DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Citations and References


“Google' is not a synonym for 'research'.” 

-Dan Brown

 

Citations, References, and Bibliographies oh my!

 

Simply put: Citations and references are used to give credit to the people who supplied you with the information you are using in an essay.

 

A Citation: Writing within your text the source(s) of your info

A Reference: A detailed description of the item from which you obtained the info, contained in the works cited/Bibliography page at the end of the essay. 

 

There are two places that your research needs to be listed:

 

1.) In the text using this information (after quoting or using the information in a sentence) 

AND

2.) In the Bibliography/Works Cited page at the end of your essay. 

 

There are several terms for the page at the end of your essay that only                        contain an alphabetical list of your sources, these include works cited,                        bibliography and References.

 

Most of the time these terms are used interchangeably, however, there are some technical differences:

 

Works Cited/References: Contain only works that you cited in your essay.

Bibliography: Contains all works that you consulted in preparing the essay, including those you did not directly quote or use information from.

Annotated Bibliography: An annotated bibliography is very rare for undergraduate work but is widely used as an industry standard for graduate and doctorate level work. Basically, an annotated bibliography includes 3 paragraph descriptions after each entry otherwise found in a bibliography. These 3 paragraphs detail: 1.) a summary, 2.) Reflection on the applicability of the source to the essay, and 3.) an evaluation of the text as a whole. 

 

Citation/Reference/Bibliography Styles

 


In essence, there are 3 major styles for how to format your citations/references. These are MLAAPAand Chicago. 

 

The LaGuardia Library has one of the best, most in-depth guides as to how to tackle these three styles: https://library.laguardia.edu/research/cite

 

This rich resource includes many examples of how to write your citations, understanding proper citation protocol is the hallmark of a well-prepared college student. Planning on going to a 4-year? Want to get your master's? You'll definitely need to learn citation styles! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.