When citing sources, be sure to use a conventional bibliographic style. Most disciplines have a standard style that writers are expected to use. Each style will specify a uniform way of citing sources that will:
- Give an orderly appearance to your bibliography;
- Provide all the essential elements of information that a reader will need to locate the source.
A citation must include:
| For books and nonprint materials: |
For periodical articles: |
- author
- title
- place of publication
- publisher
- date
|
- author
- title
- periodical title
- volume number or date of publication
- page numbers
|
Your professor may require you to use a particular bibliographic style. If you are unsure, ask your professor. Below you will find three commonly used bibliographic style manuals that show how to cite a variety of sources, including documents from the Internet:
