Writing a Works Cited or Reference Citation
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Including in-text citations
Writing a Works Cited or Reference Citation:
Step One: Find out what style of citation you will need. Ask your professor or look for your subject on a Table of Recommended Styles. For example, the below subjects USUALLY use these styles.
Step Two: Find a guide that will tell you the rules of the style you need. Purdue Owl, NC State University Libraries, or Monash University Library will all offer guides for many styles.
Step Three: Find a source and determine what kind of source it is (a book, an article, a video).
Step Four: Follow the rules for that kind of source in your style guide. This means copy precisely the order, capitalization, and grammar of information about the source.
Example One
Let's say that you need to use MLA style. You find the following book and the MLA style Guide page for a book.
Title: Octopus, Author: Afsaneh Gray, Publisher: London: Oberon Books, Creation Date: 2017
(also includes subject headings, source, and identifier)
MLA Book Format: Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date. *Note: the City of Publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is unknown in North America.
Your Citation: Gray, Afsaneh. Octopus. Oberon Books, 2017.
Example Two
Let's say that you need to use APA style. You find this Journal Article and the APA style Guide page for a Journal Article.
Title: Red Octopus, Octopus rubescens Berry, 1953 (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae), in the Mexican tropical Pacific. Authors: Carmen Alejo-Plata, María, Del Río-Portilla, Miguel A., Illescas-Espinosa, Oscar, Valencia-Méndez, Omar. Is Part of: Check list (Luís Felipe Toledo), 2021-08-04, Vol.17 (4), p.1107-1112; DOI: 10.15560/17.4.1107
APA Journal Article Format: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
Your Citation: Alejo-Plata, M. del C., Del Río-Portilla, M. A., Illescas-Espinosa, O., & Valencia-Méndez, O. (2021). Red
octopus, Octopus Rubescens Berry, 1953 (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae), in the Mexican tropical Pacific. Check List (Luís Felipe Toledo), 17(4), 1107–1112. https://doi.org/10.15560/17.4.1107
Example Three
Let's say that you need to use Chicago style. You find this YouTube Video and the Chicago Style Guide page for a Social Media Web Source.
#FreeDocumentaryNature #Documentary #DeepSea; Video: Squids & Octopuses - Mysterious Hunters of the Deep Sea | Free Documentary Nature; 4,093,112 views; Date: Nov 25, 2020; Channel: Free Documentary - Nature; 965K subscribers; Description: Squids & Octopuses - Mysterious Hunters of the Deep Sea | Ocean Documentary, Octopuses and squids are anything but cuddly pets. They have neither legs nor fins. Instead, they ….
Format: Lastname, Firstname (Screen name). “Post text”. Social media service, indication of format/medium, publication date, time stamp. URL.
Your Citation: (Free Documentary Nature). "Squids & Octopuses - Mysterious Hunters of the Deep Sea". YouTube,
video, Nov 25, 2020, Accessed Mar 23, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAYkjkHNCAU.
Including in-text citations:
Step One: Find out what style of citation you will need. Ask your professor or look for your subject on a Table of Recommended Styles.
Step Two: Find a guide that will tell you the rules of the style you need. Purdue Owl, NC State University Libraries, or Monash University Library will all offer guides for many styles.
Step Three: Find a source with information you want to use in your paper / project. Write a summary, paraphrase or quote.
Step Four: Find the rules for in-text citations in your style guide. These may vary depending on what style you are using. For example, you may need to use footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations (name, page number) to credit the information you use.
