Introduction

Any project, thesis or dissertation largely relies on information taken from other works. You can draw upon a multiplicity of sources when writing a text, such as books, articles, statistics, websites, etc.

You may quote from a source, by reporting the original author’s exact words; you may paraphrase, by putting a passage from a text into your own words, or you may discuss ideas developed by other authors. In any of these cases it is essential that you acknowledge your sources in order to:

• respect intellectual property and avoid plagiarism
• enable readers to find the sources you cited
• document the range of your research

This guide provides you with the basics on how to cite sources (printed and electronic) in your text and how to list references at the end of your work. Examples are given on how to cite the most common types of publications. For types of documents not exemplified here, you can refer to the style manuals suggested at the end of this guide or ask the library staff for advice.

Topics explored include:

• how to quote from other texts
• how to cite sources using the documentary-note system
• elements that have to be included in citations
• how to cite individual types of sources
• how to arrange a bibliography

The majority of the examples of bibliographic citations quoted in this guide are drawn from The Chicago manual of style (2003; hereafter referred to as The Chicago manual of style).

Quoting Sources

Quotations may either be integrated into the text or set off as blocks. Remember that quotations must reproduce the exact words of the original passage (see the difference between “quote” and “paraphrase” in the glossary).

Run-in quotations

Generally, short quotations are integrated into the text and enclosed in double quotation marks.

In short, there has been “almost a continual improvement” in all branches of human knowledge;

Block quotations

Quotations longer than eight lines, as well as quotations that are the object of analysis, are generally set off from the text. Block quotations are not enclosed in quotation marks and are indented, commonly set in smaller type and single-line spaced. The sentence/phrase that introduces the quotation may be followed by a colon (as in the case of the introductory phrase “as follows”), a period or no punctuation at all.

In discussing the reasons for political disturbances Aristotle observes that

                 revolutions also break out when opposite parties, e.g. the rich and the people, are equally
                 balanced, and there is little or no middle class; for, if either party were manifestly superior,
                 the other would not risk an attack upon them. And, for this reason, those who are eminent
                 in virtue usually do not stir up insurrections, always a minority. Such are the beginnings
                 and causes of the disturbances and revolutions to which every form of government is liable.

Quotes within quotes

A quotation within a quotation must be marked by means of either single or double quotation marks.

Single quotation marks enclose in-text quotations within quotations.

“Don’t be absurd!” said Henry. “To say that ‘I mean what I say’ is the same as ‘I say what I mean’ is to be confused as Alice at the Mad Hatter’s tea party.”

A sentence quoted in a block quotation must be enclosed in double quotation marks.

Summarizing Gordon’s philosophy, Crane says that

                there has been “almost a continual improvement” in all branches of human knowledge …

Insertions

Marcellus, doubtless in anxious suspense, asks Barnardo, “What, has this thing [the ghost of Hamlet’s father] appear’d again tonight?”

Ellipsis

The omission of words, phrases or more from quotations must be indicated by three dots (four dots if a whole sentence is omitted).

Emerson claims that “the spirit of our American radicalism is destructive and aimless.... On the other side, the conservative party … is timid, and merely defensive of property.... It does not build, nor write, nor cherish the arts, nor foster religion, nor establish schools."

Citing Sources

Citing sources means acknowledging the works you referred to in your own study. This is essential in order to enable readers to identify and find the material you used.

You must cite sources both in your text and at the end of your work. In-text citations may be placed either in bibliographic notes (footnotes or endnotes, sequentially numbered) or in short form in the body of your text, in parenthesis, directly after the passage you quoted or reworded. The decision to adopt notes or cite in running text depends on the type of citation style you choose – see the section on Choosing a Citation Style. A fully-detailed list of references, or bibliography, must be provided at the end of your work. The reference list may either include only the materials you have cited in your work or all the works you have consulted;  in the latter case you may be required to create a second list named “Further reading” – please ask your supervisor for advice.

Discursive notes

Footnotes or endnotes may also contain explanatory or discursive material that comments on parts of your text. Discursive or lengthy notes should be used sparingly. Please refer to the style manuals for more information on discursive notes.

Choosing a Citation Style

There are many different citation styles. You may find a list of the style manuals available at the Lugano University Library (BUL) at the end of this guide. Whatever style you opt for, it is important to be consistent with it throughout your work.

