Skip to Main ContentMusicians Insitute Library

Guide to Citations

A guide for everyone explaining basics of different types of Citation: What their purposes are, how to do them, and why they are important.

Books

Basic Format of Footnotes

AuthorFirstname AuthorLastName, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, EditionInformation, 

EditorFirstName EditorLastName, ed., (PublicationLocation: PublisherName, Year), PageNumbers.

 

Basic Format of Bibliographic Citations

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName and AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. EditionInformation. Edited by

EditorFirstName EditorLastName. PublicationLocation: PublisherName, Year.

Example with One Author

¹Peter Spellman, The Self-Promoting Musician, 3rd ed. (Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2013), [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for the first time the book is cited.
  • Note, this is also how you a source with multiple editions.

²Spellman, The Self-Promoting Musician, [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for every instance after the first that the book is cited.

Spellman, Peter. The Self-Promoting Musician. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Berklee Press, 2013. 

  • This is the bibliographic citation at the end of the paper.

Example with Multiple Authors

¹Matt Lawson and Lawrence E. MacDonald, 100 Greatest Film Scores, (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for the first time the book is cited.

²Lawson and MacDonald, 100 Greatest Film Scores, [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for every instance after the first that the book is cited.

Lawson, Matt and Lawrence E. MacDonald, 100 Greatest Film Scores. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. 

  • This is the bibliographic citation at the end of the paper.

Basic Footnote Citation for a Chapter of a Book

Generally:

AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName, "Title of Chapter," in Title of Book, (PublisherLocation: Publisher, YearPublished), PageNumber.

As a part of a compilation (i.e. every chapter is written by a different author):

ChapterAuthorFirstName ChapterAuthorLastName, "Title of Chapter," in Title of Compilation, edited by EditorFirstName EditorLastName

(PublisherLocation:Publisher, YearPublished), PageNumber.

Basic Bibliographic Citation for a Chapter of a Book

​Generally:

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName. "Title of Chapter." In Title of Book. PublisherLocation: Publisher, YearPublished.

As a part of a compilation:

ChapterAuthorLastName, ChapterAuthorFirstName. "Title of Chapter." In Title of Compilation. Edited by EditorFirstName EditorLastName. 

PublisherLocation: Publisher, YearPublished.

Example of a Citation for a Chapter of a Book by One Author

¹Donald S. Passman, "Songwriting and Music Publishing," in All You Need To Know About the Music Business, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997), [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for the first time the book is cited.

²Passman, "Songwriting and Music Publishing," [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for every instance after the first that the book is cited.

Passman, Donald S. "Songwriting and Music Publishing." In All You Need To Know About the Music Business. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

  • This is the bibliographic citation at the end of the paper.

Example of Citations for a Book of Essays by Multiple Authors and Editors

Examples of Footnotes

¹Robert Shaw and Peter Szego, eds., Inventing the Guitar, (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Books, 2013), [page numbers].

  • This would be the footnote citation for the first time you were citing this work if you were citing the entire book.

¹James Westbrook, "Austro-German style. Johann Georg Stauffer and the Viennese Guitar" in Inventing the Guitar, eds. Robert Shaw and Peter Szego, (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Books, 2013), [page numbers].

  • This would be the footnote citation for the first time you were citing this work if you were citing just this chapter of the book.

²Shaw and Szego, Inventing the Guitar, [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for every subsequent use of the whole work.

²Westbrook, "Austro-German style," [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for every subsequent reference to this chapter in the book.
Examples of Bibliographic Citations

Shaw, Robert and Peter Szego, eds. Inventing the Guitar. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Books, 2013.

  • This is the bibliographic entry for the entire work.

Westbrook, James. "Austro-German style. Johann Georg Stauffer and the Viennese Guitar." In Inventing the Guitar, edited by Robert Shaw and

Peter Szego. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Books, 2013.

  • This is the bibliographic entry for the chapter within a work.

Basic Format of Footnotes

AuthorFirstname AuthorLastName, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, EditionInformation, trans. FirstName EditorLastName,

(PublicationLocation: PublisherName, Year), PageNumbers.

 

Basic Format of Bibliographic Citations

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName and AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. EditionInformation. Translated by

EditorFirstName EditorLastName. PublicationLocation: PublisherName, Year.

Example Citation for a Translated Work

¹Dante Alighieri, Inferno, trans. Mark Musa, (New York: Penguin Books, 2003), [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for the first time the book is cited.

²Dante, Inferno, [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for every instance after the first that the book is cited.

Alighieri, Dante. Inferno. Translated By Mark Musa. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.

  • This is the bibliographic citation at the end of the paper.

Basic Format of Footnotes

AuthorFirstname AuthorLastName, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, (PublicationLocation: PublisherName, Year), PageNumbers, Overdrive.

 

Basic Format of Bibliographic Citations

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName and AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. PublicationLocation: PublisherName,

Year. Overdrive.

Example of Citations for an e-Book

¹Brittany Hennessy, Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media, (New York: Citadel Press, 2018), [page numbers], Overdrive.

  • This is the footnote for the first time the book is cited.

²Hennessy, Influencer, [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for every instance after the first that the book is cited.

Hennessy, Brittany. Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media. New York: Citadel Press, 2018, Overdrive.​​

  • This is the bibliographic citation at the end of the paper.

Basic Footnote Citation

AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName, "Title of Dissertation: Include All Subtitles," (PhD diss., University of Wherever They're Getting The Degree, YearOfPublication/Defense), PageNumber.

 

Basic Bibliographic Citation

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName. "Title of Dissertation: Include All Subtitles." PhD diss., University of Wherever They're

Getting The Degree, YearOfPublication/Defense.

Example Citation for a Dissertation

¹Will Straw, "Popular Music as Cultural Commodity: The American Recorded Music Industries 1976-1985," (PhD diss., McGill University, 1992), [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for the first time the book is cited.

²Straw, "Popular Music as Cultural Commodity," [page numbers].

  • This is the footnote for every instance after the first that the book is cited.

Straw, Will. "Popular Music as Cultural Commodity: The American Recorded Music Industries 1976-1985." PhD diss.,

McGill University, 1992.

  • This is the bibliographic citation at the end of the paper.