Copyright & Citing

Cite Your Sources

Learn about journalistic style, giving credit to your sources, and copyright law with the resources on this page.

Keep in mind that the style guide of the Associated Press does not include a specific system for citing your sources. This research guide uses MLA style, but talk to your professor about how to cite sources in your academic papers.

AP Style

This style from the Associated Press is standard in journalism.

AP style focuses on usage and does not include a specific system for citing sources. For your academic papers, ask your professors what citation style to use.

Find the stylebook at the library or explore the linked websites to learn how to use this style.

Style Guide

Associated Press Stylebook, 55^th Edition, by The Associated Press
Call Number: Ref. 808.06607 As7815u55 (On Reserve)

ISBN: 9781541647572

Publication Date: June 23, 2020

Master the style guidelines of news writing, editing, and common usage with this indispensable guide perfect for students and professional writers everywhere.

Copyright

Copyright from the University of Missouri Libraries

An extensive guide covering copyright and plagiarism.
The Student Media Guide to Copyright Law

From the Student Press Law Center, a guide to avoiding copyright violations in student press publications.

Citation Websites

Quick Links

Citation Help

Our research guide dedicated to the different citation styles and how to use them.
How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography

A guide to annotated bibliographies from Cornell University.
Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue.
Getting Started with Primary Sources

A teachers’ guide to primary sources from the Library of Congress. Explains using primary sources in the classroom.
Assignment Calculator

From the University of Minnesota Libraries, this calculator will build a schedule for your research project based on its due date.

Find Numbers and Identifiers

Search DOIs

Find the digital object identifier (DOI) for a journal article or book.
Search ISBNs

Search book information and bookstore prices by international standard book number.
Search ISSNs

Search for journals by title or international standard serial number. Find the ISSN for any journal.

Legal and Government Publications

Citing U.S. Government Publications

A guide to citing government documents, created by the libraries of Indiana University Bloomington.
The Bluebook Homepage

An authoritative guide to citing legal documents.
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation

An introductory guide to legal citation, based on The Bluebook, from Cornell University Law School.

Additional Information

Research Guide

This research guide contains extensive information about correctly citing sources, formatting your papers, and editing your work.

Citation Help

Our research guide on correctly citing your sources.

Citations & Plagiarism

Plagiarism

Few intellectual offenses are more serious than plagiarism.

Preventing Plagiarism

What plagiarism is and how to avoid it, from the OWL at Purdue.

When to Cite

The following video offers basic instructions about when to cite.

Writing Assistance

Software to help you cite and resources to help you write.

Citation Generators

No automatic citation generator is perfect, so always proofread to ensure your citations are correct.

BibGuru

A citation generator that builds and manages a works-cited page. Allows the user to edit all entries.
CitationGenerator

Allows you to paste a document and generate citations by highlighting text.
MyBib

Organize citations by project and cite over thirty types of documents.
TypeCite

TypeCite is an accessible citation tool that’s free and easy to use.
Zoterobib

Generates citations from web addresses, ISBNs, or other information.

Citation Software

These programs organize research materials and produce citations.

EndNote Basic

A free, limited, online version of EndNote. EndNote Basic gives you the tools for learning how to do research, cite sources, write term papers, and even match your manuscript to a scientific journal.
Mendeley

A free reference manager and academic social network to help you keep track of your research and collaborate. Mendeley can be used as a web-based application or as a desktop program.
Zotero

A free, easy-to-use program and browser extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. Zotero can extract references from online articles and sites.

Automatic Citations

The catalog and most research databases can generate citations.

Because these citations are automatically generated, they often contain errors. Proofread to ensure your citations are correct.

The Catalog

From any resource in the catalog, select the button labeled Cite:
Fig. 3. Citation button displayed in catalog entries.
Select the style you wish to use, and the catalog will produce the citation.

Databases

In an EBSCO database,

Open the full text of any article.
click the paper-shaped icon in the right sidebar.
Fig. 4. Citation icon in an EBSCO database.
Select your citation from the list of citation styles.

Writing Tools

These resources can help with grammar and writing mechanics.

Books

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, & Tom Stern
Call Number: 428.2 St827e11

ISBN: 9781118790212

Publication Date: January 22, 2014

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation is a concise, entertaining workbook and guide to English grammar, punctuation, and usage.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.
Call Number: Ref. 808 St89e2

ISBN: 1640320741

Publication Date: 2017-09-11

The Elements of Style is the definitive text and classic manual on the principles of English language read by millions of readers.
Writing Research Papers by James D. Lester
Call Number: 808.02 L567w4

ISBN: 0321457986

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

The definitive research paper guide, Writing Research Papers combines a traditional and practical approach to the research process with the latest information on electronic research and presentation.

Websites

Grammar Girl

Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple ….
Grammarly

Grammarly is a spelling and grammar checker that comes as a desktop app, a Word plugin, and a Chrome plugin.
MindMup

A free online mind-mapping tool to help you brainstorm or organize your ideas.
UW–Madison Writer’s Handbook

Instructional materials on academic and professional writing.
The Writing Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This writing center focuses on the mechanics of writing such as grammar, style, and the construction of a good paper.

Copyright Info

The Copyright Handbook by Stephen Fishman
ISBN: 1413324266

Publication Date: October 30, 2017

What copyright law protects … and doesn’t. No writers like to see his hard work or creativity copied by others—or to be accused of copying. Fortunately, The Copyright Handbook provides everything you need to protect yourself!

Copyright.gov

… The Copyright Office registers copyright claims, records information about copyright ownership, provides information to the public, and assists Congress …
“Copyright” from Nolo’s Encyclopedia of Everyday Law

A description of copyright law written for lay readers.
Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a global nonprofit organization that enables sharing and reuse of creativity and knowledge through the provision of free legal tools.
Stanford Copyright & Fair Use Center

Stanford University maintains one of the most in-depth pages on copyright and fair use available on the internet.

U. S. Copyright Office Channel

The official YouTube channel of the U.S. Copyright Office.

Productivity Tools

Software to organize your data.

Organize PDFs

Dropbox

Save documents and access them from multiple devices. Create folders to share documents with a group.
GoodReader

iPad and iPhone app for organizing files and annotating and highlighting PDFs. Syncs with Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, and others.
Foxit

A fast PDF reader for making and saving annotations and highlights.

Organize Notes

Evernote

Save all kinds of notes, files, web clips, and images. Sync to multiple devices. Annotate, organize, and tag your content. For an overview of Evernote features, read “Evernote: A 0-to-60 MPH Guide.”
Microsoft OneNote

A program for swiftly taking and organizing class notes. This is included in your Microsoft Office Suite.

Organize Images

Flickr

Organize your photographs with sets, collections, tags, and groups. Share images or keep them private. Easily designate usage rights.
Google Photos
All your photographs are backed up, organized, and labeled automatically so you can find them quickly and share them as you want.

Organize Alerts & Feeds

Follow these instructions to keep track of changing content.

Databases Alerts

Most research databases have an alert feature to create a feed based on a search. An alert automatically runs a saved search every few days or weeks. If new, relevant items are found, you will receive an email listing the results. To create an alert in an EBSCO database, first conduct a search and then select Create Alert.

News Aggregators

Also called feed aggregators or RSS readers, these can help you stay informed by retrieving the latest content from multiple web publications. Instead of going to many websites to look for new content, you can receive all the content in one place. Although less popular than they once were, several aggregators are available.

You can receive RSS feeds in Microsoft Outlook by right-clicking RSS Feeds or RSS Subscriptions in the navigation pane and selecting Add a New RSS Feed ….

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