Library Resources for TCU Faculty and Staff: Cite Sources

Basic APA Citation Formats

The following guidelines are recommended in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Please check with your supervising professor to see whether strict APA formatting should be observed for your project. All references on the references page should be double-spaced and use a hanging indent. 

Note: If you are direct quoting a specific part of a source, include a page number, table, paragraph, section, time stamp, etc. in your in-text citation. If you are citing ideas from a whole work, no section identifier is needed. Please consult the APA Manual 7th edition to see how to include these section identifiers.

Books with a single author

Reference Page:

Oliver, P. (2014). Writing your thesis (3rd ed.). Sage.

In-text Citation:

(Oliver, 2014).

Narrative In-text Citation:

According to Oliver (2014)...

Oliver (2014) states...

Books With More Than Two Authors

Reference Page:

Werner-Burke, N., Knaus, K., & Helt DeCamp, A. (2014). Rebuilding research writing: Strategies for sparking informational inquiry. Routledge.

In-text Citation:

(Werner-Burke et al., 2014).

Narrative In-text Citation:

Werner-Burke et al. (2014) argue... 

Articles in online scholarly journals (plus example of how to cite two authors)

Reference Page:

Martinez, C. T., Kock, N., & Cass, J. (2011). Pain and pleasure in short essay writing: Factors predicting university students' writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(5), 351-360. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.54.5.5

In-text Citation:

(Martinez, Kock & Cass, 2011).

Narrative In-text Citation:

Martinez, Kock, and Cass (2011) recommend...

Documents in a Website

Reference Page:

Clay, R.A. (2007). Writing well. http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2007/03/writing.aspx

With Organization as Author:

American Library Association. (2015, February 9). Framework for information literacy for higher education. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

In-text Citations:

(Clay, 2007).

(American Library Association, 2015).

Narrative In-text Citations:

According to Clay (2007)... 

The American Library Association (2015) claims...

The following guidelines are recommended in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Please check with your supervising professor to see whether strict APA formatting should be observed for your project. 

Formatting Your Main Content

• Double-space the text of your paper.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs.
• Number all pages, including the title page and abstract, with arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) on the top right hand corner about an inch from the top of the page.
• Use section headings to designate the different sections of your paper. Center, bold, and capitalize all words in your section headings. If you use subsections, consult the APA Manual 7th edition for additional guidance.

Formatting the Title Page of Your Paper For Student Papers

Note: If you are submitting your paper for a professional publication, there are different requirements for the title page. Consult the APA Manual 7th edition to see how to format title pages for professional papers. Additionally, title page requirements for honors projects may differ from department to department. Please consult your advisor for how to format your title page.

• In the top right corner, insert a page number.
• About one third down the page and centered, include the full title of your paper. Capitalize all words four letters or longer in your title.
• Underneath the title, include your name.
• Underneath your name, include the name of the department to which you are submitting the paper followed by a comma, and then Texas Christian University (Ex: Honors College,  Texas Christian University).
• Underneath the department name and institution, include the course number and name (Ex: HNRS 20633: Video Games and Representation).
• Underneath the course name, include the name of your professor. 
• Underneath your professor's name, include the date the project is due, including the month (spelled out), day, and year.

Formatting Your References Page

• Include page numbers in the top right corner.
• Center the word "References" at the top of the references page.
• Alphabetize all references by authors' last names. Each in-text citation should have a corresponding reference listed on the references page.
• Use a hanging indent for each reference.
• Double-space the entire page

Basic MLA Citation Formats

The following guidelines are recommended in accordance with the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. All works cited should use a hanging indent and be double-spaced. For information on citing a source not listed here, please refer to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

Books with a single author

Works cited page:

Hindman, Sandra. Printing the Written Word: The Social History of Books, Circa 1450-1520. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991. Print.

In-text citation:

(Hindman 52)

Narrative in-text citation:

According to Hindman, ... (52).

