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What information can I get from a citation?

Recall from 1.3c and 2.8 that item records are produced by libraries and databases to present information about their items and where they are located.

Citations are produced by authors to acknowledge the contributions that others have made to their research. The information they contain corresponds to the specific fields within an item record (e.g., author, date, title) so other scholars (like you) can locate these sources and participate in the same academic conversations.

In-text citations are found within the author's texts. Citations also appear in footnotes, the bibliography, works cited, or the reference section of an article or book. They may also appear on websites, your course syllabus, or other materials provided by your instructor.

As you'll see in the next section, different citation styles (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.) will have different rules or ways of representing these citation elements. Don't let this throw you off. They will still contain the information you need to find the item.

However, citations may be missing information you normally see in an item record, such as the information format, abstracts, and summaries.

Perhaps you are interested in finding a research article mentioned in the news, or you have a partial citation for an item that might be useful to your work. Fortunately, there are clues within the citation to tell you what they are and how you can retrieve them from our library.

Try it! How well do you understand citations?

Click the side buttons to view the problems. Each problem has 2-4 questions (A-D) associated with each citation. Use the tabs (A-D) to answer the questions.

You should be able to identify all the information present in a citation. Take note of the things you do not understand, then read the following sections to clarify your confusion.

Problem 1

What can you identify from this citation?

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: The page numbers tell you that this can't be a book.
Book chapter: There is no publisher, and there is no book title. In a book chapter, you would have both a chapter title and book title, along with authors/organization and editors
Journal article: Yep! You can tell it's a journal article by the volume number (25), issue number (5) and pages (1619-1643)
Conference proceeding: There are no words like symposium to indicate this is a conference proceeding
Newspaper article: There is no month or day. Only a year.

B

Five mechanisms of sound symbolic association is:

The article title: Yes! The article title is usually the first to be listed in a journal article citation.
The journal title: The journal title is listed after the article title.
The book title: This is not a book.
The book chapter title: This is not a book chapter.
The publisher: Journal article citations do not list publishers.
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

C

DM Sidhu and PM Pexman are:

The author(s) or organization: Yes! The authors or organization are always listed first in a citation.
The editor(s): This is not a book chapter.
The conference organizers: This is not a conference.
The sponsors: Sponsors are not listed in citations

D

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review is:

The article title: The article title is usually the first to be listed in a journal article citation.
The journal title: Bazinga! The journal title is listed after the article title.
The book title: This is not a book.
The book chapter title: This is not a book chapter.
The publisher: Journal article citations do not list publishers.
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

Problem 2

What can you identify from this citation?

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: Nice job! You can tell it is a book because there is a publisher and no page numbers.
Book chapter: In a book chapter, you would have both a chapter title and book title, along with authors/organization and editors.
Journal article: There is only one title and no journal title.
Conference proceeding: There are no words like symposium to indicate this is a conference proceeding.
Newspaper article: There is no month or day. Only a year.

B

Acta Publications is:

The article title: This is not an article.
The journal title: This not a journal.
The book title: The book title comes before the publisher.
The book chapter title: This is not a book chapter.
The publisher: WOO HOO! You got it!
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

C

John Kretzmann is:

The author(s) or organization: Yes! The authors or organization are always listed first in a citation.
The editor(s): This is not a book chapter.
The conference organizers: This is not a conference.
The sponsors: Sponsors are not listed in citations

Problem 3

What can you identify from this citation?

A book chapter citation example

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: The page numbers tell you that this is a chapter in a book.
Book chapter: Bingo! There is the book title and chapter title. Also, there are the authors and editors, and page numbers.
Journal article: There is no volume or issue number.
Conference proceeding: There are no words like symposium to indicate this is a conference proceeding
Newspaper article: There is no month or day. Only a year.

B

Interpersonal regulation of learning and motivation: Methodological advances is:

The article title: This is not a journal article
The journal title: This is not a journal article
The book title: You got it! This title appears after the chapter title. In most book chapter citations, the book title is often italicized.
The book chapter title: The book chapter title appears before the book title.
The publisher: The publisher is Routledge
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

C

S. Volet and M. Summers are:

The author(s) or organization: Yes! The authors or organization are always listed first in a citation.
The editor(s): No, but one could argue that Volet is one of the editors, but Summers is not.
The conference organizers: This is not a conference.
The sponsors: Sponsors are not listed in citations

D

Interpersonal regulation in collaborative learning activities: Reflections on emerging research methodologies is:

The article title: This is not a journal article.
The journal title: This is not a journal.
The book title: The book title appears after the chapter title.
The book chapter title: Right as rain! It is the first title that appears in the citation.
The publisher: No. The publisher is usually listed after the titles.
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

E

M. Vauras is:

The author(s) or organization: The authors or organization are always listed first in a citation.
The editor(s): You got it! Vauras is one of the editors.
The conference organizers: This is not a conference.
The sponsors: Sponsors are not listed in citations

Problem 4

What can you identify from this citation?

