Philosophy Resources: Citation

There are numerous formats that can be used to cite sources. Three of the most commonly used formats at Duquesne are:

• APA - Created by the American Psychological Association, it is mainly used in Psychology and some of the other Social Sciences, as well as Nursing. The current version is the 6th edition.
• Chicago Manual of Style - Used in many disciplines. The current version is the 17th edition.
• MLA - Created by the Modern Language Association, it is mainly used in English and may be used in some of the other Humanities. The current version is the 8th edition.

When we speak of citing, two things are meant. The first is citing within the text of a paper, either by using parenthetical references, or footnotes. The second is providing complete bibliographic information for your sources in a bibliography (also known as a Works Cited page or Reference List).

The Duquesne University Writing Center has created very helpful guides to assist you with citing in-text and in bibliographies in MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style and MLA. PDFs of these documents are available below.

APA (7th edition): In-text and Reference List

Chicago, notes and bibliography (17th edition): In-text and Bibliography

Chicago, author-date (17th edition): In-text and Reference List

MLA (8th): In-text and Works Cited and Formatting

Common Knowledge

Surprisingly, not everything has to be cited. For example, a statement like "George Washington is known as the 'Father of His Country'" would not need to be cited because this is a general idea in the culture that most people are aware of. These sorts of information are called "common knowledge."

Another way to express this is, if three to five reference works all say the same thing about a topic, then that idea is common knowledge. It is not the intellectual property of any one individual, and, therefore, does not need to be cited. If you ever have questions on whether a statement is common knowledge, Ask a Librarian, talk to your professor, or contact the Duquesne University Writing Center.

A Rule of Thumb

Keep in mind this handy rule of thumb:

"When in doubt, CITE IT!"

It is never wrong to cite something. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you are not sure if you need to cite particular information (is it common knowledge or not?), cite it.  That is the safest thing to do.

Friedrich Nietzsche. Photo by F. Hartmann, circa 1875. Public Domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Style Databases

To use these databases off-campus, you will need to enter your Multipass username and password when you click on the link.

Style Research Guides