Cite materials correctly
Below you will find examples for the most common citations styles and examples of each. Most disciplines will select a citation style that you will become accustomed to as you work with it in your disciplines. For example, English tends to use MLA, while Psychology uses the APA format for citations. These are general examples and the library recommends you check with your professor and your assignment description for the format that you are to use for citation. Examples of each of the major styles are below.
Additionally, Hekman Library at Calvin College offers an online citation builder to assist you with putting citations together properly. Their citation builder covers MLA, APA, and Chicago Style citations.
MLA
A few examples of MLA style are included online. For a more detailed explanation and citation examples, please consult MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (RDY REF PE 1408.M64 2003) or The Bedford Handbook (RDY REF PE 1408.H277 2006).
- Book with one author:
Louis, James. The Victorian Novel. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2006.
- Book with two authors:
- Book with an author and an editor:
- A work in an anthology:
- Article in a magazine:
- Article in a journal:
- Article in a daily newspaper:
- Work retrieved from a database, such as EBSCOhost:
- Government Publication:
- Government Publication online:
Dowson, Jane and Alice Entwistle. A History of Twentieth-Century British Women's
      Poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. Alistair M. Duckworth. Boston: Bedford, 2002.
Tolkien, J. R. R. "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics." An Anthology of Beowulf
      Criticism. Ed. Lewis E. Nicholson. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre
      Dame Press, 1963. 51-104.
Luscombe, Belinda. "Pop Culture Finds Lost Boys." Time 12 Feb. 2007: 62-64.
Larminie, Vivienne. "The Jacobean Diplomatic Fraternity and the Protestant Cause: Sir
      Isaac Wake and the View from Savoy." The English Historical Review CXXI.464
      (2006): 1300-1326.
Solomon, Alan. "Rembrandt's Amsterdam." Chicago Tribune 11 Feb. 2007, sec. 8: 1+.
Baldridge, C. "Alternatives to Bourgeois Individualism in A Tale of Two Cities." Studies
      in English Literature (Rice) 30.4 (1990): 633-655. Academic Search Premier.
      EBSCOhost. Hewes Library, Monmouth, IL. 16 Feb. 2007 < http://search.epnet.com>.
United States. U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. Census Bureau. Statistical Abstract of the
      United States: 2007. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2006.
United States. U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Federal Reserve Board. Choosing a credit
      card. Oct. 19, 2004. 2 Feb. 2007. < http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/shop/default.htm>.
APA
The American Psychological Association developed APA style originally for use in its own publications. Today, many sciences use it as the standard for citation style. For a more detailed explanation and citation examples, please consult The Bedford Handbook (RDY REF PE 1408.H277 2006).
- Book with one author:
Shermer, M. (1997). Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition,
      and Other Confusions of Our Time. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. - Book with more than one authors:
- Book with an editor:
- Article in a magazine:
- Article in a journal:
- Article in a daily newspaper:
- Work retrieved from a database, such as EBSCOhost:
- Government Publication:
- Government Publication online:
Holstein, J. A., & Gubrium, J. F. (2000). The Self We Live By: Narrative identity in a
      postmodern world. New York: Oxford University Press.
If there are more than six authors, list the first six and replace the others' names with "et al."
Bloom, Benjamin S. (Ed.). (1985). Developing Talent in Young People. New York:
      Balantine Books.
Stipp, D. (2007, February 5). So What's the Scoop on that Stuff in Red Wine
      That's Supposed to Let You Live Forever? Fortune, 155 (2), 68.
Horner, V. and Whiten, A. (2007). Learning from Others' Mistakes? Limits on
      Understanding a Trap-Tube Task by Young Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
      and Children (Homo sapiens). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 121(1),
      12-21.
Mahany, B. (2007, February 11). Wild Things: They Make Us Look Tame.
      Chicago Tribune, p. W1.
Gassman-Pines, A. and Yoshikawa, H. (2006). The Effects of Antipoverty Programs on
      Children's Cumulative Level of Poverty-Related Risk. Developmental Psychology,
      42(6), 981-999. Retrieved February 16, 2007, from Academic Search Premier
      database (23134954).
U.S. Census Bureau. (2006). Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007. Washington,
      DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
The Federal Reserve Board. (2004). Choosing a credit card. In Consumer Information.
      Retrieved February 12, 2007, from http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/shop/default.htm
Chicago Style
Chicago Style is mainly used for history and other humanities. A more detailed explanation and citation examples, please consult The Chicago Manual of Style (RDY REF Z253.C49 2003) or The Bedford Handbook (RDY REF PE 1408.H277 2006).
- Book with one author:
Lenman, Bruce. England's Colonial Wars 1550-1688: Conflicts, Empire, and National
      Identity. Essex, England: Longman, 2001. - Book with two or three authors:
- Book with an editor:
- A work in an anthology:
- Article in a magazine:
- Article in a journal:
- Article in a daily newspaper:
- Work retrieved from a database, such as EBSCOhost:
- Government Publication:
Struken, Marita and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An introduction to visual
      culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Austen, Jane. Emma. Edited by Alistair M. Duckworth. Boston: Bedford, 2002.
Tolkien, J. R. R. "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics." In An Anthology of Beowulf
      Criticism, edited by Lewis E. Nicholson, 51-104. Notre Dame, Indiana: Notre
      Dame University Press, 1963.
Cole, Diane. "History on the Hill: American Politics through the lives of five black U.S.
      senators." U.S. News & World Report, February 19, 2007, 36-41.
Green, Jennifer R. "Networks of Military Educators: Middle-Class Stability and
      Professionalization in the Late Antebellum South." The Journal of Southern
      History LXXIII, no. 1 (2007): 39-74.
Solomon, Alan. "Rembrandt's Amsterdam." Chicago Tribune, February 11, 2007, sec. 8.
Weinstein, Cindy. "How Many Others are There in the Other Half? Jacob Riis and
      the Treatment Population." Nineteenth-Century Contexts 24, no. 2 (2002):
      195-217. http://search.ebscohost.com
U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007. Washington, DC:
      Government Printing Office, 2006.
Human resources: your local librarians
Hopefully, the ideas and resources above will help you to get started in your research. If you have any questions, comments or difficulties, please contact a librarian at the Reference Desk: (309) 457-2301. Ask early and ask often: the more time that you give us to help, the more we can do for you.

