Each time you complete a research project, such as a report, poster, oral presentation, etc., you are responsible for showing where you found your information. Using information responsibly means giving credit to the person whose research, thoughts, and ideas you used when compiling your information. This is called citing information. To do this, a separate page is included with your research work. This page is called a bibliography. A bibliography is nothing more than a list of all of the sources (books, encyclopedias, periodicals, Web sites, etc.) where you found the information used in your project. Each written entry for a source you have used is called a citation. A bibliography must be written following a special format or pattern. To correctly write a bibliographic citation, you must locate certain information about the resource you use, and write it in the specific format for that resource on your bibliography page. For example, if you used a book, you would look on the book's title page to locate the information needed, and then write it in the format for a book citation. For a Web site, you would locate the information on the Web page you used, and write it in the format for a Web site citation.

Below is a list of the information you need from each resource, and the format it must be written in on your bibliography page. Remember, to write your citation correctly, you must use the EXACT punctuation and format shown below.

If you want additional help writing a bibliographic citation, you can go to NoodleTools Quick Cite page at http://www.noodletools.com/quickcite and select the type of citation you need (book, magazine, newspaper, etc.). Follow the directions for filling in the blank template. The directions will guide you step-by-step for creating a correct citation. After you have completed the citation, you can cut and paste it into your own document (works cited or bibliography page.)
 
 

A CITATION FOR A BOOK

Most of the information you need can be found on the title page. The copyright date is usually found on the back of the title page, also known as the verso page. Look for the copyright symbol, a "c" in a circle, and use the most recent year given if there is more than one year listed. If you can not find the publishing company's name on the title page, look for it on the verso page. It is often there with the publisher's address.

Here is the information you need to locate in the book:

1. Author's last name, (comma) first name. (period) If the book has more than one author, list the first author as stated but with a comma instead of a period after the last name and then list the second author without reversing the names (ex. Bob Smith). If there are more than three authors, put "et. al." (ex. Smith, John, et. al )
2. Title of the book (underlined OR italics) (period)
3. Edition. (period) if second edition or later
4. Place of publication: (colon) this is the city where the book was published.  If more than one city is listed, use the FIRST city listed. If it is a smaller city with a name that may not be recognized by everyone, add the state postal abbreviation after the city name (ex. Butler, PA:).
5. Publisher, (comma)
6. Year of publication. (period) this is the copyright year.

SAMPLE BOOK CITATIONS:
 

A BOOK WITH ONE AUTHOR

Goldfarb, Mace. Fighters, Refugees, Immigrants. Minneapolis:
            Carolrhoda, 1982.

A BOOK WITH TWO AUTHORS

Holman, C. Hugh and William Harmon. A Handbook to Literature.
            New York: Macmillan, 1992.

THREE AUTHORS WITH THE BOOK EDITION

Whitten, Jeffrey L., Lonnie D. Bentley, and Victor M. Barlow.
    Systems Analysis and Design Methods. 2nd ed.
    Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1989.

NO AUTHOR NAME AVAILABLE

Venezuela...In Pictures. Minneapolis: Lerner, 1987.

ONE EDITOR

Layman, Richard, ed. American Decades: 1960-1969.
           New York: Gale Research, 1995.

A CITATION FOR A BOOK (EDITED OR COMPILED)

1. Editor's last name, (comma) first name. (period)
2. ed. (period) OR comp. (for compiler)
3. Title of Book. (underlined OR italics)
4. Place of publication: (colon)
5. Publisher, (comma)
6. Year of publication. (period)

example -

Kradel, John. ed. How to be a Great Cook.
             New York: Scholastic, 1996.
 

A CITATION FOR A GENERAL DICTIONARY

1. "Word cited."(in quotation marks) (period)

A CITATION FOR A GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

1. Author of article last name, (comma) first name. (period) If no author name is given, do not complete this part.

A CITATION FOR PRINT PERIODICALS

1. Author's last name, (comma) first name. (period)

A CITATION FOR INTERNET SOURCES

ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION DATABASES (Online Encyclopedias and periodical databases)

1. Author's last name, (comma) first name. (period)

example -

Cooper, Lydia. "Weather Cycles in the United States." National Geographic World. June 1999: 4+.

A CITATION FOR A CD-ROM

1. Author's last name, (comma) first name. (period) if available
2. Title of the CD-ROM software. (underlined OR italics) (period)
3. Publication medium. (CD-ROM, diskette, or magnetic tape) (period)
4. Edition, release, OR version. (period)
5. Place of publication: (colon)
6. Name of publisher, (comma)
7. Year of publication. (period)

example -

Encarta. CD-ROM. 1995 ed. New York: Microworks, 1996.