For this course, you may use any citation style you'd like. Prof. Davis prefers footnoted citations. The Chicago citation style uses footnotes, however your professor would also accept a variation on another style (such as MLA or APA) where you use footnotes rather than the author-date in-text citation. However you style your citations, it is important to be consistent across your document.
For this class, the most important element of your citations is making it as easy and clear as possible where you are pulling your information from, rather than perfectly adhering to a citation style. When creating a citation, make sure you include all the information needed for your reader to be able to follow your work and be able to find the resource you referenced themselves.
Along with referring to specific style guides linked above, the Purdue Owl is a great resource for finding citation examples and explanations.
Let’s say I’m using Chicago Style citations.
For this example, I’m referencing an article from the Wall Street Journal about smart cities. Here's what my first footnoted citation of this article would look like:
If I cite that same article again later on in my paper, I can use a shortened footnote:
Finally, I'll also need to include a citation for this article in my bibliography. Here's how I would format the bibliographic citation:
Citation generators are tools that allow you to quickly create a citation in a particular style.
I recommend ZoteroBib. You do not need to create an account or download software to use it, simply copy and paste the DOI or URL of your source, select your citation style, and hit "cite."
Remember that citation generators are not perfect, so always double-check your citations to make sure the information is complete and accurate!
If you'd like to keep all your citations organized and in one place, try a citation manager.
Citation managers are helpful tools for organizing and saving useful citations during your research. Although there are many citation management tools to choose from, I recommend Zotero since it is open source and free to use.
Follow along with the Quick Start Guide to download Zotero and begin using the software.
Zotero allows you to:
