Using Information > 3: Citing Net Sources

"Even when you seem to work alone, you walk in the footsteps of others, profiting from their work, their principles and practices. One fundamental principle is that you share the basis of your research by documenting your sources so that others can follow you . . ."

Wayne C. Booth, The Craft of Research (1995), p.71

3A: About Citations

When creating any type of citation:

1. Supply all necessary information so that the source you cite can be located by others.

2. Format your citations according to a particular style manual if your instructor has specified one.
   • APA (American Psychological Association) style is used for social sciences research.
   • MLA (Modern Language Association) style is preferred for humanities research.
   • There are other style manuals as well.

3. The primary elements in a bibliographic reference are usually the same, regardless of which style manual is used, but the order in which they are arranged and punctuation will vary.

-- What's Different About Citing Internet Sources?

For Internet sources, some citation elements may be missing. For example, when citing print sources, page information is important. Web "pages", on the other hand, can be quite lengthy and are not broken up into standard, numbered page units, like books or articles. As a general rule, when you cannot find some elements of information about a source, cite what is available.

A new element is also added to citations for Internet sources: the date that you access the source. This is important because Web pages are so volatile -- unlike printed publications, they can change or disappear entirely. The access date provides a point of reference for your instructor.

Some examples for citing different types of online content are provided below:

• Web pages
• Online articles
• Postings and messages

Examples shown here are based on the following style manuals:

• APA: APA Style Guide to Electronic References, 2007.
• MLA: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th edition, 2003). Also: MLA Style FAQ, 2003.

3B: Citing Web Pages

What information is necessary to include for a Web page that is an individual work (many Web pages fall into this category)?

Individual work	Examples
Cite these elements: Author/Editor Title of page Site title Publication date/Last modified Publisher/sponsor Access date Address	APA Style: Stolley, K. (2006, Sept. 28). Avoiding plagiarism. The OWL at Purdue. Purdue University Writing Lab. Retrieved July 27, 2007, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/ MLA Style: Stolley, Karl. "Avoiding Plagiarism." The OWL at Purdue. 28 Sept. 2006. Purdue University Writing Lab. 27 July 2007 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/>.

3C: Citing Parts of Individual Works

How can you cite something that is part of a larger work (such as a chapter in a book or an article from a reference source)?

Part of a work	Examples
Cite these elements: Author/Editor Title of part Source title Site title (if different) Publication date/Last modified Publisher/sponsor Access date Address	APA Style: Du Bois, W.E.B. (1903). Of the dawn of freedom. In The Souls of Black Folk. Retrieved July 27, 2007, from Bartleby.com: Great Books Online, http://www.bartleby.com/114/ MLA Style: Du Bois, W.E.B. "Of the Dawn of Freedom." The Souls of Black Folk. 1903. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. 27 July 2007 <http://www.bartleby.com/114/>.

3D: Citing Online Articles

What information is necessary to include when citing an article in a continuous publication, such as a magazine, journal, or newspaper that you found on the Web?

• Provide information about the article you are citing and also about the source in which it was published.

• If the online article also provides information about a printed version, include that information (volume and issue number, paging) in your citation as well.

• Rules vary significantly for articles located using a subscription (library) database. See the examples below for details.

Magazine, journal, newspaper article	Example
Cite these elements: APA Author Title of article Source information (title, volume/issue, pub. date, paging if available) Access date (not needed for APA if content will not change) Address: APA uses Digital Object Identifier (DOI) if available; otherwise article URL When found with subscription database and no DOI available: database name only	APA Style: Cook, P. E., & Hinman, L. (1999). Criminal profiling: science and art. Journal Of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 15(3), 230-241. doi: 10.1177/1043986299015003002 OR Cook, P. E., & Hinman, L. (1999). Criminal profiling: science and art. Journal Of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 15(3), 230-241. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete.

Magazine, journal, newspaper article	Example
Cite these elements: MLA Author Title of article Source information (title, volume/issue, pub. date, paging if available) When found with subscription database: database name, name of the library through which you accessed the content, library's city and state Access date Address: URL (when found using subscription database, provide database address only)	MLA Style: Cook, Patrick E. and Dayle L. Hinman. "Criminal Profiling: Science and Art." Journal Of Contemporary Criminal Justice 15.3 (1999), 230-241. Academic Search Complete. Ohio State University Libraries, Columbus, OH. 27 July 2007 <http://web.ebscohost.com>.

3E: Citing Postings and Messages

There are many different types of online discussions. Some are synchronous and take place in real-time (such as IM or chat). Others are asynchronous (you can read messages and reply whenever convenient for you). In general, messages that you cite should have scholarly value and be retrievable.

• Mailing list messages (e-mail messages sent to a group of subscribers)
• Blog posts
• Personal e-mail messages

Mailing List Message

Examples

Cite these elements: Author Pub. date of message Title/Subject line of message List name Access date (MLA only) Address (Web message archive or e-mail address)

APA Style: McKiernan, G. (9 July 2007). They*re everywhere you go*: hip and cool librarians. Message posted to Web4lib electronic mailing list, archived at http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/web4lib/2007-July/044571.html MLA Style: McKiernan, Gerry. "They*re Everywhere You Go*: Hip and Cool Librarians." Online posting. 9 July 2007. Web4lib. 27 July 2007 <http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/web4lib/2007-July/044571.html>.

Blog Posting	Examples
Cite these elements: Author Pub. date of posting Title/Subject line of posting Blog title (MLA only) Access date (MLA only) Address	APA Style: Kroski, E. (2006, April 7). Community 2.0. Message posted to: http://infotangle.blogsome.com/ MLA Style: Kroski, Ellyssa. "Community 2.0." Weblog entry. InfoTangle. 7 April 2006. 27 July 2007. <http://infotangle.blogsome.com/>.

Personal E-Mail Message	Examples
Cite these elements: Author/Sender Date of message Title/Subject line of message (MLA only) Description/Recipient	APA Style: E-mail messages should be cited only within the text of the paper. They are not included in the References. For example: Anthony Boyle (personal communication, Aug. 31, 2006) stated that this notion of utopia was consistent with the view held by many religious scholars. MLA Style: Boyle, Anthony T. "Re: Utopia." E-mail to the author. 31 Aug. 2006.

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