Human & Organizational Learning

Citation Managers ( ex:  RefWorks) let you:

• Import citations from the library catalog and databases
• Store and organize citations
• Add research notes
• Format in-text citations
• Create bibliographies in different citation styles

Citation Style Guides (ex:  APA) show you how to:

• Document the sources you are using in your work
• Create citations manually for all types of sources
• Embed quotations and paraphrases properly in your text

There are several reasons why it is important to cite your sources properly.

• It is important to give credit to the person or group who discovered or created that information.
• It allows your reader to find the source later if she wants to read it herself.
• Citing experts gives credibility to the argument of your paper.
• Proper citing indicates that you did a thorough job researching your topic.

There are guidelines of what to include and in what order for every citation style.  Here are the basics for the two most common sources.

For an article: 

• author
• article title
• name of the journal, newspaper, or magazine
• publication year
• volume & issue
• page numbers
• DOI or stable URL if accessed online

For a book: 

• author
• title of work
• publication year
• city
• publisher's name