A journal article citation example

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: The page numbers tell you that this can't be a book.
Book chapter: There is no publisher, and there is no book title. In a book chapter, you would have both a chapter title and book title, along with authors/organization and editors
Journal article: Yep! You can tell it's a journal article by the volume number (23), issue number (3) and pages (424-31)
Conference proceeding: There are no words like symposium to indicate this is a conference proceeding
Newspaper article: There is no month or day. Only a year.

B

ACM Transactions on Graphics is:

The article title: This title is listed after the article title.
The journal title: Congrats! The journal title is listed after the article title. Notice that in some citations, journal titles are italicized.
The book title: This is not a book.
The book chapter title: This is not a book chapter.
The publisher: Journal article citations do not list publishers.
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

C

424-31 means:

The call number: Call numbers do not look like this. Plus citations do not contain call numbers.
Volume and issue number: No, the volume is 23, and the issue number is 3
The page numbers: Yep! This means that the article can be found on pages 424 to 431 of volume 23, issue 3 of this journal.
The publication date: The journal was published in 2004

Problem 5

What can you identify from this citation?

A book chapter citation example

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: The page numbers tell you that this can't be just a book.
Book chapter: Good job! You have two titles, author, editors, and page numbers.
Journal article: This is not a journal article. The is no volume or issue number.
Conference proceeding: There are no words like symposium to indicate this is a conference proceeding
Newspaper article: There is no month or day. Only a year.

B

Learning online: A review of current research on issues of interface, teaching presence and learner characteristics is:

The article title: This is not an article.
The journal title: This is not a journal
The book title: The book title is listed after the book chapter. In this case, this title is listed first.
The book chapter title: Fantastic! Because it is the first title listed in the citation, it is the name of the book chapter. Following the listing of the editors, you have the book title.
The publisher: The publisher is the Sloan Center for Online Education. You know this because it appears after the publisher's location.
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

C

K. Swan is:

The author(s) or organization: Yes! The authors or organization are always listed first in a citation.
The editor(s): This is not a book chapter.
The conference organizers: This is not a conference.
The sponsors: Sponsors are not listed in citations

D

Elements of quality online education is:

The article title: This is not a journal article.
The journal title: This is not a journal.
The book title: Amazing! The title appears after the editors, and it is in italics. Normally, book titles are in italics in citations.
The book chapter title: The book chapter title is listed right after the author.
The publisher: The publisher is the Sloan Center for Online Education. You know this because it appears after the publisher's location.
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

Problem 6

What can you identify from this citation?

A conference proceeding citation example

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: The page numbers tell you that this can't be a book.
Book chapter: There is no publisher, and there is no book title. In a book chapter, you would have both a chapter title and book title, along with authors/organization and editors.
Journal article: While this looks similar to a journal article, the word "symposium" tells you it's not. Also, notice that there is no journal volume and issue numbers.
Conference proceeding: Yes! The word symposium in the citation tells you that this is indeed a conference proceeding.
Newspaper article: There is no month or day. Only a year.

B

2012 IEEE Network Operations and Management Symposium is:

The article title: The article title is usually the first to be listed in a conference citation.
The journal title: This is not a journal.
The book title: This is not a book.
The book chapter title: This is not a book chapter.
The publisher: Conference proceedings do not list publishers.
The name of the conference: Bazinga! This is the name of the conference.

C

Chang S.E. is:

The author(s) or organization: Yes! The authors or organization are always listed first in a citation.
The editor(s): This is not a book chapter.
The conference organizers: Usually, conference organizers are not listed in citations.
The sponsors: Sponsors are not listed in citations.

D

E-tourism: Understanding users' intention to adopt Podcasting in tourism is:

The article title: Affirmative! The article title is usually the first to be listed in a conference citation before the conference title.
The book title: This is not a book.
The book chapter title: This is not a book chapter.
The publisher: Usually, conference organizers are not listed in citations.
The name of the conference: Conference names are listed after the article title.

