Citing a source means that you show, within the body of your text, that you took words, ideas, figures, images, etc. from another place.
Citations are a short way to uniquely identify a published work (e.g. book, article, chapter, web site). They are found in bibliographies and reference lists and are also collected in article and book databases.
Citations consist of standard elements, and contain all the information necessary to identify and track down publications, including:
- author name(s)
- titles of books, articles, and journals
- date of publication
- page numbers
- volume and issue numbers (for articles)
Citations may look different, depending on what is being cited and which style was used to create them. Choose an appropriate style guide for your needs. Here is an example of an article citation using four different citation styles. Notice the common elements as mentioned above:
Author - R. Langer
Article Title - New Methods of Drug Delivery
Source Title - Science
Volume and issue - Vol 249, issue 4976
Publication Date - 1990
Page numbers - 1527-1533
American Chemical Society (ACS) style:
Langer, R. New Methods of Drug Delivery. Science 1990, 249, 1527-1533.
IEEE Style:
R. Langer, "New Methods of Drug Delivery," Science, vol. 249, pp. 1527-1533, SEP 28, 1990.
American Psychological Association (APA) style:
Langer, R. (1990). New methods of drug delivery. Science, 249(4976), 1527-1533.
Modern Language Association (MLA) style:
Langer, R. "New Methods of Drug Delivery." Science 249.4976 (1990): 1527-33.
