Style Guides All-In-One

HOW TO CITE YOUR SOURCES IN A RESEARCH PAPER

Every formal research paper includes a list of bibliographic citations describing the books, articles and other sources consulted. This list gives credit to those whose ideas you have referred to or quoted, presents information your readers can use to find further information and gives your paper scholarly authority. To avoid having to track down at the last minute any missing information needed for your bibliography or list of works cited, be sure to record the necessary information (on file cards or in a computer file) about every source you consult as you are doing your research.

Here is a table of what you will need for every source consulted:

Examine the following examples of the three styles of citation most commonly used at CSUDH (APA, MLA and Turabian) for eight different library resources commonly used in preparing course assignments and research papers.

Uncertain which style to use for a particular assignment?

Check with your instructor. Once you know which citation style you will use for a specific paper, use only that style throughout the entire paper. Be consistent!

Wondering whether to underline titles or use italics?Underlining in a contemporary document often signifies to a reader that the underlined text is a hyperlink to a World Wide Web document. Current practice is therefore to avoid confusion by simply italicizing titles or other elements that would traditionally have been underlined in scholarly literature. If your instructor prefers traditional underlining, simply underline where we have used italics!

The following are basic examples. They do not cover every possibility. To cite more complex examples or more specialized resources such as audiovisual items, manuscripts and legislative publications, check the websites on the Research and Writing Resources section of the CSUDH Cyberspace Reference Library and / or consult these print citation manuals:

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed., 2001 (APA)
• Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources, rev. ed., 1993
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th ed., 1999 (MLA)
• A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed., 1996 (Turabian)N.B.: Examples of Turabian that follow are based upon “parenthetical reference / reference list” style; if you need help with “note / bibliography” style, see the Turabian Manual itself.

Examples

Click on one of the following links to see examples of each type. Alternatively, you can scroll down to see all the examples.

Citing a Book | Citing an Article or Chapter Contained in a Book | Citing a Government Document |

Citing an Article from a Print Magazine | Citing an Article from a Print Journal | Citing a Print or Microfilm Newspaper Article | Citing a Journal or Newspaper Article from an Electronic Database | Citing a Web Site

Citing a Book

Citing an Article or Chapter Contained in a Book

Citing a Government Document

Citing an Article from a Print Magazine

Citing an Article from a Print Journal

Citing a Print or Microfilm Newspaper Article

Citing a Journal or Newspaper Article from an Electronic Database

Citing a Web Site