Sociology: Citing Sources

The ASA Style Guide was designed for use by authors preparing manuscripts for publication in American Sociological Association journals. This Butler Library guide to ASA style is intended to aid students who are directed by their instructors to use “ASA style” when writing research papers.

ASA Style Guide  REF HM569 .A54 2007

MLA (Modern Language Association) REF LB2369 .G53 2009
Generally used in humanities departments including English, literature, and foreign languages.

Note: Citations should be double spaced and the 2nd & following lines indented 5 spaces. Additional format information is provided at the bottom of this page. The 2009 edition of the MLA handbook notes that URLs are no longer required when citing web sources. If you do include a URL, place it after the date of access and enclosed in angle brackets:

Eaves, Morris, Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. The William Blake Archive. Lib. of Congress., 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2007. .

MLA in-text parenthetical citations - Duke University Libraries

Frequently asked questions about MLA style from the Modern Language Association

Purdue Online Writing Center - Great source for writing information, including citation help.

Bedford/St. Martins Publishers - Citation styles for online sources.

APA (American Psychological Association)  REF BF76.7 .P83 2010
Generally used in social sciences departments including psychology, education, and sociology.

The print edition of Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is available in the library.

APA Style blog - information about hard-to-cite sources and clear explanations of changes in the 6th ed.

Citing Information - UNC Chapel Hill Libraries

Purdue Online Writing Center

Bedford/St. Martins Publishers - Citation styles for online sources.

Please refer to the Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide for examples and information about the two documentation styles utilized in The Chicago Manual of Style. REF Z253 .U69 1993

Notes

• Arrange the items on your reference list alphabetically by author, interfiling books, articles, etc.
• Single space each entry and double space between entries, unless your professor indicates that the entire paper should be double spaced.
• Indent the second and following lines 5 spaces (or one half inch).
• When a Web address must be divided at the end of a line, break it after a slash. Do not insert a hyphen.
• If no author is given, start with the title.
• For a website with no named author, treat the sponsor as the author.
• For guidelines concerning differences between journals and magazine, consult the library's webpage: Magazines vs journals.
• The rules concerning a title within a title are not displayed here for purposes of clarity. See the printed version of the manual for details.
• For documents and situations not listed here, see the printed version of the manual.

Purdue Online Writing Center - Great source for writing information, including citation help.

Bedford/St. Martins Publishers - Citation styles for online sources.

Chicago Manual of Style - Questions and answers from University of Chicago Press.

Turabian  REF LB2369 .T8 2007
Designed for college students to use with all subjects.

Turabian style is more often used for papers requiring a note system. The following citations pertain only to a Works Cited/Reference list for a paper using Turabian style. Please see the print manual for assistance with notes and other formatting variations. All citations should be single spaced, with the 2nd and following lines indented 5 spaces. Additional format information provided at bottom of page.

Purdue Online Writing Center - Great source for writing information, including citation help.

Bedford/St. Martins Publishers - Citation styles for online sources.

Plagiarism is not giving credit to others whose work you have used. It is unethical and reduces credibility of all the work that you do. It is also a violation of the Virginia Wesleyan Honor Code.

Activities that are considered plagiarism

Including ideas that are clearly not your own.

Copying a sentence or paragraph as it is from another source without crediting the original author.

Including data, ideas, or concepts that are someone else’s without crediting the original author.

Using exact quotes from another person or writing without the use of quotations and without crediting the original author.

Paraphrasing parts of another person’s work without crediting the original author.

Citing sources NOT used for the research or assignment.

Creating and citing bogus or false sources in a bibliography.

Submitting the same paper for more than one course.

Putting together parts from various works and submitting as one’s own work.