research paper

Format for Citing Sources

These days there are different acceptable formats for citing sources. One of the most common, and the one we’ll use in this class, is to cite the author, the date of the book, and page number at the end of the sentence. However, upon citing a source for the first time in the paper students should tell the reader what the source is. This way the reader doesn’t have to turn to the list of references at the end of the paper to see what the source is. For example:

YES In his book, The White House Years, Henry Kissinger noted that negotiations with Hanoi were problematical from the outset (Kissinger, 1979, p. 347).

NO Negotiations with the delegation from Hanoi were problematical from the outset. (Kissinger, 1979, p. 347).

This format is acceptable after a source has already been cited.