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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.

General format for Works Cited Citations

Author. Title. Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs URL or DOI). Date of Access (if applicable).

Notes

Author

  • If a person, should be LastName, FirstName format.
  • If a corporation, should be the name in full.

Title

  • If a book or film, should in italics
  • Otherwise should be in quotation marks.

Title of Container

  • E.g. Journal name, Anthology Name, etc.

Other Contributors

  • Performers, Translators, Editors

Version

  • Edition (e.g. 3rd Edition)

Number 

  • Volume Number (DO NOT put Vol., just the number)
  • Issue Number (DO include no. to distinguish it from volume number)

Publisher

  • Name of the Publisher as it appears on the item

Publisher Date

  • Date the work was published
  • DD Month YYYY format (i.e. 21 November 2019)

Location

  • If not a print item, a URL or DOI
  • Pages or paragraphs if applicable

Citation Format

LastName, FirstName. Title. CityOfPublication*, PublisherName, PublicationDate.

*City of Publication should only be included if:

  • The book was published before 1900
  • The publisher has offices in more than one country
  • Publisher is unknown in North America

Example of a Citation for a Book

Bayne, Pauline Shaw. A Guide to Library Research in Music. Scarecrow Press, 2008.

Example Citation for a Music Score

Elfman, Danny. Batman: In Full Score. Omni Music Publishing, 2013.

Citations for Magazines or Newspapers

Format

AuthorLastName, AuthorFirstName. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, pages.

Example

Farber, Jim. "LA Opera plays a magical, mystical 'Magic Flute.'" Los Angeles Daily News, 20 November 2019, 10-12.

 

 

Citations For Journals

Format

AuthorLastName1, AuthorFirstName1 and AuthorFirstName2 AuthorLastName2*. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. Location.
*For articles with more than one author, only include all the authors names if there are two. Otherwise include the full name of the first author and put "et al." afterwards.

*All authors should be in alphabetical order by last name.

Example

Sadoh, Godwin. "Modern Nigerian Music: The Postcolonial Experience." The Musical Times 150, no. 1908, 2009, 79-84. JSTOR. 

 

 

Citations For Book Reviews

Format

ReviewAuthorLastName, ReviewAuthorFirstName. "Title of Review*" Review of TitleOfWhatIsReviewed, by OriginalCreator. Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, page. Location.

*There may not be a title of the review.

Example

Lowens, Irving. Review of History of Popular Music by David Ewan. Notes 19, no. 1, December 1961, 78-79. www.jstor.org/stable/894082.

Citing eBooks

Format

LastName, FirstName. Title. Format. CityOfPublication, PublisherName, PublicationDate.

Example

Jones, Randye. So You Want to Sing Spirituals: A Guide for Performers. E-book. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019.

 

 

Citing Websites

Format

CreatorLastName, CreatorFirstName. "Name of Page." Name of Site. Version number, Name of institution, creation date, URL. Date of access.*

*Only include information that you know for sure. It's better to leave information out rather than put incorrect information.

Example

Burgess, Casey. Guide to Citation. Musicians Institute, 20 November 2019, library.mi.edu/citations. Accessed 21 November 2019.

Burgess, Casey. "MLA Citation: Works Cited." Guide to Citation. Musicians Institute, 20 November 2019, library.mi.edu/citations/mla/workscited.

Accessed 21 November 2019.

 

 

Citing Social Media

Format

@HandleOrNameAsApplicable. "Post shortened or in its entirety..." SocialMediaPlatform. Date, Time, URL.

Example

@mi_library. "Happy birthday to the LEGENDARY Stevie Wonder!..." Twitter. 13 May 2019, 3:36 p.m., pic.twitter.com/k2R4sv9jCh.

Citing Streaming Media

Format

CreatorLastName, CreatorFirstName. "Title of Media." Source, uploaded by UserName, DD Month YYYY, URL.

Example

Mourey, Jenna. "What's The Best Mascara To Cry In?" YouTube, uploaded by JennaMarbles, 1 August 2018. https://youtu.be/lteC_JdTObE.

 

 

Citing Physical Media

Format

Author. Title. Other contributors, Publisher, Publication Date.

Example

Stravinsky, Igor. Le Sacre du Printemps: Symphonies a d'Instruments a Vent. Pierre Boulez, London Symphony Orchestra, RM Arts, 1993.

Citing Images

Format

CreatorLastName, CreatorFirstName. Title of Work. Institution, City. Website or URL. Accessed Date

Example of Image Found Online

Librarians. https://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/250/091/854.jpg. Accessed 21 November 2019.

Example of Work of Art

Hamza, Johann. A Gentleman Reading in the Library. WikiGallery. http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_276652/Johann-Hamza/A-Gentleman-

Reading-in-the-Library. Accessed 21 November 2019.

 

 

Personal Correspondence

Format

CreatorLastName, CreatorFirstName. "Subject of Email, title of Letter, or Message (shortened)." Format. Received by RecipientFirstName RecipientLastName, DateSent.

Example

Burgess, Casey. "NOTES." Email. Received by Casey Burgess. 19 November 2019.

Works Cited

"MLA Style." Purdue University Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_style_introduction.html.

Accessed 21 November 2019.

"Citation Styles: APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, IEEE: Home." University of Pittsburgh Library System. https://pitt.libguides.com/citationhelp.

Accessed 21 November 2019.