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Obtaining Materials: Home

When you know what you need, here's how to get it.

I have a citation...now what?

Many times you may already have a citation for the information you need, but the tricky part is getting the full-text of that information. Finding the full-text is made even trickier due to the multitude of different citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, ACS, etc.). Do not worry; the libraries are here to help! From books to journal articles to dissertations and more, we can help you get what you need.

How to Identify Parts of a Citation

Not sure what information would best help you when trying to track down a full-text? Here are some general tricks that work across various citation styles to help you determine the source format. If you're still not sure, ask a librarian or the Interlibrary Loan Department for help.

  • If there is a location followed by a colon AND/OR a state/country, the citation is usually a book.
  • If an editor is listed, the citation is a book, anthology, or edited volume.
  • If the word "In" is written within the citation, the citation is a book chapter.
  • If the volume and issue number is listed, the citation is within a journal (the volume number always comes before the issue number)
  • The source (book title or journal name) will always be italicized or underlined and come after the article title or chapter title.

The following images are two breakdowns of a book and journal article example in APA 6th edition citation format.

An APA 6th edition book example:

 

An APA 6th edition journal article example:

 

Science Instruction and Research Services Librarian

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Paige D
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