Business Research Assistant

How to Cite Your Sources

When you write your research paper, you’ll include lots of information from many sources. You must indicate where you found that information. This is called “citing your sources.”

Why is this important?

Citing your sources gives credit to the people who provided the information, and it tells the person reading your paper where you found the information.

Do I have to cite my sources?

Yes, this is not optional! You MUST cite your sources. Otherwise, you could be guilty of plagiarism or academic dishonesty, which means taking someone else’s ideas and making it look as if they are your own.

How do I cite my sources?

To cite your sources (in the style established by American Psychological Association), you’ll need to do two things:

FIRST, YOU MUST INCLUDE "CITATIONS" TO YOUR SOURCES THROUGHOUT YOUR PAPER, wherever you have included information that came from a source. Here's how:

In the body of your text, provide the author last name(s) followed by the publication year, enclosed in parentheses. This enables the reader to refer to your list of references in the back of your paper to learn more about the source of information.

Example:
One theory of strategy (Lawrence, 1994) states that. . .

When you include a direct quote in your paper, you should also include the page number of the source from which you took the quotation.

Example:
"Whenever an organization succeeds in functioning within the TQM paradigm, its performance improves in every respect" (Barrett, 1994, p. 19).

If you name the author in the text of your paper, you don't need to repeat his/her name in parentheses.

Example:
Herzberg and Wang (2002) offer the following advice on choosing stocks. . .

If the source has no author, place the first few words of the title along with the publication year in parentheses.

Example:
The word "commodity" is defined as "an article of commerce" (Webster's New Collegiate, 1981, p. 224).

SECOND, PROVIDE A LIST OF "REFERENCES" AT THE END OF YOUR PAPER. This is a list of the sources you cited in your paper—books, journal articles, personal communication with experts, Web sites, or other materials.

Arrange your references in alphabetical order. Put the heading “References” centered at the top of the page.

For each item on your list, you should include information that would help the person reading your paper locate your source (e.g., title, author, publication date, etc.). The examples below show you how to format references for various types of materials.

Book with one author:
Quinn, B. (1998). How Wal-Mart is destroying America: and what you can do about it. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

Book with multiple authors:
Covello, J. A. & Hazelgren, B. J. (1994). The complete book of business plans. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.

Book with an editor rather than an author:
Lawrence, M. (Ed.). (1994). Field guide to strategy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Book with no author:
Associations yellow book. (2003). New York: Leadership Directories.

Chapter or section of a book (or industry survey within a book):
Wilson, G. W. (1978). Economic systems. In L. R. Bittel & M. A. Bittel (Eds.), Encyclopedia of professional management (pp. 325-330). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Levy, J. (2004, Dec. 23). Autos & Auto Parts. In E. Bossong-Martines (Ed.), Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys (Vol. 1). New York: Standard and Poor's.

Chapter or section of a book (or industry survey within a book)--with no author:
Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars (2001). In A. Darnay (Ed.), Information, Finance and Services USA (pp. 768-770). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group.

Journal article from a printed publication:
Herzberg, M. & Wang, S. (2002, Summer). Identifying lead analysts for stock selection. Journal of Investing. 11(2), 25-35.

Journal article from an online version of a publication:
Herzberg, M. & Wang, S. (2002, Summer). Identifying lead analysts for stock selection [Electronic version]. Journal of Investing. 11(2), 25-35.

Journal article from a full-text library database:
Herzberg, M. & Wang, S. (2002, Summer). Identifying lead analysts for stock selection. Journal of Investing. 11(2), 25-35. Retrieved October 27, 2002, from LexisNexis database.

Journal article from a free Web site (not a library database):
Kharif, O. (2003, December 30). Intel: King of the Wi-Fi frontier? Business Week. Retrieved December 30, 2003, from http://www.businessweek.com

Newspaper article from a printed publication:
Feder, B. J. (2002, July 18). I.B.M. beats forecasts but with signs of weakness. The New York Times, p. C1.

Newspaper article from a library database:
Feder, B. J. (2002, July 18). I.B.M. beats forecasts but with signs of weakness. The New York Times, p. C1. Retrieved October 27, 2002, from LexisNexis database.

Newspaper article from a free Web site (not a library database):
Turner, S. (2003, December 30). Downtown camera shop closes. Burlington Free Press. Retrieved December 30, 2003, from http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com

Web site with a stable URL:
Basic Form:
Author/editor/organization. (Last update or copyright date listed on the Web page). Page Title. Retrieved [date you accessed the page] from [URL]

Example:
Foster Business Library. (2002). Financial Ratios Calculator. Retrieved August 28, 2002, from http://www.lib.washington.edu/business/ratios

Example for page with no author:
Financial Ratios Calculator. (2002). Retrieved August 28, 2002, from http://www.lib.washington.edu/business/ratios

Example for page with no date:
Foster Business Library. (n.d.). Financial Ratios Calculator. Retrieved August 28, 2002, from http://wwww.lib.washington.edu/business/ratios

SEC report from a database:
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. (2003). Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended September 27, 2003. Retrieved December 30, 2003, from EDGAR database.

Page from an interactive database:
NOTE: Sometimes a database asks you to enter information such as a company name and then generates "custom" pages or reports based on what you entered. In this case, use the database name as the author, provide the title of the page generated, indicate that you viewed a custom report, and give the date you accessed the database and the database name.

Examples:
Factiva. (2003). Vermont Teddy Bear Co. [Custom report]. Retrieved September 3, 2003, from Factiva database.

Mergent Online. (2003). Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Company Financials. [Custom report]. Retrieved December 30, 2003, from Mergent Online database.

Personal communication with someone:
Personal communication includes letters, memos, and e-mail messages you personally receive or telephone conversations and interviews you have with people. Because personal communications are not recoverable by the person reading your paper, they are not included in the reference list. Simply cite your communication in the text of your paper, as shown in the following examples:

Examples:
According to W. Gates (personal communication, August 20, 2002), Microsoft has done nothing wrong.

Microsoft is the best software company in the world (W. Gates, personal communication, August 20, 2002).