Supplementary Research Guide for Scientific & Technical Writing (01:355:302)

In most databases, in the record of an article, there will be a link to generate a citation in the citation style you've chosen to use in your paper. In a ProQuest database or in QuickSeach, look for and click on the cite icon: " in the brief or the full record. In an EBSCO database, click the title in the brief record to see the full record, then click Cite in the menu on the right.

If you email yourself a batch of records (see the Saving Your Search Results box under the Searching for Articles tab and the QuickSearch tab), you'll be prompted to select a citation style. The email(s) you receive will include citations in the style you selected.

OWL at Purdue University Libraries is an excellent site for, among other things, citing in APA (7th edition), MLA (9th edition), and Chicago (17th edition, Notes & Bibliography). See also the Rutgers Libraries research guide for Citation Formatting.

In all three of these citation styles, the second and subsequent lines of the citation in your bibliography should be indented five spaces (1/2 inch) from the left margin.

If you have any questions about citing sources that are not answered by the guides linked above, see see my contact information under the Citing Your Sources tab.

A citation manager is software that let's you save all of your research for all of your classes in one place, keep it well organized and easily accessible. It's a very helpful tool. It will save you time and effort, let you focus on your research and writing rather than the mechanics of citing your sources, typing up your bibliography.

The are many different citation managers available, some of them free, some available by subscription. Rutgers provides and offers support for three very good, very popular citation managers. Of the three, RefWorks is relatively easy to use and has many useful features. It is the default option in many of the databases. But you can "export" your citations to EndNote and Zotero as well.

In an EBSCO database, to export the record of a single article in your results list, click the title to go to the full record, then click Export in the menu on the right. To Export a batch of records, add the records to your folder (see the Saving Your Results box under the Searching for Articles tab), open your folder and click Export. In QuickSearch or a ProQuest Database, for a single record, click the ellipsis (...), then click RefWorks, EndNote or RIS (for Zotero). For a batch of records, check off the box to the left of the articles you want to export or add them to your favorites (again, see the Saving Your Results box) and click the ellipsis. For a nonEBSCO or a nonProQuest database, look for a link that says Export (or something like that).

The best citation managers have a plugin that works with Microsoft Word and Google Docs. When you're typing you paper, it allows you go to log into your account, select articles you've exported, and the citation manager will create citations and build your bibliography. This works for RefWorks (see Finding the Right Writing Tool Add-On), EndNote, and Zotero.

If you have any questions about citation managers, please email our experts at: citationmgr@libraries.rutgers.edu