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Business BA 11 - Professor Dawn Levy: 4. CITING INFORMATION SOURCES

A guide for students of BA 11- Professor Dawn Levy.

ANNOTATED BILBIOGRAPHY

An annotated bibliography (OPEN VIDEO) is an organized list of sources (like a reference list). It differs from a straightforward bibliography in that each reference is followed by a paragraph length annotation, usually 100–200 words in length.

Depending on the assignment, an annotated bibliography might have different purposes:

  • Provide a literature review on a particular subject
  • Help to formulate a thesis on a subject
  • Demonstrate the research you have performed on a particular subject
  • Provide examples of major sources of information available on a topic
  • Describe items that other researchers may find of interest on a topic

Descriptive or informative

A descriptive or informative annotated bibliography describes or summarizes a source as does an abstract, it describes why the source is useful for researching a particular topic or question, its distinctive features. In addition, it describes the author's main arguments and conclusions without evaluating what the author says or concludes.

For example:

Breeding evil. (2005, August 6). Economist, 376(8438), 9. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com

This editorial from the Economist describes the controversy surrounding video games and the effect they have on people who use them. The author points out that skepticism of new media have gone back to the time of the ancient Greeks, so this controversy surrounding video games is nothing new. The article also points out that most critics of gaming are people over 40 and it is an issue of generations not understanding one another, rather than of the games themselves. As the youth of today grow older, the controversy will die out, according to the author. The author of this article stresses the age factor over violence as the real reason for opposition to video games and stresses the good gaming has done in most areas of human life. This article is distinctive in exploring the controversy surrounding video games from a generational standpoint and is written for a general audience.

Please pay attention to the last sentence. While it points out distinctive features about the item it does not analyze the author's conclusions.

 

Source: University of Maryland. Library. How to write an annotated bibliography. Mar. 30, 2020

REFERENCES

How to cite from LEXISNEXIS

 

“Ford Motor Company : Snapshot” LexisNexis. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.

 

“Ford Motor Company” Hoovers Company records. 27 Mar, 2012. LexisNexis. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.

Citation Basics

Citing your sources is a very important part of the research process. Why?

  • Citations help you avoid plagiarism. As you may know, Kingsborough stands strongly against plagiarism, or using the work of others as your own. (See the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity here.) Citing direct or indirect quotations can prevent you from inadvertantly claiming another writer's work as your own. 
  • Citations help you make your case. In addition to avoiding plagiarism, citing sources will make your work much stronger. Each citation stands as a piece of evidence: a citation adds to your paper by saying to the reader: "What she is arguing is backed up by the scholars in the field."
  • Citations show the person who is reading how to get further information. Citations can be a great way of pointing your reader to more interesting sources on your topic. 
  • Citations strike up a conversation with your source. In scholarly writing, citations are considered a form of communication between one author and another. By citing an author's work, you not only support your own argument, but you are also announcing that the sources you cited are good works of research or scholarship. It's a conversation, even though they may not know about it. 

 

Citation formats: There are several different citation styles, and each style has its own particular rules about how exactly a source should be cited. Your professor will often require a particular format (such as MLA or APA), or may tell you to choose one yourself. Below are some common citation styles. 

  • MLA Format (from the Modern Language Association) is the most common citation style used in undergraduate papers. You can find more information about MLA style in their handbook (available through the library or Amazon), the Purdue OWL, or on MLA's website.  
  • APA Formatting (from the American Psychiatric Association) is quite common in social sciences publications, and occasionally in undergraduate assignments as well. You can find more information about APA style in their manual (available through the library or Amazon), the Purdue OWL, or on APA's website. 
  • Chicago Style (from the University of Chicago Press) is another common citation style in scholarly publications. You can find more information about Chicago style in their manual (available through the library or Amazon), the Purdue OWL, or on the Chicago Manual of Style website. 

Citation Links

A number of websites are devoted to helping students and other researchers cite their work.

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