OWL at Purdue Logo

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/). When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice at bottom.

Contributors:Dana Lynn Driscoll, Allen Brizee.
Summary:

This handout provides an exhaustive list of style guide information for documenting sources in different disciplines. The handout is organized by discipline and includes both a link to the main organizational website and also a link for an online guide to using that style.

Documenting Sources in the Disciplines: Overview

Each discipline uses its own citation style; therefore, when it comes time to document sources for a paper, you will have to make sure that you choose and follow the appropriate guidelines for the discipline you are writing in. This handout will help you find resources for citing sources and formatting your paper in various disciplines. If you are looking for how to document electronic sources, please click here.

The best source for information about citing sources and formatting papers in any discipline is their style manual. Many disciplines now also have supplementary web sites to accompany their style manuals, which will include the latest updates for citation formats, particularly for documenting electronic sources. Here is a list (with MLA formatted citations) of some style manuals for various disciplines and their accompanying websites (if available). The list also includes links to material that explains how to use these citation styles in more detail, including material available on our OWL.

Most of these style manual listings were taken from the MLA style manual. Wikipedia also maintains a list of citation styles. If you know of other official style manuals and related websites for your discipline or for a discipline not listed here, please send us an email via this form with the information and we will add it to the page.

Contributors:Dana Lynn Driscoll, Allen Brizee.
Summary:

This handout provides an exhaustive list of style guide information for documenting sources in different disciplines. The handout is organized by discipline and includes both a link to the main organizational website and also a link for an online guide to using that style.

Complete Discipline Listing

A good general resource that compares various styles (and provides color-coded annotations) is Citation Style for Research Papers, provided by Long Island University.

Anthropology

The American Anthropological Association uses the Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition, 2000).

Biology

Council of Biology Editors. CBE Style Manual: A Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers in the Biological Sciences. Washington: American Chemical Society, 6th edition, 1994.

Chicago Style (used in many disciplines)

The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003.

Chemistry

American Chemical Society. The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors. Washington: American Chemical Society, 1986.

English (and some disciplines in the humanities)

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1998.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and Dissertations. 5th ed. New York: 
The Modern Language Association, 1995.

Engineering

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Information for IEEE Transactions and Journal Authors. New York: IEEE, 1989.

Geology

Bates, Robert L., Rex Buchanan, and Marla Adkins-Heljeson, eds. Geowriting: A Guide to Writing, Editing, and Printing in Earth Science. 5th ed. Alexandria: Amer. Geological Inst., 1995.

United States Geological Survey. Suggestions to Authors of the Reports of the United States Geological Survey. 7th ed. Washington: GPO, 1991.

Government

Gapner, Diane L., and Diane H. Smith. The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources: A Manual for Writers and Librarians. Rev. ed. Bethesda: Congressional Information Service, 1993.

History

Gray, Wood. Historian's Handbook: A Key to the Study and Writing of History. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.

Most historians use either Chicago style or Turabian style.

Information Sciences and Computer Science

American National Standard for Information Sciences. Scientific and Technical Reports: Organization, Preparation, and Production. New York: ANSI, 1987.

The IEEE Computer society prefers the Chicago Manual of Style.

Journalism

The Associated Press Stylebook. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2004.

Law and Legal Studies

The Bluebook : A Uniform System of Citation. 17th ed. Cambridge: Harvard Law Review Association, 2001.

Linguistics

Linguistic Society of America. LSA Bulletin, December issue (annually).

Linguistics publications generally follow the APA (American Psychological Association) format.

Mathematics

American Mathematical Society. A Manual for Authors of Mathematical Papers. 8th ed. Providence: American Mathematical Society, 1990.

Management

American Management Association. The AMA Style Guide for Business Writing. New York : AMACOM,1996.

Medicine

American Medical Association. AMA Manual of Style. 9th ed. Chicago: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1997.

Physics

American Institute of Physics. Style Manual for Guidelines in the Preparation of Papers. 4th ed. New York: American Institute of Physics, 1990.

Psychology (and other social sciences)

American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2001.

Political Science

American Political Science Association Committee on Publications. The Style Manual for Political Science. Washington, DC: American Political Science Association, 2002.

Sociology

American Sociological Association. ASA Style Guide. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1997.