In all types of research and scholarly writing, it is important to cite your sources in order to:
1. Help readers identify and locate the source you used.
Readers may want to locate the source you have cited, to verify the information or to learn more about the topic. A proper citation includes all of the information for readers to locate the source.
2. Provide evidence that your position is well-researched.
Scholarly writing is grounded in research. Citations strengthen your argument by demonstrating that your position is thoroughly researched.
3. Give credit to the author of ideas which are not your own, and thereby avoid plagiarism.
Giving proper credit to those whose ideas, words, and thoughts you use is not only respectful to those authors, but also helps you avoid plagiarism.
Nearly all of the UCC Library databases will provide you with instant citations in MLA and APA format for articles, books, and videos. This can be quite helpful, but oftentimes they are incorrect. Always be sure to review them for accuracy instead of assuming they are correct.
A technique for properly attributing information to the appropriate author or source.
A prescribed set of stylistic and formatting conventions for citing sources in a consistent manner within a given discipline.
Refers to property created through the use of the mind (i.e. intellect), encompassing a wide variety of original creations, including manuscripts, recordings, artwork, inventions, an designs.
Deliberate stealing of another's ideas or representing such as your own.
A means of incorporating text into your paper using roughly the same amount of words as the original but restating the information without quoting it.
Inadvertent or purposeful stealing of intellectual property by failing to properly acknowledge the owner.
A means of incorporating text into your paper using the exact wording and formatting of the original.
A means of incorporating text into your paper by condensing original source materials to present main ideas in a narrower, more focused way.
A type of plagiarism committed accidentally and resulting from such factors as a lack of knowledge of proper source use, a misunderstanding of the rules of citation, or careless note taking.
References
McAdoo M. L. (2015). The student's survival guide to research. Neal-Schuman.
The Student's Survival Guide to Research by A hanging indent is the indentation of all lines other than the first within a paragraph. These are typically only used in bibliographies, as they allow for easy differentiation between sources. APA and MLA require the use of hanging indents in reference lists.
APA: For information on hanging indents in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association see section 2.12, "Reference List."
MLA: For information on hanging indents in The MLA Handbook see section 1.6, "Placement of the List of Works Cited."
Footnotes are short numbered notes that are placed at the bottom of the page in an essay or article. They are used for a variety of reasons including, citing materials, providing notes on a source or topic, and to acknowledge copyright status.
Although you will find footnotes in many journal articles, they are not typically required in APA or MLA formatted essays.
APA: For information on hanging indents in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association see section 2.12, "Reference List."
MLA: For information on hanging indents in The MLA Handbook see section 1.6, "Placement of the List of Works Cited."
Use this format for citing periodicals, magazines, newspapers, blog posts, and other sources that are available in print and on the web. Do not use this for webpages, websites, and digital-only sources such as CNN, BBC News, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Mayo Clinic, etc...
Do not use copyright or review dates in place of publication dates. If no date of publication or last update is given, use (n.d.).
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article: Capital letter for the first word of the subtitle. Title of Periodical, Volume(Issue), page-page. DOI or URL
Schwartz, J., Bind, M.-A., & Koutrakis, P. (2017). Estimating causal effects of local air pollution on daily deaths: Effect of low levels. Environmental Health Perspectives, 125(1), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP232
Martin, N. (2019, February 5). New Hampshire’s opioid crisis looms over marijuana legalization debate. The Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/marijuana/2019/02/05/new-hampshire-opioid-crisis-looms-over-marijuana-legalization-debate/xBoezjtW0FzPbU1oyuS71M/story.html
Sciolino, E. (2020, May). The invention of hiking. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/invention-hiking-1-180974592/
McKenna, N. (2020, April 14). The signaling pathways project: A FAIR portal into the cell signaling ‘omics data universe. PLOS Collections. https://blogs.plos.org/collections/the-signaling-pathways-project/
Use this format for citing physical and digital books including citing individual chapters from books and/or works in anthologies.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of book: Capital letter for the first word of the subtitle. Publisher Name. DOI or URL
*Use the same formats for both print books and ebooks. For ebooks, the format, platform, or device (e.g., Kindle) is not included in the reference (APA Style Book/EBook References).
