The following is modified -- by permission of the author -- from McCartney, Kevin, 1992, Preparing a Term Paper for a Physical Geology Course: Journal of Geological Education, v. 40, 1992, p. 62-65.

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Citations within the text are used to -

1. indicate the source of information, data, or a concept if not new or original

2. give the reader other sources from which s/he can learn more

3. save space by referring to material elsewhere instead of having it in the body of the text

4. give a historical perspective or show very recent developments

5. allow the reader the opportunity to confirm your interpretation of another 's work

6. help the reader to evaluate the evidence used in your discussion by comparing it to others' work

7. indicate your familiarity with previous and current work in a topic area.

Many students mistakenly believe that citations are required only when quoting another author's work. On the contrary, a citation must be included within the text of your paper for all statements of fact, or ideas, acquired from outside sources -- even if you do not quote the source directly. The only exception is when the information is common knowledge and cannot be attributed easily to a single source (e.g., "Florida is a peninsula" is a statement of common knowledge). Failure to properly acknowledge sources can lead to a charge of plagiarism.

Citations generally include the author and year, which refer to a particular reference in the bibliography at the end of your paper. Some citations (especially those for a book) also include one or more page numbers. A typical citation might appear as (Jones, 1986) or (Jones, 1986, p. 43). A detailed discussion of the citation and reference styles to be used in this class is included below. These styles are based on those used by the Geological Society of America (GSA) in its publications. There are other citation styles; indeed, even the citation and reference systems used by journals in the same field are often considerably different. However, GSA format is widely used in the geosciences.

An alternative to standard citations is footnotes. These are generally inconvenient as they require space at the bottom of the page or constant flipping to the back of the report. Footnotes are not common in recent publications and are very seldom found in scientific journals. They will not be used in this class.

Your reference list must include all the sources cited in your paper -- in the text, figures, tables, etc. -- and nothing more. During proofreading, it is crucial that you compare your citations and your reference list to ensure that they correspond exactly.

Citation format

Citation format varies with the journal and field of study. In this class we will use the following format -- typical of science papers -- to cite:

a) the author's name in the sentence:

. . . Romer (1974) . . .

b) the source referenced parenthetically:

. . . (Romer, 1974) . . .

c) a personal communication (letter, memo, e-mail, telephone conversation, etc.):

. . . S. B. Swartz (personal communication, April 24, 1996) . . .

. . . (S. B. Swartz, personal communication, April 24, 1996) . . . .

You may instead use the abbreviation, pers. comm. Personal communications are not included in the bibliography, only cited in the text. You can, if useful, include a page number:

. . . (Romer, 1974, p. 651).

It is sometimes useful to have a brief comment with the reference:

. . . (see fig. 3 of Archibald and Clemens, 1984) . . .

. . . (e.g., Romer, 1974). . .

. . . (but see Williamson, 1996). . .   [if you want to cite a contrasting viewpoint.]

If there are two authors you must cite both:

. . . (McCartney and Nienstedt, 1986).

If there are more than two authors use either 'et al' or 'and others' after the first author:

. . . (Clemens et al., 1981).

Having chosen one of the latter two styles, you must be consistent throughout your paper.

The following paragraph (McCartney and Nienstedt, 1984, modified) is an example on the use of citations:

There is a general misconception that only large-bodied vertebrates (those greater than 25 kg in size) became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. Actually, a number of small-bodied multituberculate and marsupial mammals also became extinct (Clemens et al., 1981; Archibald and Clemens, 1984). According to Romer (1974), the mammalian faunal changes were gradual.

The following is an excerpt from the Geological Society of America's web page (http://www.geosociety.org/pubs/contrib.htm) on manuscript submissions for publication in any of their journals. A variety of citation examples are listed. You should find the citation type that most closely resembles what you are trying to cite and follow their example very closely.

References Cited
All references mentioned in the text, figures, captions, tables, and appendixes must be listed in the References Cited section. Only references cited in the paper are to be listed. Do not cite, or list in the References Cited, papers that are unpublished, in preparation, in review, or in revision. At the end of the text, list references alphabetically by author's surname. For references with two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then alphabetically by second author. For references with more than two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then chronologically, earliest year first. Do not abbreviate journal titles or book publishers in references. Include the city of publication for books. For references that do not match any of the examples given here, include all information that would help a reader locate the reference.


