16.4: The Logic of Citation

In The Columbia Guide to Online Style, citation is defined as “the practice of systematically indicating the origins and thoughts, ideas, knowledge, or words that one uses to author a report, essay, article, speech, book, website, or other work” (Walker and Taylor 29). The Columbia Guide, thus, takes a rhetorical approach, including an entire section on the logic of citation, based on the following five principles: access, intellectual property, economy, standardization, and transparency (Walker and Taylor 31).

The principle of access is satisfied by providing sufficient information to allow interested readers to locate the sources of information upon which a writer has relied. That information includes the elements of citation discussed in the next section, including author, title, and publication information. The principle of intellectual property ensures that proper credit is given for the work of others (hence, avoiding plagiarism), as well as ensuring that a writer’s reliance on another’s work is not so extensive that it is detrimental to that others’ property rights. (For more information on intellectual property in the classroom see http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/...er/ip/ipdummie. html). The principle of economy simply means that citations should provide all of the necessary information in as economical a form as possible, that is, by using a readily recognizable format or code rather than having to stipulate every aspect of a citation. Imagine how obnoxious it would be to read the following:

The quotation I included in the first paragraph following the
sub-heading on page 9 of this essay, wherein I defined “citation”
as “the practice of systematically indicating the origins
and thoughts, ideas, knowledge, or words that one uses to
author a report, essay, article, speech, book, Web site, or other
work” is from page 29 of the 2nd edition of The Columbia
Guide to Online Style, a book written by Janice R. Walker and
Todd Taylor, and published in the year 2006 by Columbia
University Press, which is located in New York City.

Compare this to the brief parenthetic note inserted in the text which merely lists the authors’ last names and the page number (i.e., Walker and Taylor 29). The principle of standardization ensures that those readers and scholars within any given discipline will recognize this note as providing important information. In this case, the readers will know to look in the alphabetical list of Works Cited, usually at the end of the essay, under “W” to locate the source authored by Walker and Taylor. Then, if the reader is so inclined, he or she may choose to locate the book in a library or bookstore, and turn to page 29 to check the quotation or to obtain more information. The parenthetic note also helps fulfill the principle of transparency, ensuring that the citation is as unobtrusive as possible so as not to interfere with the writer’s presentation of his or her own ideas while still providing all of the necessary information.

Like most styles, MLA style is designed to fulfill the needs of a specific discipline. It is thus often difficult to force one style to fit the needs of work in other disciplines. That is, following MLA style to cite work in the hard sciences may be just as awkward as attempting to cite work in languages and literature following IEEE style, which is designed for the needs of those working in electrical and electronic engineering fields. Different disciplines may use slightly different arrangements of the elements of citation in order to facilitate communication of important information. For instance, disciplines in the humanities (MLA and Chicago styles, for instance) often focus on the author; scientific disciplines (for example, APA or the Council of Science Editors) follow what is known as an author-date format. Thus, elements need to be arranged in such a way as to be readily understood and recognized by members of the discipline for or in which one is writing. While most high school and first year college composition classes require students to adhere to MLA format, students will usually find that other styles are required in courses in their majors. And, of course, electronic or electronically accessed sources have further complicated the situation.

Luckily, by using an element approach and understanding the elements of a citation, it is possible to then fit the elements into the various codes that you may be tasked with following. The standard elements of most citations are those elements that will aid a reasonably knowledgeable person to locate the source and help in determining its credibility for a particular context (in our case, a scholarly one). Thus, regardless of which style you choose or are directed to follow—and regardless of how many iterations or changes the styles undergo—noting these elements will ensure that you will be able to adequately cite your work.

• Author information. Usually, this is the person or persons primarily
  responsible for a given work, but this could also include
  performers, producers, or directors (for plays or films); artists
  or composers (for works of art or music); editors (for edited
  collections); and/or corporate, group, or organizational authors
  (for work-for-hire, government agencies, or unsigned news
  articles, for example). Don’t be too quick to assume that an
  unsigned article or web page has no author. While this will occasionally
  be true (in which case, your bibliographic entry will
  begin with the title of the article rather than an author’s name),
  more often the piece is considered “authored” by the group or
  organization that sponsored it.
• Title information. Generally, an article title is enclosed in quotation
  marks, and preceded by the name(s) of the author(s); if
  the article is included in a larger work (for instance, a newspaper
  or magazine or an edited anthology), you will also need
  to note the title of the larger work (in italics), and include the
  name(s) of the editor(s) of the collection, if applicable. Title
  information for online sources is often confusing, especially
  for personal web pages or sites. A blog entry may have a title
• (if so, enclose it in quotation marks) that is different from the
  title of the blog itself (formatted in italics). A web page may
  have a title at the top of the page—and a different title in the
  title bar (the bar, usually blue, at the very top of your browser
  or application that provides information about the file you are
  accessing). Sometimes, an online file will not have a title in any
  traditional sense, in which case you may choose to include the
  file name (for instance, kitten.jpg for a graphic file) in place
  of a title. Title information can be very confusing; remember
  that the purpose is to help a reasonable person locate the same
  information you are citing by providing the most explicit information
  possible.
• Edition and/or version information. Include information noting
  2nd or subsequent editions or revisions of a book or application,
  since the information they contain may have changed substantially
  from previous editions. For web pages and sites, the only
  information you may be able to locate is a “Last modified”
  date. Again, remember your purpose: to aid your reader in locating
  the same information you have relied on in your work,
  if possible.
• Access information. For information contained in online data
  bases, in addition to noting the name of the database, note any
  file numbers, search terms, or other information that will help
  your reader locate the source. For library databases, these may
  include DOI (Digital Object Identifier), ISSN (International
  Standard Serial Number), or AN (Accession Number); reference
  librarians are especially knowledgeable about how to use
  this information to locate sources. In the case of information
  published online that might change frequently and/or without
• notice, such as personal web pages, blogs, or other such sites,
  include the date you last accessed the source as well as the date
  of publication or last revision, if available. Some online sites
  may provide a URL that offers direct access to a file (a single
  web page or YouTube video for instance). If the URL is especially
  long and difficult, however, you may be able to include
  a URL to the main page (say, to the YouTube home page, for
  instance) so long as you have provided sufficient information
  (author, title, date, search terms, or whatever) to allow your
  reader to locate the specific file or source from that main page.

While some instructors frown on the use of bibliography generators, they may be useful in helping you keep track of information. The real challenge in using them, of course, is the same as the challenge for students using The MLA Handbook (or any other style manual, for that matter): you must first determine the type of source you are citing in order to determine the necessary elements to cite it. That is, citing a book is different from citing a web page, which is different from citing a YouTube video, which is different from citing a journal article accessed through an online database . . .

Keeping track of information can be difficult. And it can be difficult to locate the elements you need to keep track of in the first place. However, doing so ensures that you can adequately give credit where it is due, and can save you hours of time if you need to re-locate important information yourself—and, of course, adequately citing your work can help make your own work more credible and persuasive. Luckily, once you understand how the various elements of a citation work, you are well on your way.

In the Works Cited list that follows, I have chosen to follow the formats included in the 6th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers rather than include the (silly) information about the medium of publication that the new edition requires, and I have followed the 2nd edition of The Columbia Guide to Online Style for electronic or electronically accessed sources (that is, if the editors of this collection let me get away with doing so!). You may have to follow the requirements of teachers, editors, or others in positions to make these choices for you. Hopefully, this essay has given you some insight into how these choices are made—and how you can work with them if need be! By the way, if you’re wondering how I finally chose to cite my opening quotation, do what scholars do: check the list of Works Cited! (6.7)