, Chicago, and AMA styles.
Documentation Guidelines: Citing Sources Within Your Paper (http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/works_cited) Duke University Libraries' guide to MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian styles.
Diana Hacker's Research and Documentation Online (http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc) Diana Hacker's guide includes examples for print and online sources for MLA, APA, CBE, and Chicago styles.
Citing References in Your Paper (http://www.wisc.edu/writetest/Handbook/Documentation.html) The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison guide to MLA, APA, CBE, and Chicago and Turabian styles.
ONLINE! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources (http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html) Andrew Harnack & Eugene Kleppinger's guide to citing online sources for MLA, APA, CBE, and Chicago styles.
The Chemistry Style Manual (http://www.physsci.heacademy.ac.uk/Publications/ChemistryStyleManual.aspx. A brief description of the manual.)
(http://www.physsci.heacademy.ac.uk/Publications/PracticeGuide/StyleManual2003.pdf (NOTE: This file is 197 pages long.)) Dr. Kieran Lim, from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Deakin University in Australia has produced a style guide that can be used by science students. The copyright notice states that "You may not make multiple copies, distribute or otherwise use any of the materials from this site without the advance, written consent of the author or Deakin University. Requests for permission to reproduce this Chemistry Style Manual for non-commercial (not-for-profit) academic purposes can be addressed to: lim@deakin.edu.au"
Zotero (http://www.zotero.org/) Zotero is a Mozilla Firefox plug-in designed to assist resarchers in downloading citation information, tagging resources, and making notes from their generated collections. This free bibliographic management software can serve as an alternative to proprietary software and services such as Endnote, Refworks, or Noodlebib.