The choice of a style depends upon the kind of text you are writing. Hereafter we describe the most commonly used formats in the academic studies, particularly by the Social Sciences and by the Arts and Humanities. The pros and cons outlined for each style will guide you to choose the format that best suits the nature of your text.

Social Science Disciplines (Economics, Communication Studies)

The author-date system is the most commonly used style by the Social Sciences. It consists of very brief citations integrated into the text, in parenthesis, and of a list of references. This technique, which may vary in its format, is described in many manuals. The American Psychological Association (APA) and the University of Chicago style manuals are two of the best known.

                Pros of the author-date style

• in-text referencing makes citations clearly visible to readers

                Cons of the author-date style

• this technique is particularly suitable when the bulk of citations include the authors’ names and the publication dates, so that the conversion to parenthetical citations is easily made. If the sources you refer to do not bear such information, as in the case of anonymous texts, manuscripts or ancient texts, illustrated materials, public documents or websites, it may be convenient to use the documentary-note style that is described below
• frequent citations in the body of the text interfere with the flow of the document and occupy a lot of space
  

Arts and Humanities Disciplines (Literature,  Architecture)

In the fields of Arts and Humanities it is common to cite documents following the documentary-note style. However, the parenthetical citation system is also widely used (the Modern Language Association style manual is a renown guide to this technique). The documentary-note format consists of citations placed either in footnotes or endnotes and of a bibliography located at the end of the document. This system is thoroughly described in The Chicago manual of style (2003).

                Pros of the documentary-note style

• any kind of text, with or without author and date, can be easily cited following this technique
• since citations in notes do not interfere with the flow of the document, the documentary-note style  is particularly recommended when you are referring to a wide and varied range of sources

                Cons  of the documentary-note style

• footnotes: if frequent and inclusive of lengthy comments footnotes may take up a lot of space on the page.
  
• endnotes: their location at the end of a chapter cause citations to be less visible to readers

In this guide we describe the documentary-note style, while the author-date system is outlined in the "Guide to citing references in the social sciences". The Chicago manual of style (2003) is the reference manual for both formats.

The Documentary-Note System

According to the documentary-note style citations must be placed either in footnotes or endnotes, sequentially numbered in the text.

“Nonrestrictive relative clauses are parenthetic, as are similar clauses introduced by conjunctions indicating time or place.” [1]

1. Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, 3.

Citations in notes may appear either in a fully-detailed or in a concise form. In the former case it is facultative to provide a complete bibliography at the end of the work, while in texts with concise notes a final bibliography becomes strictly necessary. We recommend that notes display a minimum amount of information (as in the example above) and that a bibliography be compiled at the end of the text. This way both notes and bibliography can be easily consulted by readers. The bibliography must be alphabetically ordered by authors' names. It is important that the authors’ names cited in the notes correspond to the entries in the bibliography.

How to cite Sources in Notes

We describe here how to cite references in an shortened form starting from the first note. For information on how to write fully-detailed note citations please refer to the Chicago manual of style (2003, 599-612).

Basic form

• Insert the author’s or editor’s last name in notes as it appears in your bibliography. The first name, or initials, is generally omitted, unless more authors with the same surname are cited. Abbreviations, such as “ed.”, should not be used. The title of the publication you refer to should follow the author’s name, preceded by a comma (for information on how to format titles see the section on Basic Rules). Page number/s, if any, are separated from the title by a comma. The abbreviation “p./pp.” is not necessary.

5. Farmwinkle, Humor of the Midwest, 241.

• Titles with more than four words should be shortened. Initial articles (“the”, “an” etc.) are omitted; the order of the words in the title cannot be changed.

Complete title: The War Journal of Major Damon “Rocky” Gause
Short title:  War Journal

Complete title: Daily Notes of a Trip around the World
Short title: Daily Notes   NOT   World Trip

More than one author

• For works written by two/three authors all names must be cited, using “and” to connect the last author to the other names - see examples for punctuation.

5. Argenti and Forman, Power of Corporate Communication, 28.

6. Siever, Spainhour, and Patwardhan, Perl, 520.

• In the case of works written by more than three authors, include the first name followed by “et al.”. For instance, a work by Belizzi, Kruckeberg, Hamilton and Martin appears as Belizzi et al., “Consumer Perceptions”.

