Library Services: Citing Sources: Citations & Style Guides

About Citations

Citations consist of standard elements, and contain all the information necessary to identify and track down publications, including:

author name(s)
titles of books, articles, and journals
date of publication
page numbers
volume and issue numbers (for articles)

It's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons:

To support your research and give your work a factual basis
To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas
To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors
To provide your reader all of the information needed to track down the sources you used

It doesn't matter where you get the information you are using- When in doubt cite it:

Direct Quotes
Paraphrases (rephrased or summarized material)
Ideas from another work
Graphs, diagrams, drawings

You do not need to cite:

Proverbs, sayings example
Common knowledge or facts*

*Widely-known, generally-accepted information that is not attributable to one source.

Citations may look different, depending on what is being cited and which style was used to create them. The citation style usually depends on the academic discipline involved. Some examples are below:

AMA (American Medical Association) is often used for scholarly writing about medicine or health-related topics
APA (American Psychological Association) preferred by most of the disciplines in the social sciences.
MLA (Modern Language Association) is widely used in the Humanities
Chicago (University of Chicago) is generally used by History and some of the Fine Arts
CSE (Council of Science Editors) is the format preferred by writers in many disciplines in the natural sciences.

Whatever citation style you use, be CONSISTENT.

Style Guides

Print Resources

AMA Manual of Style by Cheryl Iverson (Editor); Stacy Christiansen (Editor)
Call Number: WZ 345 A43 REF
Publication Date: 2007

Online Resources

AMA Style Guide (Purdue Owl)
These resources provide guidance on how to cite sources using American Medical Association (AMA) Style, 10th Ed., including examples for print and electronic sources.

AMA Manual of Style ( University of Washington)
Provides information and tips on using AMA style.

Disclaimer: These online sites are maintained by third parties outside of ACPHS Library Services and are only intended as guides to citation format.. Your professor or editor is the final authority.

Print Resources

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by American Psychological Association
Call Number: WZ 345 A6 REF
ISBN: 9781433832154
Publication Date: 2020

Online Resources

APA Formatting and Style Guide
From The Owl at Purdue with several examples of in-text citations and reference list entries
APA Style Bias-Free Language
Guidelines on using bias-free language.
The Writer's Handbook
APA documentation guide from University of Wisconsin-Madison

Disclaimer: These online sites are maintained by third parties outside of ACPHS Library Services and are only intended as guides to citation format.. Your professor or editor is the final authority.

Print Resources

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition by The University The University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff
Call Number: Z 253 C45 REF
Publication Date: 2017

Online Resources

Chicago/Turabian Documentation Style
From the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Chicago Manual of Style (Purdue Owl)
This resource contains information and examples about the Chicago Style.

Disclaimer: These online sites are maintained by third parties outside of ACPHS Library Services and are only intended as guides to citation format. Your professor or editor is the final authority.

Print Resources

Scientific Style and Format by Council of Science Editors
Call Number: WZ 345 S44 REF
Publication Date: 2014

Online Resources

CSE Scientific Style and Format
Quick guide with formatting answers to basic questions. From the CSE website.
Council of Science Editor's Documentation Guide
From the Writing Center of University of Wisconsin-Madison

Disclaimer: These online sites are maintained by third parties outside of ACPHS Library Services and are only intended as guides to citation format. Your professor or editor is the final authority.

Print Resources

MLA Handbook by The Modern Language Association of America
Call Number: LB 2369 G531 REF
Publication Date: 2021

Online Resources

MLA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue Owl)
Shows how the first page of a paper written in MLA should look, and gives examples of in-text and Works Cited citations.
Modern Language Association
Answers frequently asked questions, including ones about how to cite recent information formats such as tweets and e-books.

Disclaimer: These online sites are maintained by third parties outside of ACPHS Library Services and are only intended as guides to citation format. Your professor or editor is the final authority.

Online Resources

Citing Medicine, 2nd Edition
The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Style Guide for authors, editors, and publishers.
NLM's Journals Database
Journals and their abbreviations from the National Library of Medicine.

Disclaimer: These online sites are maintained by third parties outside of ACPHS Library Services and are only intended as guides to citation format. Your professor or editor is the final authority.

ACPHS Vancouver Citation Style Guide

The Vancouver Style was first put forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in 1978 and has been adopted by biomedical publishers worldwide. Is it used primarily in health sciences and medicine.