Citation Styles

Political Science & Legal Studies Styles

APSA (American Political Science Association) Style, which is based on The Chicago Manual of Style, is used by the Political Science and Legal Studies Department at ECU.

The Bluebook is a widely used style guide that specifically addresses legal citation.

Science Styles

Using AMA Style

The main book that you need to cite your sources and format your work in is the AMA Manual of Style (10th ed.):

Find it behind the Reference Desk. 

To get you started, here's the format for citing the most common types of resources in your AMA Style Reference List:  

• Individual references are NOT double-spaced or indented after the first line.
• References are listed in the order they are cited in the text. When citing the same source more than once, give the number of the original reference, then include the page number (within the parentheses) where the information was found.
• References are numbered (1., 2., 3., etc.). These numbers correspond to your in-text citations.
• Multiple authors are separated by commas up to six names.  More than six, list the first three followed by "et al".

Book

Author last name Author first initial. Title of Work: Subtitle Also Capitalized. ?th ed. Place of Publication: Publisher; year.

Chapter of a Book

Author last name Author first initial (of the chapter). Chapter title in book: subtitle not capitalized. In: Author last name Author first initial (of the book). Title of Work: Subtitle Also Capitalized. ?th ed. Place of Publication: Publisher; year:pgs of chapter.

Article

Author last name Author first initial. Title of article not capitalized. Abbreviated Title of Periodical.  Year;Volume(Issue number if available):page range.

Article from a Database

Author last name Author first initial. Title of article not capitalized. Abbreviated Title of Periodical.  Year;Volume(Issue number if available):page range. doi:0000000/000000000000. or http://webaddress. Accessed [date].

For abbreviated periodical titles, see the AMA Manual of Style, 10th ed. pgs. 472-500 or the U.S. National Library of Medicine's Fact Sheet.

Web Page

Author last name Author's first initials. Title of the specific item cited. Name of the Website. http://webaddress. Published [date]. Updated [date]. Accessed [date]. 

Need more help with AMA Style? Check out the following resources:

Using Chicago Style

The main book that will help you cite your sources and format your work in Chicago Style is The Chicago Manual of Style:

Find it behind the Reference Desk.

To get you started, here's the format for citing the most common types of resources in your Chicago Style bibliography:

Book

Author's Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.

Article in a Journal found in a Database

Author's Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Article.” Journal Title volume number, no. issue number (publication date): page number-page number. Accessed date. doi: 0000000/000000000000 or URL.

Web Source

Author's Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Web Page.” Publishing Organization or Name of Web Site. Publication date and/or access date if available. URL.

Don't forget that you can use either the notes-bibliography system or the author-date system in Chicago Style!

Need more help with Chicago Style? Check out the following resources:

Using CSE Style

The main book you'll need to cite your sources and format your work in the Council of Science Editors (CSE) Scientific Style is Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers.

Find it behind the Reference Desk.

To get you started, here's some basic end citations in all three versions of the CSE style:

Book

Article in a Paper Scholarly Journal

Article in an Online Scholarly Journal

Web Page

Remember that this style also uses in-text citations! Check your particular version to format them correctly.

Need more help with CSE style? Use the following resources: