Library and Information Literacy Instruction

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Creating Citations

  1. Identify the necessary components of your book, article or Web page.
    • Information for articles: author(s), title, source title, volume/issue, date, page range, URL (Web address) and date accessed if online source.
    • Information for books: author(s)/editor(s), title(s), publisher, publisher location, date, pages used.
    • Information for Web page(s): author(s), title, last update date, date accessed, URL (Web address).
  2. Determine the style required and find examples. There are many different citation or documentation styles such as MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style, etc.
    • Check with your instructor to determine which style you should use.
    • Help is available: UW-Madison Writing Center's Writer's Handbook provides examples.
  3. Cite resources in the body of paper, if required, and create a list of cited resources (bibliography).
    • Include all resources used-articles, books, and Web pages.
    • Use style consistently throughout your paper.

See also: Creating Citations video

Questions? Ask a Librarian!

Use RefWorks to instantly format bibliographies.
Information on how to avoid plagiarism from UW-Madison's Writing Center.