There are many different citation styles used to cite your sources when writing a research paper. Check with your instructor to verify which style you should be using. For the purpose of this tutorial we will discuss two most popular:
Modern Language Association (MLA) Style and
American Psychological Association (APA) Style.

Elements of a Bibliographic Citation

• Author (if applicable)
• Title of the article
• Title of the periodical (newspaper, magazine or journal)
• Date article was published
• Volume number (if applicable)
• Page numbers (if the database only gives the article's starting page number, give that page number followed by a hyphen, a space, and a period (e.g., 45- .).
• Database Name (Expanded Academic ASAP)
• Database publisher (Gale Group)
• Library from which you accessed the database (Los Angeles City College Lib.)
• Date you accessed the article online
• URL of the database (http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/losangeles_cc)

Examples of Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Citations

Popular Magazine:

DePasquale, Ron. "Extreme Makeover." Newsweek 26 July 2004: 14. Expanded
     
     Academic ASAP. Gale Group. Los Angeles City College Lib. 10 Aug. 2004

     <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/losangeles_cc>.

Scholarly Journal:

Prasch, Robert E. “Technical Change, Competition, and the Poor.” Journal of 

     Economic Issues 37 (2003): 479- . Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale Group. 
    
     Los Angeles City College Lib. 4 Aug. 2004

     <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/losangeles_cc>.

For further details and updates see the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and Dissertations. 6th ed. (LACC Library Reference call # R 808.02 M72m6) or Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style (www.mla.org/style_faq).

Examples of American Psychological Association (APA) Style Citations

Popular Magazine:

     DePasquale, Ron. (2004, July 26) Extreme makeover. Newsweek, 14. Retrieved 

August 4, 2004 from Expanded Academic ASAP database on the World Wide Web:
 
<http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/losangeles_cc>.

Scholarly Journal:

     Prasch, Robert E. (2003) Technical change, competition, and the poor. Journal of 

Economic Issues 37 479+. Retrieved August 4, 2004 from Expanded Academic ASAP 

database on the World Wide Web:
 
<http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/losangeles_cc>.

For further details and updates see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5th ed. (LACC Library Reference call # R 808.02 Am35p3) or APA Style: Electronic References (http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html).

Note: Keep in mind that in addition to MLA and APA there are other styles (Chicago and CEBA being two notable ones). Also keep in mind that underlining rather than italics might be preferred.
Always check with your professor for style preferences.

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