Citation Guide

• Remember: one citation at the end of a string of sentences or a paragraph cannot “cover” the entire section.
   
• Cite a source the first time it is used in each paragraph.
   
• Every sentence thereafter in the paragraph that uses information from this same source must contain either a signal phrase or a citation clearly indicating where the information came from.
   
  • Note: always use a citation (even if you also use a signal phrase) every time you quote material.

Where in the sentence does my in-text citation go?

• If you name your source(s) in a given sentence, a parenthetical citation containing only the year always follows immediately after the name(s) of the author(s). Example: In contrast to earlier work by Abbott and Costello (1999), Laurel and Hardy (2008) propose an altogether different model for optimizing hat density …
   
• If you do not explicitly name your source(s) in a given sentence, a single parenthetical citation goes at the end of the sentence or clause it covers (Goffman 1974), inside the punctuation, like this (Melville 1851).
  • “If the sentence ends with a quotation, close the quote, then place the citation between the quotation marks and the punctuation, like this” (Woolf 1931, p. 22).
     
• Do not insert spaces between a parenthetical citation and the punctuation that follows it.

In the paragraph below, the  parenthetical in-text citations are highlighted in yellow, and the signal phrases are in blue. Note that the second sentence is common knowledge, whereas the final sentence is clearly the opinion of the author.

What is the difference between them?

• A Bibliography lists all works cited and consulted
• A List of References includes all works cited in a text

The NPS Thesis Processing Office prefers a List of References for the following: 

• Thesis
• Capstone project report
• MBA report
• Dissertation

Do not include honorifics (Dr., Col., Professor, etc.) when citing author names. Including these titles in the body of your document is acceptable.

Official Documents

The author is the organization immediately responsible for creating the document. In the example below, the author is the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the publisher is the Department of the Navy.

In the example above, the author is NOT an umbrella organization, signatory, or any of the following:

• Chief of Naval Operations
• Deputy Chief of Naval Operations
• W. F. Moran
• Department of Defense
• Navy Pentagon
• R. P. Burke
• United States of America​

Do not include acronyms for organizations listed as authors in the List of References or footnotes:

• YES: Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
• NO: Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO or OCNO).
• NO: CNO or OCNO.

To cite an undated document, put the year you accessed the material in parentheses in both in-text citations and the list of references.

A secondary source is a source that cites some other work that you discuss in your text.

Whenever possible, consult primary sources and your sources’ sources yourself. Upon investigation of the primary source, you may find you disagree with the secondary source author’s analysis or methods. Only use secondary sources when the primary source is unavailable.

How to Incorporate Secondary Sources

The following passage incorporates a properly credited secondary source. The secondary source information is highlighted in yellow; the primary source information is highlighted in blue.

Walker (2014) describes data collected in 1999 by Miguel Roig that correlates students’ inadequate paraphrasing to poor reading comprehension. Citing Roig’s data, Walker explains that “students do in fact possess skills necessary for paraphrasing but … may be impeded from applying those skills when dealing with rigorous text” (p. 2).

Note: Include  only  the  secondary  source  (the  source  you  consulted)  in  your  reference  list. 

For more information

See the TPO's "Citing Your Sources’ Sources" handout.

Note: Always format the information in your citations (titles, author names, etc.) according to the requirements of the citation style you are using, regardless of how it appears in the original source.

If any information is missing from a source (a journal with no volume number, for example), simply omit that information. For sources consulted in hardcopy, omit the URL and any additional verbiage that introduces it. Anything retrieved online, however, MUST have a link. The only exception is journals retrieved from a subscription database such as ProQuest. 

For direct quotes, add page numbers to the in-text citation only.

Example: (Haynes 2009, p. 70)

For book chapters, include page-number range in List of References/Bibliography.

Example: Cordesman AH, Mausner A, Kasten D (2009) Introduction. Python MM, Monty PP, eds. Winning in Afghanistan: Creating Effective Afghan Security Forces (Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC), 15–25.

When citing a source retrieved online, use the "online" format even when you or someone else printed out the material. For example, if you print out a thesis or your advisor provides you with a printed thesis, it is still categorized as an online document.

Only cite as a print source when the material has been produced by a publisher in hard copy. For example, if you obtain a print journal or book from the library stacks, it is categorized as a printed source.

• Always include date accessed for webpages.
• Always include a period at the end of the URL.
• Do not insert a hard or soft return within the URL string; doing so breaks the link.

• One or two authors:
  • In the reference list, include all of them
  • In the text, include all of them

• Three to ten authors:
  • In the reference list, include all of them
  • In the text, list only the first author, followed by et al. (“and others”)

• Eleven or more authors:
  • In the reference list, include only the first seven, followed by et al.
  • In the text, list only the first author, followed by et al. (“and others”)

Examples given are for books; follow the appropriate style for the source type you are citing.