Regardless of what type of source you are citing —book, website, journal article, etc— the pattern is always for similar:
- The author's name always goes first.
- Next the article or webpage title goes second and that is in quotes.
- Third, the title over the overall source or the container.
- Fourth, you want to cite other contributors like the editor if there is one.
- Fifth and sixth, you want to cite version and issue number if there is one. (Version or issue numbers are common for encyclopedias, journal, magazines and newspapers.)
- Seventh, you always want to cite the publisher.
- Often, for websites, the publisher name will be the same as the website name.
- Finally, you want to include the publication location: this means either citing the page range you used for print material or the direct website address for online material.
Not every source is going to have all of these parts. But, it is important to include every part that you do have. The purpose of a citation is to get your reader back to the original source, and the more accurate information that you include, the better for your reader.
