There are two ways to cite a source: 1) footnotes, and 2) parenthetical citations. Most of you are likely least familiar with footnotes, but they are simple. You simply write your sentence. Then insert the footnote.1 In Microsoft Word, the “Insert Footnote” feature is under the “References” tab in the top ribbon (see image below). I have provided the basic formats for a footnote citation in the footnote below.
Footnotes are my preferred method of citation, but if you choose to use parenthetical citations, it is okay. The crucial point—and I cannot emphasize this enough—is that you MUST cite sources not only when you quote from a document but also when you simply borrow an idea or information from a document. For instance, if you write in your paper that the Industrial Revolution changed women’s labor by reducing the amount of spinning that women were asked to do because you read it in one of the readings. You need to cite that information even though you did not quote it. That idea is not yours; it was an argument made by the author you read. If you do not cite it, you are passing it off as yours, which is plagiarism. Some information does not need a citation, such as information that is generally common knowledge. Christopher Columbus sailing the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 would fall under this category. Nevertheless, if you are unsure whether you need to cite something, the answer is likely that you should. When in doubt, cite. If all the information in a paragraph comes from one source, you can put the citation at the end of the paragraph, but quotations should always have citations of their own to avoid ambiguity.
Parenthetical Citations
For parenthetical citations, you will need to provide a works cited page at the end of the essay. The parenthetical citation should have the last name of the author and the page number it can be found. It works by using the first word related to the works-cited entry, which is almost always the author’s last name, so the reader can quickly find the source from which the information was derived. For instance, it would look like this (Frank, 123). Note that the punctuation follows the closed parenthesis. The works cited citation looks almost the same as a footnote citation, but note that the last name comes first in the works cited, and periods, not commas, separate the main pieces of the metadata.
Footnote Citations
Footnotes follow a simple pattern, typically following the Chicago Style: Author Name, Title, (city: publisher, date), ##. Below, I have provided examples of the three main types of footnotes—books, articles, and book chapters. For more information, The Chicago Manual of Style has a website with a quick guide here.
Book Chapters
Joe Frank, “Title of the chapter in quotations,” in Title of the Book in Italics (publisher, date of publication), page number.
It would look like this: Joe Frank, “Important Stories from History,” in An Important History Book (Cambridge University Press), 234-235.
Articles
Articles follow a similar premise:
Joe Frank, “Article Title,” Journal Title [volume number], no. [issue number] (date): page number. Note the absence of “in” between the article title and journal title.
It should look like this:
Joe Frank, “Important Article,” Important History Journal 15, no. 2 (1992): 123-124.
Books
Books are the simplest:
Joe Frank, Title of the Book in Italics (place of publication: publisher, date), page number.
It would look like this:
Joe Frank, An Important History Book (Cambridge University Press, 2020), 234-235.
Footnotes
Joe Frank, “Title of the chapter in quotations,” in Title of the Book in Italics (publisher, date of publication), page number. It would look like this: Joe Frank, “Important Stories from History,” in An Important History Book (Cambridge University Press), 234-235. For an article, it follows a similar premise: Joe Frank, “Article Title,” Journal Title [volume number], no. [issue number] (date): page number. Note the absence of “in” between the article title and journal title. It should look like this: Joe Frank, “Important Article,” Important History Journal 15, no. 2 (1992): 123-124.↩︎