Subject Guides Template: Citing Sources

What does MLA mean by container??

You will be searching for articles within periodicals within databases.

         article                          Container 1=periodical        Container 2=database

This page will help you with APA citation for your sources. If you need further help, please use the links below or ask a reference librarian.

Format Guidelines for Reference List:

• Double-space the References page.
• One space follows a period.
• Use a hanging indent format (first line is flush left, all other lines are indented .5 inch. In MS Word, use Format→Paragraph→Hanging Indent).
• Arrange the list of references alphabetically by authors' last names (or by title if no author).
• Authors' names are inverted, followed by the initials of their first and middle names (Last name, A.A.).
• The date of publication follows the author's name in parentheses.
• If no author is listed, list the source by title, followed by date of publication in parentheses.
• Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle of a book or article.
• Capitalize the titles of journals, magazines, and newspapers normally.
• Italicize titles of books, journals, magazines, etc., and the volume numbers of journals as well.
• Do not include "retrieved from" information, such as the name of the database, nor a URL for the source unless it is an active URL to a website.
• Do not include place of publication for books (no city and state).

Cite journal articles, magazine articles, and newspaper articles the same whether in print or digital.  Do not include the name of the database or a URL.  Only include a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if provided.  The standard format for DOIs is https://doi.org/...(the DOI number given).

Cite books, eBooks, and parts of books found in a subscription database the same whether in print or digital.  Do not include the name of the database or a URL.  Do not include the place of publication (city and state).

For webpages or articles found on websites, do not use a period at the end of the URL.  Provide a URL that links directly to the section, not the home page of the website, and is a live hyperlink.  Do not include a "retrieved from" statement.  Only include a retrieval date if the work is designed to change over time.  

Further Breakdown of Source Part of Journal Article Citation:

    This page will help you with MLA citation for your sources. If you need further help, please use the links below or ask a reference librarian.

Find as much of the citation information below as you can for each of your sources.  Then use the indicated order, format, and punctuation to put the information together into a proper citation for each source.

Format Guidelines for Works Cited:

While the 9th edition does not specify that database providers be included in citations for online databases, the Bakersfield College English department has stipulated the inclusion of this information in citations for the sake of clarity. So the names of database providers, such as EBSCO and Gale, should follow the database title.

For an article within a reference book within a database/e-book collection:

This page will help you with Chicago Style or Turabian citations for your sources. If you need further help, please use the links below or ask a reference librarian.

Turabian Style - a variation of the Chicago style based on the book written by Kate Turabian

When citing sources in Chicago/Turabian style, the in-text citations look a little different than for styles such as MLA or APA styles. Instead of using a parenthetical in-text citation, you will use what is called a footnote or endnote to reference the sources you are using in your paper.

To cite a source within the text of your paper, you will put a superscript number after a quote or paraphrase. Citation numbers should appear in sequential order (i.e., you should begin with 1 and continue numerically throughout the paper). Do not start the order over on each page. 

If using endnotes, numbered notes will appear on a separate endnotes page at the end of your document and before the bibliography page. The page should be titled Notes (centered at top).

Footnotes must appear at the bottom of the page that they are referred to.  

Example
Cole found that "The bones were very fragile".1

Each superscript then refers to a numbered citation in the footnotes or endnotes.

The first time the in-text reference is cited you must include, author's first name, author's last name, title, place of publication, publisher name, year and referenced pages. e.g.

1. James Smith, The first and last war, (New York, Hamilton, 2003), 2.

If the citation has already been cited it may be shortened to author's last name, shortened title, and page referenced number. e.g.

2. Smith, The first, 220-221.

If the citation has been referenced immediately prior, the note may be shortened even further to ibid with the page number. e.g.

3. Ibid., 786.

This page will help you with ASA citation for your sources. If you need further help, please use the links below or ask a reference librarian.