Writing Centre - reference Styles
- Why reference anyway?
- When should I reference something?
- Deciding which reference style to use
- American Psychological Association (APA) format
- The Chicago Manual of Style format
- Modern Language Association (MLA) format
- Referencing On-Line Sources
Why reference anyway?
New students are often surprised by their instructors' emphasis on proper referencing of secondary materials.
Referencing is important for several reasons:
- Research is in many ways a collaborative project, with present scholars building on the work of others. Therefore, it is a scholarly convention to make it easy for others to locate, and consult one's sources. If everyone is "playing by the same rules," there is less danger of ambiguity or misunderstanding.
- Proper referencing gives credit to the owner of intellectual property: when ideas are your business, research, books, and articles have material value. That is why we have copyright laws. If you wouldn't steal someone's car, don't steal their words or ideas.
- Plagiarism is a serious offense with very real penalties that can affect your academic career: even if you didn't do it on purpose, if your work contains other people's words or ideas which are not properly referenced, you could face disciplinary action up to and including expulsion. When in doubt, reference!
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When should I reference something?
DO reference if
- you are directly quoting someone else's words;
- you are using someone's ideas and have paraphrased them (put them in your own words);
- you are using multiple sources (e.g. "Many critics have discussed Hitchcock's attitudes towards his actresses (Smith, Brown, Johnson).");
- someone else has already published your idea (e.g. "Walter Benjamin already developed this idea (p.78).")
- you are differentiating your own idea from that of a published writer (e.g. "Although Walter Benjamin already developed this idea (p.78), he does not take account of the importance of local cultures.")
DON'T reference if
- you are presenting your own ideas;
- you are referring to a generally known fact or idea (e.g. "Canadian confederation took place in 1867" needs no reference).
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Deciding what reference style to use:
Different disciplines reference in different ways. For example, writers
in the humanities often use the MLA style, while psychologists and the nursing
and business departments usually use the APA style. Your instructors will
probably make their expectations clear, but if not, ask. Some instructors
are flexible as long as you pick one style and use it properly and consistently.
It is important to become familiar with the reference style usually used
in your major discipline.
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American Psychological Association (APA) format:
Textual resources:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association, 2001.
On-line resources:
Purdue University On-Line Writing Lab. Using APA Format. 1998.
Useful site, with lots of examplesHow to Cite Information from the Internet and the World Wide Web
Information on citation of online sources from the APA's own web site.Capital Community-Technical College in Hartford, Connecticut. A Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on Styles Recommended by The American Psychological Association.
Useful site which addresses some basics of using the APA format
Dewey, Russ. APA Style Resources.
A great list of links for APA citations
Guffey, Mary Ellen. APA Style Electronic Formats.
Useful site, but with a lot of scrolling
Land, T. Web Extension to American Psychological Association Style (WEAPAS). 22 September 1998.
Useful site with good links, but requires a lot of scrolling
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Textual resources:
The Chicago Manual of Style. 14th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Revised by John Grossman and Alice Bennett. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
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Modern Language Association (MLA) format:
Textual resources:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1999.
________. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2d ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1998.
On-line resources:
Purdue University On-Line Writing Lab. Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
Useful site, with lots of examplesCapital Community-Technical College Hartford, Connecticut. A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Modern Language Association(MLA) Documentation.
Useful site which addresses some basics of using the MLA formatGuffey, Mary Ellen. MLA Style Electronic Formats.
Useful site with a lot of scrolling
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Referencing On-Line Sources:
There is now a lot of printed material about referencing on-line sources,
though much of it is not standardized. There are also a number of excellent
web-sites with up-to-date guidelines on how to reference all sorts of electronic
information. In general, include the same sorts of information that you would
with printed sources (e.g. author, title, address, and how to access. Also,
add the date the site was posted or revised adn the date you accessed the
material).
On-line resources:
Documenting Sources from the World Wide Web
The MLA's own websiteHow to Cite Information from the Internet and the World Wide Web
The APA's own websitePurdue University On-Line Writing Lab. Resources for Documenting Electronic Sources.
Useful site, with linksWalker, Janice R., and Todd Taylor. The Columbia Guide to Online Style (Columbia UP, 1998).
A useful site for all disciplines, based on their bookTextual resources:
Harnack, Andrew, and Eugene Kleppinger. Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.
Heckman, Grant. Nelson Guide to Web Research, 3rd ed. Toronto:Nelson, 2003.
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