Citing Sources

Academic writing whether theses, assignments, reports or scholarly articles often include quotes with ideas and opinions from scholars and other authors in your own writing. Knowing how to cite another person's work properly helps you to:

• give credit and acknowledge their ideas
• avoid plagiarism
• direct readers to the sources on which your research is based

How to Cite Sources

Citation Styles are a set of rules or standards established by a specific society, association or publisher for documenting various sources of information. These sources of information may include journal publications, books, thesis, online sources, unpublished manuscripts, magazines, etc. Detailed descriptions of the citation styles (often known as Style Manuals or Publication Manuals) can be found on the websites of those societies, associations or publishers who set and maintain the citation standards. Styles may be revised from time to time in which case new or up-dated Manuals are released. It is a good practice to consult the original Publication Manuals for updates.

Different disciplines use different citation styles therefore it is important to know which citation style is most popular in your discipline. Ask your instructor which citation styles you should use in your assignments. 

ACS Style Guide (American Chemical Society)

• See print versions
• ACS Style Guide

APA Style (American Psychological Association)

• See print versions
• APA Style Guide to Electronic References   (2012; 6th edition) Copies may be printed for personal use only.
• APA Format   (Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University)

ASA Style (American Sociological Association)

• See print versions
• ASA Style and Reference Guide   (Department of Sociology, Queen's University)
• ASA Format   (OWL at Purdue University)

ASCE Style (American Society of Civil Engineers)

• ASCE Format: A Guide for Authors

CSE Style (Council of Science Editors)

Formerly CBE and used in biology and other natural science disciplines

• See print versions
• CSE Citation Guide   (Washington State University)
• CSE Style   (D. Hacker’s Research and Documentation Online. 5th ed)

Chicago Style

Widely used in the humanities and social science, and history in particular

• See print versions
• Chicago Manual of Style Online
• Chicago Manual of Style   (OWL at Purdue University)

Harvard Style

Harvard is a style of referencing primarily used by university students to cite information resources

• Harvard System (University Library, Anglia Ruskin University, UK)
• Harvard Citations (University Library, University of Leeds, UK)
• Harvard Citation Style (Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, George Washington University)
• Harvard Citation Style (University of Western Australia Library)

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

Commonly used in Engineering especially in Electrical and Computer Engineering

• IEEE Citation Reference  A guide in PDF from Bath University that provides an overview of IEEE Citation Style Components to be used as a quick reference.
• IEEE Editorial Style Manual The IEEE Style Manual 2017  includes information on the consistent use of: Punctuation, Capitalization, Abbreviations, Section headings, Numbers, equations, Footnotes, How to cite and style references, Biographies. 
• IEEE Style Guide with examples (Murdoch University) 

MLA (Modern Languages Association)

Used in literature, arts, and the humanities

• See print versions
• MLA Format   (OWL at Purdue University)
• MLA Style: English and Other Humanities   (D. Hacker’s Research and Documentation Online. 5th ed.)

Turabian Style

Used in many disciplines in humanities, social sciences, and sciences and is a variation of the Chicago style

• See print versions
• Turabian Quick Guide   (University of Chicago Press)

Vancouver Style

Used in the health sciences disciplines

• See print version
• Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers

Special Formats of Material

Business Sources

The following guide will help you cite business sources in APA style. 

• Citation Guide for Business Sources (Simon Fraser University Library)

Government Publications and Statistics

The following guides provide general citation examples for different types of government publications and statistics and are intended to supplement, not replace, standard citation manuals such as Chicago, MLA, etc.

• Brief Guide to Citing Canadian Government Documents and Statistics (QUL)
• How to Cite Statistics Canada Products (Statistics Canada)
• How to Cite Government Publications - Research Guide (McMaster University Libraries)
• Citing Canadian Government Documents- APA Style (SFU Library)
• Citing Government Information Sources Using MLA Style (University of Nevada, Reno Libraries)

Legal Materials

The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (popularly known as "the McGill Guide") is the authoritative source in Canada for citing legal materials.

• See print version  
• Not available online

Unofficial legal citation information available on the web:

• Legal Citation with the 9th edition of the McGill Guide (Queen's University Library)
• Legal Citation and APA (Camosun College)

Maps and Other Cartographic Materials

• Citation Guides (Queen's University Library)

Music

• Citing Music Sources in Your Essay and Bibliography   (University of Western Ontario Music Library)
• Writing about Music (Bibliographies)  (Indiana University Music Library)
• Writing about Music (Footnotes and Endnotes)  (Indiana University Music Library)