Citing Sources

Contents:

What to Cite

Why Cite?

APA Citation Style

ASA Citation Style

Chicago Citation Style

MLA Citation Style

Turabian Citation Style

Refworks Citation Software

Citation Generators on the Web

What to Cite:

Anything that you write or create that uses or refers to the ideas of another person, including:

  • Direct quotations (entire sentences and phrases)
  • Paraphrases  (rephrased or summarized material)
  • Major ideas that are not your own
  • Facts, information, data found in a source
  • Another student's work
  • Your own previous work

Exception: You do not need to cite what is considered common knowledge, for example, Barack Obama is the first African-American President of the United States.

WHY CITE?

  • To give credit where it is due
  • To avoid plagiarism  (For more information, see the Writing Center site) 
  • To provide evidence of your research
  • To aid others in doing further research

CITATION STYLES:

There are several citation styles.  Choose the one that your professor recommends or the one that is generally used for the subject or discipline of your paper.

 

APA (American Psychological Association)

  • Used most frequently in the sciences and social sciences
  • In print at Bertrand Library (Ref Desk BF76.7.P82 2001) 
  • Bucknell APA Quick Guide (PDF)

Selected online sources:

ASA (American Sociological Society)

  • Used most frequently in sociologyIn print at Bucknell  (Ref HM586.A54 2007)
  • See also The Sociology Student Writing Manual (Ref HM585. S638 2006)

Selected online sources:

Chicago

  • Sometimes used in any subject or department
    In print at Bertrand Library (Ref Desk Z253.U69 2003)
  • Very similar to Turabian

Selected online sources: 

MLA (Modern Language Association)

  • Used most frequently in the humanities
  • In print at Bertrand Library (Ref Desk LB2369 53 2003)
  • Bucknell MLA Quick Guide (pdf)

Selected online sources:

Turabian

  • Used most frequently in the social sciences
  • Very similar to Chicago
  • In print at Bertrand Library (Ref Desk LB2369.T8 2007)

Selected online sources:

Citation software

  • Refworks:  Bucknell approved software to format your paper in any of these citation styles and more.  You can save and manage all of your citations from your time at Bucknell! 

Citation generators on the web