Problem 7

What can you identify from this citation?

A book chapter citation example

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: The page numbers tell you that this can't be just a book.
Book chapter: Excellent! There are 2 sets of names: author names and editor names. Also, there are two titles: chapter title and book title. While the page numbers are missing, you know it’s a book because you see the publisher and location where the book was published.
Journal article: The citation is not a journal article.
Conference proceeding: This is not a conference proceeding.
Newspaper article: There is no month or day. Only a year.

B

Some mathematical and physical aspects of continuum models for the motion of granular materials is:

The article title: Since this is a book chapter, there is no article title.
The journal title: This isn't a journal.
The book title: While the chapter is part of a book, it's not the book title, itself.
The book chapter title: Outstanding! You can tell this is a book chapter because the title is listed before the editor and book title.
The publisher: The publisher is Academic Press.
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

C

Meyer R. is:

The author(s) or organization: The authors or organization are always listed first in a citation.
The editor(s): Fantastic! You can tell because the editor is listed after the author. The author is always listed first.
The conference organizers: This is not a conference.
The sponsors: Sponsors are not listed in citations

D

Theory of dispersed multiphased flow is:

The article title: This isn't an article.
The journal title: This isn't a journal, the citation is for a book.
The book title: You got it! Usually, book titles are italicized in citations. When the citation is a book chapter, you'll see, just like you do in this citation, that it appears second after the chapter title.
The book chapter title: The book chapter title is listed first, before the book title.
The publisher: The publisher is Academic Press. Publishers are not italicized in citations, and they usually appear toward the end of a citation.
The name of the conference: This citation is not a conference.

Problem 8

What can you identify from this citation?

A newspaper citation example

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: Because this has the full date, rather than just the year, it can't be a book. Also, notice that no publisher is listed.
Book chapter: There is no publisher, and there is no book title. In a book chapter, you would have both a chapter title and book title, along with authors/organization and editors
Journal article: The citation has a full date, which usually isn't present for journals. It's also missing volume, issue, and page numbers.
Conference proceeding: There are no words like symposium to indicate this is a conference proceeding.
Newspaper article: Nice work! The full date (month, day, year) and newspaper title indicate that this is a newspaper article.

B

New York Times is:

The article title: The article title is usually the first to be listed in a citation. New York Times comes after the article title, which is "Flatbush has a ghost."
The journal title: This isn't a journal.
The book title: This is not a book.
The name of the newspaper: Bingo! The newspaper name comes after the title.
The publisher: Newspaper article citations do not list publishers.

Problem 9

What can you identify from this citation?

A conference proceeding citation example

A

What type of citation is this?

Book: The page numbers tell you that this can't be a book.
Book chapter: There is no publisher, and there is no book title. In a book chapter, you would have both a chapter title and book title, along with authors/organization and editors
Journal article: The volume and issue numbers are missing, so this can't be a journal article.
Conference proceeding: Yes! The words, "International Conference" tell you right away that this is a conference proceeding.
Newspaper article: Newspaper articles usually have month, date, and year. Also, you wouldn't see the word "Conference" in the citation (unless it was the title of the newspaper article).

B

Dark Souls of Archeology: Recording of Eldon Ring is:

The article title: Yes! The article title is usually the first to be listed in a journal article citation.
The journal title: This citation isn't from a journal. It's from a conference proceeding.
The book title: This is not a book.
The book chapter title: This is not a book chapter.
The name of the conference: The conference name is listed after the title. Depending on the citation style, conference names are usually in italics.

C

N. Smith, Florence, and M. Cook are:

The author(s) or organization: Yes! The authors or organization are always listed first in a citation.
The editor(s): This is not a book chapter.
The conference organizers: Conference organizers are usually not listed in a citation.
The sponsors: Sponsors are not listed in citations

D

1-10 refers to:

The volume and issue number: Not in this case. Usually, the issue number is in parentheses. Because of the dash between the 1 and 10, this is referring to page number
The date: Dates have, at minimum, the year spelled out. In this case, this article was published in 2022.
The page number: Spot on! These are the page numbers for the article.

