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MATH 200W Transition to Advanced Math: Latex & Citation

Citing your Sources

It is essential to cite your sources of information when writing an assignment or research project.

There are many different citation styles (APA, Chicago, MLA, etc). Different disciplines use different styles that reflect better the interests of their readers. Generally your professor will let you know which style to use. If your professor has no preference, choose a style yourself and be consistent, use the same style throughout your paper.

Citations give credit for ideas to the originator and allow the reader to track down the original sources of the information. Failure to cite your sources constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism is a problematic and controversial topic in the sciences, ask your professor when in doubt or check the Academic Honesty Box for additional information.

Check the following video to learn more:

 
 

LaTeX

Thanks to Mark Herman and Dr. Rebecca Glover for links and guides.

For More Resources, see Tyler Dzuba's guide on LaTeX.

Major components of a citation

No matter what style you're using, the main thing your citation needs to do is help your reader find the source you used.

Citations of particular materials (i.e., books, journals, websites) are easily recognizable by the content that they require. When writing citations from scratch, be sure to include the following general components.

Books:

  • Title
  • Author(s)
  • Publisher
  • Publication Place
  • Year

Journal articles:

  • Title of article
  • Title of journal
  • Article author(s)
  • Volume
  • Issue
  • Year
  • Page numbers

Websites:

  • Website author (a person or an organization)
  • Title of website
  • Web address
  • Date of last revision
  • Date that site was accessed

Exercise

Reference managers that work well with LaTex

EndNote Desktop

The University of Rochester Libraries has a site license to EndNote so you don't have to pay for it! You'll get free updates as long as you're affiliated with the University.

  • EndNote offers a Getting Started Guide (for Windows and Mac OS X), as well as a more detailed Online User Guide.
  • An additional user guide is available on your computer:
    • Windows: usually ...\Program Files\EndNote X7\EndNoteX7WinHelp.pdf
    • Mac: usually .../Applications/EndNote X7/EndNoteX7MacHelp.pdf