Abstract
Baker, V. R., 1991, Ancient oceans on Mars: American Astronomical Society Division of  Planetary Sciences,
	23rd Annual Meeting, Palo Alto, California, Abstracts, p. 99.
Fitzgerald, P. G., 1989, Uplift and formation of Transantarctic Mountains: Applications of apatite fission track
	analysis to tectonic problems: International Geological Congress, 28th, Washington, D.C., Abstracts, v. 1, p. 491.
LeMasurier, W. E., and Landis, C. A., 1991, Plume related uplift measured by fault displacement of the West
	Antarctic erosion surface, Marie Byrd Land [abs.]: Eos (Transactions, American Geophysical Union), v. 72, p. 501.
Sammis, C. G., 1993, Relating fault stability to fault zone structure: Geological Society of America Abstracts
	with Programs, v. 25, no. 6, p. A115–A116.
Book
Burchfiel, B. C., Chen Zhiliang, Hodges, K. V., Liu Yuping, Royden, L. H., Deng Changrong, and
	Xu Jiene, 1992, The South Tibetan detachment system, Himalayan orogen: Extension contemporaneous with and parallel to shortening in a collisional mountain belt: Geological Society of America Special Paper 269, 41 p. [Note that Chinese names are commonly arranged family name first, followed by given name; in this example, the family names of the Chinese authors are Chen, Liu, Deng, and Xu. For references with Chinese authors, spell out the entire name.]
Peirce, J. W., Weissel, J. K., and others, 1989, Initial reports, Ocean Drilling Program, Leg 121:
	College Station, Texas, Ocean Drilling Program, 1000 p. [Include names of both co chief scientists.]
Shipboard Scientific Party, 1987, Site 612, in Poag, C. W., Watts, A. B., et al., Initial reports of
	the Deep Sea Drilling Project, Volume 95: Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, p. 31–153.
Twiss, R. J., and Moores, E. M., 1992, Structural geology: New York, W. H. Freeman and
	Company, 532 p.
Vogt, P., and Tucholke, B., editors, 1986, The western North Atlantic region: Boulder, Colorado,
	Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, v. M, 696 p., 11 pl.
Weaver, C. E., 1989, Clays, muds and shales: Amsterdam, Elsevier, Developments in
	Sedimentology, v. 44, 819 p.
Journal
Arias, O., and Denyer, P., 1991, Estructura geolsgica de la regisn comprendida en las hojas
	topográficas Abras, Caraigres, Candelaria y Río Grande, Costa Rica: Revista Geológica de América Central, no. 12, p. 61–74. [Use correct diacritical marks for all non-English languages.]
Doglioni, C., 1994, Foredeeps versus subduction zones: Geology, v. 22, p. 271–274.
Leigh, D. S., 1994, Roxana silt of the Upper Mississippi Valley: Lithology, source, and
	paleoenvironment: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 106, p. 430–442.
Walter, L. M., Bischof, S. A., Patterson, W. P., and Lyons, T. L., 1993, Dissolution and
	recrystallization in modern shelf carbonates: Evidence from pore water and solid phase chemistry: Royal Society of London Philosophical Transactions, ser. A, v. 344, p. 27–36.
Comment, Discussion, Reply
Kerrick, D., and Caldeira, K., 1994, Post-125 Ma carbon storage associated with continent-
	continent collision: Comment: Geology, v. 22, p. 381–382.
Selverstone, J., and Gutzler, D. S., 1994, Post–125 Ma carbon storage associated with
	continent-continent collision: Reply: Geology, v. 22, p. 382–383.
Retallack, G. J., 1993, Classification of paleosols: Discussion: Geological Society of America
	Bulletin, v. 105, p. 1635–1636.
Guidebook
Barton, C. C., and Hsieh, P. A., 1989, Physical andhydrologic-flow properties of fractures, in
	International Geological Congress, 28th, Field Trip Guidebook T385: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, 36 p.
Blackstone, D. L., Jr., 1990, Rocky Mountain foreland exemplified by the Owl Creek Mountains,
	Bridger Range and Casper Arch, central Wyoming, in Specht, R., ed., Wyoming sedimentation and tectonics: Casper, Wyoming Geological Association, 41st Annual Field Conference, Guidebook, p. 151–166.
In Press
