Q&A for How to Cite Sources

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What should I do if I can't find the components needed on a website? Do I leave it blank or something else? Thanks!

wikiHow Staff Editor
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This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

For most citation styles, you simply skip over any missing information. In others, you would use an abbreviation to indicate that the information wasn't available. For example, in APA style, if the source does not have a publication date, you would use the abbreviation "n.d."

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Question

How do I cite the pictures I used in my document?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Check the citation guide for the citation style you're using. They all have sections for citing visual images. Generally, you'll cite an image the same way you would a book, listing the artist or photographer's name, the title for the image, the year the image was published or produced, and where the original image is located. If you found the image online, your citation will likely include a URL for the image and the date you accessed it.

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Question

How do I write an in-text citation of a website?

Community Answer

Give the author's name (if given), title of the work, group responsible for the site (if applicable), date site was last updated, date of access, and URL.

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Question

What should I do if the author's name is not listed?

Community Answer

Instead of the author's name, cite the name of the website (and add N/A if there is no year) with "available at:url" in the reference section.

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Question

What do you do if I am trying to cite a book and the two authors have the same last name?

Community Answer

If it is the same book, write "A and B [LastName], 1995". If it is a different book, it would not matter as long as it is written in the Bibliography.

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How do I cite sources when a paper I want to reference has its own citations listed?

Community Answer

If you see something you would like to cite in paper A, but it is already a citation from paper B, find paper B and cite paper B.

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There appear to be errors in the "Sample MLA Citation List" - sometimes surnames appear first, sometimes second, for example: "Fonda, Alison, and Jim Terezian." What's happening here?

Oldmankit

Community Answer

This is not an error. For the works cited page in MLA format, the first author's surname is placed first, for alphabetical order. Subsequent authors are identified by first name and surname.

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