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HowtoWriteGuide:HowtoCiteOtherPapersinYourPaper

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HowtoCiteOtherSourcesinYourPaper
[TableofContents][PDFVersion]

|Citationsinthebodyofthepaper|FullCitationRulesinLit.Cited|Journals|Books|
|Thesis|WWW|PersonalCommunication|DONOTS

NOTE:Althoughyoushouldusethesecitationformatsinthisandotherbiologycourses,specificformatsvary
considerablyforindividualjournals.Ifyouaretryingtopublishapaperinaspecificjournal,youwillberequired
tofollowtheformatofthatjournal.Somejournals,e.g.,Science,useanumbersystemtogivethetext
reference.Thatsystemwillnotbepresentedhere,butyoushouldexpecttoencounteritinyourreadingofthe
literature.AcompletelistingofcitationformatsforpublishedmaterialsmaybefoundinHuthetal(1994).

CitingReferencesintheBody(IntroandDiscussion)ofthePaper
Throughoutthebodyofyourpaper(primarilytheIntroandDiscussion),wheneveryourefertooutsidesources
ofinformation,youmustcitethesourcesfromwhichyoudrewinformation.Thesimplestwaytodothisisto
parentheticallygivetheauthor'slastnameandtheyearofpublication,e.g.,(Clarke2001).Whenciting
informationfromanother'spublication,besuretoreporttherelevantaspectsoftheworkclearlyand
succinctly,INYOUROWNWORDS.Provideareferencetotheworkassoonaspossibleaftergivingthe
information.
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StandardTextCitationFormats
Thereareexceptionsamongthevariousjournals,butgenerally,inbiologicaljournals,themostfrequenttypes
ofcitationsareshowninthefollowingexamples(inred):
"Ithasbeenfoundthatmalemicereacttoestrogentreatmentbyareductioninphasethreeofcourtship
behavior(Gumwad1952:209;Bugjuice1970).ClickandClack(1974)demonstratedthatmicetreatedwith
syntheticestrogenanalogsreactsimilarly.Thereductioninphasethreecourtshipbehaviormayalsobelinked
tonutritionalstatus(Anon.1996;Bruhahauseretal1973)."
Notethefollowing:
Typically,onlythelastnameoftheauthor(s)andtheyearofpublicationaregiven,e.g.,Bugjuice
1970.YourLiteratureCitedsectionwillcontainthecompletereference,andthereadercanlookitup
there.
Noticethatthereferencetothebookhasapagenumber(Gumwad1952:209).Thisistofacilitatea
reader'sfindingthereferenceinalongpublicationsuchasabook(notdoneforjournalarticles).The
paperbyBugjuice(1970)isshort,andifreaderswanttofindthereferencedinformation,theywouldnot
haveasmuchtrouble.
Fortwoauthorpapers,givebothauthors'lastnames(e.g.,ClickandClack1974).Articleswithmore
thantwoauthorsarecitedbythefirstauthorslastnamefollowed"andothers"or"etal.",andthenthe
year.
Whenabook,paper,orarticlehasnoidentifiableauthor,citeitasAnon.Year,e.g.,(Anon.1996)
(Anon.istheabbreviationforanonymous).SeeFullCitation.
Ifyouwantreferenceapaperfoundinanotherarticle,dosoasfollows:(Driblick1923,inOobleck
1978).
http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWcitations.html

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Astringofcitationsshouldbeseparatedbysemicolons,e.g.,(Gumwad1952:209;Bugjuice1970;
Bruhahauseretal1973).
Finally,youshouldnotetheplacementoftheperiodAFTERtheparentheticalcitationthecitation,
too,ispartofasentence,e.g.,"...courtshipbehavior(Gumwad1952:209;Bugjuice1970)."
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Thesis:Thesesanddissertatonsshouldbecitedasfollows:
Mortimer,R.1975.Astudyofhormonalregulationofbodytemperatureandconsequencesfor
reproductivesuccessinthecommonhousemouse(Musmusculus)inNome,Alaska.Masters
Thesis,UniversityofAlaska,Anchorage.83p.
WorldWideWeb/Internetsourcecitations:WWWcitationshouldbedonewithcautionsincesomuchis
postedwithoutpeerreview.Whennecessary,reportthecompleteURLinthetextincludingthesiteauthor's
name:
OhioStateUniversityLibraryhasagoodwebpageforcitingwebsources:
http://library.osu.edu/sites/guides/csegd.php

