If you don't want to create citations from scratch, we suggest using a free citation assistance program. Some library research databases (like Academic Search, JSTOR, etc.) will also provide a tool to format citations for you.
If you use a program for citation assistance, ALWAYS check the citation provided against the official citation manual for the style you are using (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc.). If you have questions, contact the Center for Academic Excellence or check out the additional resources provided on this page.
While there are many citation programs available (EasyBib, BibMe, KnightCite, etc.), we often recommend using Zotero.
Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool that can help you to collect, organize, cite, and share your research resources, either within your Firefox browser or as a standalone program. With the click of a button you can instantly store citation information for the online information you find as you browse the web or the library's databases. You can also annotate your sources as well as organize them into separate folders.
For more information about how to use Zotero, check out this How to Use Zotero guide or the Quick Start Guide created by the folks at Zotero.
There are a few rules to keep in mind when you are creating your list of references:
As more and more scholarly articles are available electronically, the APA has distinct rules for listing references to print and electronic resources. Here are some examples of references for both formats, using APA style:
Print Journal Article
Smith, J. N., Jones, A. B., & Young, I. M. (2009). Measuring fast food preferences
among college students. Food Studies, 25, 564-569.
Electronic Journal Article
Frick, T., Chadha, R., Watson, C., Wang, Y., & Green, P. (2009). College student
perceptions of teaching and learning quality. Educational Technology Research and
Development, 57, 705-720. doi:10.1007/s11423-007-9079-9
What is the DOI at the end of this last reference? New to the 6th edition of the APA Style Manual is an emphasis on the DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, for electronic resources. Unlike a URL address, the DOI for each article is unchanging, and is most commonly found in articles retrieved from periodical databases such as EBSCOhost or ProQuest.
Can't find a DOI? Generally, the APA Style Manual advises that you list the URL for the publisher of the periodical. However, in most cases you will have probably retrieved the article from one of the library's databases, such as Academic Search Premier (via EBSCOhost) or ProQuest. In those cases, it is better to reference the database rather than the publisher's URL, as your professor will be able to verify your citation more easily by accessing the same database. Here's an example of a citation for an article retrieved from a library database:
Whiteside, U., Cronce, J., Pedersen, E., & Larimer, M. (2010). Brief motivational
feedback for college students and adolescents: A harm reduction approach.
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 66(2), 150-63. Retrieved from Academic Search
Premier database.
In the above example, you MIGHT include the permalink URL at the end: http://go.asbury.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=47697191&site=ehost-live&scope=site
OR the Accession Number: (Accession No. 47697191)
As more and more scholarly resources are available electronically, the APA has distinct rules for listing references to print and electronic resources. Here are some examples of references for both formats, using APA style:
Print Book:
Tabb, M. A. (2007). Own your faith: The adventure of following Christ in college. Colorado
Springs, CO: THINK Books.
Electronic Book:
Piotrowski, N. A. (2005). Psychology basics [Electronic version]. Retrieved from Netlibrary
database.
Note that some electronic books will also have a DOI number, which you list after the title. If no DOI can be found, include the URL of the website, as per the example above. For electronic books you do not list the name and location of the publisher.
Chapter in a Book:
Krueger, R. A. (2000). Focus group. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology
(Vol. 3, pp. 382-383). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Print newspaper article:
Spears, V. H. (2009, September 19). $10,470 for 2 season tickets. Lexington Herald-
Leader, pp. A1, A10.
Online newspaper article:
Vascellaro, J. E. (2009, September 18). U.S. to file concerns over Google book pact.
The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com
Here's an example of a reference to a webpage:
Are students losing their religion on campus? (2005, December 6). Retrieved
from http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1375842&page=1
When citing this reference in your text, use the first few words from the title, such as ("Are Students Losing," 2005).
Also, if you are citing different sections of the same website, it is helpful to have different entries in the reference list for each section, so that your professor can easily verify the source of your citation.