An extremely important part of scholarly writing is documenting your sources. Everything derived from an outside source, i.e., ideas, information, statistics, etc., must be credited whether it is found in print or via the Internet. Style manuals (also called "citation guides" or "style guides") provide instructions and examples of how to format papers, cite sources, and prepare in-text references and end-of-document bibliographies.
This guide contains references and links to a number of citation and style guides.
For more help on citing sources, take a look at the "Make Citations" module of the library research tutorial It only takes about 15 minutes to work through this and it could save you hours in the long term!
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (Peter W. Martin, Cornell Law School. Based on the "Bluebook", the authoritative reference on legal citation.)
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Ed
REF BF76.7.P83 2020, 1 copy at the Reference Desk, 1 copy in the Reference Collection
Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.
REF Z253.U69 2017, 1 copy at the Reference Desk; 16th edition and 15th edition in General Collection, Z253.U69 2010 and 2003
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.
REF PN147.G444 2008, 1 copy at the Reference Desk
Student's guide to writing college papers, 5th ed.
REF LB2369.T8 2019 (General Collection)
A citation management tool helps you:
We suggest three choices to you in this guide: Refworks, Zotero, and Mendeley. (Each is available free of charge).
Refworks, is provided by TCNJ. It is a stable, well-established platform, but has limitations in terms of working with PDF files.
Zotero is an open-source software program that is notable for its ease of use, its ability to grab screenshots, and its capabilities for archiving website content for local storage (including PDFs).
Mendeley, the newest option of the three, is a cloud-based proprietary system that includes PDF storage, annotation, and tagging. Mendeley has a wide range of functionality but has historically suffered from performance and accuracy issues.
We recommend that you explore a variety of citation managers, consulting with library staff as needed, before choosing one. We can provide guidance on best practices and share our experiences.
The ACS Style Guide
REF QD8.5.A25 2006, and the General Collection
Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers
REF T11.S386 2006
American Anthropological Association Style Guide
American Sociological Association Style (Trinity University Library)
Formatting in Sociology (Purdue University Online Writing Lab)