InternetsourcesshouldbeincludedinyourLiteratureCitedsection.
Forinformationonevaluatinginternetsources,lookat:
http://abacus.bates.edu/ils/web/research/evaluate.html
Forunusualreferencecitationssuchagovernmentdocuments,technicalreports,etc,refertoHuthetal
(1994)foracompletelistingofcitationformats.AcopyofthisreferenceshouldbeavailableintheLadd
LibraryandacopyisavailableintheBiologyDepartment.
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PersonalCommunications:
SupposesomeoftheinformationcitedabovewasnotgainedfromtheGumwadandBugjuicepublications,
butratherinapersonalconversationwithorletterfromanexpertonthesubject,Dr.CynthiaMousse.When
youhavetalkedwith,orwrittentosomeone,andgainedsomeinformationordatathatarenotpublished,you
shouldgivecredittothatpersoninthefollowingway:
"Ithasbeenfoundthatmalemice....phasethreeofcourtshipbehavior(C.Mousse,pers.
comm.)."
Nodateisenteredforapersonalcommunication,norwillitbeenteredinyourLiteratureCitedsection.
However,thesourceisusuallythankedinyourAcknowledgmentsfortheircontribution.
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DONOTDOTHEFOLLOWING:
DONOTUSEFOOTNOTES:Footnoting,althoughcommonlydoneinbooksandotherliterarywriting,
isonlyrarelydoneinjournalstylepapers.Citereferencesintheflowofthetextasshownabove.
DONOTUSEDIRECTQUOTESFromPublishedMaterial:In99.99%ofthecases,theinformationyou
wantfromaresearcharticleisanobjectiveresultorinterpretation.Howtheauthorstatedthis
information,i.e.,theirprose,isoflittleimportancecomparedtotheresultsorinterpretations
themselves.Taketheinformationandputitintoyourownwords;avoidparaphrasingsincethiscan
potentiallyleadtoplagiarism.
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FormatsforCompleteCitationsusedintheLiteratureCited
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IntheLiteratureCitedyoumustprovidecompletecitationsforeachofthepublishedsourcescitedinyour
paper.TheformatforentriesintheLiteratureCitedsectiondiffersforbooksandforjournalpapersbecause
differentkindsofinformationmustbeprovided.Theformatsprovidedherearetypical,butmayvaryin
differentpublicationsdependingontheirparticularneedsandpractices.
Somebasicrulesapplicabletoallformatsindexedbyauthorname(s):
Allcitationentriesarelistedinalphabeticalorderbasedthefirstauthor'slastname;
Ifthesameauthor(s)arecitedformorethanonepaperhavingthesameorderofauthors'names,the
papersshouldbelistedinchronologicalsequencebyyearofpublication.
Authors'namesMUSTbelistedinthecitationinthesameorderasinthearticle.
Bugjuice,B.,Timm,T.andR.Cratchet.1990.Theroleofestrogeninmouse
xxxxcourtshipbehaviorchangesasmiceage.JPhysiol62(6):11301142.
Cratchet,R.,Bugjuice,B.andT.Timm.1994.Estrogen,schmestrogen!:Mouse
xxxx(Musmusculus)asadietaryalternativeforhumans.JNutrition33(6):113114.
Ifthesameauthor(s)arecitedfortwoormorepaperspublishedwithinthesameyear,placeasmallcase
letteraftertheyeartodenotethesequenceinwhichyoureferredtothem.Forexample:
Bugjuice,B.1970a.Physiologicaleffectsofestrogenonmousecourtshipbehavior.
....x.JPhysiol40(2):140145.
Bugjuice,B.1970b.Physiologicaleffectsofestrogenanalogs:Insincerecourtship
xxxxbehaviorinfemalemice.JPhysiol40(8):12401247.
Ifnoauthorislisted,usethewordAnonymousinplaceoftheauthorname(s).
Anonymous.1992......giverestofcitationusingappropriateformat.

