Contents
Cal Poly Pomona

Bibliographic Citations

Bibliographic citations refer to an alphabetical list of works cited, included at the end of your paper. The list of works enables the reader of your paper to locate your source materials.

The main components of a bibliographic citation are the author's full name (last name first), the title of the work (with all important words capitalized) and the publication information which includes the place of publication, the publisher's name, and the date of publication.

Listed below are examples of basic bibliographic citations where the first line of the entry is flush with the page's left margin and subsequent lines are intended.

BOOKS
Example of Book Bib Citation
 
ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS

A basic citation for a periodical article includes the author, the title of the article, the title of the periodical, the volume number (if available), the issue number (if available), the year of publication, and the page numbers.

Example of Article Bib Citation
 

NEWSPAPERS

In newspaper citations the volume and issue are replaced with the complete date of publication , (day, month, year) and there may be a sec. no. added.

Example of Newspaper Bib Citation
 

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Entries for widely known reference works such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, yearbooks, need not include facts of publication. When an article is signed the name of the author may be included.

    "Vicksburg Campaign." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1985 ed.

    Holman, Harriet R. "Page, Thomas Nelson." Collier's Encyclopedia. 1987 ed.

MICROFORM MATERIALS

Citations for materials available on microform (microfiche, microfilm) follow the format for books and include the name of the information service supplying the microform.

    Groark, James J. Utilization of Library Resources by Students in Non-residential
        Degree programs. ERIC, 1974. ED 121 236.

     

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

The goal of the citation is to allow the information to be retrieved again. Punctuation and capitalization, especially in the "electronic address" of the resource, should appear just as it is used in the database.

CITING A WEB SITE

To cite an entire Web site (but not a specific document on the site), it's sufficient to give the address of the site.

    Kidpsych is a wonderful interactive Web site for children.
    <http://www.kidpsych.org>

PROJECT, DOCUMENT OR DATABASE ON THE WEB
  • Title of document database (underlined).
  • Name of author (if given)
  • Electronic publication information, date and name of sponsoring organization
  • Date of access and network address

If some information is missing, cite what is available.

    Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. June 1999. Indiana U. 26 June 1999. <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/>

ONLINE PERIODICAL ARTICLE

Follows closely the citing of print articles. Cite what is available.

  • Author's name (if given)
  • Title of material (in quotation marks)
  • Name of periodical (underlined)
  • Volume number, issue number
  • Date of publication
  • Number of range of pages
  • Date of access and Web address

Denning, Peter J. "Business Designs for the New University." Educom Review 31.6 (1996). 23 June 1998 <http://educom.edu/web/pubs/review/reviewArticles/31620.html>

E-MAIL COMMUNICATION

To cite e-mail, give the name of the writer; the title of the message (if any), taken from the subject line and enclosed in quotation marks; a description of the message that includes the recipient and the date of the message.

    Johnson, Carl M. "Re: Utopia." E-mail to Kim J. Cahill. 21 June 1998

    Harner, James L. E-mail to the author. 20 Aug. 1998

ONLINE POSTING

To cite a posting to an e-mail discussion list, begin with the author's name and the title (subject) of the document in quotation marks, followed by Online posting, the date posted, the name of the forum, if known, date of access, and in angle brackets the Internet site address.

Bruckman, Amy S. "UFO Crossing Proposal." 19 Mar. 1999 UFOTALK. 20 Mar 1999. <http://web.clas.ufo.edu/ipsa/UFOTALK.htm>

LISTSERV, AND NEWSLIST CITATIONS

Give the author's name (if known), the subject line from the posting in quotation marks, and the address of the listserv or newslist, along with the date.

    Bruckman, Amy S. "MOOSE Crossing Proposal." <mediamoo@media.mit.edu> (20 Dec. 1994).

    Seabrook, Richard H. C. "Community and Progress." <cybermind@jefferson.village.virginia.edu> (22 Jan. 1994).

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) SITES

To cite files available for downloading via ftp, give the author's name (if known), the full title of the paper in quotation marks, and the address of the ftp site along with the full path to follow to find the paper, and the date of access.

    Bruckman, Amy. "Approaches to Managing Deviant Behavior in Virtual Communities." <ftp.media.mit.edu pub/asb/papers/deviance-chi94> (4 Dec.1994).

TELNET SITES

List the author's name (if known), the title of the work (if shown) in quotation marks, the title of the full work if applicable in italics, and the complete telnet address, along with directions to access the publication, along with the date of visit.

    Gomes, Lee. "Xerox's On-Line Neighborhood: A Great Place to Visit."

    Mercury News 3 May 1992. <telnet lambda.parc.xerox.com 8888, @go #50827, press 13> (5 Dec. 1994).

CD-ROMS

Guidelines for Family Television Viewing. Urbana: ERIC Clearinghouse on Childhood Education, 1990. ERIC. CD-ROM. Silverplatter. June 1999.

 

REFERENCES

The formats used in the previous examples are basically the ones recommended in the Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Should your instructor require another format, the below listed references are available in the Reference area on the 6 th floor, Reference Desk.

For examples of citation formats for public documents, legal documents, dissertations, unpublished sources, additional electronic sources or other sources not covered in this handout, please see references below.

The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors. 2nd ed.
  The American Chemical Society: Washington, 1997
  QD 8.5 A25 1997

The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2003
  Z 253 U69 2003.

Electronic Styles: A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information. Xia Li and Nancy B Crane
  Information Today Inc., Medford, N.J. 1996
  PN 171 F56 L5 1996

Form and Style, Research Papers, Reports, Theses. 12th ed. Carol Slade.
  Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 2003
  LB 2369 C3 2003

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed.
  Modern Language Association of America: New York, 2003
  LB 2369 G53 2003

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. 6th ed.
  KL Turabian. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1996
  LB 2369. T8 1996

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed.
  American Psychological Assn.: Washington, 2001
  BF 76.7 P83 2001

Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers. 6th ed.
  Council of Biology Editors: Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1994
  T 11 S386 1994