by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: August 31, 2009   Last Updated: July 12, 2010

A college education affords a young person the opportunity to do and experience things that they could never otherwise do. Sometimes along with all that good, the student must face things they dread, and most often, the thing that a college student will dread most is the requirement of having to write a research paper. Part of the reason why research papers are such a bother for college students is because they require the utmost precision when it comes to citing the sources that have been used during the course of the research for the paper.

In an attempt to clarify some of the confusion surrounding proper citation methods, here are some basic guidelines and suggestions that will ensure that your citations contain all of the information that is needed and required.

USING DIFFERENT STYLE MANUALS -

There are different methods for citing sources in different academic areas. Each school will undoubtedly have it's own preferences with regard to style manuals. One way to cover all bases is to purchase the University of Chicago Style Manual (which is also sometimes referred to as the Chicago Style Manual or just the Chicago Manual,) because it will show you how to cite sources according to a host of different style preferences. It will include the MLA (Modern Language Association,) the APA (American Psychological Association,) such scholarly journals as the American Historical Review and many more.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN CITATIONS -

Proper source citation dictates that you always include the following:

*Authors name

*Name of the source

*Volume number if there is one

*Edition

*Publisher

*Place where it was published

*Date of publication (original publication, revised publications, etc., )

*Page numbers

< What if there is more than one author? >

If there is more than one author, list the authors in alphabetical order according to their last name. If the book is edited by several editors, list the names of the editors in alphabetical order according to their last name. Indicate, however, that these are not authors, but rather editors.

FOOTNOTES VS ENDNOTES -

Depending on the type of paper you are writing, you may be called upon to use footnotes or endnotes. One thing to consider when using footnotes or endnotes is that with end notes, they appear at the end of each page, whereas footnotes appear at the end of the article. For someone who is reading the article, it is sometimes preferable to be able to see the citations at the bottom of the page.

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