LibGuides: FYI 101/2: Traylor: Citing Sources

Citing Sources

Citing your sources properly is very important while writing a paper (and at other times!), but it can be a confusing process. While librarians and Research Help Desk student workers are happy to help with any citing questions you may have, if you think you'll need some more in-depth help, the links provided below are great resources to use!

Tredway Library Citing Sources Research Guide
Want to learn more about when and why you should cite your sources? Check out this guide from the Tredway Library to learn more!
Augustana Reading/Writing Center
The Reading/Writing Center in the Gerber Center is an excellent place to go to for more in-depth help with citations. Check out their website to learn more about this free service.
UNC Writing Center Handouts
The University of North Carolina Writing Center has excellent handouts that are available for students to use when writing a paper.
Schewe Library Citation Guides
Schewe Library at Illinois College (my former library) has a number of excellent guides for MLA, APA, and Chicago styles. I created and managed the MLA guide there -- it's a great resource for figuring out how to cite any variety of source types.

MLA Handbook by The Modern Language Association of America
Call Number: Reference (2nd Floor) LB2369 .M52 2021
ISBN: 9781603293518
Publication Date: 2021-05-30
This is the official MLA Handbook (9th edition), available in the reference section of the Thomas Tredway Library. It provides guidance on formatting (heading, page numbers, spacing, and font size as required by your assignment), in-text citations, quoting and paraphrasing, avoiding plagiarism, using inclusive language, and more.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by American Psychological Association
Call Number: Reference (2nd Floor) BF76.7 .P83 2020
ISBN: 9781433832161
Publication Date: 2019-10-01
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition is the official source for APA Style. It is the style manual of choice for writers, researchers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and other fields.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition by The University The University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff
Call Number: full text online, print available at Reference (2nd Floor) Z253 .U69 2017
ISBN: 9780226287058
Publication Date: 2017-09-05
This seventeenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style has been prepared with an eye toward how we find, create, and cite information that readers are as likely to access from their pockets as from a bookshelf. It offers updated guidelines on electronic workflows and publication formats, tools for PDF annotation and citation management, web accessibility standards, and effective use of metadata, abstracts, and keywords.

Writing an Annotated Bibliography
This resource is adapted from materials created by Illinois College's Schewe Library (Garrett's former library) which provides details on how to create annotated bibliographies in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles.

"The Weaponization of Academic Citation" by Jennie Young (Additional Reading)
This is an optional reading which debates why we should use arbitrary citation styles at all. If you read it, I highly recommend looking at the comments as well. I realize the irony of providing this reading alongside these other citation resources, but I want you to recognize the importance of how citations can be used against you in your college careers if you do not do them well. Your voice matters and you cannot give professors the excuse to dismiss your ideas. In my opinion, MLA 9 is probably the most straightforward style beyond simply providing a permalink to your source (as many websites do -- simply providing a link as a reference). I also want to highlight the importance of citations (no matter what format they take) in providing a "backtracing" of where your ideas came from and why they should have any credibility at all. Being able to trace ideas to their source is a fundamentally important part of academic discourse.