CITATION FORMATTING

Week 9-10 Key Concepts

Citation Styles

We will look at the MLA and APA styles in this course.

We will focus on the MLA style, as it is

usually the citation style students use in beginning courses, and the one used in most English courses.

The Need for Citations

**You usually won’t be able to get by with this one :):o

Why Cite Sources?

Citing sources is a necessary part of writing a paper in college courses.

The purpose of citing sources is to give credit to those whose ideas you use, or learn from, in writing a paper or conducting research.     

Citing sources is a way to document the

ideas from which your paper draws.   

Why Cite Sources?

If you don't cite the source materials used in a paper, you are guilty of plagiarism. 

    To plagiarize is 'to steal and use [the ideas

or writings of another] as one's own'  American Heritage Dictionary.   

Uses of Citations

In the professional world, citations are used: to illustrate the thinking where research originated to document the sources contributing to research    

It's important for other researchers in a field, to be able to build upon prior research

By knowing which sources you are using, they will be able to build upon your research   

Citation Formats as Systematic

Good News:     Citation formats are systems, that as you become increasingly familiar with, they become easier.  

Bad -- well, not bad news, really!   Citation formats are learned through practice.    You learn them, by doing!   

The more citations you complete, and complete correctly, the better you get.   Citing is a skill that gets better with practice.

What is a citation format?   

Formats are precise and consistent standards [arrangements of elements] for citations.     

Often these originate from professional associations.   Professional associations or groups have developed citation styles that are used in particular fields or areas:

MLA: Modern Language AssociationAPA: American Psychological AssociationASA: American Sociological Association

MLA Citation format

The MLA style, developed by the Modern Language Association, is used by many subjects in the Humanities. 

The APA style is used by many social science areas, such as psychology.

See the following sources for the MLA format:OWL - MLA Style https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource

/747/01/RHC Library Handout http://libguides.riohondo.edu/cat.php?cid=3

5665

The MLA also publishes a book length style guide, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

This is available at any library, including RHC, where it is kept in Reference on the 2nd floor.

http://www.mla.org/store/CID24/PID159

APA Citation format

The APA style is used most often in social sciences and medicine.    

See the following sources for the APA format:

OWL - APA Style https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/

RHC Library Handout

http://libguides.riohondo.edu/cat.php?cid=76765

MLA Citation formatting

We’ll be using the MLA citation formatting for the most part in this course.

So we’ll be looking more closely at the MLA for examples of a citation system.

https://www.mla.org/

Changes from 7th to 8th edition

As the MLA recently underwent several changes from the 7th to 8th eds., we’ll spend some time looking at these changes

OWL Purdue

All following notes are taken from the OWL Purdue website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

MLA Style 8th ed

From the OWL:“MLA has turned to a style of documentation

that is based on a general method that may be applied to every possible source, to many different types of writing.

But since texts have become increasingly mobile, and the same document may be found in several different sources, following a set of fixed rules is no longer sufficient.”        

More from the OWL

“The current system is based on a few principles, rather than an extensive list of specific rules.

Process Over Sources

While the handbook still gives examples of how to cite sources, it is organized according to the process of documentation, rather than by the sources themselves.

Format

This is a shift of thinking from basing citations on

Format (book, article, website)

Process

To Process of Documentation

This process teaches writers a flexible method that is universally applicable.

Once you are familiar with the method, you can use it to document any type of source, for any type of paper, in any field.”

MLA from OWL Purdue

What the MLA considers necessary parts of a well-formed citation: Elements of citation: Author. Title of source. Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Optional Elements in 8th ed.

The following elements (in 7th ed.) were formerly usually required elements in a well-formed citation. The MLA now considers these optional elements:

Date of original publication: If a source has been published on more than one date, the writer may want to include both dates if it will provide the reader with necessary or helpful information.

City of publication: Now no longer required.

This is a big change from the 7th ed.----The seventh edition handbook required the city in which a publisher is located, but the eighth edition states that this is only necessary in particular instances, such as in a work published before 1900.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

More Optional Elements

Date of access: When you cite an online source, the MLA Handbook recommends including a date of access on which you accessed the material, since an online work may change or move at any time.

URLs While the eighth edition recommends including URLs when you cite online sources, you should always check with your instructor or editor and include URLs at their discretion.

MLA Example Formats

Some examples following, from the OWL Purdue site for types of formats

Even though, remember, we are now no longer emphasizing formats over process!

MLA CitationsBooks

**from OWL Purdue

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/

Publisher

Title and AuthorDatePublisher

MLA CitationsMagazines

AuthorTitle

Container

Date (also publishing

info volume.number if

present)

Page no.

MLA CitationsNewspaper

AuthorTitle

Container

Date (also publishing

info volume.number)

Page no.

See OWL Purdue for more examples:

Why can’t I copy and paste citations from source?

Can't I just take citations from the source?      

I copied and pasted citations from ProQuest for some of the assignments we’ve had, or book records from the catalog.

Why can’t I just use these from the sources, in my papers? After all, it includes all the information about the sources.

Answer: Book catalogues feature recordsPapers and Projects require citations

Book records include: Additional information not needed for citations Different nonstandard formats in each catalogue

Record from Online CatalogueFor example, here is a record from our RHC online catalogue:

Unnecessary Information

This information cannot be copied, just as it is, and placed in a works cited list

   It is not formatted Includes unnecessary information; i.e. ISBN no.

   Not needed in citation

MLA Style format for books:

Title and AuthorDate

Publisher

We must reformat and place the information within the format of the citation style (MLA, APA or other) we are using.

In this course, the materials we will be citing will include:

Books Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, scholarly

journals) Websites

So we’ll be getting more familiar with these sources and the process of documenting these

Other source types such as video, interviews, etc., we won’t be looking at in detail

Automatic Bibliography Formatting:

Most online databases offer some type of automatic formatting for citing sources you find them in (p. 138, text).

Example from Academic Search Premier

See Cite to right under Tools

See Formats in list. Copy and paste

Caveat:Check and recheck your formats for correctness!

See Formats in list. Copy and paste

Email article -- Example from ASP

Email Screen in ASP

Fill in with your email address

Fill in email address

Choose MLA citation format

Choose citation format on right if emailing article