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Columbia Guide

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The Columbia Guide to Online Style 
second edition 

Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor

The Elements of Citation 
The Columbia Guide to Online Style (CGOS) by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor (Columbia UP, 2006 ) presents a guide to locating, evaluating, translating, and using the elements of citation for electronically accessed sources in both a humanities style (i.e., MLA and Chicago) and a scientific style (APA and CBE). CGOS's unique element approach makes this a useful reference book for citing electronic sources regardless of the specific bibliographic style you may be required to use.

This site provides just a few examples. For more information, see the second edition of The Columbia Guide to Online Style.

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Documenting Sources in the Text 
Parenthetical or in-text references to print publications usually include the author's last name and the page number of the reference (humanities styles) or the author's last name, the date of publication, and the page number of the reference (scientific styles). Often, for electronic sources, some or all of these elements may be missing. Thus, parenthetical references to electronic sources may include only an author's last name or, if no author's name is available, the title or file name, and, for scientific styles, the date of publication or the date of access if no publication date is available.

In citations of print sources, subsequent references to the same work need not repeat the author's name, instead giving the different page number or location, if applicable. With electronic documents that are not paginated or otherwise delineated, however, repeating the author's name may be the only way to acknowledge when information is drawn from a given source.

For a more complete discussion of parenthetical and in-text citations, see The Columbia Guide to Online Style.

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Preparing the Bibliographic Material 
Bibliographic listings of electronic sources follow the format for whatever style you are using for print sources, i.e., humanities styles, such as MLA or Chicago, or scientific styles, such as APA or CBE. The basic formats for citing electronic sources are:

Humanities Style

Author's Last Name, First Name. “Title of Document.” Title of Complete Work. Version or Edition. Document date or date of last revision or modification. Protocol and address, or name of database and publisher (Access path, directories, keywords, or file numbers [if applicable]) (date of access).

Scientific Style

Author's Last Name, Initial(s). (Date of document). Title of document. Title of complete work [if applicable]. (Edition or revision [if applicable]). Protocol and address, or name of databaseand database publisher (Access path or directories or document or file number). (Date of access).

NOTE: For print publications, use the hanging indent feature of your word processor to format the bibliographic entries. Some word processors will automatically format Internet addresses, changing their color and underlining them. Use these defaults if available. For hypertext files, the hanging indent feature is not necessary; instead, bibliographies may be formatted using the list feature or by including an extra line space between entries. For more information, see Part 2 of The Columbia Guide to Online Style.

On this page we provide examples for just a few of the more commonly used types of electronic (or electronically accessed) sources.  For a more complete listing and further information, see The Columbia Guide to Online Style.

Back to topWeb Page

Humanities Style 

To cite an individual Web page, give the author’s name, the title of the page, enclosed in quotation marks, capitalizing the first word and all major words, followed by the date of publication and/or last modification, the complete URL, including the protocol (e.g., “http”), and the date of access enclosed in parentheses and followed by a period.   If the page is part of a larger Web site, include the site title in italics.

Downes, Stephen.  “The New Literacy.”  4 Oct. 2002.  Stephen’s Web.  http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/website/view.cgi?dbs=Article&key=1033756665&format=full (8 Mar. 2006).

Scientific Style 

To cite an individual Web page, give the author’s name, the date of publication or last modification, enclosed in parentheses and followed by a period, and the title of the page, capitalizing only the first word, any proper nouns, and the first word after a colon in the title, if applicable.  Give the complete URL, including the protocol (e.g., “http”), and the date of access enclosed in parentheses and followed by a period.

Cressia, L. L. (1997).  Copyright and fair use: Future of fair use.  http://www.cas.usf.edu/english/walker/courses/fall97/concl.html  (27 Mar. 2006).

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Web Site

Humanities Style

A university may host various departmental, faculty, and student pages, not all of which are sponsored by the university (do not confuse sponsorship with Web hosting).  Likewise, a corporate or organizational Web site may contain various articles or pages. Generally, cite an entire Web site as you would a book or journal, italicizing the title and including whatever other publication information is available.  First, list the name of the author or moderator, or other person or organization responsible for the site, followed by the site title.

