Citation Guides & Style Manuals

 

Authoritative Guides to Citation Styles 

Examples of Citation Styles

Citation Generators

A Note About Citation Generators Embedded in Databases


Authoritative Guides

ACS | APA | Chicago | MLA | Pechenik (Biology) | Turabian

ASA | APSA | Blue Book (Legal)| SBL (Bible) | U.S. GPO

American Chemical Society [ACS] Format

ACS style guide : effective communication of scientific information, 3rd ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, D.C., 2006.

Available in the Science Library Reference Collection: REF QD8.5.A25 2006. For examples, see the Williams College Library Guide to ACS style.

American Political Science Association [APSA] format

American Political Science Association. Publications Committee. 2006. APSA style manual for political science. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association. Publications Committee.

Available in Rolvaag Library at the Reference Desk: R.R. JA86.A52 2006. For examples, see the University of Wisconsin Library Guide to APSA Style.

American Psychological Association [APA] Format

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

Available in the Rolvaag Library Reference Room at the Reference Desk and in the Reference Room: R.R. BF76.7.P83 2001; in the Science Library: Ref BF76.7.P83 2001. For examples, see the Williams College Library Guide to APA style.

American Psychological Association. (2005). Concise rules of APA style. Washington, D.C.: Author.

Available in the Rolvaag Library Reference Room at the Reference Desk and in the Reference Room: R.R. BF76.7.C66 2005. For examples, see the Williams College Library Guide to APA style.

Electronic References (APAStyle.org)
The APA's online guide to citing electronically-accessed material.
Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style
FAQ provided by the American Psychological Association

American Sociological Association

American Sociological Association. 2007. American Sociological Association Style Guide. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association.

Available in the Rolvaag Library Reference Room at the Reference Desk: R.R. HM586.A54 2007, and in the regular stacks: HM586.A54 2007.

Blue Book [Legal Style]

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia Law Review Ass'n et al. eds., 17th ed. 2000).

Available in the Rolvaag Library Reference Room at the Reference Desk: R.R. KF245.B58 2000

Chicago Manual of Style

Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Available at the Rolvaag Library Reference Desk: R.R. Z253 .C5 2003; and in the Music Library Reference collection: Music Ref Z253 .C5 2003. For examples, see the Williams College Library Guide to Chicago Note (Humanities) Style or the Williams College Library Guide to Chicago Author/Date Style.

An online version of the Chicago Manual of Style. Please note that there is a limit of 10 simultaneous users, so if you are unable to access it, wait a while and try again. (When accessing off-campus, please use the proxy server.)

Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2007.

How to cite historical materials from gravestones and patents to court records and emails in Chicago Manual of Style Humanities Style. Available at the Rolvaag Library Reference Desk: R.R. D5.M55 2007.

Modern Language Association

The MLA published their revised Handbook in March 2009. We have listed guides for the traditional version and the revised citation styles. Ask your professor which they prefer you to use.

Revised Version:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 2009. Print.

Available in the Rolvaag Library Reference Room at the Reference Desk: R.R. LB2369.G53 2009. For additional examples, see MLA Style. Library, Northern Michigan U, 12 June 2008. Web. 2 Feb. 2009.

Traditional:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

Available in the Rolvaag Library Reference Room at the Reference Desk and in the Reference Room: R.R. LB2369.G53 2003; in the Music Library: Ref LB2369.G53 2003. For examples, see the Williams College Library Guide to MLA Style.

Frequently Asked Questions about the MLA Handbook

Pechenik (Biology)

Pechenik, Jan A. 2007. A short guide to writing about biology. 6th ed. New York: Pearson/Longman.

Copies on order for the Science Library Reference collection and Rolvaag Library Ready Reference.

Society for Biblical Literature

Alexander, Patrick H., John F. Kutsko, James D. Ernest, Shirley A. Decker-Lucke, and David L. Petersen., eds. The SBL Handbook of Style for Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999.

Available in the Rolvaag Library Reference Room at the Reference Desk: R.R. PN147.S26 1999

Turabian

Turabian, Kate L. 2007. A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations: Chicago style for students and researchers. Rev. by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams and University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff. 7th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Available in the Rolvaag Library Reference Room at the Reference Desk and in the Reference Room: R.R. LB2369.T8 2007. Also available for checkout from the regular shelves. Available in the Music Library: Ref LB2369.T8 2007. Also available for checkout from the regular shelves.

Turabian Quick Guide

The official home page for Turabian Reference List Style from the University of Chicago Press.

Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2007.

How to cite historical materials from gravestones and patents to court records and emails in Chicago Manual of Style Humanities Style. Since Turabian is an abbreviated version of Chicago, this manual will work for unusual items not covered in Turabian. Available at the Rolvaag Library Reference Desk: R.R. D5.M55 2007.

St. Olaf College Music Courses Supplement for Turabian

University of Western Ontario Library's guide to Citing Music in Turabian format.

United States Government Printing Office Style Manual

United States Government Printing Office Style Manual

Provides guidelines for the form and style of government printing.
PDF version: http://nsdsa.phdnswc.navy.mil/tmmp/styleman2000/front.html


Examples of Citation Styles

 

These sites provide examples for many types of citations to aid you in formatting.

Williams College Libraries Citation Guide

Use boxes on left for information on specific styles or citing types of resource.
Covers ACS, APA, Chicago and MLA. Since Turabian is a derivative of Chicago, can be used for Turabian also.

Duke University Library's Citing Sources Within Your Paper

By style; includes both parenthetical citation and footnotes. Covers APA, CBE, Chicago, MLA, Turabian.

Duke University Library's Assembling a List of Works Cited

By type of material cited, e.g. full-text article retrieved from a database, article within a book. Covers APA, CBE, Chicago, MLA, Turabian.


Citation Generators

Citation generators generally allow you to fill boxes with pertinent information (author, title, etc.) and the computer produces a citation for you to copy and paste into a document. As always, double check that your citation is correct by comparing it with examples in the authoritative guides. Below are four of the best citation generators.

APA format

 

Knight Cite (Calvin College Library)

Citation Builder (Source Aid)

Style Wizard

This site does a good job of teaching APA format as you compile the pieces of the citation.

MLA Format

 
Knight Cite (Calvin College Library)

Citation Builder (Source Aid)

 


A Note About

Citation Generators Embedded in Databases


Citation generators are often now included in journal databases. They are only as good as the programming that created them. Be very careful to check the provided citations for accuracy after cutting and pasting into your bibliography. For instance, CSA includes a "retrieved from CSA database..." statement even if the actual article was not retrieved via a CSA database. That portion should be deleted. Likewise, Ebsco copies titles of articles directly from America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts even though they are written in all capital letters. They must be changed to appropriate upper and lower case. That being said, these citation generators can save a great deal of time if used with caution.