Articles in a print journal

Works cited page:

Hamill, Frances. "Some Unconventional Women before 1800: Printers, Booksellers, and Collectors." The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 49.4 (1955): 300-14. Print.

In-text citation:

(Hamill 313)

Narrative in-text citation:

Hamill believes... (313).

Articles from databases

Works cited page:

Palabiyik,Nil. "An Early Case Of The Printer's Self Censorship In Constantinople." Library: The Transactions Of The Bibliographical Society 16.4 (2015): 381-404. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

In-text citation:

(Palabiyik 399)

Narrative in-text citation:

Palabiyik argues... (399).

Articles from the internet

Works cited page:

Colla, Elliott. "How Zaynab Became the First Arabic Novel." History Compass 7.1 (2009): 214-225. Web. 16 March 2016.

In-text citation:

(Colla 220)

Narrative in-text citation:

Colla explains... (220).

Documents or sections in a website

Works cited page:

Evans, Michael. "The History of Print Advertising." eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 15 March, 2016.

In-text citation:

(Evans)

Narrative in-text citation:

Evans describes...

Block Quotes

For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, place quotations in a block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin. Double space the quote. Only indent the first line of the quotation by an additional quarter inch if you are citing multiple paragraphs. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks.

General Guidelines:

• Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your supervising professor).
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key.
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your professor may ask that you omit the number on your first page.)
• Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
• If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
• Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters.
• Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text
• Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
• Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your professor or department may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow your department's guidelines.)

Basic Citation Formats

The following guidelines are recommended in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition. Please ask your professor whether you should use footnotes or endnotes. Your professor is the final authority on preferred citation formatting. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, each citation in your bibliography should be single spaced and use a hanging indent, but double-spaced between citations. For more examples and information on citing a source not listed here, please refer to the Chicago Manual of Style. 

Book

Note:

1. James Baldwin and Nat Hentoff, Black Anti-Semitism and Jewish Racism, (New York: R. W. Baron, 1969), 49.

Bibliography:

Baldwin, James and Nat Hentoff. Black Anti-Semitism and Jewish Racism. New York: R. W. Baron, 1969.

Article from a database:

For articles consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database. Many journal articles list a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A DOI forms a permanent URL that begins https://doi.org/.

Note:

1. Mart van Duijn, "Printing, Public, and Power: Shaping the First Printed Bible in Dutch (1477)," Church History & Religious Culture 93, no. 2 (June 2013): 278, https://doi.org/10.1163/18712428-13930206

Bibliography:

van Duijn, Mart. "Printing, Public, and Power: Shaping the First Printed Bible in Dutch (1477)." Church History & Religious Culture 93, no. 2 (June 2013): 275-299. https://doi.org/10.1163/18712428-13930206.

Document or section in a website:

For a source that does not list a date of publication or revision, include an access date.

Note:

1. Michael Evans, "The History of Print Advertising," eHow, last modified March 17, 2015, http://www.ehow.com/info_7746188_history-print-advertising.html.

Bibliography:

Evans, Michael. "The History of Print Advertising." eHow. Last modified March 17, 2015. http://www.ehow.com/info_7746188_history-print-advertising.html.

General Guidelines

• Margins should be set at no less than 1” and no greater than 1.5”. 
• Typeface should be something readable, such as Times New Roman. 
• Font size should be no less than 10 pt. (preferably, 12 pt.). 
• Text should be consistently double-spaced, with the following exceptions: 
  • Block quotations, table titles, and figure captions should be single-spaced. 
    • A prose quotation of five or more lines should be blocked. 
    • A blocked quotation does not get enclosed in quotation marks.  
    • An extra line space should immediately precede and follow a blocked quotation. 
    • Blocked quotations should be indented .5” as a whole. 
• Notes and bibliographies should be singled-spaced internally; however, leave an extra line space between note and bibliographic entries. 
• Page numbers begin in the header of the first page of text with Arabic number 1. 
• Subheadings should be used for longer papers. 
• Put an extra line space before and after subheadings, and avoid ending them with periods.