Tom Glynn, Political Science Librarian- New Brunswick
Rutgers University
169 College Ave.
New Brunswick, NJ
(848) 932-6105
Citation Managers
Many databases allow you to export citations from your search results to a citation manager. A citation manager lets you save all of your research in one place, keep it well organized and easily accessible. And when it comes time to type your paper, the better citation managers let you select citations you saved in your account and then automatically formats your references and bibliography.
To export citations from any EBSCO database (look for EBSCO in the upper left of the screen), first click the folder icon to the right of an article record that you want to export, then click the folder icon at the top of the screen, then click Export on the right. In a ProQuest database (look for ProQuest in the upper left, includes PAIS, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts), check off the boxes next to the article records you want to export, click the ... icon in the upper right, then select a citation manager under CITATION EXPORT.
I think RefWorks is a good citation manager, easy to learn and use. But you have a number of options. EndNote is also free to you as a Rutgers student and has many advanced features. Zotero is open source and very popular. Pick one you're most comfortable with. It will save you time and effort in the long run. Just make sure to double check the citations and bibliography the citation manager produces. Citation managers are not infallible.
If you have questions about citation managers, you can email the Libraries citation experts: citationmgr@libraries.rutgers.edu.
APA Citations
Political scientists generally use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Style) in citing sources, in-text notes and bibliography. We have several print copies of the most current edition. You may also want to try the OWL site at Purdue University, an easy-to-use guide to APA.
Many of the databases will create an APA bibliography citation for you. Worldwide Political Science Abstracts and PAIS are ProQuest databases. If you see ProQuest in the upper left of any database, simply click the " icon in the brief or the full record of an article. In QuickSearch, also click the " icon. Similarly, for any EBSCO database, if you see EBSCO in the upper left, click the title of an article in your search results to see the full record, then click Cite on the right.
To use a citation manager to save and organize your research and automatically generate both your in-text citations and bibliography, see the Citation Managers box above.