Before you begin, ensure that you know what a citation is and when it is used.

Next, make sure you have watched the videos I created and are comfortable with the basics of research and have reviewed the OWL Resources.

Next, review the resources on How to Write a Literature Review Paper by Purdue OWL and How to Paraphrase for guidance.

Before we get into side notes, don’t forget to scroll all the way down to read the tips directly related to our course.

When citing a source, you only cite the source that is directly in front of you that you actually read. You never cite the sources that your original, in-hand, paper cited. At minimum, you must have in-text citations at the end of each paragraph (that pertain to what you are discussing in that paragraph) and matching full citations at the end of your paper in the literature cited section (also called “end references”).

Please watch the video at the bottom of this page and link through to the additional resources.

For the name-year format, each source is cited in the text with the author’s last name and the year of publication (in-text citation) first. Then, as you write and cite you build your references list which lists all of the sources used, in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

The goal of the in-text citation is to point the reader to the full citation in the list of references, so they should match.

Choose one of these formatting options:

1. Hanging indents are the most correct formatting choice for the entire section, but I understand they can be a pain to do. So for our class, you may do either hanging indents. Learn how to format in Word and Google Docs.
   
   OR
   
   
2. Single space each individual citation and put a double space in between individual citations, then left justify all.

Keane, S. 2010. The disappearing spoon: And other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements. New York (NY): Little, Brown and Company.

Ripple WJ, Beschta RL, Painter LE. 2015. Trophic cascades from wolves to alders in Yellowstone. For Ecol Manage. 354(1): 254-260. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.06.007.

Remember, the name you use in your in-text citation should match the name you use in your full citation in the list of references!

One Author

Use the author’s last name, followed by first and middle initials.

Kean S.

Two to Ten Authors

List all authors. For each, use the author’s last name, followed by first and middle initials.

Ripple WJ, Beschta RL, Painter LE.

More than Ten Authors

List the first ten authors, followed by “et al.”

George, MA, Dubbe, D, Pate, JP, Murphy, J, Twardos, M, Crohn, K, Henry, R, Hartman, J, Hickox, CE, Bisom, T, et al.

Organization as Author

List the abbreviation you used in your in-text citation in brackets, followed by the full name of the organization. For national organizations, such as federal government agencies, include (US) after the name of the organization.

[CDC] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US).

Original database location and original PDF.

Journal Article/Primary Review Journal Template: Author(s). Year. Article Title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Vol(Issue):page numbers.

• If you have a doi for your article, please include it at the end of your citation in the following format: doi:10.1007/s10344-014-0825-0

Example: Ripple WJ, Beschta RL, Painter LE. 2015. Trophic cascades from wolves to alders in Yellowstone. For Ecol Manage. 354(1): 254-260. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.06.007.

*Please note that this journal example did not have an issue number, so I simply placed a 1 in the parentheses. It’s also fine to place a zero. DOI is not required, but if it has one, adding it to the end of the citation is fine.

Book template: Authors(s). Year. Title. Edition. Place of publication: publisher. Extent. Notes.

Please note:

1. Even though the most correct version of citing in CSE Name Year Style for book includes “extent” or “notes” info, for our class, you are not required to include it. “Extent” or “notes” info, which correlates to the exact part of the book you used in your paper. For us, just give the citation of the overall book.
   
   
2. If your book is the first edition or doesn’t include an edition number, you can omit the edition requirement of this template as well.

Example: Keane, S. 2010. The disappearing spoon: And other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements. New York (NY): Little, Brown and Company.

This is how you cite anything that is just a website and doesn’t fall into the category above. Remember: generally speaking, anything digital but not a book from our library or Google Scholar will be cited as an article from journals and databases above.

Template: Author, AA. Year. Title of short work. Title of website. Place of publication: Publisher. [updated year month day; accessed year month day]. Article URL.

Please note:

1. Even though the most correct version of citing in CSE Name Year Style for website includes notes about how you specifically used the source, you aren’t required to add notes for our class.
   
   
2. As there is no accepted style or format that applies to all websites, some of the above information may be missing from your citation. Here’s what to do:
   
   No Author? Use the Organization as Author
   
   List the abbreviation you used in your in-text citation in brackets, followed by the full name of the organization. For national organizations, such as federal government agencies, include (US) after the name of the organization.
   
   [CDC] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US).
   
   No date listed when the site was last updated?
   
   Use the year you accessed the website

Example: [USFWS] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 2023. Bull trout: Conserving the nature of America. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Portland (OR): USFWS. [updated 2014 Sept 4; accessed 2016 Sept 23]. https://www.fws.gov/species/bull-trout-salvelinus-confluentus