Style Manuals & Citation Guides

How to cite sources, along with lists and links to style manuals and citation guides

All research sources should be identified and cited in your research report/paper whether they are print resources or electronic articles or Web sites.  Not only does it enable others, as well as yourself, to find the source listed, but it also gives credit to the person whose work you quoted or paraphrased, or whose ideas you incorporated into your own report.  

When you do research for a paper, write down all the necessary information needed to locate the material in a citation format.  When accessing Internet resources, be sure to WRITE DOWN the URL.

Note Citations:  When you are quoting or making a reference to information directly from another source, you must always identify that source. You do this in a note. Notes are called footnotes when they appear at the bottom of the page and endnotes when they are collected at the end of each chapter or of the entire paper. Frequently notes are cited within the text of your paper.  

There are several different "styles" to use to write the citation, including electronic formats.   Below are some examples of the major styles which identify what is included in a citation.  

• MLA Style (and Oxford)
• Chicago Style
• APA Style
• Sociology Style (ASA & ASR)
• Science Styles  (CBE & AIP & Harvard)

The links below include style manuals and Web sites for other types of formats and resources: 

• Multiple Styles
• Other Styles
• Free Online Citation Builders 
• Writing Resources
• Refereed or Peer-Reviewed Journals
  

Covers more than one of the previous styles:

Campbell, William Giles, Stephen Vaughan Ballou, and
        Carole Slade. Form and Style: Research Papers,
        Reports, Theses. 10th ed. Boston: Houghton
        Mifflin, 1999. (REF Z 253 C3 1999)  (Chicago,
        MLA, and APA)

Dartmouth College. Sources.
    http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/contents.html 

Duke University.  Citing Sources, Guide to Library
       Research. 
       http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/works_cited 
       (MLA, APA, Chicago)

Hageman, Marianne.  Citing Business Sources. St. Paul,
        MN: University of St. Thomas, 2003. http://www.stthomas.edu/libraries/guides/bus/citingbizsources.htm
        (MLA, APA) 

Harnack, Andrew and Eugene Kleppinger.  Online!
        Citation Styles.
     http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html  
        (Chicago, MLA, APA, and CBE)

Hopwood, Susan.  Writing: Style and Citation Guides.
    http://www.marquette.edu/library/sites/writing.html 
        (APA, MLA, and more)

Johnson, Gary, and Richard Kremer.  Sources. 
      http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/contents.html
        (Chicago, MLA, APA and Science)

Lawton, Kelley A. and Laura Cousineau. 
        Documentation guidelines: Citing sources within
        your paper.   
        http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/works_cited    
        (Chicago, MLA, and APA)

Strunk, William.  The Elements of Style. 1999 ed.
        http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html 
        The 1999 edition of the classic 1918 book.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center. (2004).
        Citing Reference in your Paper.
 http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Documentation.html 
        (Chicago, MLA, APA, CBE, Political Science)

Walker, Janice and Todd Taylor.  Basic Columbia Guide
        to Online Style.
        http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/basic.html
        (Chicago, MLA, APA, and CBE)

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Other Style Manuals are available for specific fields or type of resource:

Business Resources:

• Hageman, Marianne.  Citing Business Sources. St. Paul,
  MN: University of St. Thomas, 2003. http://www.stthomas.edu/libraries/guides/bus/citingbizsources.htm
  (MLA, APA) 
• Welch, J.M. (2002). Citing Electronic Business Sources--Based on APA Style. Charlotte, NC: University
  of North Caroline-Charlotte.  Retrieved March 17, 2003
  from University of North Carolina-Charlotte Web site:
  http://libweb.uncc.edu/ref-bus/citation.pdf .

Computerized/Electronic Resources:

• Li, Xia and Crane, Nancy B. Electronic Styles: a handbook for citing electronic information. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 1996. (REF Z 253 .L5 1996)
  A basic guide to citing many different types of electronic resources. When possible, it conforms to the APA style.
• Citation Styles
  This Web site identifies the citation formats for electronic resources using MLA, APA, Chicago Style, and CBE (biology).
  http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html 

Government Documents:
The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources: a manual for writers and librarians. (REF Z 7164 .G7 G37 1993)

Journalism/Communications:

• Associated Press (AP) Stylebook and Libel Manual (REF PN 4783 .A8 1998)
• The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage.  (REF PN 4783 .S57 1999)
• United Press International (UPI) Stylebook. (REF PN 4783 .M47 1992) 
• When Words Collide:  a Media Writer's Guide to Grammar and Style.  (REF PN 4783 .K435 2000)

Law:
The Bluebook: a uniform system of citation. (REF KF 245 .U55 2000)

Maps:
Cartographic Citations: a style guide. (REF GA 108.7 .C55 1992)

Physics:
AIP Style Manual (REF QC 28 .A5 1990)

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Free Online Citation Builders

Although these resources are available to help write bibliographies (works cited pages), they may not provide as much assistance as citation software that is purchased.  In many instances, just writing your own bibliographies using the sources listed above may be easier and more complete, particularly for graduate students who use a wider variety of resources.

Be sure to check these Citation Builders to make sure that they are using the most up-to-date edition of the Style Guides that they cover.

Engineering Communication Centre.  Bibliography Builder. 
        http://ecf.utoronto.ca/~writing/bb.html (Chicago and
        IEEE)

Jerz, Dennis G. BibBuilder 1.3 (Free MLA-Style Bibliography
        Builder) http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/academic/bib_builder/index.html 
        (MLA)

Lombardo, Nancy.  Citation Builder.   http://medlib.med.utah.edu/navigator/module3/citation-tool.htm
        (MLA and APA)

North Carolina State University Library.  Cite your Sources:
        the Citation Builder. 
        http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/lobo2/using/cite/cite3a.php
        (MLA, APA, and CBE)

Warlick, David.  Citation Machine. 
        http://landmark-project.com/citation_machine/cm.php 
        (MLA and APA)

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Writing Resources

Colorado State University Writing Center.  Writing @ CSU:
        Writing Guides/ Types of Documents. http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents.cfm     
        How to write abstracts, business letters, executive
        summaries, and more.  From the Writing Center at
        Colorado State University.

Engle, M. Blumenthal, A. and Cosgrave, T.  How to Prepare
        an Annotated Bibliography.    http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill28.htm 
        Basic information which defines an annotated
        bibliography and includes detailed instructions on
        creating one.

Purdue University Online Writing Lab.  Grammar, Punctuation,
        and Spelling. 
  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/index.html
        Handy guide to punctuation by Purdue University
        English Department.

Western State College Savage Library.  How to Prepare an
        Annotated Bibliography. 
      http://www.western.edu/lib/instruction/bibliography.html
        A guide to creating an annotated bibliography.

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"Refereed" or "Peer Reviewed" Journals 

"Peer review" is the process through which experts in a field of study examine and assess the quality of articles before they are published. Peer review insures that the research described in a journal's articles is sound and of high quality. 
Sometimes the term "refereed" is used instead of peer reviewed.

Lists found in:

• Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory. 5 volumes. (Located at the Reference Desk in Minneapolis and St. Paul)
  Search the title index for the journal title in Volume 4 which will identify the page number in volumes 1-3.  Look for "Refereed" in the record.
  
  
• The Serials Directory
  Search for the title of the journal.  Look for "Peer Rev:  YES" in the record.

USE BOTH PUBLICATIONS. Neither has a whole list, but  together they are nearly complete.

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Comments to Jan Orf, jmorf@stthomas.edu, Reference Librarian, University of St. Thomas Libraries
Updated November 3, 2004.