How to Read a Citation

What is a citation?“A citation is a written reference to a specific work

or portion of a work (book, article, etc.) …clearly identifying [where] the work can be found.

Citation format varies from one field of study to another but includes at a minimum author, title, and publication date.” The citations in this tutorial are in APA format.

“An incomplete citation can make a source difficult, if not impossible, to locate. “

~Citation. (n.d.). In Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science. Retrieved from http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_C.cfm#citation

Two most common typesThe two items you will probably see cited most often

are articles (from scholarly journals, newspapers, or magazines) and books.

The easiest way to tell an article citation from a book citation is that a book citation contains information about where and when the book was published:

Article Citation

Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34(1), 3-24.

Book Citation

Clifford, E. (1979). Help! I’m a prisoner in the library. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Journal Article Citation

Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34(1), 3-24.

Author

Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34(1), 3-24.

Publishing Year

Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34(1), 3-24.

Article Title

Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34(1), 3-24.

Journal Title Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My

friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34(1), 3-24.

Volume Number

Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34 (1), 3-24.

Issue Number

Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34(1), 3-24.

Page Numbers

Scheufule, D. A. (2007). My friend’s enemy: How split-screen debate influences evaluation of presidential debates. Communication Research, 34(1), 3-24.

Book Citation

Clifford, E. (1979). Help! I’m a prisoner in the library. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Author

Clifford, E. (1979). Help! I’m a prisoner in the library. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Publication Year

Clifford, E. (1979). Help! I’m a prisoner in the library. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Book Title

Clifford, E. (1979). Help! I’m a prisoner in the library. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Place of Publication

Clifford, E. (1979). Help! I’m a prisoner in the library. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Publisher

Clifford, E. (1979). Help! I’m a prisoner in the library. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Citation in a DatabaseCitations in databases are usually not correctly formatted, so you may have to look for all the necessary components:

Author

Click “Show Details”

Article Title

Magazine Title

Volume & Issue Numbers

Volume 24

Issue 1

Publication Date

Page number