Biology Research Articles: Citing Sources

Don't forget to cite your sources for any data, graphics, or illustrations you include in your presentation.

Need to pull together your references for a paper or presentation? Click HERE for a detailed guide to using RefWorks.

TCNJ Department of Biology Research Paper Style Manual

"This Style Manual is intended to provide formatting instructions, as well as appropriate content and organization, for each part of the research paper and is to be used as the standard throughout the entire four-year Biology Curriculum."

Additional Citation Style Guides

Some style guide options created outside TCNJ and widely used in scholarly publications:

• CSE-Council of Science Editors Documentation (Writer's Handbook, University of Wisconsin) -- This is the citation style required by the TCNJ Dept. of Biology Style Manual, with one exception: The Biology Style Manual stipulates that you use full journal titles, not abbreviations. For tips on finding full journal titles, look at the section titled "Deciphering journal abbreviations."
• Additional options

'Instructions for Authors'

Journal websites usually have a page called something like "Instructions for Authors." Your professor may suggest that you follow the style used by a particular journal. For example:

• genesis: The Journal of Genetics and Development Author Guidelines
• Ecology Instructions for Authors

RefWorks

RefWorks is a web-based program that allows you to easily collect, manage, and organize bibliographic citations by interfacing with databases. RefWorks also operates directly with MS Word, making it easy to import citations and incorporate them into your writing as properly formatted footnotes or parenthetical citations according to the style of your choice.

• RefWorks LibGuide
  • This is a LibGuide adapted by TCNJ librarians for TCNJ users.
• RefWorks tutorial videos 
  • The producers of RefWorks have a series of videos on using their product.

NOTE: The RefWorks providers themselves urge you to examine your citations carefully to make sure they are correctly imported and formatted. To do this, you may need to consult the official style guide for whichever citation style your course requires. 

Zotero

Zotero is a free and open-source software that also allows you to collect and organize bibliographic citations. Like RefWorks, it also allows you to create citations and bibliographies in a number of styles. Zotero has a couple of specific advantages that set it apart from paid products like RefWorks and EndNote:

• It is free and open source. You will be able to use it for your entire career, no matter what institution you go to.
• Zotero has tools to integrate with G-Suite and GoogleDocs. Because it is open source, it tends to adapt more quickly to new technologies than other programs. 

Although it does have a web version, to work best, Zotero needs to be downloaded onto your computer. To get started, visit Zotero's website here. Then use these resources to help get your Zotero up and running:

• Zotero Tutorial (YouTube)
• This Guide to Zotero was created by Northwestern University. Some things on it are specific to their students, but if you click around the left-side navigation menu, you can find support for most questions you might have. There is a link to a good "Introduction to Zotero" video in that side navigation. It can also be found by scrolling to the bottom of the page.
• This Beginner's Guide to Zotero was created by the University of New Mexico. If you look in the left hand navigation menu, you'll see links to specific instructions for using Zotero with GoogleDocs. 
• Ask for help from your librarian! Use my contact info on the upper right of this page. 

Some databases and journals will include references in a citation style using abbreviated journal titles the meanings of which may be ambiguous, e.g., Clin Eff Nurs or Nurs Health Sci.

To confirm the complete, correct journal title and obtain an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), look up the abbreviation in:

• PubMed's Journal Database
• Ulrich's Periodical Directory

If you cannot confirm a correct journal title yourself, rather than submit an incorrect title, try:

• Ask a Librarian