History
The requirements of various citation styles can seem arbitrary, difficult, and like a professor’s favorite method of student torture. To manage your frustration, remember that the purpose of each style is to encourage consistency and meet the needs of a specific discipline.
Chicago claims to be the oldest citation style, originating in 1891, when handwritten papers were submitted to the University of Chicago Press and typeset by hand. “Composers” working on these manuscripts created a style sheet to guide their work, which was expanded over time to a pamphlet and eventually a book. Suzanne Klinger, subject librarian for history, notes that the format of Chicago style allows for the complexity of citing primary source material, including not only what was used, but where it was obtained. It allows for contextualizing a source without muddling the main body of the text.
It is important to realize that style guides set standards for more than citations, such as the work done by the American Psychological Association. Beginning in 1929, psychologists and anthropologists worked together to codify scientific writing–from abbreviations, tables, figures, and even the tone of the manuscript. Notably, APA style emphasizes reducing bias in language, including race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability status, and sexual orientation. Conversations around these standards is an important part of considering the social realities experienced by marginalized groups.
A relative newcomer, CSE style was conceived in 1957 as the Conference of Biological Editors and broadened to the Council of Scientific Editors in 2000. Beginning with the 1978 edition, international standards were used as often as possible to aid science writers worldwide (CSE’s First 50 Years). The fifth edition, in 1980, included a section on ethics, copyright, and other important issues.
You’ve got this
These are just three of the many citation styles used in academic writing. Dizzying, right? Take a deep breath, because there are several resources for you:
- The Learning Center has written brief style guides for APA, Chicago, CSE, IEEE, MLA styles. These will address the most common citation questions.
- The online writing lab at Purdue university (Purdue OWL) is our go-to resource for tricky questions.
- Library Research Help and the Writing Center are here to help you.
Whenever you find a source you might use, copy the citation from the catalog record into a document. If you are looking at an online resource, it’s worth your time to look for a citation guide. Taking a few seconds to copy this citation will save you time in the long run and help you find a source again if you lose it. Although this will make your life much easier, do make the effort to understand the components of your citation style. Automatically generated citations can contain mistakes, and you are the one responsible for accurately citing your sources.
Final Thoughts
If you are frustrated with citations, you are not alone. Remember that these citation styles exist for a reason. Imagine reading a complex academic article that didn’t adhere to a consistent format. Imagine not being able to find a really great source used in an academic article, or check whether the authors used current sources to support their arguments. Start early, follow the model set by the examples, and seek help when needed.
I keep thinking about this post and the relative uses and drawbacks of citations. Thanks, Christy!
Still seems a bit (a lot) byzantine and superfluous. Why would anyone care who the publisher of a text is, or what position the Sun was in when the author wrote it, or whether the author was a Taurus or a Gemini? How is any of that even remotely relevant to the article in question?
When I Heard A Who
Elephant, Horton The
(Website, if applicable)
1975, Page 88
There you go. Everything anyone should need, down to the page number being referenced.
“But what if someone else republished it in 1992, and now what you referenced is on a different page?! Oh, the humanity!!!”
Okay, what if they did? I didn’t reference the 1992 version; I specifically wrote 1975. If someone refers to the 1992 version for whatever goofy fact checking mission they’re on, when 1975 is clearly written plain as day, that’s their own fault.
“But what if it’s a legal case?!?! :*-(”
Grinch vs. Whoville
Judge Seuss
1975, Bora Bora District Court
Again, everything that one should need, down to where the case was heard.
As it stands, citing stuff is all needlessly complex, for no logical reason. I can see having 2 or 3 styles, for wholly different publications. But there is no sane reason to have dozens.
Hi Brian. Thank you for taking time to write. I can’t speak for the library as a whole, but personally I tend to focus on the reason behind citing, the fact that we are giving credit to an idea and the person behind it, and that the idea should be findable. I can’t speak to the number of citation styles out there, but I frame it in my mind as a credit-giving device.