What is a citation?
Answer
A brief description of a text (book, article, report, internet page, or other) that has been quoted, paraphrased, or used as an authority. A complete citation for a book includes author, title, place of publication, publisher, and year. A complete citation for a periodical or magazine article includes author and title of article, title of the periodical, volume number, page numbers, and date.
The elements of a complete citation for other types of publications are different. Furthermore, even for the same type of publication, the exact arrangement and formatting of a citation is dictated by a style manual. The choice of style manual depends on the discipline or subject matter. Faculty members and librarians will provide guidance to students as to which style manual to use for formatting complete citations.
For more information about the importance of citations and their management, please see our tutorial on the Organizing and Creating Information guide.