Hoffman, H. J., and Masson, M., 1994, Archean stromatolites from Abitibi greenstone belt, Quebec,
	Canada: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 106 (in press).
Map
Abrams, G. A., 1993, Complete Bouguer gravity anomaly map of the State of Colorado:
	U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2236, scale 1:500 000, 1 sheet.
Bayley, R. W., and Muehlberger, W. R., compilers,
	1968, Basement rock map of the United States, exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii: U.S. Geological Survey, scale 1:2 500 000, 2 sheets.
Ernst, W. G., 1993, Geology of the Pacheco Pass quadrangle, central California Coast Ranges:
	Geological Society of America Map and Chart Series MCH078, scale 1:24 000, 1 sheet, 12 p. text.
Open-File Report
Alpha, T. R., 1993, Landslide effects: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-0278-A
	(paper copy, 43 p.) or 93-0278-B (3 1/2" Apple diskette).
National Earthquake Information Center, 1992, Earthquake data report, August 1992:
	U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 92-0608-A, 458 p.
Paper in a Government or University Serial Publication
Hay, R. L., 1963, Stratigraphy and zeolitic diagenesis of the John Day Formation of Oregon:
	University of California Publications in Geological Sciences, v. 42, p. 199–262.
Smith, D. C., Fox, C., Craig, B., and Bridges, A. E., 1989, A contribution to the earthquake history
	of Maine, in Anderson, W. A., and Borns, H. W., Jr., eds., Neotectonics of Maine: Maine Geological Survey Bulletin 40, p. 139–148.
Yager, R. M., 1993, Estimation of hydraulic conductivity of a riverbed and aquifer system on the
	Susquehanna River in Broome County, New York: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2387, 49 p.
Paper in a Multiauthor Volume
Carpenter, F. M., 1992, Superclass Hexapoda, in Kaesler, R. L., ed., Treatise on invertebrate
	paleontology, Part R, Arthropoda 4, Volume 3: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America (and University of Kansas Press), 277 p.
Kane, J. S., and Neuzil, S. G., 1993, Geochemical and analytical implications of extensive sulfur
	retention in ash from Indonesian peats, in Cobb, J. C., and Cecil, C. B., eds., Modern and ancient coal-forming environments: Geological Society of America Special Paper 286, p. 97–106.
Keller, G., 1992, Paleoecologic response of Tethyan benthic foraminifera to the Cretaceous-
	Tertiary transition, in Takayanagi, Y., and Saito, T., eds., Studies in benthic foraminifera: Tokyo, Tokai University Press, p. 77–91.
Sawyer, D. S., Buffler, R. T., and Pilger, R. H., 1991, The crust under the Gulf of Mexico basin,
	in Salvador, A., ed., The Gulf of Mexico Basin: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, Geology of North America, v. J, p. 53–72.
Taylor, J. C. M., 1990, Upper Permian-Zechstein, in Glennie, K. W., ed., Introduction to the
	petroleum geology of the North Sea (third edition): Oxford, United Kingdom, Blackwell, p. 153–190.
Proceedings from a Symposium or Conference
[Include year of conference if it differs from publication year.]
Baar, C., 1972, Creep measured in deep potash mines vs. theoretical predictions, in Proceedings,
	Canadian Rock Mechanics Symposium, 7th, Edmonton: Ottawa, Canada Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, p. 23–77.
MacLeod, N. S., Walker, G. W., and McKee, E. H., 1976, Geothermal significance of eastward
	increase in age of upper Cenozoic rhyolitic domes in southeastern Oregon, in Proceedings, Second United Nations Symposium on the Development and Use of Geothermal Resources, San Francisco, May 1975, Volume 1: Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California), p. 465–474.
Thesis
Wopat, M. A., 1990, Quaternary alkaline volcanism and tectonics in the Mexican Volcanic Belt near
	Tequila, Jalisco, southwestern Mexico [Ph.D. thesis]: Berkeley, University of California, 277 p.


 



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