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Citation Guidelines

Citing References for Academic Articles

One of the most confusing things for students is that there are a number of different writing styles used in academia.  There is, at least, MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association) and Chicago (styles).

If you are writing a paper for Dr. Scipes, and you already use a particular style, please note that on your cover sheet and use the style you favor.  As long as you list this on the cover page–it can even be handwritten–you are ok.

On the other hand, if you do not use a particular style, please follow Chicago style, which is what we use in Sociology.

The idea behind Chicago style is that you do not have to use footnotes for references.  This makes it easier for your readers to find your sources without losing their chain of thought while doing so.

There are two key ways Chicago style works together–and you must use both.

First

You need to set up your reference page.  These are only articles and books that you use in your research, and not all that you might have considered.  These should be placed by alphabetical order of first author’s last name:  Schutz before Scipes.

Use a hanging indent style.  This means that your top line extends to the left, and that following lines are indented.  I use several of my publications to illustrate:

Book

Scipes, Kim.  1996.  Building Genuine Trade Unionism in the Philippines, 1980-1994.  Quezon City, Metro Manila:  New Day Publishers.

Note:  This has the author’s last name, first name.  Year of publication.  Title (underlined or can be italicized).  Place of publication:  publisher. (World Press won’t let me indent the second and subsequent lines, which they should be when using a hanging indent style.)

 If you want to focus on particular pages of a book:

Scipes, Kim.  1996.  Building Genuine Trade Unionism in the Philippines, 1980-1994.  Quezon City, Metro Manila:  New Day Publishers:  116-125.

If two or more authors: use last name of first author, and first name, and then first name, last name of subsequent authors.

Scipes, Kim, Cheryl James, and John James.  year of publication, etc.  (Fictional entry, but to give you some idea of what I mean.)

Article

Scipes, Kim.  2009.  “It’s Time for a Deep Green Vision for the United States … and the World.”  Synthesis/ Regeneration, No. 48, Winter: 8-11.  On-line at www.greens.org/s-r/48/48-04.html (accessed on date).

Note:  This has the author’s last name, first name.  Year of publication.  Title (in quotes).  Journal title (in italics).  When ever possible, list volume number, number within volume, season/month (if given):  page numbers of article.  If it is available on-line, then I’d help your reader access it easily by providing URL of specific article and date that the article was accessed.

Article within a collection (i.e., it is a book with an editor; i.e., edited by….):

Scipes, Kim.  1990.  “Learning from the KMU: Alliance Building” in Don Fitz and David Roediger, eds, Within the Shell of the Old: Essays on Workers’ Self Organization. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company: 81-88.

Note:  This has the author’s last name, first name.  Year of publication.  Title of article (in quotes) in (list editor or editors names, and identify as ed. or eds.), title of book in which the article appears (underlined or italicized).  Place of publication: publisher: page numbers of your article only.

If two or more authors for article, follow what was said above under book.

Multiple Entries

If you have two or more entries by the same author, but from different years:

Scipes, Kim.

  • 2007.  “The AFL-CIO Foreign Policy Program and the 2002 Coup in Venezuela:  Was the AFL-CIO Involved?”  Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, Vol. X:  133-147.  On-line athttp://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/3088.
  • 2008.  “Book Review:  Rethinking Venezuelan Politics:  Class, Conflict, and the Chavez Phenomenon.”   MR Zine, July 17, 4pp.  On-line athttp://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/scipes170708.html.
  • 2009.  “Reviewing Wilpert:  An Extended Review of Changing Venezuela by Taking Power: The Policies of the Chavez Government by Gregory Wilpert.”  Z Net, June 26.  On-line at www.zmag.org/zbooks/review/219.

If you have two or more entries by the same author, but from the same year:

Scipes, Kim.

Note:  You label the items alphabetically, usually giving the earlier one the first letter.  This is arbitrary, but allows you to refer to the specific article in the body of the paper.

Second

Once your reference page is set up, then the rest is pretty easy.  In the body of your paper, instead of footnotes/endnotes, you just cite your particular reference.  This gets rid of Latin terms like ibid. or op. cit.  Examples:

  •  Scipes argues that the Green Party is an electoral force of some significance (Scipes, 2008b).

Note:  If you want to refer to a specific idea or quote on a particular page, simply add that:  e.g. (Scipes, 2008b: 45).

  • Scipes (2007, 2008, 2009) has argued that….

Remember, when quoting, put the back quote immediately after the quote, then cite the reference (in parentheses), and then add sentence-ending punctuation.  Example:

Scipes said, ” …. blah, blah blah” (Scipes, 2008b: 45).