Citing References

Revision as of 09:41, 2 February 2010

MLA and APA Style

Two professional organizations, the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA), establish the documentation standards for most scholarly publishing in the U.S. Sample MLA and APA citations are shown below for some document types found in LexisNexis® databases. Generally, you can follow the approved method for citing a print versio of the same document and append a note that it was accessed online. In some cases, such as a Company Dossier report, there is no print equivalent and you must cite the database itself as your source.

The rules for citing online documents are as changeable as the online publishing environment itself. Find out which format is preferred by your instructor, then select the relevant items from the bibliographic data section found at the top of each html file. Typically this section will provide more information than you need in your citation.

Magazines & Newspapers

MLA lists the author's name, article title, magazine or newspaper title, publication data, publication medium (Online), name of the online service (LexisNexis® Academic), and date of accessing the site.

Wildstrom, Stephen H. "A Big Boost for Net Privacy." Business Week Apr. 5, 1999: 23. Online. LexisNexis® Academic. 5 August 2007.

Liswood, Laura A. "Gender politics and the Oval Office; Why don't women run for president?" Baltimore Sun 31 March 1999: 23A. Online. LexisNexis® Academic. 5 August 2007.

APA lists the author's name, date of publication, article title, magazine title, type of medium in brackets and Internet availability.

Wildstrom, Stephen H. (1999, April 5 ). A big boost for net privacy. Business Week, p. 23. [Online]. Available: http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic.

Liswood, Laura A. (1999 March 31) Gender politics and the Oval Office; Why don't women run for president? Baltimore Sun, pp. 23A. [Online]. Available: http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic.

Business Sources

Company Dossier

Supreme Court Cases

MLA lists the case title, U.S. Reports citation, page numbers, docket number, name of the court, year of decision, Internet address, and date of accessing the site

Fullilove v. Klutznick. 448 U.S. 448. 448-554. No. 78-1007. US Supreme Court. 1980. Online. LexisNexis® Academic. (5 August 2007).

APA lists the case title, U.S. Reports citation, year of decision, and Internet address.

Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U.S. 448 (1980) [Online] Available: http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic.

U.S. Code

MLA lists the title number, statute book of the U.S. Code, section, year, publication medium, name of computer service, and date of access.

42 US Code. Sec. 405. 1998. Online. LexisNexis® Academic. 5 August 2007.

Legal Citation Style

Legal writing generally follows the Bluebook Uniform System of Citation. In LexisNexis Academic, you can retrieve most legal documents (cases, statutes, law review articles, etc.) using the standard citation. Help with citations form ats is provided on the Federal and State Cases form and on the Shepard's Citations form. The Shepard's form includes an interactive "citation format assistant" feature that will help you use the proper format for each of the legal sources covered.

Related Resources

Many colleges and universities have created excellent guides to citation.

General

Long Island University APA Citation Guide

University of Wisconsin Writing Center

Legal

• The Boston College Law Library Research Guide

• Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (Cornell University Law School)

Government Publications

University of Memphis Guide to Citing Government Publications

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