Documenting Sources
Chapter Opener
45
understand citation styles
Documenting Sources
Required to document your research paper? It seems simple in theory: List your sources and note where and how you use them. But the practice can be intimidating. For one thing, you have to follow rules for everything from capitalizing titles to captioning images. For another, documentation systems differ between fields. What worked for a Shakespeare paper won’t transfer to your psychology research project. Bummer. What do you need to do?
Understand the point of documentation. Documentation systems differ to serve the writers and researchers who use them. Modern Language Association (MLA) documentation, which you probably know from composition and literature classes, highlights author names and the titles of works and assumes that writers will be quoting a lot — as literature scholars do. American Psychological Association (APA) documentation, gospel in psychology and social sciences, focuses on publication dates because scholars in these fields value the latest research. Council of Science Editors (CSE) documentation, used in the hard sciences, provides predictably detailed advice for handling formulas and numbers.
So systems of documentation aren’t arbitrary. Their rules simply reflect the specialized needs of writers in various fields.
Understand what you accomplish through documentation. First, you clearly identify the sources you have used. In a world awash with information, readers really do need to have reliable information about titles, authors, data, source of publication, and so on.
In addition, by citing your sources, you certify the quality of your research and, in turn, receive credit for your labor. You also provide evidence for your claims. An appreciative reader or instructor can tell a lot from your bibliography alone.
Finally, when you document a paper, you encourage readers to follow up on your work. When you’ve done a good job, serious readers will want to know more about your subject. Both your citations and your bibliography enable them to take the next step in their research.
Style Guides Used in Various Disciplines
| Field or Discipline | Documentation and Style Guides |
| Anthropology | AAA Style Guide (2009) and Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed., 2010) |
| Biology | Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (8th ed., 2014) |
| Business and management |
The Business Style Handbook: An A- |
| Chemistry | The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information (3rd ed., 2006) |
| Earth sciences | Geowriting: A Guide to Writing, Editing, and Printing in Earth Science (rev. ed., 2004) |
| Engineering | Varies by area; IEEE Standards Style Manual (online) |
| Federal government | United States Government Printing Office Manual (30th ed., 2008) |
| History | Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed., 2010) |
| Humanities | MLA Handbook (8th ed., 2016) |
| Journalism | The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (2013); UPI Stylebook and Guide to Newswriting (4th ed., 2004) |
| Law | The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (19th ed., 2010) |
| Mathematics | A Manual for Authors of Mathematical Papers (8th ed., 1990) |
| Music | Writing about Music: An Introductory Guide (4th ed., 2008) |
| Nursing | Writing for Publication in Nursing (2nd ed., 2010) |
| Political science | The Style Manual for Political Science (2006) |
| Psychology | Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed., 2010) |
| Sociology | American Sociological Association Style Guide (4th ed., 2010) |
For a tutorial on documentation, see Tutorials > Documentation and Working with Sources > Do I Need to Cite That?