AMA - (American Medical Association) - AMA is the citation style developed by the American Medical Association when writing medical research.
APA - (American Psychological Association) - APA is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. The American Psychological Association (APA) provides a method for citing sources that is used in most social sciences courses, i.e. psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, social work, and justice administration.
AUTHOR - A person, group or organization primarily responsible for producing the work you used in your research.
CHICAGO/TURABIAN - The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is most commonly used by those working in literature, history, and the arts, especially history and music areas.
CIRCA (C.) - The word “circa” means “approximately,” and it is used mainly with dates. Circa is used to give a rough approximation of when the event occurred when exact dates or times of year are not given.
CONTAINER – When a source being documented is part of a larger whole, the larger whole can be thought of as a container that holds the source. A container can be nested within a larger container. Example: A journal article (container) may be found in one of our online databases, i.e. JSTOR (container).
CREDIBLE SOURCE - A publication, person, or other resource that provides accurate, clear, and reliable information about a particular topic, idea, or opinion. Generally, the most credible and reliable sources are those published in academic peer-reviewed journals. The least credible, most unreliable sources are sources written by people with no background or education in the topic or sources that can be easily edited by almost anyone (such as Wikipedia or social media).
DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER - A DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, is a string of numbers, letters and symbols used to permanently identify an article or document and link to it on the web. A DOI will help you easily locate a document from your citation. Think of it like a Social Security number for the article you’re citing — it will always refer to that article, and only that one. While a web address (URL) might change, the DOI will never change.
FOOTNOTES AND ENDNOTES - Extra information (usually non-essential citations or extra contextual information) that the writer does not include in the main text of the document. Footnotes and endnotes are usually indicated within the text of the document by small superscripted numbers or letters (i.e., like this123). These small numbers correspond to the citation or explanation at the bottom of the page (for a footnote) or at the end of the document (for an endnote).
The only real difference is placement -- footnotes appear at the bottom of the relevant page, while endnotes all appear at the end of your document. If you want your reader to read your notes right away, footnotes are more likely to get your reader's attention. Endnotes, on the other hand, are less intrusive and will not interrupt the flow of your paper.
HANGING INDENTS – Are used in the Works Cited or Bibliography of various citation styles. Only the first line of each citation begins at the left margin, and all other lines in the same citation are automatically indented under it. This separates each individual citation and makes them easier to read.
IN-TEXT CITATION - In academic writing, it is important to cite your information two ways: with in-text citations (brief citation within the body of your paper) and a bibliography (i.e., Works Cited page or References page at the end of your paper). The in-text citations and those in your Works Cited page should credit the exact same sources.
LOCATION –The place where you found the work. Examples of these are: the page numbers in a book or journal article where you found your information; the URL or web address of content found on Internet; the DOI (Digital Object Identifier), if given, of an online journal article; and the place where you physically viewed an object, such as a museum.
NARRATIVE CITATION – A method, other than a parenthetical citation, where you cite the source of information, which refers back to your Works Cited, within the body of your text. This style places more emphasis on the author of the work and must include the author and date of the work.
NUMBER – The source you are documenting may be part of a numbered sequence. Numbered sequences may include: a volume in a multi-volume set; a journal issue; comic books; and seasons and episodes of a television series.
OPTIONAL ELEMENTS – Elements (pieces of information) which may, at the writer’s discretion, accompany the core elements in a citation. Examples of these are: date of original publication; city of publication; and date of access.
OTHER CONTRIBUTORS – Other people who may need to be credited in addition to the author are known as contributors. These include: editors, illustrators, narrators, directors, performers, and those who write adaptations, translations, and introductions.
PARAPHRASE – To restate another person’s ideas in your own words. A paraphrase should differ substantially in vocabulary and word order from the original source while still retaining the original ideas. A writer must still give credit to the original source of a paraphrased work to avoid committing plagiarism.
PARENTHETICAL CITATION – A style used in in-text citations where you identify the source of information, also included in the Works Cited, in the body of the text by placing it inside a set of parentheses, i.e. (Carter 147).
PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES – Are articles that appear in scholarly journals and have been reviewed by other experts in the field before they are published in these journals. This process is to maintain the integrity of the science by removing invalid or poor-quality research before publication.
PLAGIARISM – Is the act of presenting someone else’s ideas and/or words as your own without giving credit to the original source or author. Plagiarism applies to all forms of materials, whether published or unpublished, including print, nonprint, and electronic data.
PUBLICATION DATE – Usually the year the work was published.
PUBLISHER – Is the organization primarily responsible for producing the source or making it available to the public.
Reference List - (see Works Cited) page is a formatted list of all sources you used within your paper. Any time you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or include information that you've used from an outside source, you must include that source in your references list, correctly formatted in the citation style you were instructed to use. Works Cited is generally used when citing sources using MLA (Modern Language Association) style, while the title References is used when citing sources using APA (American Psychological Association) style.
scholarly articles – Are full-length documents on original research that are written by experts in the field of study. They are primarily written for professionals and other experts in the field.
STYLE MANUAL - A list of rules about how to research and write for academia or publication. There are many different style manuals, and each has different rules for the style of writing, citation, and overall format used in a paper. Some of the most well-known style manuals include those published by the APA and MLA.
SUMMARIZE – Involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Summaries should be significantly shorter than the original work; but you still must give credit to the original source of the information.
TITLE – Name of the work. Titles are usually displayed prominently in the work.
VERSION – Works are often published in different versions, and these versions are referred to as editions.
WORKS CITED - (see Reference List) page is a formatted list of all sources you used within your paper. Any time you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or include information that you've used from an outside source, you must include that source in your references list, correctly formatted in the citation style you were instructed to use. Works Cited is generally used when citing sources using MLA (Modern Language Association) style, while the title References is used when citing sources using APA (American Psychological Association) style.
