Professor Gene Myers
Of course, just because somebody said something does not mean it is authoritative. Be aware that just quoting words or an idea is not a complete use of a source. Often the source must also be evaluated, and this should be reflected in your text. If the source is reporting on something that allegedly happened, how reliable is the source? Do other sources corroborate it? Does evidence about the circumstances call it into question? Often in history or philosophy you will be less interested in whether the ideas expressed by a source are "true," than in understanding what the words reveal about the standpoint, perspective, bias, or agenda of the person speaking or writing them. These can tell a lot about the times and setting in which the ideas were expressed, but this requires careful interpretation.
All references used to develop your paper (whether directly quoted or not) should be cited appropriately and consistently. This is so readers can find the information, and to give credit. To use others' words or ideas without giving credit is plagiarism; check the University rules if you doubt the seriousness of this offense!! Be sure to keep careful notes while researching.
All quotations (excerpts of text from another source) should be given exactly as they appear in the source. Original wording, spelling, etc. should be preserved even if incorrect. You may insert [sic] after such errors to indicate they were that way in the original. If you omit words, replace them with 3 spaced periods, called an ellipsis (. . .); or use 4 periods if your quote skips to a later sentence of the passage. You may capitalize the first word of your quote even if it is not the beginning of a sentence in the original.
The reference style for papers in this course is the standard in the field of history. It employs Endnotes, and a Works Cited list, according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Whenever a quote or idea needs to be credited, make a superscript Arabic number after it (many word processing programs have a special function that does this automatically). These numbers correspond with Arabic numbered notes on a separate page at the end of the paper, not with a numbered list of sources (as common in some biology papers). If you are confused about this, use Rod Nash's book, The Rights of Nature as a model for the general layout and approch of using notes (his citation form is slightly different than Chicago's). After the entire body of your text, a new page should be headed "Notes." It contains numbered notes - one for each consecutive superscript number in your text; the form is given in some examples below. After the Notes is another new page headed "Works Cited" which lists all those same sources used, but in alphabetical order by first author's last name, and using a slightly different format.
It may seem redundant to have two lists, but the purpose of each is slightly different, and their forms reflect this difference. The form of citations in Notes is designed to blend easily into a sentence. Indeed, a note often includes more than the mere publication information. Authors commonly use notes to discuss something about the source(s) listed, and also to provide details or a digression that is not central enough to place in the text. You may find a need for such notes, too. On the other hand, the Works Cited allows a reader to readily locate a particular source without plowing through all the notes.
Below are some examples of typical sources, showing both how they should appear in the Notes, and in the Works Cited: take note of all the details of order, punctuation, capitalization, italicization, quote marks, and numeration.
Details are given in the 13th and 14th editions of The Chicago Manual of Style, beginning in section 15.77. You will need to consult this book (available on general reserve, or ask a reference librarian) for other common source types than those illustrated below, and for citation forms for translated works, book and movie reviews, dramas, poems, televised plays, letters, interviews, unpublished manuscripts, collections, legal references, public documents, musical recordings, videotapes, microfiche, CD-ROM abstracts, and other non-book materials. Check the Manual of Style if you are unsure.
The following are links that will take you to useful internet sources:
The
Chicago Manual of Style examples of endnote and bibliography formats
For citing Electronic Sources in Chicago (and other) style(s).
Here is another comprehensive approach to internet sources that may be more thorough and is a good alternative to the Chicago recommendations above: Citing Electronic Information in History Papers
(Note: The following new page comes after all text pages. The FIRST LINE OF EACH SHOULD BE INDENTED, and subsequent lines come out to the left margin of your page; I have not discovered how to make HTML indent and wrap text, so the examples don't show any indentation.)
Some notes on the above: These notes contain only the works cited in the
text, but notes may be substantive (i.e., contain your comments), or contain further sources and even quotes. The form of source
citations in notes allows them to flow easily into sentences.
You should, however, keep all major argument in the text, lest the reader
not check an essential note. Avoid strings of "Ibid." by
giving page numbers in the text when several references to the same
source are used in a row. Note 4 shows how later references can be shortened. Give full names of all authors when there are three or
less; when there are 4 or more, give: [first author] et al,
Title. . . . >
The following begins on a new page after all the endnotes, and gives the sources used, alphabetically and in a new form. Again indenting doesn't show, but here's what it should be: DO NOT INDENT THE FIRST LINE of each reference, letting it come out to the left margin, but DO INDENT SUBSEQUENT LINES. Most good word processing programs let you design 'styles' that can automatically do this indenting.
Sears, Paul. Deserts on the March. 3rd ed. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.
Seattle Times, 1 September 1993 - 30 April 1994.*
U. S. Department of Agriculture. A Time to Choose: Summary Report on the Structure of Agriculture. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, January, 1981.
White, Richard. "American Environmental History: The Development of a New Historical Field." Pacific Historical Review 5 4 (Aug. 1985): 297-335.
*Note: Newspaper articles are usually not cited individually in the Works Cited, unless they are a special section or series.