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Brown, L. S. (2018). Feminist therapy (2nd edition). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000092-000
Everly, G.S., Jr., & Lating, J. M. (2017). The Johns Hopkins guide to psychological first aid. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of chapter: Capital letter for the first word of the subtitle. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book: Capital letter for the first word of the subtitle (Edition, Vol. #, pp. x-xx). Publisher Name. DOI or URL
Barreto, A. R., Campos, M. M., Dias, M. C. M., Friedmann, A., Haddad, L., Kishimoto, T. M., Vitoria, T. (2007). Brazil. In R. S. New & M. Cochran (Eds.), Early childhood education: An international encyclopedia (Vol. 4, pp. 914-970). Praeger.
Vicioso, S. (2016). The Caribbean, or the feminine face of multiculturalism. In E. M. Martinez (Ed.), Daring to write: Contemporary narratives by Dominican women (pp. 159-163). University of Georgia Press. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41276-017-0075-x
Use this format for citing physical and digital images including citing individual paintings, sculptures, and other forms of art.
Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (Role of authors). (Date of publication). Title of media: Capitalize the first letter of a subtitle [Description of media]. Publisher/Production Company. URL
Creator of Infographic. (date of publication). Title of the infographic: Capitalize the first letter of the subtitle [Infographic]. URL
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Data sharing [Infographic]. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/ data-sharing-infographic.pdf
Artist, A. A. (Date of creation). Title of artwork: Capitalize the first word of a subtitle [Description of artwork]. Museum Name, Museum Location. URL
Murakami, T. (2002). If the double helix wakes up... [Painting]. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/354616/if-the-double-helix-wakes-up?ctx=14b9a41f-1230-490c-9bf9-3b00357e070e&idx=1
Rostgaard, A. (1967). Cancion Protesta [Song Protest] [Silkscreen]. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/7913
The following examples were found in various databases, however, note that APA 7 discourages the use of Database names in citations. Additionally, even though the works of art are retrieved from databases, the database states where the images are held. You would cite that as the location instead of the database itself.
Artist, A. A. (Date of creation). Title of artwork: Capitalize the first word of a subtitle [Description of artwork]. Database Name, Database URL (do not use a permalink to the piece of art if it requires the user to log in. If that is the case simply put the URL of the database itself)
Helicobacter pylori bacterium [Photograph]. (n.d.). Science Photo Library, https://www.sciencephoto.com/
Homer, W. (1909). Right & left [Oil on canvas]. The Granger Collection, https://www.granger.com
Miró, J. (1918). Portrait of Juanita Obrador [Oil on canvas]. Art Institute of Chicago, https://www.artic.edu/
Use this format for citing social media posts in APA format.
Author, A. A. [@username]. (YYYY, Month DD). Insert the first 20 words of the post here [Description of audiovisuals if necessary] [Type of post]. Name of Site. URL
Author, A. A. (YYYY, Month DD). Insert the first 20 words of the post here [Description of audiovisuals if necessary]. Facebook. URL
National Institute of Mental Health. (2020, May 7). Today is Children's Mental Health Awareness Day. If you’re concerned about your child’s mental health, where do you begin? Start [Image attached]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/nimhgov/posts/10159664588226978
Author, A. A. [@username]. (YYYY, Month DD). Insert the first 20 words of the post here [Description of audiovisuals]. Instagram. URL
Smithsonian Libraries [@silibraries]. (2020, May 14). Alpine Flowers Tales (Alpenblumenmärchen) is a 1922 illustrated storybook that describes the woodland adventures of two acorn children who get [Watercolor illustration]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CALfxZ1A6ck/
Author, A. A. [@username]. (YYYY, Month DD). Insert the first 20 words of the post here [Description of audiovisuals if necessary] [Tweet]. Twitter. URL
National Geographic [@NatGeo]. (2020, April 12). Harpy eagles—the largest of all the eagles—may look like something from a fantasy book, but in the wild [Thumbnail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/NatGeo/status/1249400149731934208?s=20
Use this format for citing physical and digital videos including videos on platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo.
Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (Role of authors). (Date of publication). Title of media: Capitalize the first letter of a subtitle [Description of media]. Publisher/Production Company. URL
Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of webinar or PowerPoint: Capitalize the first letter of a subtitle [Webinar/PowerPoint slides]. Publisher. URL
Goldberg, J. F. (2018) Evaluating adverse drug effects [Webinar]. American Psychiatric Association. https://education.psychiatry.org/Users/ProductDetails.aspx?ActivityID=6172
Jones, J. (2016, March 23). Guided reading: Making the most of it [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/hellojenjones/guided-reading-making-the-most-of-it
Producer, A. A. & Producer, B. B. (Producers). (Year). Title of film or series: Capitalize the first letter of a subtitle [Description]. Production Company A; Production Company B. URL.
Jackson, P. (Director). (2001). The lord of the rings: The fellowship of the ring [Film; four-disc special extended ed. on DVD]. WingNut Films; The Saul Zaentz Company.
Ricciardi, L., & Demos, M. (Directors). (2015). Making a murderer [Television series]. Synthesis Films; Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/title/80000770
Uploader, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of work: Capitalize the first word of a subtitle [Description of work]. Publisher. URL
TED. (2011, May 2). Beware online “filter bubbles” [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/B8ofWFx525s
University of Oxford. (2018, December 6). How do geckos walk on water? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm1xGfOZJc8
Use this format for citing webpages, websites, and digital-only sources such as CNN, BBC News, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Mayo Clinic. Do not use this for periodicals, magazines, newspapers, blog posts, and other sources that are available in print and on the web.
Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of work: Capital letter for the first word of the subtitle. Title of Website. URL
Do not use copyright or review dates in place of publication dates. If no date of publication or last update is given, use (n.d.).
Shukman, D. (2019, April 2). What does air pollution do to our bodies? BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47777103
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). About high blood pressure. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020, April 10). Recreational Therapists. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/recreational-therapists.htm#tab-1
Tuscan white bean pasta. (2018, February 25). Budgetbytes. https://www.budgetbytes.com/tuscan-white-bean-pasta/
Central Intelligence Agency. (2020, March 19). Central America: Haiti. In The world factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/ the-worldfactbook/geos/aa.html
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Equity. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved November 9, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equity
Things such as personal emails or interviews lack recoverable data and therefore should be cited in-text only.
Example:
When I interviewed an academic librarian for my career project, I learned that digital literacy is an enormous barrier for many older students when they return to college after being in the workforce (L. Teoli, personal communication, June 14, 2022).
Sometimes an author writes about research that someone else has done, but you are unable to track down the original research report. In this case, because you did not read the original report, cite only the source you did consult. The words “as cited in” in the parenthetical reference indicate you have not read the original research.
Consider the following from (Ward, 2015, p.9):
A further concern is that as collections grow and age, users will find it increasingly difficult to identify and locate relevant material on crowded shelves. "Removing low use materials should increase the user success rate, decrease user frustration in search time and effort, and facilitate stacks maintenance" (Stueart, 1985, p. 53).
You would cite the source that you personally got the information from, but you also need to credit the original source ---even though you did not consult it.
Ward, S. M. (2015). Rightsizing the academic library collection. ALA Editions.
Weeding outdated library materials leads to "decrease[d] user frustration in search time and effort" (Stueart, 1985, as cited in Ward, 2015, p. 9).
Click the image or link below to search Crossref.org for a DOI.
For further information on using DOIs in APA Style references:
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