Research Tips: Citation Guide

Citation examples:

Archives (primary sources)

Books (single author)

Books (multi-author)

Book Article (anthology or reference book)

Journal Article

Newspaper Article

Video (DVDs or VHS tapes)

Government Publications

Images

Website (authored, native print)

Website (unauthored, native web)

Website (authored, native web with print publication data)

Website (periodical publication in online database)

Annotated Bibliography

Additional citation resources

Archives (primary sources)

MLA style

Manuscript collection

Franklin and Marshall College, Archives and Special Collections.
Reynolds Family Papers. MS Group 06, Series X.

Archives collection

Office of the President, Keith Spalding. Record Group 05/11.
Franklin and Marshall College, Archives and Special Collections, Lancaster, PA.

Archives folder

Science Building (Stahr Hall, Stager Hall). Record Group 08/03/01.
Franklin and Marshall College, Archives and Special Collections, Lancaster, PA.

Unpublished manuscript

Smith, John. Diary. ms. Record Group 12/05/02.
Franklin and Marshall College, Archives and Special Collections, Lancaster, PA.

Unpublished letter

Reynolds, John F. Letter to Cate Reynolds. 2 September 1861. Reynolds Family Papers.
Franklin and Marshall College, Archives and Special Collections, Lancaster, PA.

Books (single author)

MLA style

Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays.

Princeton: Princeton UP, 1957. Print.

APA style (must be double-spaced)

Frye, Northrop. (1957). Anatomy of Criticism:

Four Essays. Princeton: Princeton UP.

Chicago style

Frye, Northrop. 1957. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays.

Princeton: Princeton UP.

Books (multi-author)

MLA style

Bondanella, Peter, and Julia Conaway Bondanella, eds.

Dictionary of Italian Literature. Westport: Greenwood, 1979. Print.

APA style (must be double-spaced)

Bondanella, P., & Bondanella, J.C. (1962). Dictionary of Italian Literature.

Westport: Greenwood..

Chicago style

Bondanella, Peter, and Julia Conaway Bondanella. Dictionary of Italian Literature

Westport: Greenwood, 1962.

Book Article, anthology or reference book

MLA style

Roberts, Sheila. "A Confined World." World Literature Written in English

24 (1984): 232-38. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.
Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 25. Detroit: Gale, 1988. 399-402. Print.

APA style (must be double-spaced)

Roberts, S. (1984). A Confined World. In Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.

(Vol. 25, pp. 399-402). Detroit: Gale.

Chicago style

Roberts, S. (1984). "A Confined World." In Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.

(Vol. 25, pp. 399-402). Detroit: Gale.

Journal Article

MLA style

Monk, Patricia. "Frankenstein's Daughters: The Problems of the Feminine

Image in Science Fiction." Mosaic 13.3-4 (1980): 15-27. Print.

APA style (must be double-spaced)

Monk, P. (1980). Frankenstein's Daughters: The Problems of the Feminine

Image in Science Fiction. Mosaic, 13.3-4, 15-27.

Chicago style

Monk, Patricia. 1980. Frankenstein's Daughters: The Problems of the Feminine

Image in Science Fiction. Mosaic 13.3-4:15-27.

Newspaper Article

MLA style

Dalin, Damon. "A $7 Greeting Card? Yes, But Listen To The Melody It Will Play For You."

Wall Street Journal 10 May 1983, Eastern ed.: D37. Print.

APA style (must be double-spaced)

Dalin, D. (1983, May 10). A $7 Greeting Card? Yes, But Listen To The Melody It Will Play For You.

Wall Street Journal, pp. 1, 25.

Chicago style

Damon Dalin, "A $7 Greeting Card? Yes, But Listen To The Melody It Will Play For You."

The Wall Street Journal, May 10, 1983.

Video (DVDs or VHS tapes)

MLA style

A film entry usually begins with the title (italicized) and includes the director, the distributor and the year of release. You may include other data that seem pertinent - such as the names of the writer, performers, and producer - between the title and the distributor.

It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart,

Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946. Film.

APA style (must be double-spaced)

Scorsese, M. (Producer), & Lonergan, K. (Writer/Director). (2000).

You can count on me [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

Government Publications

MLA style

Congressional Record Vol LV, Part 4 (65th Congress) Washington DC:

Government Printing Office, 1917. Print.

APA style (must be double-spaced)

National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental

illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S.

Government Printing Office.

Website (authored, native print)

Template:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title or work, as part of larger work."

Title of complete work or site. Name of Organization. Date of document.
Medium. Date of access. .

Example:

Burka, Lauren P. "A Hypertext History of Multi-User Dimensions."

MUD History. 1993. Web. 2 Aug. 1996.
.

Website (unauthored, native web)

Template:

"Title or work, as part of larger work." Title of complete work or site.

Name or Organization. Date of document. Medium. Date of access. .

Example:

"Hourly News Summary." National Public Radio. Natl. Public Radio,

20 July 2007. Web. 27 July 2007.

Website (authored, native web with print publication data)

Template:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title or work, as part of larger work."

Title of complete print work.vPrint publication data, date.
Title of site. Medium. Date of Access.

Example:

Bierce, Ambrose. "Academy." The Devil's Dictionary. The Collected Works of

Ambrose Bierce. Vol. 7. New York: Neale, 1911. N. pag. The Ambrose
Bierce Project. Web. 15 May, 2008.

Website (periodical publication in online database)

Template:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Journal or Newspaper Article." Journal or

Newspaper Name. Date of article. Title of site. Medium. Date of access.

Example:

Kozinn, Allan. "New Works in Many Styles". New York Times.

21 November 1997, sec. E: 26. Lexis-Nexis. Web. 28 July 1999.

Annotated Bibliography

Annotations vs. Abstracts

The purpose of the annotation, a brief descriptive and evaluative paragraph, is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly articles or journal indexes.

Creating an annotated bibliography

First, locate and record citations to books and journals that may contain useful information on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items, then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic. Cite the book or article using the appropriate style.

Following the citation, write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article, which may include the following:

(a) evaluate the authority or background of the author
(b) comment on the intended audience
(c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or
(d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

Example (using MLA style):

Goldschneider, F. K., Waite, L. J., & Witsberger, C. "Nonfamily living

and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults."
American Sociological Review 51 (1986): 541-554.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families.

Additional citation resources:

Citing Information, University of North Carolina

Citing Sources, Duke University

Purdue Online Writing Lab

Research and Documentation, Diana Hacker