Identifying citations

Complete citations will have the following:

Author name(s) or organization
Title of the information source (e.g., article, book, chapter, or report)
Year of publication

Additional information, such as page numbers, publisher, or journal title, can tell you the format of the information source, which is useful when you need to track it down. Watch the video to learn how to interpret citations:

Understanding Citation Information transcript, Understanding Citation Information PPT Slides.pdf

Practice with citations worksheet

Books

Book citations are very simple — they have the author(s) or organization, year of publication, book title (usually in italics), and publisher. Depending on the style, some citations also include the city of publication. Here's a book citation in Chicago style:

A book citation example

You can recognize if a citation is a book when it has a publisher and lacks page numbers.

This is a citation for a book in APA style:

McFedries, P. (2024). Web Coding and Development All-In-One for Dummies. (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Check your understanding

Book chapters

Like a book citation, book chapters have the author(s) or organization, year of publication, book title, and publisher. You can recognize if a citation is a book chapter when you also have:

Editor name(s) - the people who edited all the book chapters and put the book together
Title of the chapter - which is usually different from the book title
Page numbers - to tell you where the chapter is within the book.

Here is a book chapter citation in MLA style:

Notice that chapter citations often have two titles: the title of the chapter and the title of the book.

They tend to have two sets of names: the author name(s) and the editor name(s) in addition to page numbers. Sometimes, the editor's name(s) may be missing.

Here is a citation for a book chapter in Chicago style:

Allais, Florent. "Barbecue: The Chemistry behind Cooking on a Barbecue." In Handbook of Molecular Gastronomy, edited by Christophe Lavelle, Herve This, Alan L. Kelly, and Roisin Burke pp. 63-70. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2021.

See if you can identify all the parts in this book chapter citation:

Check your understanding

Journal articles

Unlike books and book chapters, journal articles do not have publishers or editors in their citations. In addition to the author(s) names and article title, you can recognize a journal article citation when you also have:

Title of the journal - journal titles tend to be in italics and after the article title
Volume number and issue number - the issue number is normally in parentheses (). In some cases, there is only the volume number.
Page numbers - to indicate where to find the article within the issue.

Here is a journal article citation in APA style:

A journal article citation example

The volume and issue numbers are unique to journal articles. When you see the numbers followed by page numbers, you know it is an article!

Here is another journal article citation in MLA style:

Varnhagen, Connie K., et al. “Lol: New Language and Spelling in Instant Messaging.” Reading & Writing, vol. 23, no. 6, 2010, pp. 719–33, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9181-y.

See if you can identify all the parts in this journal citation:

Check your understanding

Conference proceedings

Remember that conference proceedings are the compiled presentations and papers published after a scholarly or professional organization's conference. Conference proceedings look very similar to journal articles, except you'll see words like:

proceedings, conference, annual meeting, workshop, symposium, or annals

...or the conference name in the citation.

Here's a conference proceeding citation in APA style:

A conference proceeding citation example

Notice the words proceedings and symposium in the citation?

Here's another example in Chicago style:

Lyesmaya, D., Musthafa, B., and Sunendar, D. “Local wisdom value’s-based literacy education learning model in elementary school.” Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1470, no. 012030 (2020). doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1470/1/012030

Newspaper articles

Remember that newspaper articles are primary sources, and tracking them down will help you read the article and check for any updates or related news stories pertaining to your topic.

Newspaper article citations include:

exact date - with the month, date, and year listed
specific pages or columns - if the article is in print. "col2" means column 2
Name of the newspaper

Here is a newspaper article citation in APA style:

Reynolds, G. (2019, May 1). How exercise affects our memory. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/well/move/how-exercise-affects-our-memory.html

To find a newspaper article, visit the Newspapers Library Guide, which will show which newspapers are available in which databases. From there, you can navigate to the best database or other finding tool for your article. Once you’re in the right place, you can search for the title of the newspaper article, or search for the newspaper title and then browse by date. If you are using Quick Search to find the newspaper, just like for journal articles, you will need to open the record to find out which dates are covered and in which format(s). If the newspaper is not available online, ask a librarian for help.

Key takeaways

Information in citations corresponds to specific fields within item records and can be used to locate sources.

You can recognize if a citation is a book when it has a publisher and lacks page numbers.

You can recognize if a citation is a book chapter when you have information similar to a book citation as well as editor name(s), the title of the chapter, and page numbers.

You can recognize a journal article citation when you have the title of the journal and a volume number and an issue number.

Conference proceeding citations can look like journal article citations, but they will have the words "proceedings," "conference," "annual meeting," "transactions of," "symposium," or "annals."

Newspaper citations include the exact date, not just the year.