Hours Today: 11/07/09
10am-10pm | see all hours
Ask a Librarian
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."
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.
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.
To cite your sources (in the style established by American Psychological Association), you'll need to do two things:
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).
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, publisher, 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 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
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 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
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/Report from an interactive database:
NOTE:
Sometimes a database asks you to enter information such as a company name or to choose an
industry,
and then presents pages or reports based on what you entered. If there is no author listed, use the
name of the company that produced the database as the author, provide the title of the
page/report generated, and give the
date you accessed the database and the database
name.
Examples:
IBISWorld. (March 26, 2009). Soybean farming in the US:11111.
Retrieved June 19, 2009, from IBISWorld database.
Cella, Jason. (2009). Comcast Corporation, Fact Sheet.
Retrieved June 19, 2009, from Hoover's Company Records database.
Reference USA. (2009). American International Group--Company Summary.
Retrieved June 19, 2009, from International Businesses database.
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).
For more citation instructions and examples, see Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, 5th edition, at Bailey/Howe Reference Desk, BF76.7.A46, and
APA Style Guide to Electronic References at http://library.uvm.edu:8080/dana/protected/style_reference.pdf (remote access to this resource is available only to UVM affiliates).
© Trina Magi, University of Vermont Libraries, 2002
Page last updated July 20, 2009
Bailey / Howe Library
538 Main Street · Burlington VT, 05405-0036
ph: 802.656.2023 · fax: 802.656.4038