Once you end a browser session, saved records are not retrievable, so be sure to record full citations and the name of the database in which each was found as you search.

If your professor requires a specific citation style, check the MLA or APA manuals for the format of citations in your bibliography. (See section 14 for more information on citation style.)

You may wonder whether a citation refers to a book, article, book review, book chapter, or something else, like a web site. Following are elements of a book and article citation, and some of the document types you will encounter:

Author(s) or editor(s)
[Chapter title]
Book title
Publisher and Place of Publication
Year of publication
[Pagination of the chapter cited]

Lipson, Charles.
Doing honest work in college : how to prepare citations, avoid plagiarism, and achieve real academic success.
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2004.

Author(s)
"Article title"
Journal or Source title
Journal volume and issue numbers
Date of publication
Pagination

Farrell, Elizabeth F. 
"Judging Roommates by Their Facebook Cover." 
The Chronicle of Higher Education 
53.2 (Sept 1, 2006).
p.A63

The fact that you retrieved an article from a database or web site, rather than from a printed journal becomes an element in your citation.

Note the date you viewed the online article, the name of the database or web source, and the URL. If the URL is very long or from a subscription database, you may not need to include it in your bibliography.

Web-based sources change frequently. Knowing what path you followed to access a source will be important to your readers.

Doctoral dissertations are sometimes cited, but difficult to acquire for free. They are usually too specialized for undergraduate research. If you find a dissertation that cannot be missed, contact a librarian about purchasing a copy through UMI Dissertation Express.

A paper presented at a conference may be published in a book of conference proceedings. You can request the paper through interlibrary loan as if it were a book chapter. Be sure to specify page numbers for the paper you specifically want to read.

Please complete Worksheet 4 .