Citing References

MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian Style

Professional organizations like the Modern Language Association (MLA), the Universit of Chicago Press, and the American Psychological Association (APA), establish the documentation standards for most scholarly publishing in the U.S. Sample MLA, APA, and Chicago citations are shown below for document types found in LexisNexis® databases. The example citations are shown as if all articles were found in the LexisNexis Academic Database. In most cases, by removing the web URL part of the citation, the example turns into a citation for a print version. However, in 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.

All Citation Examples are from the Latest Versions of the Style Guides

Basic Bibliography Formatting Rules

MLA

• Place the list of works cited at the end of the paper.
• Center the title, "Works Cited", one inch from the top of the page.
• Double space between the title and the first entry.
• Double space both within and between entries.
• Begin each entry on the left margin.
• Indent subsequent lines one-half inch (approximately five spaces)
• Alphabetize by the author's (or editor's) last name.
• Entries without an author are alphabetized by title.

News

Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers

MLA
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Periodical Title Volume number. Issue number (Date of publication): Page number range. Database Name. Medium of Publication. Date of Access. <URL>.
Examples:

Wildstrom, Stephen H. "A Big Boost for Net Privacy." Business Week Apr. 5, 1999: 23. Online. LexisNexis® Academic. August 2009. <http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic>

Liswood, Laura A. "Gender politics and the Oval Office; Why don't women run for president?" Baltimore Sun March 31, 1999: 23A. Online. LexisNexis® Academic. August 2009. <http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic>

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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