American Chemical Society.  Chemistry.org.  2006.  http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/home.html (28 Mar. 2006).

Scientific Style 

Begin with the name of the author, moderator, or other responsible person or organization, if available, followed by the date of publication, the title of the site, the URL, and the date of access.

American Chemical Society.  (2006).  Chemistry.orghttp://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/home.html  (24 Mar. 2006).

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Article in Online Journal

Humanities Style

List the author’s name, last name first; the title of the article, enclosed in quotation marks; the title of the journal, in italics; the volume number, followed by a period; and the issue number (if applicable).  Note that no punctuation follows the title of the journal, but the volume and issue numbers are not italicized.  Place the year of publication in parentheses after the issue number.  When the article can be located from the publication information (e.g., author, title, and publication date) from the main page of the journal, then cite the URL for the main page of the journal, followed by the date of access in parentheses.

Trupe, Alice L.  “Academic Literacy in a Wired World:  Redefining Genres for College Writing Courses.”  Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, Pedagogy 7.2 (2002).   http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/  (7 June 2006).

Scientific Style 

List the author’s last name and initial(s), the year of publication, and the title of the article, capitalizing only the first word and all proper nouns.  Next, list the title of the journal, in italics, followed by a comma and the volume number, also in italics.  Give the issue number in parentheses in roman type, followed by a colon and the page numbers, if applicable.  Finally, provide the online publication information, including the URL and the date of access.  When the article can be located from the publication information (e.g., the author, title, and publication date) from the main page of the online journal, then cite the URL for the main page of the journal.

Trupe, A.L.  (2002).  Academic literacy in a wired world: Redefining genres for college writing courses.  Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, Pedagogy, 7(2).  http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/  (7 June 2006).

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Graphics, Audio, or Video Files

Humanities Style

It is just as important to cite any graphics, audio, or video files, including podcasts or other multimedia files, which are used or referenced as it is to cite text files. However, it may be even more difficult to locate the necessary information, such as the name of the artist, the date of creation, or the file’s URL.  The form of your citation will depend on what information about the file you are able to determine and whether your reference is to the file itself or to the page on which the file is published.  

If your reference is to the file in the context of the Web page on which it is published, then provide information about the file as well as about the Web page or site on which it resides.  Notice that the titles of works of art are italicized; the titles of other types of graphics, such as maps and photographs, are enclosed in quotation marks.

CBS News.  “MLK Jr.’s Legacy.” CBS Evening News.  16 Jan. 2006.  http://www.cbsnews.com (Keyword: Videos/MLK)  (24 Mar. 2006).

For files without titles, use the file name instead.

press-image4.jpg. http://universe.nasa.gov/images/press-image4.jpg  (27 Mar. 2006).

Scientific Style 

To cite a graphic, audio, or video file in the context of the page on which it is published, provide information about the file as well as about the page or site on which it resides.  Notice that titles of works of art, motion pictures, and records or CDs are italicized; titles of other graphics, brief video files, and individual song titles are not.  You may include a description of the file type in square brackets immediately following the title, if desired.

CBS News.  (2006, January 16).  MLK Jr.’s legacy [Video].  CBS Evening News.  http://www.cbsnews.com  (Keyword: Videos/MLK)  (24 Mar. 2006).

For files without titles, use the file name instead.

press-image4.jpg [Graphic].  http://universe.nasa.gov/images/press-image4.jpg  (27 Mar. 2006).

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Article from Library Database

Humanities Style

Many libraries offer patrons access to the full text of articles in journals, newspapers, and other publications through searchable databases.  These may be accessed through the library’s Web portal (as a link from the library’s home page, for example) or through the database publisher’s Web site, using a password.  Cite the article as you would the same article in a print publication, listing the author’s name; the title of the work, in quotation marks or italics as appropriate; and any publication information (if applicable).  Follow with the title of the database or information  service, in italics; the publisher or retrieval service or the Internet protocol and address (if applicable); and, in parentheses, the date of access.  Include any file or document numbers if available.

Burman, Sondra, and Paula Allen-Meares.  “Neglected Victims of Murder: Children’s Witness to Parental Homicide.”  Social Work 39.1(1994): 28-34.  Academic Search Premier.  EbscoHost.  AN #9403302574  (25 July 2006).