Unknown author and/or date

• Citations to texts whose author and /or date are not known should include the first piece of information with which the document is entered in the reference list.  Such citations are common when referring to websites.
  N.B. in-text citations should not include dates of access.

In-text citation

(nikewomen.com)

Reference list

Nikewomen.com - Train to be stronger. http://www.nike.com/nikewomen/site_sp08/shell/index.jsp#,en,32;homepage (4 September 2008).

Multiple references

• If you are discussing several works by different authors, you need to provide all the authors’ names in one set of brackets separated by semi-colons.

Web 2.0 techniques are more and more frequently employed in information literacy instruction (Godwin and Parker 2008; Valenza 2007).

References to the same source

• When you cite the same work successively you should use the Latin abbreviation “ibid.”, that replaces the entire reference including the pages (if you refer to different pages of the same work you need to specify them after “ibid.”). “Ibid.” refers to the text cited in the note immediately preceding. If you need to cite a work you referred to in a previous note you should rewrite the citation – the Latin abbreviation “op. cit.” once used to replace such citations is becoming obsolete . “Ibid.” cannot be used if the preceding note includes more than one reference.
  

6. Morley, Poverty and Inequality, 43.
7. Ibid.
8. Schwartz, “Nation and Nationalism,” 138.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid., 140.
11. Morley, Poverty and Inequality, 45-46.

If you cite the same work repeatedly, as in the examples 9 and 10 above, it is advisable to insert the page numbers into the text in parentheses, in order to avoid a series “ibid.” notes (see the Chicago manual of style, 2003, 466, 603-06).

 

How to Compile a Bibliography

Basic Rules

Authors’ names : the author’s last name is followed by his/her first name (the first name can be initialized). 

In the case of two/three authors only the first author’s name is inverted. Please refer to the title page of the work you consulted to check the name order.

For works by more than three authors, all names should be indicated; if the list of authors is exceedingly long (usually more than ten), you may indicate only the first three followed by “et al.”.

Titles
Capitalization: generally all words are capitalized, except for articles and conjunctions (for more details see the Chicago manual of style, 2003, 366-67).

Style: titles of books and journals are italicized, while titles of articles or chapters in a book are set in roman and enclosed in quotation marks. In general, titles of unpublished works, such as theses or working papers, and titles of web pages are set in roman.

Abbreviations of journal titles: journal titles are normally written in full, in order to enable readers to quickly pinpoint the source. However, it is possible to use standardized abbreviations of titles, particularly in the reference lists of scientific works. Whatever form you choose, remember to be consistent with it throughout your work. Among the many extant, you may consult the Thomson Scientific list of title abbreviations, which is fairly comprehensive and interdisciplinary, at: http://images.isiknowledge.com/WOK45/help/WOS/A_abrvjt.html.
Finally, the Scientific style and format manual, available at the library, provides a good reference on how to abbreviate titles (Council of Science Editors 2006, 570-71).

Order of entries: entries must be arranged alphabetically by the authors’ last names.

• Anonymous works should be entered by the title.

The Burden of Anonymity. Nowhere: Nonesuch Press, 1948.

N.B. articles at the start of titles do not affect the alphabetical order.

Albert, Pierre. Histoire de la Radio-Télévision. Paris: Presses Univ. de France, 1996.

The Burden of Anonymity. Nowhere: Nonesuch Press, 1948.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1998.

• Works by the same author should be ordered alphabetically by title; the author’s name may be replaced by a 3-em dash.

Fontanelle, Eric C. Preparing for the Postwar Period. Columbus, Ohio: W. C. Cartwright and Daughters, 1944.

___. What Really Happened when the War Ended. Cleveland: Chagrin Valley Press, 1952.

• A single-author work must be entered before a multi-author work beginning with the same name.

Ramos, Frank P. “Deconstructing the Deconstructionists.” Eolian Quarterly 11 (Spring 1990): 41-58.

Ramos, Frank P., John R Wizmont, and Clint T. O’Finnery. Texts and Nontexts. Philadelphia: Whynot Press, 1987.

Books

N.B. correct bibliographic information can be found on the title page of the book and its reverse side.

Order of elements:

Author (or editor, abbreviated as “ed./eds.”)
Title
Edition (only if different from the first)
Place of publication
Publisher
Date

N.B. see examples for the correct punctuation.

Two or more authors

Editor as author

Edition other than the first

Lesina, Roberto. Il Nuovo Manuale di Stile. 2. ed. Bologna: Zanichelli, 1994.

