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Citation Guide

This guide is a helpful resource for citing materials using APA, Turabian, and MLA.

Evaluate

EVALUATE

Use your brain when you’re using the Web

Coverage

  • What subject area does the site cover?
  • Are those subjects covered comprehensively, or is the site reporting on just one aspect or time period?
  • Are there links to other good sites?

Authority

  • Who created the site?
  • Is the site authored by reputable scholars or professionals?
  • Is the address of the organization behind the site listed?
  • Has the site been reviewed and recommended?

Accuracy

  • Is the information factually accurate?
  • Are there typos, spelling or grammar errors?
  • Is the information based on research or evidence and are there references to published sources of information?
  • Does the site give credit for ideas or information obtained from other places?

Age

  • When was the site last updated?
  • Is the actual information on the site dated?
  • Is the updating policy listed anywhere on the site?
  • Is the webmaster listed?

Objectivity

  • What is the point of view of the author?
  • Is the information on the site reflecting a particular position or bias?
  • Is the site maintained by an organization or group with a strongly held position on the issue?

Conjunctions

Conjuctions (aka - Boolean Operators) help broaden or narrow your subject when searching

  • And: Narrow your search by looking for one term AND another.  Example: "dogs and cats" - Results will have both dogs and cats
  • Or: Expand your search by looking for one term OR another  Example: "dogs or cats" - Results may have either dogs or cats
  • Not: Limit your search by looking for one term, but NOT another.  Example: "dogs not cats" - Results will have only dogs, not cats

Phrases

Searching Phrases

Use double quotations marks to search for an exact phrase (search for those words when they appear together).

·         Example: “embryonic stem cell”

 

Limiters

Limiters allow you to narrow the resources you want to search for

Select limiters to narrow your search.  Examples of limiters include:

·         full text (of abstracts and/or documents)

·         publication date

·         journal type (peer reviewed)

·         material type (book, article, newspaper)

Remember that the more limiters you choose, the fewer results you will get.


Be sure to type the subject word or phrase in separate fields for the best possible return of articles. Example: Type Autism in one field with And from the drop box and Vaccines in the next field.

Wildcard

Wildcard and Truncation Symbols enable you to search for variations of words

1.    Use ? (a question mark) to replace each unknown letter from a word. This symbol is useful if you are unsure of the spelling of a word.

·         Example:  Typing ne?t  will retrieve results containing the words next, neat, or nest.

 

2.    Enter the root of a word followed by * (an asterisk) to find all words with the same root. It can be used to find both the singular and plural forms of a word.

·         Example: Typing comput* will retrieve results containing the words computer or computing.