Research Tools
Citations assist you in conducting and documenting research by using primary sources, such as interviews and observations, and secondary sources, such as books, periodicals, and the Internet.
There are four major styles of citing sources in your papers:
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APA (American Psychological Association)
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MLA (Modern Language Association)
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Chicago or CMS (Chicago Manual of Style)
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Turabian
What Are APA Style Citations?
The APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used
to cite sources within the social sciences, such as Psychology,
Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, and Criminology, Business and
Nursing. This
resource, revised according to the 6th edition of the APA manual, offers
examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text
citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page.
The APA describes their citation style as follows:
“The rules of APA Style, detailed
in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,
offer sound guidance for writing with simplicity, power, and concision.
APA Style has been adapted by many disciplines and is used by writers
around the world.”
American Psychological Association. (2009, July). Retrieved from
http://www.apastyle.org/
What Are MLA Style Citations?
The MLA, or Modern Language Association, says it best…
“All fields of research agree on
the need to document scholarly borrowings, but documentation conventions
vary because of the different needs of scholarly disciplines. MLA style
for documentation is widely used in the humanities, especially in
writing on language and literature. Generally simpler and more concise
than other styles, MLA style features brief parenthetical citations in
the text keyed to an alphabetical list of works cited that appears at
the end of the work.
MLA style has been widely adopted by schools, academic departments, and
instructors for over half a century. The association's guidelines are
also used by over 1,100 scholarly and literary journals, newsletters,
and magazines and by many university and commercial presses. The MLA's
guidelines are followed throughout North America and in Brazil, China,
India, Japan, Taiwan, and other countries around the world.
The MLA publishes two authoritative explanations of MLA style: the
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and the MLA Style
Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing.”
Please see the
MLA section
of the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Here you will be able to review in depth what we have discussed
in class as well as see in detail how to cite books, periodicals,
electronic and other common sources.
What Are Chicago Style Citations?
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is the foundation for Chicago style
citations. Chicago
style citations cover a variety of topics from manuscript preparation
and publication to grammar, usage, and documentation.
The Chicago Manual of Style
covers two styles of documentation: the Notes-Bibliography System (NB),
which is used by those in literature, history, and the arts, and the
Author-Date System, which is preferred in the sciences.
The Chicago Notes and Bibliography system is often used in the
humanities and provides writers with a system for referencing their
sources through footnote or endnote citation in their writing and
through bibliography pages. The Notes and Bibliography system is most
commonly used in the discipline of History.
The proper use of the Notes and Bibliography system can protect writers
from accusations of plagiarism, which is the intentional or accidental
un-credited use of source material created by others. Most importantly,
properly using the Notes and Bibliography system builds credibility by
demonstrating accountability to source material.
What Are Turabian Style Citations?
Turabian style citations refer to a citation style outlined in Kate L.
Turabian's Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and
Dissertations, 7th edition,. This manual, which presents what is
commonly known as the "Turabian" citation style, follows the two Chicago
Manual of Style patterns of documentation but offers slight
modifications suited to student texts.
The University of Chicago Press has a great resource for Turabian style
citations
here.