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Antebellum Reform: Citing Sources

Style-Specific Guides

Who should cite sources?

Everyone, of course! We cite sources all the time - including a link in a social media post or text is citing a source. As students and scholars, when we're working in an academic or professional context, there are specific rules, formats, standards, and conventions that help us to make sure we're citing sources in the proper way for our purpose.

What does it mean to cite sources?

Citing a source just means saying where a piece of information came from originally - where you found it. That piece of information could be a quotation, statistical data, even an image. 

When should I cite sources?

Any time that you share information or ideas that are not of your own invention or experience. Some types of information considered to be "common knowledge" do not need a citation, for example, "George Washington was the first president of the United States" does not require a citation. Sometimes it is not that easy to determine, so when in doubt, cite!

Where do citations belong in my work? 

This can depend on the type of work you're doing and the academic subject you're working within. Generally, you will include a list of sources at the end of your work (a bibliography, works cited, or references list). You will also provide an in-text citation within your work for each piece of information that you use. In-text citations can be parenthetical or they can be footnotes - this depends on the citation style you are using, so pay attention to which style you've been instructed to use.

Why do I cite sources?

There are three important reasons:

  • To avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity
  • To give credit where it is due
  • To place your ideas within the "conversation" around your topic. Citing the work of others lends credence to your points and also shows the reader where your ideas fit within the scholarly discourse. Your citations may help another researcher find useful sources too. It's what researchers do!

How do I cite sources?

What's with all of these different styles, anyway? Why can't I just include a URL for this source? Why can't I use MLA for my history paper? Academic disciplines value different aspects of sources in evaluating their relevance, usefulness, and reliability. For example, scientists usually want to cite the latest research related to their area of interest, whereas a historian might not need recently published information. You can see this reflected in the bibliographic citation formats. When citing online sources, a url or link is not sufficient because links can change or break. Your reader needs to be able to find the source no matter what. Scholars are familiar with the styles, formats, and conventions of their disciplines and this helps them to read and assess information efficiently. Pay attention to what your instructor says, and use a citation manager as well as this resource guide to help you.

Source Evaluation Tip

 The most important first step when creating a bibliographic citation is to correctly identify the type of source you are citing. Online sources often look and act similarly, but they are not all the same!

  • A book is a physical printed object you can hold in your hands.
  • An eBook is a digitized version of a book. You would access it through a website such as Project Gutenberg or Google Books, or on a platform like Kindle, Libby, or Sora. (Note: Even though books you access through databases such as eBook Central or Gale eBooks are called "eBooks", you need to treat them as works from a database, too. If using NoodleTools, select "database" first.)
  • A journal article is published in a scholarly or academic journal, and you probably found it in a database such as JSTOR or ProQuest Research Library. You might also find a journal article on the open web using Google Scholar. Journal articles have a rather narrow focus, and they will have publication titles and issue information in addition to article titles. Journals are published periodically (annually, quarterly, monthly, etc.).
  • A website is an online resource that you probably found using a search engine like Google or DuckDuckGo. Most sources you will find on websites you will cite as a webpage.
  • A reference source could be in print or online. Often these look and feel like books, but they're cited a bit differently. You can tell you're looking at a reference source if it has relatively short entries on a variety of topics. The title may include words like "encyclopedia", "dictionary", or "atlas". 

All of these guidelines have exceptions, so if you're not sure what kind of source you have, ask!