Citing Sources

Citation Guides, once primarily used when citing books and periodical articles, now also provide the rules for citing articles from subscription databases, Web pages, and other Internet documents.

Some of these documents are PDFs and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Citing Sources Using APA

APA is the style manual of choice for many disciplines in the social sciences beyond just psychology.

Citing Sources Using MLA

MLA is the citation style used by most disciplines in the Humanities. MLA revised its style in 2008 in the MLA Style Manual, and these changes will be incorporated in the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook (May 2009). The guides below use the new 2008/9 standards.

Citing Sources Using Chicago/Turabian

Chicago is the style manual of choice for history and some other disciplines. Turabian, a simplified guide to the Chicago Manual of Style, is a popular choice at many undergraduate institutions regardless of discipline. Turabian and Chicago offer two documentation systems: 1) footnote/bibliography and 2) parenthetical reference/reference list. The systems are quite different, one more closely resembling MLA, and the other similar to APA. Be careful not to mix the two.

Footnote/Bibliography

Parenthetical Reference/Reference List

  • Turabian and Chicago parenthetical/reference list documentation system, from CW Post Library.

Citing Sources Using CSE (formerly CBE)

Scientific Style and Format (Ref T 11 .S386 2006) is the style manual of the Council of Science Editors. CSE is the style of choice for many disciplines in medicine, biology, and the natural sciences. The manual is now in its seventh edition (2006). CSE offers three different methods for citing materials in-text as well as a standard format for end references.

Citing Sources Using ASA

The ASA Style Guide is the style manual of the American Sociological Association. It is very similar to the APA Style Manual, with some exceptons, a few due to the fact that the manual was last updated in 1997.

Citing Sources Using ACS

The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information is the style manual of the American Chemical Society. It is currently in its third edition (2006). The guide offers two methods of in-text citation: a numbered system and an author/date system similar to that used by APA. The guide is kept at the reference desk (call number QD8.5 .A25 2006).