Overview of the fundamentals of citations (bibliographic referencing) for academic librarians. What citations are fundamentally, why we cite, what we cite and how we cite... followed by a concrete example in APA, MLA and Chicago. See video version (with audio) at https://youtu.be/BsYr90GUK3k

1. Citing Sources
An Overview for Academic Librarians
by Tim Gorichanaz
Drexel University
2016

2. Overview
About me
What are citations?
Why we cite
What we cite
How we cite
Three common styles
Tim Gorichanaz, 2016

3. Tim Gorichanaz, 2016
About me
• PhD student at CCI
• Research in information
behavior, document studies
• Current project: Comparing
citation behavior between
Wikipedia and academia

4. Tim Gorichanaz, 2016
What are citations?
Within a work, citations are mentions of other
works
Two main functions:
• Crediting
• Connecting

5. Tim Gorichanaz, 2016
Why do we cite?
Academia runs on documentation. If it’s not published, it doesn’t exist. Academia
seeks to make progress as a global community. In this world, citations serve:
• For honesty (crediting)
• To point readers to other discussions—
both inspiration (crediting) and tangents (connecting)
• To situate work within academic discourse (connecting)
• To endorse or dispute related work (connecting)
• To help readers to evaluate the current argument
in light of source material (crediting)
• For protection from others’ mistakes (crediting)
Finally, we want to be cited, too—and citation counts are still a key measure of
scientific performance/impact

6. Tim Gorichanaz, 2016
What do we cite?
• References to other work
• Theories, questions
• Methods, tools
• Things that aren’t common
knowledge
• Claims, assumptions
• Things that may be challenged
• Direct quotes
Excerpts from: Gorichanaz, T. (2015). Information
on the run. Information Research, 20(4).

7. Tim Gorichanaz, 2016
How do we cite?
• Different groups, different systems
• Someone else decides!
• Consistency is key
• In general: Short reference now (in-text),
complete reference later (bibliographic)
• Two broad categories:
• Vancouver: Numbered footnotes or
endnotes
• Harvard: Parentheses with author/year

8. Tim Gorichanaz, 2016
Comparing Common Styles
APA
In the text:
…corn consumption
(Pollan, 2006).
Bibliographic:
Pollan, M. (2006). The
omnivore’s dilemma: A
natural history of four
meals. New York:
Penguin.
MLA
In the text:
…corn consumption
(Pollan 56).
Bibliographic:
Pollan, Michael. The
Omnivore’s Dilemma: A
Natural History of Four
Meals. New York:
Penguin, 2006. Print.
Chicago
In the text:
…corn consumption
(Pollan 2006, 56).
Bibliographic:
Pollan, Michael. 2006.
The Omnivore’s
Dilemma: A Natural
History of Four Meals.
New York: Penguin.

9. Tim Gorichanaz, 2016
Learn more
• My lecture on Citation Systems (2015)
• My lecture on Referencing Issues in Everyday Life
(2015)
• Paper by Bornmann and Daniel (2008): “What do citation
counts measure: A review of studies on citing behavior”
• Book by Latour and Woolgar (1986): Laboratory Life:
The Construction of Scientific Facts
• Contact me at gorichanaz@drexel.edu