Multivolume works

Organizations as authors

Works authored by organizations or associations must be entered by the organization’s name.

Electronic Books

The rules for citing printed books also apply to electronic books. Add the book URL and the date of access in brackets; if a subscription is required to access the document, specify this after the date of access.

Contribution to a Book

Order of elements:

Author of the contribution
Title of the contribution, in roman and followed by “in”
Title of the book, in italics
Editor/s of the book (if known)
Page numbers of the contribution
Place of publication
Publisher
Date of the book which contains the contribution

N.B. contributions to or chapters in conference proceedings are treated as contributions to a book.

Journal Articles

Order of elements:

Author
Article title, in roman
Journal title, in italics
Place of publication: only if the journal may be confused with another
Volume, issue/month, date
Page numbers

N.B. see examples for the correct punctuation.

Electronic Journals

The rules for citing printed articles also apply to electronic articles. Add the article URL and the date of access in brackets – it is better if it is a stable URL , for more details see the section on Citing Online Sources. If a subscription is required to access the document, specify this after the date of access.

Articles on Databases

The rules for citing articles on electronic journals also apply to articles on databases. Include either the URL of the database homepage or the article stable URL, if given. Generally, in printed works it is advisable to provide the root URL as it may be reproduced more easily. On the other hand, in electronic material it is more convenient to give the stable URL of the article, since it links directly to the document.

Database root URL

Article stable URL

Also see the section on Citing Online Sources.

Newspaper Articles

Order of elements:

Author (if known)
Article title (if known), in roman
Newspaper title, in italics
Month, day, year

Unsigned Articles

Order of elements:

Newspaper title, in italics
Article title, in roman
Month, day, year

New York Times. “In Texas, Ad Heats Up Race for Governor.” July 30, 2002.

Newspapers published in different editions

Electronic Newspapers

Reviews

Order of elements:

Name of the reviewer (if known)
Review title (if any)
Title of the work reviewed and its author, preceded by “review of”
Title and details of the publication in which the review appeared

Grey Literature

The term “Grey Literature” refers to works not distributed by normal publishers. Generally, it defines material produced and distributed by public and private organizations.

The title of the document should be cited in roman.

Theses

Specify the type of thesis and the academic institution.

Papers presented at meetings

Specify the meeting name and place.

Working papers

Specify the type of material and the academic institution.

Patents

Order of elements:

Patent creator (if known)
Patent name
Reference number
Date of patent filing

Reference Works

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias

It is not necessary to include titles of well-known dictionaries or encyclopedias in the bibliography, since note citations provide the necessary information to identify them. However, if a bibliographic entry is needed, follow the rules provided for books.

Reports

Corporate reports or reports issued by organizations should be treated as books.

Audiovisual Material

Notecitations generally suffice to identify audiovisual documents. However, if it is necessary to include them in the bibliography, they should be treated as books. The medium (DVD, CD, etc.) should also be indicated.

Radio Broadcasts

Order of elements:

Title of broadcast (if known)
Station
Date, time and year of broadcast

Cosmic quest. BBC Radio4, 10 June 2008, 15.45.

Television Programs

Order of elements:

Title of the television series (if known), in roman
Year of production (if known)
Title of the program, in italics
Broadcaster
Date of broadcast

The Falklands Play. BBC 4, 11 June 2008.

Multimedia Material

Multimedia material should be treated as audiovisual material. Add the document URL and the date of access if the material is available online.

Internet Websites

Entire Websites

Order of elements:

Author/owner of the website  (if known)
Website name/title, in roman
URL
Date of access

Contribution to a Website

References to individual pages or individual works on websites should include the author’s name and the title of the document, if available. 

Unknown Author

If no personal author is specified, the name of the organization or association that owns the website may be entered in his/her place.

If neither the author nor the organization are known, indicate the name of the website or the title of the page, followed by the URL and the date of access.

Also see the section on Citing Online Sources.

E-mail Messages

Note citations generally suffice to identify e-mail messages. However, if it is necessary to insert them in the bibliography, the following elements should be included, if available.

Order of elements:

Author
Subject line, in roman
Name of the electronic mailing list, in roman
Date of posting
URL
Date of access

Legal and Public Documents

Note citations generally suffice to identify legal documents. However, if it is necessary to insert them in the bibliography, the following examples show what to include.

