SFS & Government Librarian
Why Cite?
The primary reasons for citing sources when presenting research are:
- to give credit to the authors whose work you have drawn upon, and
- to allow readers to track down your sources, should they wish to do so.
There are many style guides for formatting citations and creating bibliographies. The major styles are:
- MLA Style, from the Modern Language Association;
- APA Style, from the American Psychological Association, and
- Chicago Style, from the University of Chicago Press
Citation Guides and Tools
- Georgetown's Citation ToolsThe Georgetown Library's Citation Tools page is full of recommendations for managing and formatting citations.
- Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style GuideExplains how to format a paper and citations in APA style.
- Purdue OWL: Chicago Manual of StyleExplains how to format a paper and citations in Chicago style.
- How To Cite Data (MSU Library)A concise page with helpful tips on citing your data and examples from three official style guides (APA, MLA, and Chicago). Includes information about how to cite tables, datasets, and citing within text. From Michigan State University Libraries.
- How to Cite U.S. Government Documents in APA Citation StyleCornell University guide to citing government documents.
Citation Management Systems
These tools allow you to gather citations and PDFs in one place and then quickly create a reference list and/or bibliography. It is best to install these tools at the start of your research.
- ZoteroZotero is a free tool designed to help you gather, manage and share information about books, articles, web pages and other digital objects that you are using in your research, and to generate citations and bibliographies. Zotero is a desktop-based program with browser and word-processor plugins. You can also choose to make a free cloud account to sync over multiple devices.
- RefWorks This link opens in a new windowRefWorks is an online research management, writing, and collaboration tool designed to help researchers gather, manage, store, and share information and generate citations and bibliographies.
Getting Started with Lean Library
Getting Started with Lean Library
- Download the Lean Library extension for your browser.
- Choose Georgetown University Library in Settings.
- Make sure you choose the Main Campus Library.
- Do NOT choose Georgetown University Medical Center unless you are a GUMC affiliate.
- Optional: check/uncheck boxes to "skip the popup" and "show timer." (We recommend using the default settings -- you can always come back to these boxes later.)
- Save your settings and start your research! When you're on a site that has a Library subscription, Lean Library will automatically redirect you through the Library proxy server for access to Library-subscribed articles, books, journals, and other content.
- When prompted, log in with your NetID to authenticate to the Library's proxy server.
Lean Library is available for Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari, and iOS.
Questions? Problems? Read the FAQ or contact the Electronic Resources & Serials Unit.
