1. Author. - This is the creator of the work, and could be a writer, artist, group, or organization. Individuals are presented last name first, then the full first name (and middle initial, if provided). For multiple (and anonymous) authors of the work, see the examples below.
2. Title of source. - The title is placed in quotation marks if it’s part of a bigger piece of work (like a chapter in a book or an episode of a television series). It is italicized if it is “self-contained” (like a whole book, or collection of poetry, or entire television series). If there is no title for a work, a description is provided (e.g. marble sculpture).
3. Title of container.- A container is what holds the source you are using in your paper. So, if the source is an online video on YouTube, then YouTube is the container. Similarly, a newspaper (like the New York Times or Wall Street Journal) is the container for a newspaper article, and a journal is the container of a journal article.
4. Contributors. - This can refer to everything from the directors of movies to the translators of books to the performers in a play. Sometimes they’re listed, sometimes not, depending on the context and the focus of the paper.
5. Version. - For some sources, it’s important to know the version used. For example, the Bible could be presented in the King James version (KJV), the New International version (NIV), the Christian Standard version (CSB), and about a dozen others. The reader should know what version you used in your paper.
6. Number. - This could refer to a volume and/or issue number for a journal or the season and episode number for a television series.
7. Publisher. - This could be something obvious, like the publisher of a book, or something less obvious, like the studio that produces movies or television series.
8. Publication date. - The same source is sometimes published at different times in different mediums. For example, a magazine or newspaper article could come out earlier on the magazine or newspaper’s website. You would report the publication date of the source you used, usually in the format of date, month (abbreviated), and year (20 Dec. 2019).
9. Location. - This is a “jargony” way of saying page numbers. So a newspaper article might appear in section C, page 3 of a physical newspaper, and be cited as “p. C4” (but not in quotes!). If a source takes up multiple pages (like in a book or a journal), it is preceded by “pp.” (pp. 34-63). For performances viewed in person (such as a play or concert), the location is where the performance took place. For websites and sources located in a digital network, URLs and DOIs are provided (see examples below).
Supplemental Elements. - The date the information was accessed is included in a citation where there is no date provided for when the information was posted or if the source has been altered or changed. This information is provided at the end of the citation in the form of date, month, and year (Accessed 31 Oct. 2021.)
A note about the number of authors As can be seen in the “core elements” above, the author of a source comes first in a citation.
If there is only one author, they are listed last name first, then a comma, then the rest of their name (as presented in the source). For example, my favorite book of all time is Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, and the original print edition would be cited as: Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. Scribners, 1926.
What about a source with TWO authors? The first author is listed the same way (last name first), but the second author is written out as you would normally write a name (first name first). Here’s an example of the famous book by the Washington Post journalists who broke the story about the Watergate break-in that brought down President Nixon in 1972: Bernstein, Carl, and Bob Woodward. All the President’s Men. Simon & Schuster, 1974.
What about a source with THREE OR MORE authors? While this would be more common with a journal article or a translation, I’d like to use a book example with three authors to keep things congruent. But who writes a book with two other people? Well, in 2016, three New York Times bestselling authors, Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig worked together to release a historical fiction novel called The Forgotten Room. As you can see in the example below, things simplify quite a bit when a source has three or more authors, with the first author listed (last name first) followed by the phrase “et al.” (which means “and others”): White, Karen, et al. The Forgotten Room. Penguin, 2016. Note: The same rules apply to every other type of work with multiple authors.
Online Media - Websites The term “website” can cause confusion because it is so all-encompassing. For example, most journal articles are available online, and we cite them slightly differently depending on whether we used a physical print journal or an online database to access them. However, there are many sources which we can only access online, and that’s mostly what I mean by “websites.” A consideration when using websites as sources is whether they would be judged to be “legitimate.” There are times when information from a website may be the most up-to-date source for a particular topic. Information from sources like the Mayo Clinic (mayoclinic.org), the National Institute of Mental Health (nimh.nih.gov), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov) are credible and cover a variety of topics. I also admit to having a soft spot for Science Blogs (scienceblogs.com) and the brilliant Cecil Adams at The Straight Dope (straightdope.com).. Articles from websites can also be confusing because sometimes an article has an author, sometimes there is an organization that is the “author,” and sometimes there’s no author (or date) provided for the source. Each of these situations is presented below:
Website article with an individual author (or two). The problem with websites is that unlike research journals, they are not peerreviewed, and so any author can pretty much write anything, and who knows if it has any validity? However, many students will use information from websites to provide examples and anecdotes for their paper. The citation for an article from a website contains the same “core elements” as any other source - author(s), title of the material (in quotes), source (or “publisher”) of the material (in italics), the date the information was posted (if available), and retrieval information (the URL).
One and two author examples follow:
One author: McIntosh, James. “What is a Stroke? What Causes Strokes?” Medical News Today, 5 Sept. 2014, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/7624.php#treatment_ and_prevention. De Silva, Matthew. “Need a New Year’s Resolution? Here’s What It’s Like to Quit Facebook.” Quartz, 31 Dec. 2019, www.qz.com/1776702/thinking-aboutquitting-facebook-heres-what-its-like.
Two authors: Paddock, Michael, and Connie Nordqvist. “What is Claustrophobia? What Causes Claustrophobia?” Medical News Today, 26 Sept. 2014, www.medicalnewstoday. com/articles/37062.php.
Website with no author or date Sometimes people just throw things up on the web without any author or publication date, but don’t despair! Remember that the works cited list is for the reader to be able to find a source you used in your paper, and so you should provide the information you have access to.
For example, here’s an authorless, undated general article on retiring to Costa Rica (a retirement goal of mine): “Living in Costa Rica.” International Living, www.internationalliving.com/countries/ costa-rica/live. Accessed 14 May 2021.
Note: The date the information was accessed is included in a citation when there is no date provided for when the information was posted or if the source has been altered or changed.
Website with a group author
The information from sources such as the Mayo Clinic (mayoclinic.org), the National Institute of Mental Health (nimh.nih.gov), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov) usually comes from a “group author,” meaning the organization itself. In the two examples, the “author” and “publisher” are the same organization, and so the “publisher” information can be omitted.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Stroke Facts.” 6 Sept. 2017, www.cdc.gov /stroke/facts.
National Institute of Mental Health. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” May 2019, http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/ index.shtml.