Law Articles

U.S. Const. art. I, § 4.

Svizzera. Cst. fed. art. 182.

Public Documents

Order of elements:

Country
Legislative body
Division (if any)
Document title, in italics
Report number (if known)
Date

Sources available in Different Formats

If a work is available in different formats, for instance in print and in electronic form, you should cite the format you consulted. The other form may be mentioned in the bibliography, if that is deemed convenient for the readers.

Citations from Secondary Sources

It is always advisable to read original sources. However, if they are not available, it is possible to cite works mentioned in other texts. In this case, the example below shows how to cite both sources in a note and in the bibliography.

N.B. in the body of the text it is necessary to make clear that you are referring to a work cited in a secondary source.

Pecorari suggests that the technique described by Rebecca Howard as “patchworking” … [5]

Note citation

Bibliography

List both the original and the secondary source. The entry relating to the original source should be completed by the phrase “quoted in”, followed by the reference to the secondary source.

Citing Online Sources

It is advisable to cite a persistent (or stable) URL when listing electronic sources; however, for documents found on databases it may be sufficient to provide the link to the main entrance of the service– see section on Articles on Databases. A stable URL may be characterized by a document identifier called DOI (Digital Object Identifier). Generally, the stable URL or DOI can be found together with the other bibliographic details of the work you consulted.

If no stable URL or DOI are provided, insert the URL of the main entrance of the website. It is advisable to add the date of access and to specify whether a subscription to the service is required in order to view the document.

The URL must contain the database or website domain and NOT the proxy domain, as exemplified below:

Proxy domain:          http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lu.unisi.ch:2048/

              
Database domain:     http://wwwjstor.org

Abbreviations

We provide here a brief list of abbreviations, some of which are Latin, commonly used in text writing, citations and bibliographies. Some of these are Latin. For a detailed list please consult a style manual.

anon. : anonymous
cf. : confer (compare with)
ed. : edition
ed./eds. : editor/editors
e.g. : exempli gratia (for example, for instance)
et al. : et alii (and others), used in citations and reference lists.
fig. : figure
i.e. : id est (in other words)
ibid. : ibidem (in the same place), used in notes to refer to the immediately prior source.
ill. : illustration
para./paras. : paragraph/paragraphs
ref./refs. : reference/references
s.l.a.n. :  sine loco, anno, vel nomine (without place, year, name of publisher)
s.v. : sub voce/verbo (under the word), used to quote a specific entry in a reference work.
vol./vols. : volume/volumes

List of References

Style Manuals available at the library

Glossary

Author : a person/organization responsible for the creation of a work and its content in its published form.

Citation :  a reference to a work/document that provides the necessary information to identify the source.

Cite : see Citation.

Bibliography : see Reference List.

Database : "a structured set of data held in a computer, esp. one that is accessible in various ways" (Pearsall and Trumble 2002).

DOI (Digital Object Identifier) : “… a permanent identifier given to an electronic document” (Wikipedia, 18 June 2008).

Domain name : “a name that identifies a computer or computers on the Internet. These names appear as a component of a Web site's URL” (Wikipedia, 17 June 2008).

Editor : "a person who edits [assembles, prepares, modifies or condenses] material for publication or broadcasting" (Pearsall and Trumble 2002).

Intellectual Property :  “a property that is the result of creativity and does not exist in tangible form …” (Pearsall and Trumble 2002).

Paraphrase : “a free rendering or rewording of a passage” (Pearsall and Trumble 2002).

Plagiarize : “take and use (the thoughts, writings, inventions, etc. of another person) as one’s own” (Pearsall and Trumble 2002).

Proxy Server : “… a server (a computer system or an application program) which services the requests of its clients by forwarding requests to other servers” (Wikipedia, 16 June 2008).

Quotation : see Quote.

Quote : “repeat or copy out (a passage) usually with an indication that it is borrowed” (Pearsall and Trumble 2002).

Reference list : a list containing full bibliographic information regarding the works cited and consulted in one’s own text.

Source (source text) : “a text (sometimes oral) from which information or ideas are derived” (Wikipedia, 17 June 2008).

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) : “in popular usage, it means a web page address. Strictly, it is a compact string of characters for a resource available via the Internet” (Wikipedia, 17 June 2008). Root URL:  generally it corresponds to the website homepage or domain name.