Sources: How to Cite Sources: Citation Styles

Table of contents

How to cite sources

From sources to citations

Sources types

Fields

Citation formats

Citation styles

OVER THE PAST several decades, distinct styles of citation have become defined by influential periodicals (e.g., Science), publishing houses (e.g., the University of Chicago Press) or professional organizations (e.g., the Modern Language Association). One particular bibliographic software — EndNote[TM] — lets you choose from over three hundred different pre-packaged styles of citation or create your own style. Even more styles exist, especially when foreign periodicals and publishers are considered. Each style offers a distinctive set of answers to questions concerning how information and fields are arranged within a citation:

1	How are titles to be capitalized? The "sentence style" capitalizes the first word of a title or subtitle and only proper nouns and proper adjectives thereafter. The "headline style" capitalizes the first and last words and all other words except articles, prepositions, coordinate conjunctions, and "to" in infinitives.
2	Are book titles capitalized differently from article titles?
3	Are authors' names cited in full, or with only first initials for given names? How many authors do you list for multi-authored sources? When do you use "et al." (Latin for "and others")?
4	Are terms such as "editor," "translator," or "compiler" abbreviated, and if so, how?
5	How is information concerning date, issue, and pages of periodical articles arranged and punctuated?
6	Are article titles included in the citation?
7	Are places of publication and publishers cited for books?

This list could be extended nearly indefinitely, given the variety of sources types each style must represent.
Most of your writing at Dartmouth College probably will not require a wide spectrum of citation styles. The examples section of this site introduces only four such styles, seeking to illuminate current practice in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Should your instructor prefer another style, consult the Resources section.