Citations are important for the following reasons:
They give credit to the original creator of the information
They organize your information
They solidify your research by making it more credible
They allow for other researchers to track back to other sources of related information and cite specific authors
What exactly is included in a citation? All the important details of the source! Depending on the citation format and source type, they will be organized uniquely.
Information typically included in a citation: (Not in order)
Author, Title of source, Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location
For online resources regarding citation formats, we recommend Purdue Owl
Remember - this to get started, you do not want to copy and paste! It is a tool to help you build the bones of your citation - always edit before turning in your work!
For Sociology, your professor may require citation format to follow the American Sociological Association (ASA) guide.
ASA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue OWL)
Overview of manuscript and citation formatting according to the American Sociological Association (ASA) Style Guide.
Stylesheet for citing sources using the American Sociological Association's citation rules.
General Format (Articles)
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
General Format (Books)
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name. DOI (if available)
Example from Purdue Owl:
Baniya, S., & Weech, S. (2019). Data and experience design: Negotiating community-oriented digital research with service-learning. Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement, 6(1), 11–16. https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284316979
*Be sure to add a hanging indent to your citations!
Juniata College
1700 Moore Street
Huntingdon, PA 16652
Juniata College
1815 Moore Street
Huntingdon, PA 16652