SpecificFormatModels
Eachmodelisshownasthefullcitationplustheintextcitationformat.
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JournalArticle:Singleauthor
Bugjuice,B.1970.Physiologicaleffectsofestrogenonmousecourtship
........behavior.JPhysiol40(2):140145.

Bugjuice(1970)OR
(Bugjuice1970)

InthecitationofBugjuice'spaper,notethefollowing:
abbreviationofherfirstname;nocomma(iffullnameisgiven,thenuseacomma);if
multipleauthors,usecommasbetween;
capitalizationofthewordsinthetitleisjustasthoughitwereasentence;
abbreviationofthejournalname;usuallytheheaderonthearticlewilllisttheappropriate
abbreviationforthejournal;noperiodsinabbreviatedformofjournalname;
"40"isthevolumenumber"(2)"isthenumberoftheissue;ifnoissueisgiven,thecolon
followsthevolumenumber;
"140145"istheinclusivepagenumbersofthearticle;
placementofperiodsisstandard;
indentationofthesecondline(andallsubsequentlines)inthecitation.Thisappliestoall
citations.
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Journal:Twoauthors
Timm,T.andB.Bugjuice.1989.Theroleofwhiskerlengthinmouse
........nosetwitchcourtshipbehavior.JPhysiol61(3):113118.
http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWcitations.html

TimmandBugjuice(1989)OR
(TimmandBugjuice1989)
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Journal:Multipleauthors
Bugjuice,B.,Timm,T.andR.Cratchet.1990.Theroleofestrogenin
.......mousecourtshipbehaviorchangesasmiceage.JPhysiol2(6):
.......11301142.

Bugjuiceetal.(1990)OR
Bugjuiceandothers(1990)OR
(Bugjuiceandothers1990)

Author(s)UnknownorNotNamed
Iftheauthorshipofapaperorotherdocumentisnotprovided,citetheauthorusingtheword"Anonymous"in
theplaceoftheauthorsname(s).
Anonymous.1979.STD'sandYou:ASurvivalGuideforCollegeStudents
.......inthe20thCentury.Publ.#121979,WaazahCountyHealth
.......Department,Popville,Maine.6p.

Anonymous(1979)OR
(Anonymous1979)

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Book:singleauthor
Gumwad,G.1952.Behaviorpatternsofmice.2nded.NewYork:Harper
........&Row.347p.

Gumwad(1952:224)OR
(Gumwad1952:224)

Book:multipleauthors
Huth,J.,Brogan,M.,Dancik,B.,Kommedahl,T.,Nadziejka,D.,
........Robinson,P.,andW.Swanson.1994.Scientificformatandstyle:
........TheCBEmanualforauthors,editors,andpublishers.6thed.
........Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.825p.

Huthetal.(1994:625)OR
Huthandothers(1994:625)OR
(Huthandothers1994:625)

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Book:authorscontributingaspecificchapter
Kuret,J.andF.Murad.1990.Adenohypophysealhormonesandrelated
........substances.In:GilmanA,RallT,NiesA,TaylorP,editors.The
........pharmacologicalbasisoftherapeutics.8thed.NewYork:Pergamon.
........p.133460.

KuretandMurad(1990:133460)
OR
(KuretandMurad1990:133460)

Inthebookscitation,notethefollowing:
abbreviationofauthorsfirstname(oneorbothinitialsok);
capitalizetitleasifitwasasentence;thetitleisnotunderlined(contrarytoliteraryformat)
"2nded."meanssecondedition;ifthebookisafirstedition;noentryismade,here,butif
2nd,3rd,etc.,thenthenotationismade;
givecityofpublication,andthenameofthepublisher;
yearofpublicationfollowsauthors'names;
placementofperiodsisstandard;
indentationofalllinesafterthefirst.
<Moreexamples:UniversityofWashingtonLibraryWebsite(pdf)>

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Modified11711
DepartmentofBiology,BatesCollege,Lewiston,ME04240

http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWcitations.html

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