Scientific Style 

Cite the article as you would the same article in a print publication, listing the author’s name; the date of publication; the title of the article; the title of the journal or other publication in which it appears; and any other publication information.  Follow with the title of the database or information service in italics, the name of the publisher or retrieval service or the Internet protocol and address as applicable, and, in parentheses, the date of access.  Include any document or file numbers if available.

Burman, S., & Allen-Meares, P.  (1994).  Neglected victims of murder: Children’s witness to parental homicide.  Social Work, 39(1), 28-34.  Academic Search Premier.  EbscoHost.  (AN #9403302574).  (25 July 2006).

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Personal Email

Humanities Style

Cite the author’s name (if known) or the author’s email or login name (the part of the email address before the “@” sign), followed by the subject line of the posting enclosed in quotation marks and include the description (e.g., “Personal Email”).  Note that you may omit the publication date for most personal email if it is the same as the date of access.

Brown, Barry.  “Virtual Reality.” Personal Email  (25 Jan. 2006).

Scientific Style 

In scientific style, personal correspondence is not usually cited in the list of references but is noted in the text.  

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Blogs and Wikis

Humanities Style

Cite blogs or wikis similarly to citing mailing list or newsgroup postings, including the name (or alias) of the author, the title of the posting (if applicable), the title of the site, the date of posting, and the address of the site, followed by the date of access enclosed in parentheses. 

Bartow, Ann.  “Parody Is Fair Use!”  Sivacracy.net.  26 Mar. 2006.  http://www.nyu.edu/classes/siva/  (30 Mar. 2006).

Scientific Style 

Include the name or alias of the author, the date of posting, the title or subject line of the posting (if available), the title of the site, the URL, and the date of access.

Bartow, A.  (2006, March 26).  Parody is fair use!  Sivacracy.net.  http://www.nyu.edu/classes/siva/  (30 Mar. 2006).

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Using Footnotes with Columbia Online Style

The Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.) uses a combination of footnotes and/or endnotes and an optional bibliography.  Columbia Online Style (COS) is designed to work with any style simply by translating the elements of a reference to an online or electronically accessed source.  A footnote reference to an article retrieved from an online database, which has been previously published in print, would appear as follows:

1.  Author's Name, "Title of Article," Title of Book or Journal followed immediately by the date of publication and page numbers of original print publication [if applicable], Title of Online Database , publisher information or electronic address including Document or File Number (if applicable) (date of access, if appropriate).

For example,

1.  Ben Corry, "An Energy-Efficient Gating Mechanism in the Acetylcholine Receptor Channel Suggested by Molecular and Brownian Dynamics," Biophysical Journal 90 (2006): 799-810, ProQuest, ProQuest Doc. ID #976791001 (22 May 2006).

Bibliographies are optional in Chicago style since the note contains full publication information.  However, if you are required to compile a separate bibliography for the previous example, it would appear as

Corry, Ben.  “An Energy-Efficient Gating Mechanism in the Acetylcholine Receptor Channel Suggested by Molecular and Brownian Dynamics.”  Biophysical Journal 90 (2006): 799-810. ProQuest. ProQuest Doc. ID #976791001 (22 May 2006).

An item retrieved from the World Wide Web would include the URL, or protocol and Internet address.

2.  John G.A. Pocock, "Classical and Civil History: The Transformation of Humanism," Cromohs 1 (1996): 1-34, http://www.unifi.it/riviste/cromohs/1_96/pocock.html (1 May 2006).

The bibliographic entry would follow the same logic:

Pocock, John G.A.  "Classical and Civil History: The Transformation of Humanism."  Cromohs 1 (1996): 1 -34.  http://www.unifi.it/riviste/cromohs/1_96/pocock.html (1 May 2006).

To cite other forms of electronic or electronically-accessed sources following Columbia Online Style, examine the forms for COS-Humanities Style, and follow the same logic to correspond to the special format for Chicago-style references given here.Back to top

 

Basic CGOS Style

Preparing the Bibliographic Material

About CGOS | FAQs | Ordering Information Contact the Authors | ©2006 Columbia University Press

 

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