College Composition / Unit 24 CMP 0583 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
What Every Citation Needs
The idea
Whatever the style, a citation needs enough information for a reader to identify and find the source.
In practice
Learn the shared core elements, in the order most styles begin. First, the author, a person, several people, or an organization. Second, the title of the work. Third, the larger container it appears in, such as a journal, a website or a collection, if any. Fourth, the publisher. Fifth, the date of publication. Sixth, the location, such as page numbers, a DOI or a URL. Seventh, for online sources, sometimes the date you accessed them. Each style arranges and punctuates these elements differently, and units twenty-five through twenty-seven show how.
Where people slip
Missing an element forces readers to search on their own. Record all of these details when you first find a source, because reconstructing them later is slow and error-prone.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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